Mizzou Basketball On the Search for a New Identity

Mizzou basketball is in the midst of finding a new identity.

It was an inevitable situation for a team that lost it's three leading scorers from the previous season. Inevitable for a team that added five new transfers and five freshman.

Like many identity searches, Missouri's won't be without some ugly moments.

The first of those came this Friday in a 70-55 loss against Memphis. After a strong first half, Missouri deflated in the second half, being outscored 44-22 and making only seven of 38 shots. Memphis went on a 17-2 run in the opening minutes of the half.

When put in these moments of adversity last year, Missouri was usually able to fight back. Kobe Brown, who is now a Los Angeles Clipper, was often able to take back control of the game. But not many players are as special as Brown. Missouri will still need to find a reliable player or group to lean on when they have to face similar stretches of adversity.

However, it's no identity crisis. Missouri seems to have most of the right pieces to the puzzle for a successful team, but has not quite found where exactly each piece fits in. The team has a nucleus of three returning starters in Nick Honor, Noah Carter and Sean East II. Outside of those three, it will take some time for each player to find exactly what their role is.

It's also only the second game of a long season.

"This is our second game of the season, so you're trying to get into that rhythm," heed coach Dennis Gates said. "That's where I would look at it a little differently than if it were our 10th game or last third of the season."

The team will look to build an identity early in the season though with a robust non-conference schedule.

"I think going forward, it's learning, learning from your experiences," Gates said. "Which is ultimately why we scheduled the that way we did. I thought putting yourself in a situation where on the positive side, you can come away with a home court win, on the negative side, you can lose a game. Now, is it a loss or a lesson. That's the question we'll find out Monday."

Missouri will look to bounce back on Monday evening when they host SIU Edwardsville at 7 p.m.

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