'Losses Into Lessons': How Mizzou Basketball Learned to Execute to Send SIUE H-O-M-E
COLUMBIA, Mo. — Missouri Tigers forward Noah Carter had two things to celebrate Monday night.
One was simple. It was his 23rd birthday, and while it made him one of the oldest players to suit up for the Black & Gold, he embraced it. That was evident from the mile-wide smile that lit up his face during the team's on-court breakdown following their game against SIU Edwardsville.
The other had to do with the Tigers' visiting opponents. Not only did Missouri handle business in order to get back in the win column at Mizzou Arena against the Cougars, but Carter grabbed 10 rebounds to secure the first double-double performance of his season. And that was reason to celebrate — during the game, even.
With 1:48 remaining in the second half, Carter grabbed SIUE's missed free throw to secure his mark, and just over 20 seconds later, the celebration ensued during a Missouri timeout as the forward headed to the bench for the night.
Missouri forward Noah Carter celebrates after a 3-pointer.
© Denny Medley-USA TODAY Sports
"He wanted me to leave him in the game and he was celebrating on that 10th rebound," Tigers coach Dennis Gates said. "I was just happy he was hunting a rebound and he knew that he had nine."
That was the first business item for Gates regarding Carter following his team's 68-50 home victory. After that, the second-year coach joined in on the birthday fun.
"Happy birthday kid," Gates said, patting his forward on the shoulder with a smile. "We love you, and you know that."
Yes. Carter did know that. Gates had made that clear from the get-go, and was only further reinforcing it with his actions.
But as happy as he was to celebrate his birthday, he also was keen to acknowledge that the Tigers were back on track.
In fact, that was of utmost importance.
“This isn't [my] first rodeo," Carter said, referring to the need to bounce back after a loss. "Being able to get going into the season and get in a flow and really understand the team [has been] good. I'm very happy with what's going on — really looking forward ... to continuing to grow, continuing to be better and continuing to learn.“
Just one game prior to the Tigers' Monday night victory, they sat in the same press conference win after coming off of the same court, but the difference was drastic.
Instead of walking off victors, they had fallen short to Memphis.
“Obviously we've just got to re-group," Tigers point guard Nick Honor said. "We’re definitely going to ... look at the film and take our time just getting back to playing our basketball. This game doesn’t define us, and I think we all know that."
If there were any doubts of Honor's early-season assessment, those were extinguished Monday night. Shooting was one of the Tigers' biggest shortcomings against Memphis — they shot just 32 percent from the field — but as quickly as the problem presented itself, it seemingly corrected itself.
Missouri shot 43 percent from the field and near 40 percent from 3-point land against SIUE in what became a one-sided contest fairly early on. And in short, that meant one thing: the Tigers had not only recognized the issue, but made instant corrections.
SIU Edwardsville Cougars coach Brian Barone reacts to play against the Missouri Tigers.
© Denny Medley-USA TODAY Sports
“Recovering from mistakes and having awareness [helps] our confidence," Gates said. "Being able to identify those things in film the day [after games] when you debrief allows guys to move forward."
"One lesson that I thought we got better at was execution," he added. "That was tremendous for our guys to be able to read the game and be able to execute some plays down the stretch, but also have a balanced attack. [They were] able to shoot the 3 and get to the free-throw line."
But more than the technical side of things, Gates also described the human side of basketball. The part he's so heavily stressed ever since taking the helm for the Tigers.
"[Basketball] is an emotional game," he said. "Emotions can get the best of you if you don't handle them in the right way. So we want to turn losses into lessons. ... We want to learn as soon as we get the opportunity to learn."
Against SIUE, that was as simple as shooting better, which was something Gates mentioned was a work-in-progress following the Memphis game.
"I still want these guys to shoot the shots that they took," Gates said of his players, despite the less-than-ideal shooting clips. "I truly believe there may not be a shooting display like that [again]. We went 6-for-28.
"I think and I know our guys are better shooters than that and they have displayed it over a long period of time since the summer."
Between their stellar defense and better shooting performances, Missouri came away victorious. It helped diminish the sour taste left behind by an ugly loss to Memphis while growing and learning at the same time — a mark of a good basketball team.
And, as far as the it's concerned, it aren't done doing that yet. The Tigers learned to execute to send SIUE home, and are now focused on continuing to improve ahead of facing Minnesota.
It'll just be up to them to put their teaching into practice.
“[We're] still three games in," Tigers guard Sean East II said. "It’s a long season. We just take it game by game and you know, roles are going to change. [But] it's fun.
"Right now, we're just enjoying it.“
