Missouri Basketball: Disappointing, yet completely predictable, loss against Vanderbilt

There’s little to say about Missouri Basketball that hasn’t been said already. Even coach Cuonzo Martin was at a loss for words to start his postgame conference.

Missouri Basketball (9-14, 3-7 SEC) continues to be an extremely inconsistent team that seems to take two steps back for every step it takes forward.

That’s not to take away from any growth that the team went through to get to this point. This team is a much different team from the one we saw at the start of the season.

Still, the young Tigers‘ inexperience shows when Kobe Brown is not on the floor, especially in Tuesday night’s loss to Vanderbilt (13-10, 5-6 SEC).

Missouri frequently took poor percentage shots on Tuesday and allowed Vanderbilt to intimidate them into sloppy gameplay, even in areas that many would consider its strongest aspects.

Overall, the team still has a lot to learn. Unfortunately, in the Southeastern Conference, time is not something afforded to most. Martin might learn that the hard way this offseason.

Regardless of any potential coaching changes, Missouri still has a large slate of games left to play, and potentially pick up a few wins. Here are two takeaways from Tuesday night on what they need to do to get that done.

Knowing Missouri’s strengths

I find it interesting that the Tigers’ opponents know Missouri’s weaknesses better than they do.

Part of what made Missouri so competitive recently has been knowing what they were good at, and sticking to that in games. It feels as though that went out the window Tuesday night.

In the first half alone, the Tigers went 0-11 for 3-point shooting. They’d slightly improve to 20% in the second half, but the damage had already been done.

It’s okay to have a bad shooting night, but there has to be some sort of awareness of how the shots are falling. If nothing is making it in, Missouri has to acknowledge that and start attacking in the paint.

"“I thought we settled for threes,” Martin told reporters in his postgame presser, “because it was comfortable as opposed to making the next play.”"

The Tigers can not afford to take bad shots and avoid driving into the paint. As I’ve previously stated, the SEC is a conference where one-possession will make or break you. Wasting possessions on low-percentage shots from beyond the arc will ultimately cost any team, especially those who don’t have many NBA prospects.

Finding Missouri’s Confidence

It would not be a Missouri Basketball takeaway article without addressing Kobe Brown.

Brown has become too susceptible to the winds of change, and you’ll never know when he’s about to drop 20 or get fouled out with a single-digit point contribution. However, if you’re a gambler, bet on the latter.

It’s not that the Tigers need Brown to be successful. Don’t get me wrong, he is a huge factor, but we have seen Missouri play competitive while Brown’s performance was less than stellar.

At this point, it has become solely a confidence issue for the Tigers. If Brown isn’t having a good night, then the rest of the team feels they can’t have a good night.

My advice for Missouri no longer pertains to Kobe Brown, but to the remaining ten men on the roster: Have the confidence to be able to play your game.

Missouri now will set its eyes on preparing to host Ole Miss at Mizzou Arena on Saturday, Feb. 12 at 8:30 p.m. ET