2013-2014 Mizzou Tiger

Well, the season is over, (Finally! is what some of you might say) with a 71-63 loss to Southern Mississippi in the NIT. Many Mizzou fans are mad, want Coach Haith fired (mostly because of the Miami thing) but one thing, University of Missouri won't fire a coach that has had 3 seasons in a row of winning 20 or more basketball games. Let's take a look at why this team didn't do very well or meet the expectations of the some fans this season.

1. Over hyped - This team came into the season in the minds of many fans as a team that would finish at least in the top 3 in the SEC, but that didn't happen. This team wasn't near as good after the best three players, and it showed.

2. Lack of Post (Dominant) Presence - The addition of Juco transfer Keanu Post didn't offer the post presence that Haith's pick and roll offense needed. JW3 wasn't strong enough to bang with the experienced Centers in the SEC, but he does show some promise and with some strength, has shown that he may be a great player in the future. Ryan Rosburg is playing out of position, but doing the best he can for a role player who is forced to start nearly every game. Tony Criswell's head wasn't on straight all season. Torren Jones development was slow and he wasn't ready to contribute until the end of the regular season.

3. Lack of a true point guard - With Phil Pressey leaving early for the NBA and ultimately for the Boston Celtics, there was a glaring hole at pg this year for Mizzou. Asking a shooting guard (Jordan Clarkson) to play puts him out of position and screws things up for the rest of the offense. Wes Clark didn't develop like he needed to in order to help the offense. Shane Rector didn't contribute much either but for Freshmen they showed some improvement.

4. Basketball IQ - This team, for whatever reason, lacked basketball IQ. Valuing the basketball and making good decisions wasn't this teams strength. The team didn't assist the scoring much, many times lower than 30% of the baskets with assists. This team just didn't play well together, mostly because of trust of letting the other guys score outside of the big 3, but this team just never learned.

5. Leadership - This team lacked Senior leadership. No one on the team stood up and told the other players that this is what they are going to do. A team needs this to be successful. Mizzou has that with Kim English two years ago. This is needed to advance in the tournament and win conference games on the road.

This teams has other flaws like standing and looking for the other player to do something on offense. That won't work anytime especially if you want to score. Defensively these teams are weak, especially on the perimeter. Haith needs to extend his defense out in order to limit the 3-point baskets. If this team continues to struggle, next season may be the last in Columbia for Frank and his staff.