Missouri Basketball: Cuonzo Martin brings fresh dynamic

In recent history, Missouri basketball was a shadow of its former self. First year head coach Cuonzo Martin plans to change that dynamic; in many ways, he already has.

The 2017 recruiting season was something of a whirlwind for Tigers fans. The unbelievable happened, the unexpected fell in Missouri’s lap, and life is simply better for Mizzou fans.

Over the last few years, the basketball program fell short, as the Kim Anderson era brought some interesting coaching tactics to the floor.

Anderson, also a Mizzou alum, was held in higher regard by many, simply because he is a part of Missouri’s history. However, history tells a different story of Anderson the coach, than the player.

Missouri Tigers Basketball

Anderson was highly successful as a D-II coach. His experience and prowess simply couldn’t take root at the next level.

Unfortunately, as happens in all sports, you’re only as good as your last game, or in Anderson’s case, season.

While the departure of the ‘True Son’ didn’t settle well with some, it was a necessary change. We can live in the glory days, but as any fan on the outside of a formerly successful program looking in can tell you, history doesn’t win games in the present.

That said, Cuonzo Martin has his work cut out. Missouri’s recruiting season was a huge success, but now Martin must mold all those pieces into a finely tuned machine.

Martin also has a few “parts” left over from the Anderson era, which will complement his newly-minted recruiting class well.

The biggest obstacle Martin will have to overcome is his ability to transform a talented recruiting class into wins on the court. Martin’s reputation is one that he recruits well, but in earlier coaching tenures, his ability to take the team to the next level escapes him.

I would hedge a guess that given this recruiting class’s experience and talent, that Martin could take a little more of a hands-off approach, and guide the team, as opposed to full-on coaching, and it would still pull off a winning record, but that doesn’t guarantee going to the next level.

This year, Missouri has all the pieces in place to make a serious statement, and a legitimate chance at a run for a national championship.

I’m not saying they won’t struggle at times, and I know they’ll still take their lumps and lose some games along the way, but this team is built for the long haul, and will learn from its mistakes and return stronger and smarter.

Next: Missouri built a championship contender

To think, that a mere few months ago, this Missouri program was legitimately staring down the barrel of a major rebuild, and a few short months later, that rebuild is just about complete. A team that, on paper, has gone from worst-to-first

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