Kim English Says Tigers Played Selfishly Last Season

ESPN.com’s Dana O’Neil wrote a phenomenal profile of Kim English’s struggles with a speech impediment in his youth. English eventually turned to the basketball court to find his confidence, but the basketball court became a place where English’s confidence suffered last year:

"Kim English’s faith in himself hit a wall last season.The evidence, as it always does, came in the numbers. English averaged just 10 points per game and shot only 36 percent from the floor, his statistics emblematic of a teamwide virus that sent the Tigers to an end-of-the-season skid. Missouri would lose five of its final six, exiting the NCAA tournament in the first round.It’s easy to see with the benefit of hindsight what went wrong, and English — as well as his dad — can see it now clear as day. A team built on blue-collar fabric and designed to exist in an unselfish world instead turned diva.“We didn’t play as a team and no one was really held accountable,” English said. “It was the elephant in the room. Everyone knew we were not playing selfless basketball, but it was never addressed and there was a snowball effect. I know I played selfishly. We weren’t going into games with the right mindset at all.”"

English certainly wasn’t the same player last year as he was the previous season, and he certainly wasn’t anywhere near the player he has become for the Tigers this year. He is undoubtedly one of the most interesting athletes at the University of Missouri right now, and his revival is key to the Tigers’ success in the face of Laurence Bowers’ ACL injury.