Injuries Taking Toll on Mizzou: 'It's Almost Like we Have to Play Perfect Basketball'
COLUMBIA, Mo. – It's been a nightmare season for the Missouri men's basketball team.
Wednesday night's loss to the Texas A&M Aggies marked its 10th straight loss since entering conference play, which has now surpassed the halfway point. The clock is ticking down for the Tigers to get their first SEC win, but the chances are getting increasingly more difficult.
There are so many reasons as to why Missouri is at this point. It lacks a consistent offense, the roster hasn't jelled well together and it loses the rebounding battle night in and night out. However, the amount of injuries it has dealt with this season has made attaining those things considerably more difficult.
The downward spiral started with Caleb Grill, who was one of the Tigers' biggest impact-makers in nonconference play. He wasn't exactly the knockdown 3-point shooter that everyone expected, but he brought intensity on the defensive end that they are now lacking.
Grill hasn't played since Dec. 3, but is still leading Missouri with 5.8 rebounds per game as a 6-foot-3 guard. Due to a wrist injury he was listed out for 5-7 weeks, but at this point, it looks he will remain out for the rest of the year.
Next was John Tonje, who was officially ruled out for the remainder of the season to a foot injury. Before the season he was one of the most highly-touted transfers that the Tigers received in the portal, but never received consistent minutes because of the underlying injury.
Tonje had a fantastic senior year at Colorado State and could've brought 15+ points per game scoring and efficient 3-point shooting to a Missouri team that needed it, but the season will result in a missed opportunity for both sides.
Outside of Grill and Tonje, the Tigers have frequent injuries seemingly every game for varying reasons. Jesus Carralero Martin has been out since Jan. 27 from a foot contusion, while Sean East II missed last night's game from a knee contusion.
"It's almost like we have to play perfect basketball, especially with our injuries," head coach Dennis Gates said following the Texas A&M loss. "Our margin of error is very slim because of those situations we're in and it puts a lot of pressure on the defensive side and offensive side to be able to come away with wins."
Dealing with so many injuries throughout the season has prevented Missouri from having consistent lineups and rotations, which in turn makes it difficult for the roster to grow chemistry between each other. The players that it's lost were going to be important pieces in replacing Kobe Brown and D'Moi Hodge's production from last season, but doing that has only gotten even more difficult.
Nothing has gone right for the Tigers this season, almost the opposite of last year. Excuses can't be made for being 0-10 in the SEC, but quite frankly, there's hardly anything that can be done at this point to change the outlook on the rest of the season.
Maybe they'll break the losing streak at some point. Arkansas and LSU are beatable teams and Missouri has shown the capability of making games close even if it can't close out, but it's hard to see it winning another game at this point.
And it'll take a "perfect" game to do that.
