I’m not sure what to take from that win, but not coming close to complaining. I think in SEC play we are really going to struggle on the boards. Maybe it doesn’t matter as much though giver our pace.

To that end, we are infinitely more likable than any Kermit or Cuonzo team.

It’s a fun team to like. I think we are a sweet 16 team if we shoot marginally ok. East and Honor are legit point guards and if Mosley will ever commit to playing defense he is good for 17 a night.

(Which is why he’s not playing…he won’t commit to defense)
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And Kermit*
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Gates said that Mosley is working through personal issues. He had been playing 20+ minutes a game for the past 4 games, so he was getting good time. I think we win this game by quite a bit if he plays.
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I don’t wish personal issues on anyone. I hope it’s defensive issues (which easily can be corrected), which is what I heard (second hand).

To your point, yeah he’s been insane the last few games. I guess I hope neither one of us is right.
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Dave Matter's tweet

Gates: Mosley is working though personal things. Nothing behavioral or injury related. Says it’s a privacy matter. Was happy to see him coaching from the bench.
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Roger that. I hope he is ok.
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I'm really hoping it's something minor, but it's just weird to me that he was dressed and on the bench and wasn't able to play at all. He's on the bench, but it's not because he's in trouble or injured, so what else could it be?
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I don’t know the answer to that. For everything I’ve read or heard, Mosley is a good person.

But neither of us can deny he’s slow to rotate and plays defense at the waist. We are so small we HAVE to defend the 3-point line. Given that Gates can play 10 easily, absent a personal issue, you absolutely HAVE to play Mosley in conference play. Obviously Matter knows more than me, but if we want to be successful, Mosley has to be a big part of our plan.
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Mosley is probably our best scorer and that's saying something cuz our team has several that can score. We will need him.
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81 possessions and only 8 turnovers against a solid mid-major program.

Man that's impressive. And yeah, that's gotta have a little to do with the players, but coaching HAS to be the main difference there, doesn't it?

I mean, if nothing else, it's a function of trying to get guys on the roster who value the ball.

I'm just floored by how quickly this team changed its identity. Granted, turning over 85% of the roster in a single season will do that, but still - it came together for them so dang quickly and not with a pile of elite prospects.
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Absolutely it's coaching
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It's amazing how incompetent he was. It's also amazing to come to this realization:

The Tigers have a competent coach who understands offensive basketball and how to mold his style to the team he has (rather than pounding the team he has into a specific style) for the first time since Frank Haith was the coach.

Haith had faults, but he was still much better at this than either Kermit the Coach or CuonzNO.
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Should be a fun game on the 10th. I know not all fans on either side agree, but I'm looking forward a competitive match, as I think it will be.
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I think you were the one that made this point the loudest, but the reason the Tigers couldn't play offense was the Cuonzo simply didn't try to recruit it.

He recruited grit/size/defensive tenacity first, then passing and shooting in some order well behind it.

And I suspect most of his practices weren't built around establishing a cohesive offensive foundation either.

It was a simple question of priorities for him and they were just...wrong. The True Sons who wanted a return to the halcyon days of Norm Stewart (which simply weren't that great to begin with) got what they wanted but they were so damn out of touch with modern basketball.

Cuonzo should probably be a defensive assistant somewhere or maybe a mid-major coach who can punch up and try to ugly up some games against higher quality opponents.

But he's clearly wildly overmatched as a Power 5 head coach.
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