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Don’t let Jacob Crews’ semi-blasé response to his first-career start for Mizzou trick you.
There was some shakeup in Missouri basketball’s starting lineup, not-so-coincidentally coming after two of the Tigers’ most sluggish offensive showings of the season. Crews, the Tigers’ best 3-point shooter so far this year, entered the lineup in place of Jevon Porter, who had started all of Mizzou’s previous 10 games.
“He earned it, man. He earned it. But don't let him fool you. It mattered,” Gates said, before turning to his player on his right hand side. “He heard his name last in that starting lineup, and it gave him some real good energy. Wouldn’t you say? Tell the truth.”
“Yeah,” Crews conceded to his coach, shortly after saying there wasn’t much difference between starting and entering the game off the bench. “I was happy.”
Crews went 6-of-8 from behind the 3-point line as the Tigers ended their losing streak with an 85-77 win over Alabama State on Thursday at Mizzou Arena. Four of Crews’ makes from deep came within the opening eight minutes of the contest. He scored two in the opening 100 seconds.
Gates said Crews earned the opportunity, but also said Porter had been “feeling under the weather” and did not practice for the past two days.
Even if that’s the case, the timing is interesting. Porter has shot 25.9% from 3-point range this season. The Tigers were excited about the 6-11 stretch four’s ability to space the floor, but his shooting numbers haven’t quite made that happen.
On Tuesday, Gates gave Porter somewhat of a challenge.
“I want (Porter’s) point of attack to be a little bit different. I want his precision to be different. He's not the 3-point shooter that his stats show,” Gates said. “I want him to just calm down and be OK and just be patient with being able to catch and shoot, because his percentage is low from 3. I don't want him to stop taking it, because over his career he's shown the ability to get that percentage a little bit higher than what it is.”
Porter only played one minute against Alabama State. Again, Gates said he hadn’t practiced much and a decision seemingly was made not to send him out in the second half.
But, the switch also let the Tigers see what Crews gives them out of the gate.
There are more important facets of the game than the starting lineup. Annor Boateng, for instance, started his second straight contest for the Tigers but ended up with the second-fewest minutes among the nine players Mizzou put on the court.
Crews’s night was a different story. He spent more than 30 minutes on the floor, which ties a Mizzou career-high. That tells us a little bit about what the Tigers are trying to figure out right now; the shortcomings they’re attempting to overcome.
With combo forward Trent Pierce and sparkplug shooting guard Jayden Stone sidelined with injuries, the Tigers have sorely lacked a second option from 3-point range. In its past four games, including losses to Notre Dame and Kansas, Missouri failed to shoot better than 30% from 3-point range.
Without a real threat beyond Crews, that closed avenues to the paint against Kansas. The offense, widely, looked stagnant in a Border War beatdown.
So, Mizzou switched it up.
“Ultimately, Jacob’s earned it at the end of the day,” Gates said. “And that's what it came down to.”
Crews, before Thursday, has been playing a similar role to the Caleb Grill this year, getting a feel for the game from the bench before typically entering as the first or second player off the bench near or at the first media timeout.
Grill liked that system. He often mentioned how it let him watch how opponents were defending the Tigers. Grill said that frequently allowed him to make a quick impact off the bench, especially with his shooting ability.
And it’s been working for Crews, too. He was shooting 48.3% from 3-point range entering the Tigers’ game against Alabama State on Thursday night.
After another much-needed hot shooting night, as Alabama State became the latest mid-major unit to make its fair share of shots against the Tigers to keep the game close, Crews is at 51.5% from deep on the season. By Friday morning, that’s likely to lead the SEC.
More: Jacob Crews has shown second-year growth, and Missouri basketball is benefitting
More: Why Missouri basketball coach Dennis Gates has lofty 3-point goals for wing Jacob Crews
It will be interesting to see if Crews’ spot as a starter sticks long-term.
His presence does seem to attract defenders to the perimeter, and Anthony Robinson II benefitted with one of his better performances attacking the paint with 19 points. Mark Mitchell, the Tigers’ best player at reaching the rim, eclipsed double-digits for the 10th straight game. A hot perimeter shooter helps the interior offense.
Mizzou needs more shooters. Getting Stone and Pierce back should help, whenever that day comes.
Until then, somebody has to carry that scoring load and help the Tigers get out the gate quick.
Crews might be the answer.
“Nothing really changed for my approach. You know, coming off the bench, I still play great minutes,” Crews said. … “I'm grateful for starting, but it didn't make a difference in how I would play or what effort I would give. You know, obviously, I'm grateful to be able to hear my name called at the beginning and get to have that adrenaline rush from there. Again, I don't want to take it as a little thing to me, but I just want to be out there and play.”
This article originally appeared on Columbia Daily Tribune: Why Missouri basketball started Jacob Crews over Jevon Porter
Continue reading...
There was some shakeup in Missouri basketball’s starting lineup, not-so-coincidentally coming after two of the Tigers’ most sluggish offensive showings of the season. Crews, the Tigers’ best 3-point shooter so far this year, entered the lineup in place of Jevon Porter, who had started all of Mizzou’s previous 10 games.
“He earned it, man. He earned it. But don't let him fool you. It mattered,” Gates said, before turning to his player on his right hand side. “He heard his name last in that starting lineup, and it gave him some real good energy. Wouldn’t you say? Tell the truth.”
“Yeah,” Crews conceded to his coach, shortly after saying there wasn’t much difference between starting and entering the game off the bench. “I was happy.”
Crews went 6-of-8 from behind the 3-point line as the Tigers ended their losing streak with an 85-77 win over Alabama State on Thursday at Mizzou Arena. Four of Crews’ makes from deep came within the opening eight minutes of the contest. He scored two in the opening 100 seconds.
Gates said Crews earned the opportunity, but also said Porter had been “feeling under the weather” and did not practice for the past two days.
Even if that’s the case, the timing is interesting. Porter has shot 25.9% from 3-point range this season. The Tigers were excited about the 6-11 stretch four’s ability to space the floor, but his shooting numbers haven’t quite made that happen.
On Tuesday, Gates gave Porter somewhat of a challenge.
“I want (Porter’s) point of attack to be a little bit different. I want his precision to be different. He's not the 3-point shooter that his stats show,” Gates said. “I want him to just calm down and be OK and just be patient with being able to catch and shoot, because his percentage is low from 3. I don't want him to stop taking it, because over his career he's shown the ability to get that percentage a little bit higher than what it is.”
Porter only played one minute against Alabama State. Again, Gates said he hadn’t practiced much and a decision seemingly was made not to send him out in the second half.
But, the switch also let the Tigers see what Crews gives them out of the gate.
There are more important facets of the game than the starting lineup. Annor Boateng, for instance, started his second straight contest for the Tigers but ended up with the second-fewest minutes among the nine players Mizzou put on the court.
Crews’s night was a different story. He spent more than 30 minutes on the floor, which ties a Mizzou career-high. That tells us a little bit about what the Tigers are trying to figure out right now; the shortcomings they’re attempting to overcome.
With combo forward Trent Pierce and sparkplug shooting guard Jayden Stone sidelined with injuries, the Tigers have sorely lacked a second option from 3-point range. In its past four games, including losses to Notre Dame and Kansas, Missouri failed to shoot better than 30% from 3-point range.
Without a real threat beyond Crews, that closed avenues to the paint against Kansas. The offense, widely, looked stagnant in a Border War beatdown.
So, Mizzou switched it up.
“Ultimately, Jacob’s earned it at the end of the day,” Gates said. “And that's what it came down to.”
Crews, before Thursday, has been playing a similar role to the Caleb Grill this year, getting a feel for the game from the bench before typically entering as the first or second player off the bench near or at the first media timeout.
Grill liked that system. He often mentioned how it let him watch how opponents were defending the Tigers. Grill said that frequently allowed him to make a quick impact off the bench, especially with his shooting ability.
And it’s been working for Crews, too. He was shooting 48.3% from 3-point range entering the Tigers’ game against Alabama State on Thursday night.
After another much-needed hot shooting night, as Alabama State became the latest mid-major unit to make its fair share of shots against the Tigers to keep the game close, Crews is at 51.5% from deep on the season. By Friday morning, that’s likely to lead the SEC.
More: Jacob Crews has shown second-year growth, and Missouri basketball is benefitting
More: Why Missouri basketball coach Dennis Gates has lofty 3-point goals for wing Jacob Crews
It will be interesting to see if Crews’ spot as a starter sticks long-term.
His presence does seem to attract defenders to the perimeter, and Anthony Robinson II benefitted with one of his better performances attacking the paint with 19 points. Mark Mitchell, the Tigers’ best player at reaching the rim, eclipsed double-digits for the 10th straight game. A hot perimeter shooter helps the interior offense.
Mizzou needs more shooters. Getting Stone and Pierce back should help, whenever that day comes.
Until then, somebody has to carry that scoring load and help the Tigers get out the gate quick.
Crews might be the answer.
“Nothing really changed for my approach. You know, coming off the bench, I still play great minutes,” Crews said. … “I'm grateful for starting, but it didn't make a difference in how I would play or what effort I would give. You know, obviously, I'm grateful to be able to hear my name called at the beginning and get to have that adrenaline rush from there. Again, I don't want to take it as a little thing to me, but I just want to be out there and play.”
This article originally appeared on Columbia Daily Tribune: Why Missouri basketball started Jacob Crews over Jevon Porter
Continue reading...
