Basketball: A game of confidence

Does the Missouri basketball team play with confidence?

It’s a simple question with a not so simple answer.

Sometimes they do, such as in the second half against Minnesota, the dominant win over Pittsburgh or the valiant performances at The Phog and Rupp Arena.

On other occasions, though, this team appears to be blinded by the moment and too in its own head to play this game the way Dennis Gates intends it to be played: free-flowing and fast-paced. We’ve seen this throughout SEC play, but also in moments against Jackson State, SC State, Memphis and Seton Hall.

This isn’t a topic I’d normally discuss, as we generally stick to the X’s and O’s, player performances or game trends on the site. But,…