The moment seemed primed for praise.
Missouri basketball coach Cuonzo Martin had taken junior forward Kevin Puryear out of the starting lineup in hopes of helping Puryear “relax.” In his third game since Martin made the move, Puryear finished with a double-double in a win over Tennessee.
Yet Martin refused to celebrate the decision to take Puryear out of the starting lineup. When Martin heard the word he had once used — relax — in questions about Puryear, the coach flipped it around.
“I don’t want any guy to be happy coming off the bench,” Martin said.