No-layups-no-dunks rule brings toughness to Mizzou practice

Several Missouri basketball players recently were fitted for mouthpieces to wear during practice and games.

It’s a subtle but defining statement about the new reality for the Tigers’ program entering coach Kim Anderson’s third season.

“We didn’t have any guys wearing mouthpieces last year,” sophomore forward Kevin Puryear said. “This year, we’ve got four, so I think that speaks a lot about the physicality. It’s very high energy and high tempo. The competition level is great every single day.”

A major reason for that is the no-layups-no-dunks rule instituted by assistant coach Steve Shields during the first week of practice.

Basically, if a defense gives up an uncontested bucket at the rim, there’s swift and embarrassing punishment, which has altered Mizzou’s collective mindset.

During one recent practice, freshman forward Mitchell Smith knew contact was coming when fellow freshman Reed Nikko got the ball on a three-on-two break.

Both players are 6-feet-10, but Nikko has a 40-pound weight advantage. Smith didn’t hesitate.

“You’re either going to get on the line (for wind sprints) or you’re going to do push-ups if they get a dunk, so I had to go up with him,” Smith said. “It was challenging, but there’s no easy buckets here. That’s our defensive motto.”

Physicality — or a lack of it — has been an issue during Anderson’s first two seasons, which featured identical 3-15 records (and last-place finishes) in SEC play.

The goal is to change that.

“If you go in there (the paint), you’re going to get hit … ,” freshman forward Willie Jackson said. “It’s basically just a toughness thing.”

But it’s not needless violence at the rim.

“It’s not to go up and foul real hard on purpose,” Jackson said. “It’s to make (teammates) better, because in a game you’re going to get those players that want to go up with you, and you’ve got to be able to finish through it.”

It’s a shift that Mizzou, which was picked to finish last in the SEC once again, hopes will allow it climb from the conference cellar by season’s end.

“We’re going to play guys who are bigger than us and taller than us,” Smith said. “With that motto, we’re not going in there with a small-guy mentality. We’re going in there like we can bang right back with you. That increases our confidence and should make us play a lot tougher.”

Certainly, it has boosted the physicality and competition at practice, but not just on plays at the rim.

“It increased it a lot, because it’s basically you on an island — it’s you and your man,” freshman guard Frankie Hughes said. “You can’t let him get past you. If you do, it’s possible you’re putting your teammate in foul trouble or something. It gives you more responsibilities and makes you more accountable for things.”

Anderson meets with Dierks Bentley

During a tour stop Friday at Mizzou Arena, country music star Dierks Bentley donned a Tigers jersey for the encore.

“That was the highlight of my week … ,” Anderson said. “I thought it was pretty neat Dierks Bentley was wearing a Mizzou jersey.”

Bentley’s father, Leon, was born in Glasgow, Mo., near Boonville and was awarded a varsity letter for basketball at MU in 1943.

Leon wore No. 15, but Anderson couldn’t locate that jersey number and instead gave Bentley a No. 10 jersey.

Anderson met with Bentley before his show and presented him with the jersey, which Bentley wore during the encore.

This story was originally published October 25, 2016 at 6:19 PM with the headline "No-layups-no-dunks rule brings toughness to Mizzou practice."