Mizzou basketball team trying to build chemistry during preseason workouts

Missouri coach Kim Anderson is confident that the pieces he has to build the 2015-2016 men’s basketball team fit together better than they did last season.

Of course, that comes with a caveat.

“The important thing for this team is going to be to play well together, to have good chemistry,” Anderson said. “Last year’s team did not have good chemistry. That’s no breaking news. Nothing against the guys, there just wasn’t great chemistry. This team’s been better so far, but we haven’t had any adversity either.”

Adversity found the Tigers immediately in Anderson’s first season, which started with a shocking loss to the University of Missouri-Kansas City in the opener and finished with only nine victories.

Understandably, Anderson, his staff and players would just as soon forget the 2014-2015 campaign, which included a program-worst 13-game losing skid and last-place finish in the Southeastern Conference.

“The guys that are here that stayed … have a desire to obviously improve on the way that we played last year, the way the season went,” Anderson said. “It was a tough year. It was a challenging year. I really haven’t talked much about it. It’s almost like you hope you get a do-over, which you don’t, but I just haven’t talked a lot about it. They know what happened.”

The Tigers also know it doesn’t have to happen again.

“The competitiveness within this team is getting better every single day,” freshman point guard Terrence Phillips said. “... We want to shock the world and show this isn’t the same Mizzou team as last year. This is a brand-new team, brand-new faces, and we’re going to have better results this year.”

That starts with better chemistry.

“With chemistry comes leadership, and that’s one thing we didn’t have” last year, sophomore shooting guard Namon Wright said. “We didn’t have any leaders really, and we had a couple bad apples. I don’t think we have any (bad apples) this year. Our chemistry’s a lot better this year because of that, and because of what we went through and how hard we’re working to have a winning season.”

Point guard Keith Shamburger graduated along with center Keanau Post, while Johnathan Williams III (Gonzaga), Montaque Gill-Caesar (San Diego State) and Deuce Bello (East Tennessee State) transferred.

Missouri, which also had a couple open scholarships, reloaded with four freshmen — Phillips, forward Kevin Puryear from Blue Springs South and shooting guards K.J. Walton and Cullen VanLeer — and former John A. Logan junior college teammates Martavian Payne and Russell Woods.

Phillips said no one should feel pressure to replace Williams, who was last season’s leading scorer and rebounder, or Gill-Caesar.

“We’re just in here to be us … and play our game and bring energy to this program,” Phillips said. “We’re new here, so let’s just bring new life to this program.”

It’s been a welcome breath of fresh air.

“They are bringing positivity, positive energy and they always do the right thing,” Wright said. “They’re a great freshman class — not only do they work hard, but they always do the right thing off the court. That’s really important.”

Anderson and the Tigers also are well aware that a team’s pH balance can change quickly.

“Chemistry is a tricky deal,” Anderson said. “You always try to figure it out. I think that our guys, we have better chemistry now than we did a year ago. Will that continue? You know how that goes. You’ve got to win some games.”

This story was originally published September 18, 2015 at 6:18 PM with the headline "Mizzou basketball team trying to build chemistry during preseason workouts."