OK, Cuonzo Martin, let's see you do your coaching thing.
His Missouri Tigers on Monday night labored through a miserable 67-62 non-loss to Emporia State, a middling Division II team. On Tuesday they learned that superstar recruit Michael Porter Jr. will miss most or all of the remaining season after undergoing back surgery.
Those back-to-back developments left TigerFan reeling. Monday's game, like the blowout loss at Utah, represented zero improvement over the dreadful Kim Anderson Era.
Then the demise of Porter Jr. crushed the expectations of an energized fan base. There is a chance his Mizzou basketball career will consist of 1 minute 40 seconds and one put-back basket against Iowa State.
There is a chance he could still depart for the NBA despite making only a cameo appearance for the Tigers.
There is a chance he will have roughly the same on-court impact on the program as, say, Martavian Payne.
(Porter Jr. did help the program recruit other top recruits, including "little" brother Jontay, and he did drive ticket sales. So his historic signing wasn't a complete loss, even if he never plays again in Columbia.)
As a fan noted today on the street, this is such a Mizzou development. Another Tony VanZant moment, the College Sports Gods frowning down on poor Truman.
They gave long-suffering fans a special gift, then yanked it away. We know what happened to Mizzou football after the TVZ fiasco, so longtime fans can't help but fret.
What looked to be a NCAA Tournament team back in the summer suddenly looks a lot more like the sub-par squad we saw the last three seasons.
So Martin must get busy. He inherited some talent from Anderson, notably Kevin Puryear and Jordan Barnett. Big Reed Nikko is making himself useful, too.
But this team will rise or fall on the surviving newcomers Martin and Co. must mold.
_Can Jontay Porter, whose profile grows in his brother's absence, accelerate his development?
_Can ever-aggressive Jeremiah Tilmon stay out of foul trouble long enough to rule the lane at both ends?
_Can energetic Blake Harris grow into the point guard role?
_Can veteran guard Kassius Robertson settle in as the 3-point shooter?
If the answer to all those questions is "yes," then perhaps Missouri can still win 20 games while starting down the long road back from oblivion. Perhaps the Tigers can win more than they lose in the SEC and become hard to play at home.
Remember, Martin still has a solid 10-player rotation on paper.
That Monday performance sent off all sorts of warning flares, however. The Tigers walked the ball up the court and hammered the rims with errant 3-pointers chucked from every angle.
Their defense was suspect, given the lesser competition. And when the Tigers did block a shot or poke a ball free, they seemed in no mood to push the ball and exploit their athletic advantage.
My favorite moment: Missouri turned Emporia State over at midcourt, broke out on a potential four-on-one break ... which died after a pass to the deep left corner and a turnover off the subsequent forced drive.
If you don't have a great half-court offense _ and it's safe to put the Tigers in that category today _ then why not push the pace?
Missouri has some big guys that run the court well and lots of guys that can handle the ball. So go!
That's not Martin's style, but then again this is not the team he expected to coach. He needs to adapt to what he has and make the most of it.
If he can pull this group together and win some games, he could keep the recruiting machinery grinding and push past this setback. But if the Tigers fall apart at the seam, then the quick program turnaround we expected could turn into a long slog.
