Snyder knows he must improve results next season

Associated Press

COLUMBIA, Mo. -- Although it might be win or else next season for Quin Snyder, Missouri's coach said he won't change his approach.

Snyder put a lid on last season's disappointing 16-17 finish, the Tigers' first losing record since 1996-97, and talked about his hopes for the future when he met with reporters Monday for the first time since the school's first-round NIT exit. He knows it's time to produce.

''I think we always coach with a sense of urgency, and that was the approach this year, too,'' Snyder said. ''You try to stay focused on doing your job and those things take care of themselves.

''That's the arena we live in. This is college athletics; it's a high-pressure game. But that's also what makes it what it is.''

It's also what allows Snyder to shrug off rumors about him. A few weeks ago, one report had him set to resign and become an NBA assistant with the Denver Nuggets.

''There probably are more rumors about me than most people, and I think it's been that way since I got my first haircut,'' Snyder said. ''That's all part of it. It's a whole lot easier to handle that when you're winning and that's where I want to get.''

Missouri has settled for the NIT the last two seasons. Before that, Snyder was in the NCAA tournament 12 consecutive seasons as a player, assistant coach or coach.

So he's feeling as lost and cast adrift as he hopes his players are at this time of the year, settling for the Joe Fan experience in front of his television set throughout the opening rounds of the NCAA tournament.

''I couldn't get away from it,'' Snyder said. ''I watched every game on Saturday and Sunday and drove myself crazy. I hope our kids are doing the same, and I think they are.''

After the season-ending loss at home to DePaul in the first round of the NIT, Snyder said he wanted this offseason to be painful for the players. He tried to drive that point home on selection Sunday when he gathered players at the Mizzou Arena -- not in anticipation, but to deconstruct what went wrong.

''We came up here and went through a list of games and in kind of my mind, what happened and let's remember these things,'' Snyder said. ''I think it's healthy to do that. It's got to burn in our guys.''

In retrospect, Snyder said Missouri probably wound up with the type of record it deserved. The Tigers were overly content to launch the 3-pointer that they hit at only a 30.6 percent clip, lacked inside strength and didn't play much like a team.

Snyder said those problems can accompany a team already somewhat unfamiliar with each other without factoring in four freshmen. Jason Horton started at point guard, swingman Marshall Brown was a top reserve, Kalen Grimes backed up center Kevin Young and Glen Dandrige got sporadic play as a zone buster.

''At the beginning of the year you want everything for your team but when I look on the side, I know what we went through on a day-to-day basis and some of the challenges we faced, and what we didn't know about our team and what we found out,'' Snyder said. ''In many respects, we got who we were.''

Missouri students are on spring break this week, but next week Snyder will start laying the groundwork for next season, which he said could begin with an appearance in the preseason NIT. One positive aspect of being restricted to the campus for a year because of NCAA recruiting violations is Snyder will have a chance to work with the players he already has, and he'll supervise twice-a-week drills starting next week.

''One of the great things for me right now in not being able to go on the road is I'm going to handle those skill workouts myself,'' Snyder said. ''I'm excited to be on the court, working with our guys.''

Missouri loses only two players, senior guard Jason Conley and walk-on Brian Dailey, and Snyder anticipates the rest of the roster will return. That includes sophomore forward Linas Kluiza, the Tigers' leading scorer and rebounder and a force at the end of the season.