So since no one else is going to start this thread I guess I will. We have a few new players that hopefully can contribute big time. This year's incoming class is led by 4 star recruit Tray Jackson, a 6' 8" PF, that was ranked as the number 84 recruit in the nation. Included in the class are two 3 star recruits Mario McKinney and Kobe Brown.
Coming off a disappointing 2018-2019 season in which they went 15-17, but lost the best player on the team before the season started, hopefully they can get back to the NCAA tourney again and maybe win a couple games. This is a big year for Martin and hopefully this is the year everything comes together. [Reply]
They have GOT to get over these early game yips. Cold shooting I could live with but the terrible ball-control and haphazard defense in the first 5 minutes of games is getting awfully old.
They buried themselves early and anytime they had a chance to get to 5-7 down, Butler would bury a 3 to keep the margin at/near double digits until Mizzou finally ran out of gas down the stretch.
Against a mediocre team you can start out slow and fight your way back. But against quality opponents - potential tournament teams - you may even be a little better than they are but you're not so much better that you can spot them double digits and make up for it.
You re-set the score after 15-3 and that would've been a neck and neck slugfest for the remainder of the game. But that's not how it works and it's the same damn thing they did against Xavier.
They have got to come out ready to play. They're a solid squad but not good enough to dig out of these god-awful pits they're putting themselves in. Especially when they're a result of terrible turnovers. [Reply]
Originally Posted by DJ's left nut:
They have GOT to get over these early game yips. Cold shooting I could live with but the terrible ball-control and haphazard defense in the first 5 minutes of games is getting awfully old.
They buried themselves early and anytime they had a chance to get to 5-7 down, Butler would bury a 3 to keep the margin at/near double digits until Mizzou finally ran out of gas down the stretch.
Against a mediocre team you can start out slow and fight your way back. But against quality opponents - potential tournament teams - you may even be a little better than they are but you're not so much better that you can spot them double digits and make up for it.
You re-set the score after 15-3 and that would've been a neck and neck slugfest for the remainder of the game. But that's not how it works and it's the same damn thing they did against Xavier.
They have got to come out ready to play. They're a solid squad but not good enough to dig out of these god-awful pits they're putting themselves in. Especially when they're a result of terrible turnovers.
How the hell do you have 2 starters that finish with goose eggs? Tilmon and Pickett combined for 28 minutes 0 points, 0 assists, and 3 rebounds, you're not gonna win too many games when 2 of your best players put up that bad of a performance. On top of that Mark Smith was only able to score 4 points in 33 minutes. Mark Smith averages the 2nd most points on the team at 12 ppg and Tilmon is 3rd at 10 ppg.
It seems like it was just a game that started put bad for a few guys and they never seemed to recover. So hopefully that's something they can get fixed and if they can this team is good enough to be a top 25 team and is pretty young. Im hoping that as the season goes along we get more production from the younger guys. Right now our top 3 scorers are Jr's, but then we have
4. Pinson (SO) 9.3 ppg
5. Brown (FR) 6.8 ppg
6. Pickett (SO) 4.7 ppg
7. Jackson (FR) 4.0 ppg
9. Watson (SO) 2.5 ppg
Hopefully these guys start taking more minutes from Nikko and Mitchell Smith. Nikko is only getting around 6 minutes a game, but Smith is getting 13 minutes a game. I'd like to see them both start getting around 5 minutes a game, because they suck. If they both were getting 5 minutes a game then that would open up 9-10 minutes for Jackson and Brown to split. It would also be a much more athletic lineup, but it would give us the best chance to win. [Reply]
What has Tilmon's mind got to be like right now? Dude fouls a lot, sure. But he gets called for shit I never see anyone else on the court called for. He's got to just go out there wondering what he has to do.
Originally Posted by dlphg9:
How the hell do you have 2 starters that finish with goose eggs? Tilmon and Pickett combined for 28 minutes 0 points, 0 assists, and 3 rebounds, you're not gonna win too many games when 2 of your best players put up that bad of a performance. On top of that Mark Smith was only able to score 4 points in 33 minutes. Mark Smith averages the 2nd most points on the team at 12 ppg and Tilmon is 3rd at 10 ppg.
It seems like it was just a game that started put bad for a few guys and they never seemed to recover. So hopefully that's something they can get fixed and if they can this team is good enough to be a top 25 team and is pretty young. Im hoping that as the season goes along we get more production from the younger guys. Right now our top 3 scorers are Jr's, but then we have
4. Pinson (SO) 9.3 ppg
5. Brown (FR) 6.8 ppg
6. Pickett (SO) 4.7 ppg
7. Jackson (FR) 4.0 ppg
9. Watson (SO) 2.5 ppg
Hopefully these guys start taking more minutes from Nikko and Mitchell Smith. Nikko is only getting around 6 minutes a game, but Smith is getting 13 minutes a game. I'd like to see them both start getting around 5 minutes a game, because they suck. If they both were getting 5 minutes a game then that would open up 9-10 minutes for Jackson and Brown to split. It would also be a much more athletic lineup, but it would give us the best chance to win.
I agree on cutting Mitchell Smith’s minutes. More for Brown and Jackson.
I disagree this is a team with top 25 talent. They don’t have anyone who can really break guys down off the dribble and create for himself and others. They don’t have a true low post scoring threat. They don’t push the pace and get transition buckets or secondary transition baskets.
They’re good defensively (though they couldn’t keep any of Butler’s guards in front of them last night), but the offense is so badly designed that it isn’t the strength it should be. [Reply]
Originally Posted by duncan_idaho:
I agree on cutting Mitchell Smith’s minutes. More for Brown and Jackson.
I disagree this is a team with top 25 talent. They don’t have anyone who can really break guys down off the dribble and create for himself and others. They don’t have a true low post scoring threat. They don’t push the pace and get transition buckets or secondary transition baskets.
They’re good defensively (though they couldn’t keep any of Butler’s guards in front of them last night), but the offense is so badly designed that it isn’t the strength it should be.
How many teams have guys that can do BOTH of those things, though? A player that can break guys down, create for himself AND teammates is a premier player.
Mark Smith is a pretty good isolation player that had a bad day. Dru Smith is a good distributor with solid handles but not quite the first step quickness to blow by guys (outstanding body control though; definitely a guy who can be a plus finisher).
And then there's the most maddening player on the team - Xavier Pinson. Pinson can absolutely flash both of those things. He has a PGs eye and a SGs conscious. And the body of a 12 year old but that's better than the 9 year old he looked like last year.
In-season development will be so critical to this squad because none of those 3 guys have a ton of Power 5 basketball experience. That's worth noting when all 3 of them occasionally demonstrate the attributes you're looking for.
But man, I didn't realize Tilmon was that bad yesterday. I knew he was largely absent but not THAT absent. That's real bad and something he can't allow to happen. Not if Mizzou hopes to make the tournament.
I think it's fair to say that Mizzou doesn't have slam-dunk top 25 ability right now, but they have that potential and more. Especially if Kobe Brown can continue to develop something of a point-forward's game and get his range figured out.
And I get a REAL bad feeling we're gonna see "Torrence Watson has entered the transfer portal" by Christmas. This is just the kind of thing you see happening to kids that don't quite buy in. They press, they make stupid mistakes, their minutes dwindle, they press worse....they leave. And if he transfers out now he'd be post-season eligible for his new squad next year.
I love the potential there but it just looks like a looooooong road to him re-earning Cuonzo's trust and I'm just not sure he's gonna be up for that. [Reply]
Originally Posted by DJ's left nut:
How many teams have guys that can do BOTH of those things, though? A player that can break guys down, create for himself AND teammates is a premier player.
Mark Smith is a pretty good isolation player that had a bad day. Dru Smith is a good distributor with solid handles but not quite the first step quickness to blow by guys (outstanding body control though; definitely a guy who can be a plus finisher).
And then there's the most maddening player on the team - Xavier Pinson. Pinson can absolutely flash both of those things. He has a PGs eye and a SGs conscious. And the body of a 12 year old but that's better than the 9 year old he looked like last year.
In-season development will be so critical to this squad because none of those 3 guys have a ton of Power 5 basketball experience. That's worth noting when all 3 of them occasionally demonstrate the attributes you're looking for.
But man, I didn't realize Tilmon was that bad yesterday. I knew he was largely absent but not THAT absent. That's real bad and something he can't allow to happen. Not if Mizzou hopes to make the tournament.
I think it's fair to say that Mizzou doesn't have slam-dunk top 25 ability right now, but they have that potential and more. Especially if Kobe Brown can continue to develop something of a point-forward's game and get his range figured out.
And I get a REAL bad feeling we're gonna see "Torrence Watson has entered the transfer portal" by Christmas. This is just the kind of thing you see happening to kids that don't quite buy in. They press, they make stupid mistakes, their minutes dwindle, they press worse....they leave. And if he transfers out now he'd be post-season eligible for his new squad next year.
I love the potential there but it just looks like a looooooong road to him re-earning Cuonzo's trust and I'm just not sure he's gonna be up for that.
Both Watson and Pickett have seemingly regressed since last year. Not seeing much development lately under CM. [Reply]
Originally Posted by DJ's left nut:
Fist your mother, mopey ****.
People on here seem to have no concept that rebuilding program takes 3-5 years. I always get shit for it in the college football thread same can apply to your basketball team. Martin did a very good job his first year, other theb tonight they've been pretty competitive. That's all you can really ask for this year. [Reply]