After a surprising, disappointing, exciting, and depressing 2017-18 that both began and ended in typical Mizzou fashion, the Tigers begin the offseason with several holes in the roster and one major recruiting target remaining.
Losses from 2017-18:
Michael Porter Jr, SF
Jordan Barnett, SF
Kassius Robertson, SG
Injured Role Players:
Cullen Van Leer
Mitchell Smith
Returning Suicide Vest:
Jordan Geist
Spoiler!
Additions:
Transfer:
He will sit out the entire season, but will have 3 years to play 3 beginning in 2019-2020
Mark Smith (former **** recruit), SG, Illinois
2018 Commitments:
Not a lot to get too excited about at this point. The success or failure of the current recruits in his class will be based upon their development rather than their Day 1 skills.
Torrence Watson, SG, **** St. Louis, MO
Javon Pickett, SG, ***, Wichita, KS
KJ Santos, SF, ***, Tallahassee FL
Xavier Pinson, PG, ***, Chicago, IL
Next year is a rebuilding year. Jontay leaving was a possibility, but not a certainty. That, combined with losing two freshman PGs to transfer and a junior shitbag PG to Cosby means that Mizzou will be bereft of experienced playmakers and ballhandlers anywhere in the backcourt, and no one with the rare ability to create in the half-court like Jontay showed. It's probably a 14 win team next year.
5/30 Edit: Jontay Porter is returning, making this team a fringe NCAA contender.
Martin has an in-home visit with Liddell left. Still like Mizzou’s chances there.
McKinney is an intriguing prospect. How the jumper develops will determine how good he becomes, but he’s a premium athlete who can get to the rim. Athletic, quick lefties are a tough matchup. He also should be a standout defender. [Reply]
But in all seriousness this bolds very well for us to land Liddell. Next year will probably be a down year unless someone really steps up, I'm looking at you Mr. Tilmon, but damn do the years after that look good, especially if we land Liddell. I wasnt happy with Martin, but I think he is really going to turn us around and could be Mizzou basketball's best head coach. [Reply]
Originally Posted by dlphg9:
Commitments this early worry me
Because Mizzou
But in all seriousness this bolds very well for us to land Liddell. Next year will probably be a down year unless someone really steps up, I'm looking at you Mr. Tilmon, but damn do the years after that look good, especially if we land Liddell. I wasnt happy with Martin, but I think he is really going to turn us around and could be Mizzou basketball's best head coach.
I don't see why it has to be considered a down year with the transfers coming in. [Reply]
Dry Smith and Mark Smith - the transfers - are both quality ball handlers. Dru is a true PG and Mark is a big combo guard. They’ll help a ton.
This year’s squad still will have to rely on Geist more than you’d like, but there are more ballhandlers around him and Xavier Pinson is a quick twitch athlete and tough Chicago kid. I think Pinson will be solid against pressure. [Reply]
Originally Posted by duncan_idaho:
Dry Smith and Mark Smith - the transfers - are both quality ball handlers. Dru is a true PG and Mark is a big combo guard. They’ll help a ton.
This year’s squad still will have to rely on Geist more than you’d like, but there are more ballhandlers around him and Xavier Pinson is a quick twitch athlete and tough Chicago kid. I think Pinson will be solid against pressure.
Pinson is my sleeper. I think CM is going to love the kid and he'll force his way into that rotation.
As for McKinney - I'll say that his commitment means less than not getting it would have. If they don't get that done, this class is a pending disaster. By getting it done, they have a chance for the class to remain fairly average.
They still really need lidell. I wish I knew anything at all about Chris Guess but I feel like he's probably just a rotational player when all is said and done. Doesn't seem big enough to be a premium option in the front court or skilled enough to be a wing. I'm guessing they'll try to coach him into that roll and hope they can get his game up enough to play as a stretch 3 but I just don't see the ball skills or shooting ability to really excel in that roll. He's not gonna become Jordan Barnett out there. [Reply]
Originally Posted by dlphg9:
Mainly because we really don't have a PG worth a shit. All teams have to do is press us and we crumble.
As Duncan mentioned, that changes with the two transfer guards. Pinson will also be a sophomore and hopefully will have shown improvement and growth in the weight room as a freshman. McKinney will get minutes as a freshman. We won't be the top team in the SEC, butit certainly shouldn't be a down year. This year was supposed to be the down year before Porter came back. [Reply]
Originally Posted by OKchiefs:
As Duncan mentioned, that changes with the two transfer guards. Pinson will also be a sophomore and hopefully will have shown improvement and growth in the weight room as a freshman. McKinney will get minutes as a freshman. We won't be the top team in the SEC, butit certainly shouldn't be a down year. This year was supposed to be the down year before Porter came back.
I see.
I believe he is referring to 'next year' as the upcoming season.
In either event, I agree that the '19-'20 season should be a nice year even after Jontay leaves presuming that we get Liddell and we get plenty of growth from Pinson and Watson. Watson's development will be huge. If he tracks the way Mark Smith did at Illinois, we could be in some trouble... [Reply]
Originally Posted by dlphg9:
Yep my bad. By next year I mean this year. Next year I think they will be good.
Okay, my bad. I guess this year will be somewhat of a down year due to the lack of PG options, but I think we'll still be competitive with Porter coming back and with hopefully an improved Tillmon. I guess we'll see! [Reply]
Originally Posted by dlphg9:
Commitments this early worry me
Because Mizzou
But in all seriousness this bolds very well for us to land Liddell. Next year will probably be a down year unless someone really steps up, I'm looking at you Mr. Tilmon, but damn do the years after that look good, especially if we land Liddell. I wasnt happy with Martin, but I think he is really going to turn us around and could be Mizzou basketball's best head coach.
Re: Liddell Current predictions are leaning to Ohio State. Martin will make another in-home visit before he decides.
Liddell is hard to read because he’s a soft-spoken, humble kid who has a hard time saying no to people. I won’t count Martin out until he actually is out.
Re: the upcoming season, I expect Watson and Santos to be upgrades as ball handlers from Barnett. Both are better off the bounce than Barnett, which should help with pressure. They just have more bodies and more quick twitch and size to throw at it.
Re: Guess, I see an athletic swingman who may be insane from what I hear, but he did put up big scoring numbers in the toughest league in Ohio. Don’t know if he contributes this year, but I get why Martin was interested. [Reply]