Do you hear that? The sound of the shoes squeaking on the hardwood. The lights shutting off, with the introduction music blasting your eardrums. The sound of a net being laced by a 3-pointer. Ladies and gentlemen, we are so freaking back.
In just three days and roughly six hours, the Tigers will take the floor in Manhattan, Kansas, looking to get a friendly win over Kansas State before the real season kicks off.
Pro day has people buzzing. Bryson Tiller looks well-polished, Trent Pierce continues to develop heading into his senior season, and the freshman class looks to be coming into their own.
At media day, Trent Pierce had this to say about the team’s hunger this season: “You talk about the amount of teams that I’ve been a part of here at Mizzou, and I don’t think I’ve been a part of a team- no, I know for a fact I haven’t been apart of a team that works as hard as the guys that we have. It’s just a kind of hunger that we have.”
If that doesn’t want to make you run through a brick wall, I don’t know what will.
A lot has been made about the talent that this roster holds and for good reason. The Tigers bring in two 5-stars and McDonald’s All-Americans in Jason Crowe Jr. and Toni Bryant. Both are poised to start, per Dennis Gates in an interview with Matt Norlander at SEC Media Day. Also, don’t sleep on 4-star Aidan Chronister. Chronister can tend to be overshadowed by the aforementioned, but Chronister is a flamethrower and a good athlete. He will see the floor and get his oppurtunities this season.
The transfer portal class is highlighted by Bryson Tiller, who came into Kansas last year as a high-end 4-star. Tiller averaged nearly 8 points per game and 6 rebounds per game. Tiller looks to improve his ability to stretch the floor and will be a defensive anchor as well.
The Tigers bring in Jamier Jones, who averaged 11.9 points per game as a freshman at Providence. Jones will be a slasher for this team and shoot the occasional trey ball. Jones is a get-out-in-transition kind of guy, and he excels in that department.
Kennard Davis Jr. is the combo guard coming in from BYU. Davis averaged 8.5 points per game last year and is a solid rotational guy. I don’t think Davis will start, but I wouldn’t be surprised to see him as the 6th man.
It’s important to mention CJ Gunn as well. Gunn is eligible at the moment, thanks to a Boone County judge granting a TRO, but that could change at any time. Gunn is a sharpshooter who might be the second most talented pure scorer on this team behind Crowe.
Guys like Cord Stansberry, Jordan Crawford, and Jaylen Carey will all be solid rotational pieces as well. Trent Pierce, Trent Burns, Luke Northweather, Aaron Rowe, Nicholas Randall, and Mark Mitchell all return. Mitchell is in the same department as CJ Gunn with the TRO situation, as he is currently eligible as well.
I’d go deeper, but this isn’t a preview article. Instead, here are a few things that you should look for on Friday night against Kansas State:
- Jason Crowe’s ability to be a playmaker:
If I were a betting man, I’d bet my house that Jason Crowe will probably lead this team in shooting attempts this season. After all, he’s the California high school leading scorer, and he gets to his shots effortlessly. That’s a good combo for a volume shooter. However, Crowe will be tasked with playing the point guard position, elevating his role on this team further.
At SEC Media Day, Jason Crowe was asked about what part of his game he wants people to see this season. He would go on to talk about his ability to score, but his primary answer to that question was being a true point guard and being able to facilitate. Over the summer, to help with this, Dennis Gates did not allow the freshman to use ball screens.
I think this team can have an eye-popping assist count this year. Crowe will likely find himself a lot of paint touches, which can easily result in drive and kick threes. I will also be looking for his ability to get out in transition, drawing defenders and keeping his head up on the fast break. This is the first step to an explosive Missouri offense.
2. The backup point situation:
Right now, I think there are two options for this spot, maybe three. Option number one is seemingly Kennard Davis Jr. Davis is not a natural point guard, but he can play the position.
Option two will greatly affect whether option one is the sure-fire outcome. The second option is sophomore Aaron Rowe. Rowe redshirted last season and was a 4-star recruit coming out of Tolton High School here in Columbia.
Despite Rowe boasting a smaller frame, standing at roughly 6’2 and 160 pounds, Rowe has been heralded as the strongest guy on the team pound for pound. This was said by director of athletic performance, Sean Conaty.
If Rowe can continue to develop, I think the backup role is his. Either way, both guys will likely get run at the one spot on Friday, so this will be a good chance to evaluate the position.
3. How this team shoots the trey:
I don’t think that the three ball will be a major weakness for this team. However, I think this team will operate in the paint a lot, especially with a lot of off-ball cutting actions. Rightfully so, given this team’s size and athleticism.
It’ll be interesting to see how efficient this team can be beyond the arc. The number I’ll give it is 35%. Fairly average, nothing special about it. But absolutely good enough to aid you in winning games, especially if that’s not the primary shot that you’re looking for.
I’d like to see guys like Toni Bryant, Jamier Jones, and Bryson Tiller all be fearless beyond the perimeter. All three are not known for their shooting ability, but they are all capable shooters who should take the shots when they present themselves.
4. How this team defends:
Lastly, I’m very intrigued to watch this team defend. If you have followed Dennis Gates for any period of time, you would know that his beloved mentor is former Florida State head coach Leonard Hamilton. Gates served as an assistant at FSU before winding up at Cleveland State, and then inevitably at Missouri.
The thing that made Hamilton’s teams so unique was the size and athleticism of those teams and their ability to defend all five positions. Hamilton’s starting lineups were long and athletic. Heck, that goes for the entire team.
It’ll be interesting to see how the added length of this team, along with the athleticism, aids areas like defensive rotations, switching, picking up 94-feet, etc.
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