The distribution of thoughts is going to be a little different today just because we're coming off the bye week and it's basketball opening day.
FOOTBALL
Jamal Roberts should continue getting more carries even if Nate Noel is back and healthy this week.
I would expect the backfield to become a three-headed monster, especially with the amount of running the Tigers are going to have to do if Brady Cook isn’t able play long term.
The running back room next year looks kind of thin at this point, though I'm sure Eli Drinkwitz will hit the portal hard for another option once again, but Missouri has a chance to get a freshman who has looked good fully up to speed in game action. I'm not saying this because this year is over, but in college football, there always has to be an eye on the following season.
I think the best thing the Tigers could do for their backfield next year is to get Roberts rolling and confident through the last four games.
I would say you could do the same with Kewan Lacy, but he's still eligible for a redshirt as long as he doesn't go back on the field in the regular season, so I would expect the Tigers to do their best to maintain that and give him an extra year.
Speaking of Cook not being able to return.
I've said it a couple of times and I'll say it again, the offense has to look different if he's not on the field and I don't think he will be.
We're down to the stretch run with a month of regular-season ball left. Wow that went quick.
As much as I and others have talked about the talent in the receiver room or the expectations of an offense coming off an elite season with a majority of its key players returning, it's time to accept that's not what this year is. And it's not what the last four weeks are going to look like.
Freshman Aidan Glover is the only option in the quarterback room who has the skill set to run the offense built for Cook, but I have to believe there would have been chatter about him around the team if he was close to ready.
I haven't heard any of that chatter.
Which means it's either Drew Pyne again or JR Blood.
We've seen the inability of Pyne to run the offense built for Cook. The best drives he's led were heavy running ones.
Look at the field goal drive against Auburn just before Cook came back in.
There were two short passes to Luther Burden early, then it was runs of 6, 7 and 20 yards from Nate Noel and Marcus Carroll to get 33 of the 44 total yards the team moved from its own 35 to the Auburn 21.
If it's Pyne this week, that has to be the formula. Run, run, run some more and then maybe have him throw a short crossing route to Burden or a stop to Theo Wease. Maybe add in some screens, the lack of which has continued to surprise me through the year.
If Noel is back and healthy, the Tigers have three serviceable-to-good running backs. Use them and lean on a legitimately very good defense to win some rock fights against other teams that struggle to score.
BASKETBALL
I continue to grow more worried about Tony Perkins’ status.
It’s entirely possible that it’s unnecessary worry based on Dennis Gates just being a little all over the place with his answers in press conferences.
That’s been a thing with him since he got to Columbia.
But the past two years, he’s also had a guard dealing with an injury or something off the court who fans and media were told wasn’t a big deal or they would be back soon.
Isiaih Mosley and John Tonje both played at points, but they were sold as major parts of the team a step away from returning full time and neither ever did.
I’m hopeful Perkins will play and maybe this whole idea will be out of date by the end of the night if he’s on the floor and controlling the offense.
But I think there’s a good chance Anthony Robinson is bringing the ball up from the start tonight and if that’s the case, I’ll be watching closely to what the rotation looks like and who else fills that role when Robinson is off the floor.
Memphis is a tougher test than most teams open the season with.
Both sets of Tigers are almost completely rebuilt from last season, so I expect a bit of sloppy play or miscommunication from both teams, but both coaches have done a good job in exactly this situation recently.
It will be an interesting test to see where Missouri actually sits coming into the season.
I kind of hate the usual non-conference setup. What am I supposed to learn about the Tigers from watching them beat Howard by 40 on Friday? It gives a look at some guys who might not play a ton, sure, but it’s a look against a level of competition they won’t play against after December, so what does that really tell us?
This game will give us an actual indication of where the strengths and flaws are coming into the season and what needs to be worked on before Missouri gets to the tough stretch of the non-conference schedule.
WOMEN'S BASKETBALL
I'm fascinated by how Robin Pingeton is going to use her post players.
Hannah Linthacum is a year older and stronger, Angelique Ngalakulondi is back and healthy, Lucija Milkovic looked very good in the scrimmage and Tionna Herron should be back and available today.
That’s more legitimate post options than Pingeton has had in years. Now, I don’t think any are going to be as good as say LaDazhia Williams was a few years ago, but being able to consistently rotate in the post is a huge improvement.
Ngalakulondi is a bit undersized for a five, so if Pingeton wants to go to a big lineup, she could even move her up to the four and have two posts on the floor. When was the last time that was a real possibility outside of all the Linthacums getting the chance to play together in garbage time?
Hayley Frank shouldn’t have been playing in the post, her skill set was more tailored to a wing type, but she was forced to because the Tigers didn’t have other options in the paint. Now they do. So the question becomes, how will Pingeton use them?
Along that idea.
I was impressed by Milkovic during the scrimmage, but from what I’ve heard, she doesn’t have the cardio stamina to play for long periods. Same with Herron who is still recovering from open-heart surgery she had two years ago.
I figure they’ll be the third and fourth options anyway, at least early on, so they might not need to play more than 5-minutes at a time, but having those options to spell Linthacum and Ngalakulondi could be big for the Tigers, especially once they start playing tougher competition with better post players.
The SEC has a lot of strong post players, so having multiple options who can give different looks throughout the game should be a huge help for the Tigers’ success through the year.
I think the other question I had heading in to the scrimmage, (who will be taking the ball up the court and running point?) was pretty well answered by Nyah Wilson.
Wilson looked great running the offense, granted against majorly inferior competition (see the men's thought about non-conference schedules and how little you can actually learn from them), but I think she showed she's the No. 1 option at point guard.
Otherwise, the team will still run through Ashton Judd and Grace Slaughter. I'm interested to see how much Averi Kroenke gets back into the rotation early. Her freshman season, it seemed like she was going to be the next team leader, but it seems like she's maybe been pushed to the bench to start the season.
QUESTIONS
I don’t love leaving these questions as sports related, but it’s opening day.
How is everyone feeling in the leadup to basketball season? What do you expect to see tonight and what are you looking for that would tell you the Tigers are on the right path early in the season?
Since we already did one sports question, let’s knock two out and get back to non-sports questions next week.
We’re to the final third of the football season, I know it hasn’t lived up to many people’s expectations and going forward, expectations need to be tampered depending on Cook’s health. (We’ll see if Drinkwitz lets media in to practice this week. I have a feeling he won't).
What could the team do the final four weeks of the regular season to make you look back and say “overall, pretty good season?”
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