I bought "The Alamanac" from the Field of 68, which is their big preseason preview looking at every team in the country. Here's how they see things in the SEC.
Projected Standings
1. Texas A&M
2. Tennessee
3. Alabama
4. Arkansas
5. Mississippi State
6. Kentucky
7. Florida
8. Auburn
9. Missouri
10 Ole Miss
11. Vanderbilt
12. LSU
13. Georgia
14. South Carolina
None of Missouri's players were picked for the all-conference teams, but the Tigers were picked as the "Sleeper Team" in the Coaches' Poll.
In the Mizzou-specific preview, they wrote about how the team is going back to the drawing board after losing eight players: “It’s been like this every year of my career,” Gates said. “I’m OK, I can build a team.”
Gates said that Kobe Brown and D'Moi Hodge were important, "But the person that I could not lose was Nick Honor. If we didn’t have him, I wouldn’t be comfortable as a coach.”
He said Caleb Grill has been a joy to coach. He thinks Tamar Bates is in a better system now outside the Big 10 and will get to play more like he did in high school. He called Kaleb Brown his most improved player this summer -- "He will be in our top eight."
Gates said he thinks Trent Pierce is a guard, not a forward. He called Jordan Butler's jumper smoother than Connor Vanover's. When asked about the team's poor defensive rebounding rate, Gates said it's not a major concern for him: “Would you rather win 25 games or win the rebounding battle?” Mabor Majak will play minutes, according to the preview.
He publicly challenged Aidan Shaw, saying he has great instincts and great athleticism and can be an unbelievable player, “but his rebounding rate is terrible. Without sprinting every play, without tip dunks, no one will see his strengths."
The preview lists Noah Carter as the team's X-factor. “No one was happier that Kobe Brown left than Noah Carter,” Gates said with a laugh. He wants Carter to round out his game to do more of the things that Kobe did for them last year, like rebounding, being positive assist-to-turnover guy and getting more active defensively.
"On paper, the Tigers look like the kind of high-major program that wins 20 games, picks off a couple of big names in their league and does just enough to avoid a play-in game in the NCAA Tournament." The preview called this the safest bet when projecting what this year will look like.
But there's two things to take note of:
1) Dennis Gates is objectively a very good coach and has consistently outperformed expectations every year. "Why bet on that changing?"
2) Mizzou was 8-0 in games decided by five points or fewer last year. Will the team be able to replicate that or was it just luck?
The preview ends by saying the Tigers have the ceiling to be a top-four team again, but that there are a wide range of outcomes for how this season shakes out.
Projected Standings
1. Texas A&M
2. Tennessee
3. Alabama
4. Arkansas
5. Mississippi State
6. Kentucky
7. Florida
8. Auburn
9. Missouri
10 Ole Miss
11. Vanderbilt
12. LSU
13. Georgia
14. South Carolina
None of Missouri's players were picked for the all-conference teams, but the Tigers were picked as the "Sleeper Team" in the Coaches' Poll.
In the Mizzou-specific preview, they wrote about how the team is going back to the drawing board after losing eight players: “It’s been like this every year of my career,” Gates said. “I’m OK, I can build a team.”
Gates said that Kobe Brown and D'Moi Hodge were important, "But the person that I could not lose was Nick Honor. If we didn’t have him, I wouldn’t be comfortable as a coach.”
He said Caleb Grill has been a joy to coach. He thinks Tamar Bates is in a better system now outside the Big 10 and will get to play more like he did in high school. He called Kaleb Brown his most improved player this summer -- "He will be in our top eight."
Gates said he thinks Trent Pierce is a guard, not a forward. He called Jordan Butler's jumper smoother than Connor Vanover's. When asked about the team's poor defensive rebounding rate, Gates said it's not a major concern for him: “Would you rather win 25 games or win the rebounding battle?” Mabor Majak will play minutes, according to the preview.
He publicly challenged Aidan Shaw, saying he has great instincts and great athleticism and can be an unbelievable player, “but his rebounding rate is terrible. Without sprinting every play, without tip dunks, no one will see his strengths."
The preview lists Noah Carter as the team's X-factor. “No one was happier that Kobe Brown left than Noah Carter,” Gates said with a laugh. He wants Carter to round out his game to do more of the things that Kobe did for them last year, like rebounding, being positive assist-to-turnover guy and getting more active defensively.
"On paper, the Tigers look like the kind of high-major program that wins 20 games, picks off a couple of big names in their league and does just enough to avoid a play-in game in the NCAA Tournament." The preview called this the safest bet when projecting what this year will look like.
But there's two things to take note of:
1) Dennis Gates is objectively a very good coach and has consistently outperformed expectations every year. "Why bet on that changing?"
2) Mizzou was 8-0 in games decided by five points or fewer last year. Will the team be able to replicate that or was it just luck?
The preview ends by saying the Tigers have the ceiling to be a top-four team again, but that there are a wide range of outcomes for how this season shakes out.
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