Mizzou mailbag: Talking basketball, National Signing Day for football and more
Hello, folks. We’re starting up what will (hopefully) be a weekly mailbag on everything Mizzou football, basketball and whatever other questions you all might have.
It’s been about four months since I took over the Mizzou beat for Alex Schiffer, who’s been a great help through the transition. My first day was on the road at Nashville, where a ranked Mizzou football team suffered an upset loss to Vanderbilt in a game that’s still mind boggling.
There’s been a lot to cover since then … from the football team finishing 1-5 (I refuse to believe I’m some kind of curse), the NCAA denying MU’s infractions appeal, a coaching search, a new football coach and a basketball team that’s 10-12 and 2-7 in the SEC.
I can fully admit CoMo has exceeded my expectations, especially on the food front. I tell everyone who will listen it reminds me of my college town of East Lansing, Michigan, where I spent four years at Michigan State. If you know anything about me, I unabashedly talk about my Michigan roots whenever I can. Reminds me of some of the St. Louis and Kansas City folks I’ve met the past few months. Pleasant people, all of you.
There’s a lot to talk about considering we’ve talked about nothing so far. So let’s get started. I appreciate the questions as I get this mailbag up and running. If you want to send questions, I’ll either tweet asking for them or you can shoot them to sterada@kcstar.com.
We’re only halfway through the SEC basketball season, so there are still plenty of opportunities for wins. You never know when Mizzou randomly busts out for a bunch of three-pointers, just like the Tigers did against Florida.
It’s partly why college basketball is having such a crazy season with so many upsets … speaking of which.
Before Wednesday night, I pointed to the road game at Vanderbilt as a likely win, but then the Commodores did the unthinkable and upset first place LSU. So, yeah, college basketball this season is a tad ridiculous. Good sign for a team like Mizzou, though.
If I had to guess, that game against Mississippi on Feb. 18 at Mizzou Arena looks appealing. I also believe the Tigers can steal some home wins against Arkansas, Alabama or Mississippi State, or at least be competitive in those games.
It gets dicey on the road considering they’re 0-5 away from Mizzou Arena in SEC play, but the Vanderbilt and Mississippi road games appear alluring to me at a glance. Once the Tigers are healthy with Jeremiah Tilmon and Mark Smith, I firmly believe they look a lot more exciting to watch than the past two games.
I doubt Mizzou pulls off a 7-2 record to climb back to .500 (though crazier things have happened). But a modest showing of 4-5 or 5-4 along with clear improvements feels a lot better going into the SEC Tournament and offseason. KenPom projects Mizzou to finish 5-13 in the SEC, for what it’s worth. A few fortunate bounces can boost them to a couple wins, though.
It’s a cop-out answer, but I’m certain Martin knows whatever issue his team currently faces considering the Tigers are nowhere near where they expected to be before the season.
And look, trust me. I understand the frustrations of this Mizzou offense. I’ve been at every game, home or away, this side of 2020. When the offense isn’t clicking, it’s ugly as the Tigers go through long droughts without baskets.
But I also don’t think it’s solely an athleticism problem. When guys aren’t making wide open three-point attempts, that’s not a coaching or athleticism issue, they just need to make those shots. Take the Texas A&M game on Tuesday for example. Even if the Tigers converted on a few more baskets, the rebounding and fouling issues likely surface and prove to be the difference.
Sure, could Mizzou use a five-star prospect who can create his own shot and contribute from Day 1? Absolutely. So can every other program in the nation minus the blue bloods, but that’s because they often get their choice of top recruits.
On the athleticism front, there’s likely a middle ground somewhere. Mizzou has athletic players, guys like Xavier Pinson, Tilmon and even Tray Jackson. But if your only redeemable quality is that you’re an above-average athlete, that won’t cut it in a power conference.
For Mizzou fans’ sake, I hope so. That means the worst is over and behind the Tigers. It can always get worse, but things are slowly starting to perk up.
Tilmon back on the floor Tuesday was huge. There were a few times he drew double teams simply by having the ball in the post against Texas A&M, and that just opens up so much more for this offense. Just like Martin says, you have to make shots, but ensuring they’re open is a solid start.
I know the Tigers weren’t great even at full strength. But when you lose two of your three leading scorers in Tilmon and Mark Smith — and especially what they bring to the table — there’s bound to be major slippage.
At this point, it’s probably gut check time for the Tigers. They can either fold during the second half of the SEC season or play spoiler in fighting their way to a respectable record. Nobody predicted a lost season, but there can be some salvageable wins the rest of the way.
This was asked before National Signing Day, just for some context. But if you’re coming out of Wednesday and a Mizzou fan, I’d be pleasantly surprised along with a twinge of excitement mixed in for good measure. Beating hometown Texas and dream school Alabama to pick up Ennis Rakestraw was really impressive — and of course Drinkwitz had a reaction worthy of that.
Obviously, the unknown about Drinkwitz was that nobody really knew how he was as a recruiter. That’s the territory you get when you sign someone with one year of head coaching experience.
Even when he signed the initial 10 recruits during the early signing period, those were all former coach Barry Odom’s pledges. At the same time, retaining guys like Elijah Young and JJ Hester were huge wins, especially for an offensive-minded coach.
While Mizzou still has one of the lowest-ranked classes in the SEC according to 247Sports, that’s what happens during a coaching change. The Tigers are tied with Ole Miss with 17 recruits signed so far, another school that hired a new coach in Lane Kiffin.
The nice thing about Drinkwitz is that if you’re a fan, you can feel some optimism about the program. There are some intriguing playmakers on both sides of the ball. There will be a brand new scheme after the offense fell apart in the second half of last year.
The 2020 schedule appears favorable, meaning Drinkwitz can earn some major goodwill with a successful first season. If it’s for a fan base starving for some wins, even better for the first-year coach.
For those in the dark, Drinkwitz appeared to make a one-sentence comment on Wednesday referring to Arkansas: “A school south of us seemed to keep offering every single person we offered.” It was part of a longer answer, but it was there. It doesn’t take too much digging to figure he’s talking about the Hogs, who employ three former Mizzou staffers, including Odom.
This is after Drinkwitz was asked in December about Arkansas and the rivalry. There were some sparks between the schools during the early signing period, which he alluded to. At one point, Dominique Johnson dropped a Mizzou hat only to unveil an Arkansas shirt under his jacket in switching his commitment at the last second. Three-star offensive lineman Ray Curry Jr. also flipped. On Wednesday, three-star offensive lineman Jalen St. John, a former Mizzou commit, also chose the Hogs.
“Did you see signing day? Yeah, it’s gonna be a rivalry,” Drinkwitz said on Dec. 21. “We got coaches down there that came from here. I’m from there. It’s gonna be a rivalry. We’re excited to play.”
I think it’s great for the Battle Line Rivalry (and that magnificent trophy). If Mizzou and Arkansas are both ranked SEC teams with bad blood — and there’s clearly some brewing — at the end of the season, they’re in a unique position to be on the nationwide stage.
They’ve played on Black Friday the past few years, so a game with real stakes puts them in the spotlight. While it likely won’t reach Egg Bowl levels of fandom, that’s a nice new wrinkle to make Mizzou feel a little more at home in the SEC with a rival.
On the topic of fans being mad about Odom recruiting past players … I wouldn’t be surprised, but that’s just how college football works.
In this day and age where the facilities are great and other external factors are similar, recruits oftentimes develop relationships with the coaches. In speaking to high school coaches who send players to colleges, they back up that sentiment.
It makes sense, considering how much time you spend in practice or watching film with coaches. There’s a lot of talk about the whole family aspect around these programs and there are several layers of truth to it. Consider the physical, mental and time commitment to fielding an SEC football team, it shouldn’t come as a shock how recruits are looking for a coach they trust.
Odom simply used those existing relationships with recruits to spurn Mizzou. It’s not like this will be a permanent thing, where droves of Mizzou commits are suddenly Arkansas players. Odom has those relationships with this recruiting class because he was Mizzou’s coach. Now that schools are turning the page to the Class of 2021, Odom will obviously be recruiting for Arkansas and not Mizzou anymore.
I won’t say there won’t be any more Mizzou to Arkansas flips in the future. But if and when they are, it won’t be because Odom originally recruited them when he was the Tigers’ top guy.