Tonight, basketball season tips off in Columbia, Misssouri. This team is highly regarded and should be super solid. We are ranked 15th in the AP preseason poll, and picked in the top half of the big 12! Here we go.
Key Gains: Phil Pressey, Ricardo Radliffe, (potentialy) Tony Mitchell
Key Losses: Zaire Taylor, JT Tiller, Keith Ramsey
Team Breakdown.
Frontcourt:
Justin Safford (Senior)- Last year ended poorly for Mr. Safford as he had a knee ligament injury that cost him an appearance in the NCAA tournament. In the black and gold game last week, he appeared to be in very good condition. The lone senior on the squad this year is going to be one of the vocal leaders and will get the starting job along with a ton of minutes. Coming off of a year averaging 8 points and 4 boards a game, expect his numbers to take a jump.
Laurence Bowers (Junior)- The high flyer and big dunker looks to come back this year with an expanded role on the team because of the departure of Ramsey. From what I observed at the black and gold game, he appears to have improved his game inside and will be pulling in about the same amount of rebounds as last year. Expect some improvements in all phases in the game, and also don't be surprised to see the big man pop it from 3 point land if the D plays off of him.
Ricardo Radliffe (JUCO Transfer- Junior)- Ricardo transferred in to Mizzou this season after being rated as the number 1 juco player in the country last season. He wowed the crowd at the black and gold scrimmage with 32 points. I expect Radliffe to have a HUGE contribution on this team, and to possibly be a Demarre Carrol type player, scrappy and never giving up. Expect big things out of this kid.
Steve Moore (Junior)- Steeeve Moore, is going to be expected to play a similar role as last year for this team. He will come off the bench and play with some of the bigs in the Big XII conference. He had some foul trouble in the scrimmage last thursday. If he can stay out of trouble, he will play a solid role on the team.
John Underwood (Sophomore) Kadeem Green (Freshman)- Don't expect much more than riding the bench and mop up duty this year. Will play a bigger role over the next few seasons.
Tony Mitchell (almost Freshman)- Tony still hasnt enrolled at the University yet due to some eligibility problems. He should be able to enroll for Spring semester, meaning you could see him on the team right before the Illinois game. He would play a HUGE role on this team if he becomes eligible, maybe not immediately but he will make a difference.
Backcourt:
Jarrett Sutton (Senior)- The walk on more than likely won't get much playing time other than in mop up duty.
Kimmie English (Junior)- Last years leading scorer will be coming back with an improved game this season. I am going to expect him to improve on his PPG and also his efficiency. Also, I expect him to stay off of twitter during the season, just sayin. Before essentially taking the 2nd half of the black and gold game off, he had 20 points in the first half...if he can score like that, the big 12 better watch their collective backs.
Marcus Denmon (Junior)- Mr. Sharp Shooter is going to be looking to improve his role from last years team as not only a deadly shooter from the downtown district but really hasn't been known for his D. The whole front court will be expected to replace the intensity that Zaire and JT brought the the hardwood ever night. I expect for Denmon to have a better season this year...get excited.
Matt Pressey (JUCO Transfer- Junior)- I honestly don't know alot about this kid. He didn't look terrible in the black and gold game, but then again everybody looked decent. The only reason he is on the team is because of his brother. I expect a limited role on the team, but I do expect him to get some playing time during the season.
Michael Dixon (Sophomore)- Coming off what I would describe as a bipolar freshman season, when he was on he was really good but then again he also had some very sluggish and bad moments. All of this to be expected for a freshman PG. I want to see some improvement with his passing and shot selection this season. There were far to many times where he would take a bad 3 pointer early in the shot clock. I expect him to get a little bit more time than Phil Pressey but not much more.
Phil Pressey (Freshman)- Everybody is riding really high on this kid. He is a true point guard from the Dallas area. In the black and gold game he showed off his amazing jumping ability, by getting up and throwing down a couple of dunks. I expect him to have a year kind of like Dixon had last year, a little up and a little more down. Though for good measure, check this link out and get excited...Phil Presseys HUGE DUNK!!
Ricky Kreklow (Freshman)- From what I saw at the black and gold game, I want to compare him to a little bit more scrappy Matt Lawrence which is a compliment. It appears that he can drain the 3, and play fairly solid D. I don't expect him to play a very significant role on the team this year, but he defiantly will in the years to come.
I am really excited about this team. I think that we should be able to replace last years seniors with overall improvements and some new freshman. Looking at the schedule, I would expect us to come out of the Non-Conference portion with no more than 3 losses. The Big XII schedule is hard as always, but I could defiantly see us coming out of the Big XII schedule no worse than 10-6. This is going to be a fun year to be cheering for this team. Its a great time to be a tiger!!
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