Chat Mizzou sports with Dave Matter at 11 a.m. Thursday
Bring your Tigers football, basketball and recruiting questions, and talk to Mizzou beat writer Dave Matter in a live chat at 11 a.m. Thursday.
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I'm sticking by Tennessee as my choice to win the league.Arkansas could be very good - but just hasn't played anyone yet.Kentucky looks dreadful - can't shoot, no point guard - but always plays better in February and March.Missouri is the oldest team in the league and has the league's two best wins this season: Oregon and Illinois.LSU has a lot of high-end talent.Florida is loaded, too, but sadly won't have preseason player of the year Keyontae Johnson available anytime soon.Alabama hasn't been great but has some really good experienced players.I'd be surprised if the top four seeds in the SEC tournament don't come from the seven teams I just mentioned. -
Hi Dave. How important is it for our holdover D coaches to improve next year? KY had a horrible offense, Vandy is winless, and SC didn’t have a QB. Other than that we got lit up every game. I think Coach Drink is not going to be held back by the performance on the other side of the ball. What are your thoughts? Thanks -
What did the three holdover coaches do wrong in those games compared to the new defensive coaches in the secondary and at linebacker? Seems strange to blame Walters, Gibbs and Haley and not Smith and Harbison, who are new to the staff. Also, MU's offense was pretty bad in a handful of games this year, too. Time to shake up the offensive staff? I'm all for holding coaches accountable for specific decisions or strategies that blow up in their face, but what are those specifics?The defensive struggles against Arkansas are the most alarming. I don't think the Georgia game is an indicator of the defensive staff. By game's end, they were playing a freshman offensive lineman at D-tackle. Three of the team's five corners were out; the line had some injuries; a veteran safety was hurt. That's not to say Mizzou wins that game if the defense is full strength, but I thought this defense did enough in other games to indicate these coaches aren't the problem as much as personnel and depth.
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Yeah, Pinkel's first class created a lot of excitement. He signed nine in-state players, eight from the St. Louis region, including Damien Nash, one of the top running back recruits in the country.Pinkel's 2004 class ranked No. 19 by 247Sports. (It wasn't as high by Rivals.) That class had 13 in-state players - five who were four stars: Van Alexander, Chase Patton, Tony Temple, Kyle Riggs, plus from St. Louis, Will Franklin and Darrell Jackson. They all didn't develop into great players, but at the time there was a lot of excitement for that class. A lot.The 2010 class was No. 20.The 2015 class included Drew Lock and Terry Beckner.This class is right on par with those in terms of fan interest and buzz.
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It drives me crazy how differently all of the recruiting sites rate players. Four stars on one are three on another and vice-versa. All of that leads to very different class rankings between them as well. Is there one that you put more stock in? I'm sure most fans just look for whichever site gives their team the highest ranking and to them that is the correct one.
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I don't know why it's something to get upset over. Different people give different players different grades. I, for one, appreciate having some different perspectives. The 247 grades are more detailed because they go deeper in terms of how many players they actually rank but they're not necessarily more accurate than Rivals all the time.
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Tough night. A couple early fouls threw off how he wanted to match Kofi's physicality. Missouri played better at times without Tilmon. That's not a new development. His fifth foul was an atrocious call. But if you can win a game without two of your better players having a productive night then you've got yourself a pretty good team.
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You have to remember we're in the middle of a pandemic, so guest speakers - especially midseason - aren't really ideal. Folks like Daniel, who's busy these days in Detroit, an Weatherspoon, who lives in Atlanta, aren't doing a lot of traveling. I'm not sure if they've had any guest speakers via Zoom. I know Drinkwitz had Pinkel in to talk to the team in the team meeting room at the beginning of the season.
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Tennessee is really good. Great coach, good size, playmaking point guard in Vescovi, good big man in Fulkerson, great defensive stopper in Pons. Remember Mizzou receier Victor Bailey? His son, also Victor Bailey, is starting in the backcourt and playing heavy minutes.As for Mizzou's edge, yes. That won't go away with success this year. Cuonzo's best teams play with an edge. They're convinced no one believes in them - even their own fans sometimes (see Tennessee 2014) - and they play with that edge most nights. Pinson, Pickett, Dru Smith, Mitchell Smith play that way all the time.
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I think JT daniels was still in the game for Georgia’s final TD early in the 4th quarter. Was their entire first team still in the game after the went ahead by 35 points? It seems like a 28 point lead in the 4th quarter might be a good time to give the second string a bit of playing time and give the first string the rest of the game off.
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I didn't have a problem with the way Smart coached the end of the game. Daniels attempted his last pass on the first play of the fourth quarter, a touchdown pass. After that, Daniels and the starting O-line came out of the game and Smart played his backups for UGA's final two possessions.At some point it's on the team getting its brains kicked in to make a stop and get its defense off the field.
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Without covering those teams on a daily basis and only viewing from afar, I would probably say Auburn, considering they just fired a guy who won nearly 70 percent of his games, won a couple SEC West titles, coached in a national championship game and was named national coach of the year - while working in the same state as Nick Saban. Gus Malzahn's record is good enough for the vast majority of fan bases across the country - and I suspect good enough for those at A&M and Tennessee, too. Malzahn wasn't above criticism by any means, but a lot of programs - A LOT - would love to have a coach with that track record.
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Hi, Dave. Thanks so much for the chat, and your terrific coverage of Missouri sports. I don't see how just one person does it. My question: Has Jordan Wilmore actually played basketball before? I doesn't look like he can shoot, rebound, defend, or run. His best play seems to be setting a screen for a teammate.
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Thanks for the note. Much appreciated.A couple things to remember about Wilmore. He moved all over the place in high school. Baltimore, Memphis, Atlanta. He hasn't been with one program for an extended time where he can develop. Also, he didn't get to campus until late August. In a normal year he would have been working out with the coaches and, most important, the strength and conditioning staff, in June and July. He came in behind. I thought he gave the team some valuable minutes against Illinois. Just banging in the paint with a guy who's 7-foot-3 and clearly heavier than his listed 245 takes a toll on the opponent, even if only for a few minutes.
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I'd be surprised if Macon unseats Bazelak after what we've seen this year, especially considering Macon will go more than a full calendar year since his last competitive game. But anything can happen. They're not going to put a ceiling on Macon's development. It will be in everyone's best interests if they play the quarterback who gives them the best chance to win the most games.
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There's not much of a market right now for job openings. In the future, sure. Ryan Walters interviewed for the Colorado job last year - though mostly because he's an alum and has strong ties to the area and the program. He's still in his young 30s, so I'm not sure programs that don't have that kind of connection to him are looking to hire him - though maybe a Group of Five program in the MAC or the Sun Belt or Conference USA. Curtis Luper has been in the game a long time and seems to be well respected. He was in the running for the Louisiana-Monroe job in the past. I think Casey Woods can run his own program some day. He'll probably have to get a coordinator role first.
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I don't think so. Remember, this is already Mitchell Smith's fifth year in college. It's a lot to ask a guy to stick around for a sixth year. Buggs is also a fifth-year senior. Dru Smith, too. At some point, even if they're not going to play professionally, players are ready to move on with their lives and careers.
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Way too early to grade classes.I discussed Harris and Pearl earlier. Mizzou will have Harris in the fold, maybe not until February. I'm certain he will sign with the team as part of the 2021 class.Mizzou will stay on board with Pearl, but I'm told it may take some time.
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Hey Dave, I'm curious your take on Drink's answer to the final question in his press conference yesterday. I know the rule was partly misinterpreted, however it sounds like the possibility of one time "free" transfer is very much on the table. I thought everything he said was spot on and that this could be giving kids the easy way out but every situation is different and sometimes kids need that option. Would that rule really be in the best interest of kids in your opinion?