Mizzou chat with Dave Matter
Bring your Tigers basketball and football questions, and talk to Mizzou beat writer Dave Matter in a live chat starting at 11 a.m.Thursday.
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On normal first and second downs, I think you'll see some Ronnell Perkins as the strongside linebacker who can match up with receivers/tight ends as a former safety. He's moved to that position and looks like the top choice in the base defense ahead of Brandon Lee, though I expect Lee to have a role, too. In passing down situations I think you'll see Joshuah Bledsoe play the nickel position and come down from his strong safety spot and match up in the slot. They can also go with three corners, DeMarkus Acy and Christian Holmes on the outside and Adam Sparks covering the slot. More than anything, this defense should have some compelling options, more so than in the past.
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30 TD passes for Lock and on Ramey ... no idea. If I predict he'll pick Mizzou it'll be interpreted that I know that he will and vice versa if I predict another school. I've heard conflicting opinions on now strongly Mizzou is in the mix compared to other schools, which tells me no one outside the Ramey family really has an idea of how this is going to unfold.
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You've seen lots of runs from the backs the last two years, so I don't expect that to be any different. Somehow there's this perception that Mizzou was all pass under Heupel. The last two years MU threw 878 passes and ran the ball 986 times. Yes, Dooley wants to run the ball with MU's backs, but that's always been a big part of the offense since Odom took over as head coach.As for Saturday, I'll be interested to see how Nate Brown and the tight ends produce in this offense. I'll be interested to see how the pass rush looks and the downfield coverage on defense. But I hate to break it to you, but Mizzou doesn't expect anything too exotic. In fact, Odom doesn't exactly what this to be must-see TV. Here's what he said after this morning's practice: "I hope it looks like watching paint dry. I hope we look like a really well coached team that's fundamentally sound that doesn't make any errors, no penalties, no turnovers, injury-free and we get out of there.""It's a practice for us, an evaluation, and another chance to get better as a team. We'll take that approach. It'll be boring and that's by design."
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Not compared to the special one-day event they had last year in Columbia, but I do know Odom's staff has hit St. Louis hard in recent months in terms of being more visible in the region. Also, three MU coaches are going to attend an upcoming coaching clinic at Lutheran North High School. That's a really savvy move by Odom and will get three of his coaches some good exposure with some influential coaches in the area. Also, this: I don't know if this was necessarily by design, but Odom has hired several African American assistant coaches who offer a broad range of experience and personalities: Haley, Hargreaves, Walters, Ofodile, Davis and Ford. Six of his 10 position coaches are black. I'm not sure how that breakdown compares around the SEC, but when your staff comes shares common demographics with a strong percentage of the players you're recruiting, that can be a real positive. It's easy to say race shouldn't matter when building relationships between recruits/players and coaches, but that's naive to believe that.
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I'm not sure it'll be 50-50, and if it is, it'll be pretty similar to the last couple seasons under Heupel. Lock has said on record the pace won't be as fast all the time. That does't mean we'll see the offense huddle between snaps, but they'll have more checks and calls at the line of scrimmage, which will naturally slow down the tempo.
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By all accounts Mizzou is still in the mix. Ramey announced a top 10 last week, but at least one of those schools has come out and said they're not recruiting him (Louisville). Like I posted earlier, I've heard conflicting opinions on how strongly Ramey is considering Mizzou. He'll have to make a decision eventually. Stay tuned.
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The staff really likes his potential. He's a bigger corner. He play with physicality - too much sometimes. He's got to cut down on the penalties. He led the team in flags last year. There was some talk about him playing safety this spring, but he's played corner exclusively on the days I've attended practice. I like the upside of a corner threesome of Acy, Sparks and Holmes. A good mix of size and speed.
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If Jontay returns ... big IF, in my opinion ... Mizzou has two more available scholarships.Here's how the roster breaks down for 2018-19 as of now, if Jontay returns:Seniors: Puryear, VanLeer, GeistJuniors: NikkoSophomores: Smith (redshirt), Tilmon, Porter, SantosFreshmen: Pinson, Watson, PickettThat's 11 players, leaving open two scholarships.
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A couple weeks ago Sterk said they're tracking well and ahead of last year's pace but those numbers come into focus more later in the summer. I would think last year's winning record will push the ticket sales up some but not dramatically. Mizzou is facing a bleak situation financially. Athletics operated with a deficit last year and expects the same for this coming year, mostly because of the dropoff in football tickets.
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You've commented before that Cuonzo may be the best thing to happen to Mizzou athletics in a decade or more. Do you think he views Mizzou as a destination job for him? Is Purdue the only place you see him leaving for if things are going well, or do you think a good run at Mizzou could lead him to a blueblood?
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I don't see Cuonzo coaching into his 60s. He's made some comments before that he has other visions and ideas about ways he wants to spend his time after basketball. He's also made comments that this is the kind of job he can hold for a long time and a place where he can establish some roots. Purdue would be an obvious place that could pull him away if Painter ever leaves. Not that it's necessarily a much better job, but that's his alma mater and he's still close with Painter and their head coach, Gene Keady. Otherwise, I don't really see Martin leaving Mizzou for another job.
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It all depends on the feedback he receives. If he's told he's got a chance to be a first-rounder, I expect him to stay in the draft. Workouts will be critical for him. How will he do in those? I think he's the kind of player that will stand out more in live five-on-five situations compared to individual workouts with a ball and basket. If he's invited to the combine and plays well there, that combination of size and skill might be enough to squeeze him into the first round.
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Good morning Dave! So....does it surprise you that Kansas is named in this bribery scandal? I know it's the chicken or the egg scenarios with top recruits going to the best schools but it's always seemed like these top 10 schools always got their guys no matter what. It always seemed fishy and it's about time Kansas was knocked down a few pegs and Self needs to be fired.
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I'll be surprised if he's fired. Bruce Pearl had a show cause after his time at Tennessee and his current team was investigated heavily by the feds and he's still in place at Auburn. The latest indictment didn't allege that any staffers at Kansas were directly involved in the pay for play scam going on with the two KU recruits. Maybe some of those folks in the indictment will offer up Self or someone from the staff, but too early to know how any of this will shake out. It wouldn't surprise me if some wins or vacated and perhaps KU loses its Final Four banner if the allegations are true about Silvio De Sousa.
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Big men are hard to find this late in the game. So many more guards available at the high school ranks and among the transfers. Illinois transfer Mark Smith and Evansville transfer Dru Smith are both available. Both would have to sit out this coming season. Blake Hinson, a 6-7 forward from Sunrise Christian Academy, is still on the market, too.
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The league is losing a lot of star power to the NBA, but a handful of teams that were good this year will be very good, if not better, next season, starting with Auburn and Tennessee. Vandy and LSU have signed several top 100 recruits and should be much more competitive. Mississippi State looks like an NCAA team, maybe a top 25 team preseason. Kentucky will always have talent. Arkansas and Florida will still be competitive on a national level. Alabama and Missouri could both drop off some after losing some players. Same for Texas A&M depending on who comes back to campus. I like the Tom Crean hire at Georgia. He'll recruit well there and make that program more competitive - maybe not a consistent contender, but they'll raise the standard at UGA with Crean in command.All that said, I don't expect a major dropoff. Seven or eight teams in the bracket is quite possible again.
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