65 College Basketball Teams In 65 Days: Missouri Tigers

This is a little something I like to call preview season, which by my watch starts on September 1. From that date until the start of the season we have 65 days. In those 65 days I’ll give a team preview each day. There’s going to be no rhyme or reason for the order we go in these 65 days. It will just be 65 teams I think are worthy of a detailed preview. We’ll have other previews throughout the time leading up to the season as well – conference breakdowns, player rankings, team rankings, etc. But, these will just be team previews.

Missouri Tigers

2017-18 Record: 20-13, 10-8 in SEC, 5th in SEC, lost to Florida State in Round of 64
Top Returning Scorers: Jontay Porter (9.9), Kevin Puryear (8.6), Jeremiah Tilmon (8.2)
Notable Losses: Michael Porter Jr. (NBA), Kassius Roberston, Jordan Barnett (graduation), Blake Harris (transfer middle of last season to NC State), Cullen VanLeer (medical retirement)
Newcomers: KJ Santos (transfer from UIC/JuCo), Torrence Watson (4-star), Xavier Pinson (3-star), Javon Pickett
Head Coach: Cuonzo Martin, 2nd season, 20-13

2018-19 Outlook

Last year’s outlook immediately switched once Michael Porter Jr., missed 98% of the season due to injury. That was one of the more disappointing things in college hoops last season since MPJ was such a highly regarded recruit, I wanted to see him play at the collegiate level. But, with that said, there are a ton of positives to take away from a 20-13 year and a trip to the NCAA Tournament.

The first thing stays within the family though. Jontay Porter, who decided to come back for his sophomore year. The younger brother of Michael reclassified to join Missouri last season and then was a projected first round pick after flirting with the NBA Draft. However, he felt like he could raise his stock enough to come back for a sophomore year. He’s a unique matchup as he’s 6’11”, can stretch the floor (37% from three), is an excellent rebounder (93rd in the country in defensive rebounding percentage) and a real good passer (top-450 nationally in assist rate). He’s going to be the one who runs the offense again this year as Missouri will run the offense through the 6’11” sophomore.

What makes Porter so good is the fact that you can play another highly-regarded big with him due to his ability to stretch the floor. That’s going to happen this year with Jeremiah Tilmon, a top-50 recruit from last season. Tilmon did struggle with fouls last season as he was called for over 7 fouls per 40 minutes. Despite that he was one of the best offensive rebounders in the country, ranking 75th in the country.

Missouri will be able to give a different look with the two bigs as the go-to options offensively. While Tilmon did foul a lot, part of that is just being a freshman adjusting to the college game, he’s strong on the interior. Both Tilmon and Jontay Porter were top-150 in block percentage. You can mix up your defensive looks with that. If Tilmon continues to struggle with fouls, don’t be surprised to see Missouri throw out a zone look and invert it into a 3-2. You can have both bigs protect each side of the rim as the wings can dive down. It’s just an option that Missouri will have.

The other key to Missouri’s season is going to be taking care of the ball. The Tigers were 313th in the country in turning the ball over. Part of that was having Jordan Geist have to step in to the starting PG role when Harris transferred, leaving the guard play a bit short on rotations and some of it was forcing the offense. Geist, Tilmon and Porter all had a turnover rate of over 20%. That has to be cut down – especially from Geist.

The other thing I really like about this team? Versatility. They have a ton of guys that are ‘tweeners’ that are in that 6’5″-6’8″ range and can play multiple positions. The first one is Kevin Puryear, who was excellent at getting to the lane last year. He does need to improve his outside shot – he was 81% from the line but 27% from three. If he can get a bit more consistent from outside, the lane opens up more for him to drive and Tilmon/Porter to operate. Then there’s 6’8″ CJ Santos, a transfer from JuCo via UIC. He was an excellent shooter at 6’8″ who could also rebound.

All in all I like the makeup of this Missouri team. They could be better than last year with the growth of Tilmon and Porter. They were 43rd in the country defensively last season and that’s been a Cuonzo Martin calling card. That won’t change this year. I truly expect Tilmon to be better defensively without fouling. Don’t be surprised to see this team finish top-6 in the SEC again and make the NCAA Tournament. They are one of the more undervalued teams out there right now.