***Official 2023-2024 Missouri Tigers Men's Basketball***

[DJ's left nut]

Originally Posted by dlphg9

It's amazing how fast Gates turned over the roster and just made this team so much more athletic. Your boy Clownzo didn't seem to care about athletic players.

I think the NIL rules are also more beneficial in basketball (where you're not hidden behind a helmet and are thus more marketable and the pool of players is smaller) than it is in football.

Even Martin may have had some success in this environment.

But ultimately Martin simply didn't recruit for athleticism. He wanted to build ground and pound teams. Offensive cohesion and athleticism were an afterthought.

That said, my expectations for this year's squad are...muted. I'm not seeing much to really get excited about just yet. This is still a squad that's going to need a lot from someone like Nick Honor and Noah Carter. Can Caleb Grill be a big time threat from outside? Because we'll need that as well. Will East step forward? Shaw? Is Vanover a Power 5 player? Brown seems more like a role player. Pierce and Robinson aren't exactly turnkey in their own right.

This just feels like a gap year. I'd like to see them make the tournament to get some of those young players some experience as a springboard, but it's not really an expectation for me.