[DJ's left nut]

This is gonna be another fun team. I know everyone was down on last year's squad because they didn't have a winning record but that team was a good time to go out and watch grow.

My daughter turned to me during the game and asked "Wasn't Jeremiah on the team 2 years ago with Michael?" When I told her he was she looked out and asked "was anyone else?"

Even the 5 year old - who was 3 at the time - knew something was weird about that fact. Tilmon (and Reed Nikko) are the only guys on this team that were on it 2 seasons ago. That's damn near a clean-sheet redesign.

And these guys are all the kinds of players who should have 3 and 4 year careers here. They're the kinds of guys that turn into Clarence Gilberts and Melvin Bookers. That's how you really start to form bonds with teams and how a team like Mizzou will always have to be built. Kassius Robertson kicking ass for a year was a blast and the idea of MPJ was amazing. But Mizzou's gonna make it's bones by building a pipeline of kids that build off each other.

As for the squad - Dru Smith is gonna be gooooood. Kobe Brown is a lot more interesting than I thought and with his build, he will create some really interesting matchups in a sort of point-forward role at times. Guy's built like a power forward but with 3 pt range.

Watson looks significantly more 'conference ready' - he's not the stringy slasher that he was last year. He's put some muscle on and should be willing/able to get to the hoop and get his shot while providing solid defense.

Pinson just keeps looking better. My hope is that he Phil Pressey without the hero complex; his court vision is outstanding. Picket has some real JT Tiller potential if he'll commit to that style of game.

And the team is deeper than it's been in a decade or more. They go 9-10 deep with guys who are SEC caliber players (or will be by the end of the season, IMO). Even a guy like Mitchell Smith can provide you some quality minutes and I'd put him at/near 10 with Parker Braun and Reed Nikko at 11-12.

I'm still not sure what I see with Mark Smith but in the end he may be the only potential isolation player on the team and you need one of those guys to get you a bucket to stop a run when jumpers aren't falling. He'll be important at some point. McKinney brings a ton of energy and Jackson...well he looks a bit like Watson looked last year. There's some definite growth that needs to happen there but seeing him in the rotation this early can only mean good things. Cuonzo doesn't give guys run based on their recruiting rankings so he's doing something at practice to earn those minutes.

Tilmon is Tilmon - just no way to really grade him based on that squad. We know what he is and think we know what he can be. But until he plays quality competition there's no way to know how he's going to adapt the things he's been taught for 2 years. I still think he'll have foul trouble but my hope is for some small improvement there. The offense looks awfully good when it's running through him.

This will probably be a borderline tournament team that wins 18-19 games when all is said and done. But they'll be fun to watch grow together and build momentum towards next season.