Each Thursday, PowerMizzou.com publisher Gabe DeArmond will answer questions from subscribers in our Tiger Mailbag. This feature will allow for longer, more in-depth answers than you may get on the message board on a daily basis. To have your question in next week's mailbag, send an email to Gabe at powermizzou@gmail.com. On to this week's inquiries:

mjkstl asks: There have been multiple posts stating by year 5 Mizzou should be competing with ku and Texas for the hoops title. Those 2 programs have made the financial commitment to win and the fans have made a commitment as well. Coach Anderson has put a competitive team out there. The chicken or egg question is .....Should the fans take the first step to get Mizzou to the next level, or is it on Mizzou to be a better team?

In year three, Mizzou was two games off Kansas' league title. They were three games better than Texas. Last year, the Tigers finished a game better than Texas. This year, with one game left, they will finish between three and five games behind UT. In other words, over the last three years, Missouri and Texas has identical Big 12 records. The Tigers aren't competing for the league crown this year while Texas is, but that happens sometimes. As far as catching Kansas, I hate to tell you, but Missouri isn't the only Big 12 team that has failed to do that. The Jayhawks are about to at least tie for their seventh straight league title. That should shame the other 11 teams in the league, not just Missouri.

Now, as far as getting to the next level, I don't blame fans for that. That's on players and coaches. I've not heard a Missouri player or coach ever say he didn't have enough resources to recruit. In basketball, I don't care how many fans are in the stands to be honest. Why? Missouri hasn't lost at home. So it's not the fans. Unless more Missouri fans are going to commit to traveling to road games to make the Tigers feel at home and turn their road record around. I think Mizzou has had an off year this year, at least since Big 12 play began. It happens. Let's see what happens next season.

ZouFan27 asks: There is a tremendous need for someone to pull inside (Ricardo) as well as someone with a defensive mindset, so is there anyone (JuCo included) that the Tigers are looking at?

You guys all know about Otto Porter, who is 6-8 and one of the best high school rebounders around. That will help, assuming the Tigers get him. Other than that, we've heard a lot of names, but soon after we've heard Missouri isn't going to pull the trigger on pretty much all of them. We'll spend every day after the end of the season scouring for all the news and trying to see if the Tigers are planning to bring anybody in. But right now, I can't give you any names that I think they're planning to go on.

mizzou92 asks: What type of player to you see Kadeem Green becoming? Does he project as a rebounder or slasher? What's your prediction on his minutes next year?

Kadeem has a body somewhere between Bowers and Leo I think. I think he's probably thicker than Laurence, but not as thick or strong as Leo right now. Doesn't mean he can't get there. I would say the hope for him would be similar to what Bowers gave you his second year in the program, though maybe not quite as much scoring. Something like eight points, five boards a game. The Tigers will go into next year with Bowers and Ratliffe as the starters up front. I think they'll have Otto Porter in that mix, along with Steve Moore and Green. Moore is what he is. He's not going to suddenly take a leap and be a 25 minute a night guy who can score ten points. He's a role player. Gone next year are 17 minutes a game from Safford. Is Porter ready to get that many minutes as a freshman? If so, Green is probably a 10-12 minute a game guy next year. If Porter isn't ready for that yet (or if he ends up elsewhere) then you need to get at least those 17 minutes out of Green.


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