Mizzou Basketball's biggest questions heading into media days

The Tigers are set to take part in a pair of media days this week, the first on Monday at Mizzou Arena, featuring the full team, and the second on Wednesday in Birmingham, Ala., featuring head coach Dennis Gates and seniors Noah Carter, Sean East II, Nick Honor and Connor Vanover.

Here are some of the most important questions for Mizzou heading into the 2023-24 season:

It's been the biggest question since the end of March. Missouri was a juggernaut scoring the ball last year, boasting the No. 9 adjusted offensive efficiency rating in the country according to KenPom, putting up 118.3 points per 100 possessions. But the players who were often leaned on the most are now in the professional leagues.

Kobe Brown, D’Moi Hodge and DeAndre Gholston, the team’s three leading scorers last season, combined for 41.4 points per game. Brown led the Tigers in points in 15 games last year. Hodge did so on nine occasions followed by Gholston with three. It’s a massive amount of production that Gates has to replace.

Some of this year’s returners showed glimpses of being able to take on a larger role. Noah Carter led the team in points in three different games last season, but all three performances came against weaker non-conference opponents early in the year. Sean East II was the team’s leading scorer on two occasions during SEC play, but Mizzou lost both games. Nick Honor had 17 points in a win against UCF on Dec. 17, but that was the lone time he was the team’s top scorer.

This year’s scoring leader might be one of the newcomers, but none have proven they can be a go-to guy at the high-major level yet. MU will need several players to step up this year — who is Gates counting on?

Speaking to the media after Mizzou Madness on Oct. 6, Gates brought up that both Honor and East have been making strides this offseason. The head coach said he wants to see Honor be more “selfish” and take more shots himself. He wants to see East to improve his accuracy from the 3-point line.

But Gates also wants to see the guards join forces more often.

“Having Sean East, having Nick Honor, we gotta get increased minutes with those guys on the court,” Gates said. “Because as I continue to watch the film (from) last season, those guys really impacted the game when they were on the floor together.”

It’s an interesting opinion from Gates, as the numbers from last year, tracked by CBB Analytics, show that the Tigers were better with just one of Honor or East on the court.

Raw statistics — and lineup data in particular — often don’t show the full context of what’s happening. But given that Gates brought in several newcomer guards this offseason, what is it specifically about the pairing of Honor and East that he likes?

“The most impactful person I've seen this season, and I've seen the gradual growth from this summer, has been Kaleb Brown … He's a guy, if we had to play right now, he’d definitely be in a rotation.”

“(Brown's) made the biggest jump on our roster. He was our most improved player this summer. He will be in our top eight.”

“Kaleb Brown has had, probably, the best offseason of anyone in our program. I expect him to make contributions and continue to push toward the development that he's been able to show in a consistent way.”

Those are three separate statements made by Gates in three different interviews, each in three different months.

Brown saw his role reduced in his sophomore season as Gates took over the program, going from 9.7 minutes per game across 27 appearances as a rookie to 7.7 minutes per game across just 11 appearances last year. For him to climb into the top eight would take a considerable leap from the junior guard. What’s been different for Brown this offseason?

Likewise, Gates has spoken at length about the high expectations he has for Aidan Shaw, wanting to see the sophomore forward’s athletic ability translate into more production. Shaw played in all but three of Mizzou’s games last year, averaging 2.7 points and 1.7 rebounds in 10.6 minutes per contest. What kind of work has the former four-star recruit done this summer to earn a bigger role?

As good as Missouri was on offense last season, it had serious flaws on the other end of the court. The team had an adjusted defensive efficiency rating of 105.3, which ranked 180th in the nation, only secured 37.2% of available defensive rebounds, which ranked second-to-last in the NCAA, and also allowed opponents to shoot 52.2% on 2-pointers.

Enter Connor Vanover, a 7-foot-5 transfer from Oral Roberts who should mop things up on the Tigers’ back line. Vanover was one of the country’s best rim protectors, rejecting 11.9% of opponents’ 2s while on the court, ranking sixth among all NCAA Division I players. He was in the top 100 on the boards, pulling down 23.5% of available defensive rebounds. Vanover’s also a proven winner, helping his teams reach the Big Dance in each of the past three seasons.

If MU’s offense isn’t able to reach the same heights from a year ago, how much of an impact can Vanover create on defense to make up for it in the aggregate?

Mizzou brought its highest-rated freshmen class of the last few years, signing a trio of four-star recruits in Anthony Robinson II, Jordan Butler and Trent Pierce.

Robinson, a 6-foot-2 point guard, has been commended for his vocal leadership by Gates and was voted the team’s freshman captain this summer. Butler, a 7-foot forward, made some impressive plays during the team’s open practice on July 22 and, aside from Vanover, is the tallest scholarship player on the roster. And Pierce, a 6-foot-10 forward, has impressed all offseason and has been described by Gates as having the skills of a guard.

All three rookies are clearly a major part of Gates’ plans for the future of the program, but to see the floor this year, they’ll have to compete for minutes with several upperclassmen. Who’ll establish themselves early on?

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