1) I just want basketball to matter again. As I started to write these my main thought was "I don't really know what else there is to say about basketball." There are two games left in the regular season, somewhere between 1 and 3 left in the SEC Tournament and then maybe an NIT that you guys might care about but the vast majority of Missouri fans are going to pretty much ignore. In what we do, one of two things is good for business and conversation: Really good and really bad. Missouri basketball is neither right now (honestly, same with football). They're just there. They haven't been playing for anything important in two months. Nobody's getting fired. It's just something to pass the time.
That's no good for me or for you guys. I want something to get passionate about. I'd rather (and I would think you guys would too) have that be an NCAA Tournament team where next year at this time we're talking about seeding and watching mid-major conference tournaments because they're important in how they impact Missouri. But even a debate about whether the coach is going to get another year is better than this. Normally it's around May when I hit the point that I'm thinking "I don't have anything to do, how do I pass the time?" But February was that way this year because even though there are games, outside of that, there's just not much to discuss. They're going to finish around .500. They're room temperature. There's no reaction to room temperature. Really hot gets a reaction. Really cold gets a reaction. Room temperature is just there and nobody notices it. I hope next season brings something to notice.
2) I thought Saturday showed why Jeremiah Tilmon is important to this team. And I'm not really talking about this year at this point because, again, what's the real difference between 15-18 or 18-15? It doesn't matter. I'm talking about next year. What I think of this team going into next year (at least before we see what happens in the spring signing period) is largely going to depend on whether Tilmon is still on the roster. For the 100th time, I don't have any information as to whether that will happen or not. But when he was on the floor on Saturday, he impacted the game.
If Missouri doesn't have him next year and you know it isn't going to have Reed Nikko, I have a hard time viewing this as an NCAA Tournament team, at least barring the addition of an impact juco or transfer frontcourt player. You have to have something in the middle to draw attention to allow Xavier Pinson and Dru Smith to play the way they've played lately. That's been Reed Nikko and that's been good enough the last few weeks. If Tilmon is that something, it's helpful. But Parker Braun and Mitchell Smith and Axel Okongo and Jordan Wilmore just don't strike me as the type of guys that are going to draw significant enough attention in the paint to help free up Pinson and Smith day in and day out. Maybe I'm wrong, but I think the presence of Tilmon or someone similar is the biggest key for next season.
3) I started to wonder this weekend, is it possible Dru Smith could go pro?
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