At the start of the season, B12H.com ran a "Five Questions For..." segment asking the five most pressing questions of each team. In our continuing review of the season, here are the answers to those questions.
Five Questions For...Mizzou basketball
1) How can Mizzou replace the loss of DeMarre Carroll, Leo Lyons and Matt Lawrence?
I'm not sure they truly replaced the senior leaders who departed. Kim English, Marcus Denmon and Laurence Bowers all averaged double digits, replacing those guy's scoring, but they didn't have the chemistry the Elite Eight team of the year before had.
2) Can Mizzou sustain the momentum that led them to a Big 12 tournament championship and Elite Eight run last season?
Yes and no. At times they looked unstoppable, and at times they lost to Oral Roberts and Oklahoma. In college basketball there really isn't such a thing as multi-season momentum, but the Tigers did play some good ball, and the Elite Eight run was a great learning experience that probably netted them a few baskets here and there.
3) Now that Coach Mike Anderson has a squad made up entirely of his recruits, can the "Fastest 40 Minutes in Basketball" be even better?
Not so much. The talent wasn't there like it was the previous year, especially on the inside. It will be better in the future, but this year wasn't better than the previous year.
4) Who will step up in the frontcourt for Mizzou? Steve Moore, Laurence Bowers, Keith Ramsey, Justin Safford?
Ramsey made the biggest leap from year one to year two. He was hitting free throws and scoring on the inside. Bowers improved his game also, and Saffords outside J was raining while he was healthy. Moore was thought to have taken the biggest leap, but he still looks to be a year away.
5) Will this be the year Mizzou beats Illinois for the first time in 10 years in the "Busch Bragging Rights" game?
Much to the relief of Mizzou Nation, the Tigers finally beat the Illini in the heated (maybe soon-to-be conference) rivalry.
As an aside, the readers barely though that replacing the departed seniors was the most pressing issue for the 09-10 Tigers.
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