The most telling statement from the Matter chat.
Posted on: July 22, 2016 at 09:18:53 CT
MizzouTigerz
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"I'm skeptical that Missouri can make that big of a jump from 10 wins to the NCAA bubble. I watched a two-hour practice on Monday for an upcoming story on the hoops program. (Look for the story in the next few days. Anderson gave me exclusive access to all staff meetings, practice, workouts, etc. Really insightful experience.) I think this team wins more games this year, somewhere in the mid-teens. The sophomores will play better than last year. The newcomers will contribute. There's a better overall vibe around this group and better leadership. They lost some degree of talent with the guys who transferred, but I can tell you they're not missed. Guys like Phillips and Puryear don't feel like they have to defer to the older guys now that they're gone - and this team is better off with Phillips and Puryear as leaders. That said, you still need talent to play well and win games, and I'm not sure this group is ready to make the Tournament."
This seems to be a pretty strong indictment of those who departed. It suggests they didn't play well with the other children on the playground. The bottom line seems to be, yeah, some talent loss, but even more baggage lost, and it will help long term.