STRENGTH V. STRENGTH: Missouri & Miami Are Remarkably Similar

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I knew Missouri and Miami basketball were similar, but on further inspection, they are shockingly

similar, plus why Mark Mitchell and Malik Renaud will be the matchup that decides it all.

You are Lockdown Mizu, your daily podcast on the Missouri Tigers, part of the Lockdown

Podcast Network, your team every day.

Hey, all you true sons and daughters, I'm John Miller, your Mizzou Mofio, so in the central

scrutinizer of Missouri Tigers football and basketball, and this show is part of the

number one sports podcast network.

And on today's program, I'm going to talk some football too.

Tigers got a couple of big time in-state commitments on the football field as well.

And quickly before I start the program, do you want to tell you that yes, today's episode

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And now at fivehourenergy.com or Amazon, and I got to say, have you guys seen the, of

course, all of you have seen the pointing Spider-Man meme by now where there are two Spider-Man

pointing at each other accusatorily?

Well, that is basically Miami versus Missouri basketball as far as I can tell.

I had seen some other people write this, so I decided to look for myself and watch Miami

play some basketball today, some very recent basketball.

And I have to say I was truly stunned by how similar these teams are.

And if you look at Mark Mitchell against Malik Renaud, a guy who, well, my guest yesterday,

Lee Sterling, who is a very close watcher of the Miami Hurricanes along with being the

host of Locked On Bats, well, he says that Renaud is the Hurricanes best player.

I think it's pretty obvious, Mark Mitchell is Missouri's best player too.

And when you know it, they're basically the exact same size.

Supposedly Renaud is eight pounds heavier, but both are listed at six feet nine.

I will say that I think Mitchell is a tiny bit more athletic and maybe even a little bit

more physically strong and just physical, but I will say extremely similar games between

these two.

An interesting thing about it is you see this a lot to guys who are great players who play

the same position, especially if they play a ton of minutes like both of these guys don't

necessarily guard each other throughout the game.

Well, because of how this, again, the similarities of these teams, the way these two teams match

up, I think Mitchell and Renaud almost have to guard each other really because you've got

you day on the other side who's a center very much in the in the in the realm of Sean

Phillips, a guy who does his damage close to the basket.

That means the matchups are pretty obvious here and I have to say after watching this

game, I like the matchup a little bit more from from Missouri's perspective than I thought

I would.

And again, back to you day, the Miami center, he shot the ball in the most recent game

I saw Miami play against Louisville in the in the ACC tournament, you day, they said

on the broadcast, he shot the ball from an average of 2.8 feet away from the rim, which

is the shortest distance in the ACC.

So he's a guy who knows exactly what he is offensively, which is a guy who's going

to dunk and make putbacks.

That's basically it.

So if you're Sean Phillips, if you're Trent Burns, you're not going to have to worry

about getting taken outside.

That's why that's one reason why I like this matchup.

But again, because Renault and Mitchell are very similar, both guys at the four spot,

at the power forward spot, like to play a lot of bully ball.

They both like to draw fouls.

I think they're extremely similar players.

I will say while I think while both guys like to play bully ball, Renault is clearly

the better free throw shooter.

So there is that the whistle is going to matter here.

There's no doubt about that.

And it always matters in any Mark Mitchell game, honestly.

But for the millions of time, because they're similar players, it's going to matter for

Renault as well.

But Renault clearly the better free throw shooter, even though I said, I think Mitchell does have

a little bit of an athleticism and just a strength advantage overall.

Even in some ways, the way these two rosters were put together are similar because you

look at Renault, who is from the Miami area, sort of a homecoming for him, same deal with

Tray Donaldson, who transferred to Miami.

He's from the Tallahassee area, played at the same high school as Anthony Robinson, by

the way.

So those two are very familiar with each other and had some highly competitive moments from

the reporting that I've read.

And just again, like Renault, a bunch of transfers, sort of coming back home, not unlike

Mark Mitchell, who, while from Kansas City, Kansas, sort of like East St. Louis, Illinois,

to me, close enough to Missouri for government work, as I like to say.

So I think a lot of similarities in the roster positioning here.

And also just the roster construction, really, I should say, also I think kind of similar

to 2000 and 23 for Missouri, where the coach, Jay Lucas, in his first year in Miami has

had one of the most incredible turnarounds you could possibly see.

And by the way, it's not Jay Lucas, even though it's spelled J.A.I.

It is Jay Lucas.

A young man had just turned 37 years old.

You may remember him as a formal McDonald's All-American, a Florida Gator, a Texas longhorn.

By the way, son, a former NBA player, John Lucas, the second as well, who had a long NBA

career, was a head coach in the league as well.

His son, his other son, John Lucas, the third as older brother played.

I believe for Oklahoma State, as well, correct me if I'm wrong there, but another, another

basketball player in a basketball heavy family.

But as back to Jay Lucas, the use head coach, well, even though this is his first, not only

his first major job as a head coach, it's his first head coaching job period, we had

about as good of mentors as you could possibly have, being an assistant coach under Rick

Barnes, Shaka Smart, John Calapari, and coach Shosheski as well, and even John Shire

for a little bit as the top assistant at Duke following Shosheski as well.

And obviously so far, so good, a stunning turnaround.

Once again, if you listen to my show with Lee Sterling yesterday, he didn't see it coming

and like Missouri coming into Dennis Gates first year, coming off, I believe what was

a last place finish in the SEC that season, a similar major, major turnaround for Miami

this season going three, going, excuse me, 13 and five in the ACC after going three and

15 in the ACC in Jim Alaronega's last season.

Now I do have more on the Miami Hurricanes and Missouri's game of course with the Hurricanes

on Friday coming up on the show, but I got some gridiron as well.

A couple of high school players from the state of Missouri reeled in today, at least

unofficially by Eli Drinkwoods and companies.

So some exciting news there.

Let's get into that in just a bit.

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msu dot super cast dot com and of course well high school recruiting in football isn't

what it used to be I got to say these days I'm much more interested in high school basketball

recruiting and by the way some significant news on the basketball court and high school

recruiting and I need to catch you all up on a little bit later as well but let's start

on the football field where to me these are some significant additions here don't be

fooled by the three star ratings that these two players are getting at least that's

what I saw over 24 seven sports of course depending on where you look you know these

things can vary but here's the point with Chris Harris Jr. for example Lee summit west six

foot tall 175 pound wide receiver here's all I really need to know he had an official

visit with Alabama lined up for this summer before committing to Missouri if Alabama likes

him well especially Kaelin de Bohr is pretty is a pretty good offensive mind I think him

his staff have a good eye for talent at the receiver position if they like him I like

him too and Jacob Piller by the way the Missouri wide receivers coach has a good eye for talent

that position as well and as usual by the way Kansas State was involved with the Lee summit

crowd to as well also Oklahoma State reportedly had a visit with this young man too although

surprisingly haven't heard anything about Oklahoma who is often involved in the Lee summit high

school football scene as well but also speaking of pass catcher speaking of the state of Missouri

one more about a fifth guy in the class here of 2027 Jack Brown a tight end from Francis

how central St Charles Missouri six five to fifteen and once again you might go a three

star tight and well you know what look at the offer list look at who his at least his

public top six occasionally going to wonder about these high school guys and the offer list

that they put out there but in this case I'm choosing to believe Jack Brown because it's

convenient for my argument and if he's in there it begins he puts out on his top six before

that included Missouri before he made this decision Tigers in there with Notre Dame Michigan

Texas A&M Illinois and Arizona State now obviously those are some big time programs

there but to me even more importantly some good tight end schools as well Michigan and Notre

Dame in particular A&M's had some good ones over the years well but I'll even include

Illinois maybe even higher on the list there than A&M simply because Brett Belima is there

and he knows how to produce a pro a pro style tight end as well so again five total commitments

now for 2027 notably Braille and Warren a quarterback from Omaha the first one of the class

also Jabari Lofton another not in state guy but close enough sort of like Mark Mitchell another

East St. Louis guy who committed at safety earlier in the cycle and back to the Missouri Miami

game and back to the idea of the spider man pointing at each other meme well Tray Donaldson who

is a six foot three point guard from Tallahassee Missouri has a six foot three point guard from Tallahassee

named Anthony Robinson and indeed they did play each other in high school and indeed a physical player

but Tray Donaldson a physical player much much like Anthony Robinson a guy who who will draw some

fouls who will pick up some fouls and again like to bear it another another similar player in some

ways to Robinson and Tray Donaldson the deal is though I just think Donaldson is much more of the

steady player so while Missouri I think may have a slight advantage at the four spot with Mark Mitchell

well I have to give I have to give the hurricanes the advantage at the point guard spot right now both

Robinson and Tio Barrett have shown really high upside over the seasons they've also shown a pretty

low floor at times as well it just seems like Donaldson to me is the much more steady player and to

that point back to you day and I keep saying you day what what is his first name excuse me let me

check this really quick I should know this earnest you day there we go so earnest you day if you

look at his statistical profile is a very similar player the two Sean Phillips in a lot of ways a

really good rebounder shot blocker plays around the rim for the most part but I'll say this Sean

Phillips is by far and away the superior athlete he's just simply a much more explosive player

than you day and probably slightly taller as well but here's the thing Phillips for his

incredible athleticism his credible explosive athleticism at seven feet tall well he has an

occasion rebounding wise to sort of use let that let that be a crutch if you will it's a nice crutch

to have but occasionally it can be a crutch and what I mean is he relies on just jumping the jumping

up and getting the ball instead of necessarily anticipating and most importantly getting position

and that's something that earnest you day I promise you he's going to be a problem there if Phillips

is not and and burns and whoever happens to be near earnest you day at any point if you're not

having an attention to detail if you're not putting a body on him no matter where he is on the court

he's going to be a problem for you again his if you look at his offensive rating right now for

example he's 11th in the entire country if you look at his e field goal percentage he's first

in the entire country now does that mean he's Kevin Durant in 2007 no quite the opposite just

means he knows exactly who he is as a player he's taking nothing again almost literally taking

nothing outside of three feet his average per shot is 2.8 feet the closest than the entire

Atlantic coast conference so while my my guest on the previous show from locked on bets definitely

check out that that podcast you haven't by the way least sterling was saying oh we don't have a

center earnest you day he basically he was kind of saying he's not any good or basically implying

that or at least that's what I inferred from our conversation I'll just say I don't really see

it that way I think you day could really be a problem for Missouri I just think him knowing exactly

who he is being 611 266 while he's not the talent that Sean Phillips is or or even Trent Burns in

a lot of ways I think he knows exactly who he is as a player so if you're Missouri you better be

ready don't totally listen to Lee sterling the brilliant better that he is I somewhat disagree

with his take that you day is just is just a big fat zero I don't think that's true I will point out

something to Shelton Henderson for the Hurricanes had what look like initially a pretty ugly

ankle turn in the ball game against Louisville their most recent game in the ACC tournament but

he ends up staying in the game I wonder if that lingers at all he was certainly play but I have

to say a fairly short rotation let's get more into that short rotation for both teams quite

honestly another similarity for these teams and also thinking forward to next year just a little

bit about a fit so all that coming up on the show here in just a minute but if you're like me and

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or amazon apologies to you every day or for a little bit late of a posting today but you know what

here's the good news it is Saint Patrick's Day on 630 here so I am like one Guinness deep that's

that's pretty exciting right come on that's a new experience for you so it's not all bad and it's

certainly not all bad for for Miami like I said Shelton Henderson looks like he should be just fine

to play in the ball game for Miami but I will say a tough loss suffered by Miami they had a

nine ten point lead for much of the second half against against Louisville and was actually up

five with a minute to play ended up losing the game a real meltdown by the cane so you do wonder

a little bit of their state of mind and well about that bench and the short bench that there is

for Miami well obviously as I've said many times here lately Missouri is playing an eight man rotation

at this point quite literally well Miami's playing seven guys so an even thinner bench I will say

true Washington off the bench for Miami is basically a starter and he will probably be probably be

on the floor to close out a close ball game for the canes and also by the way some some Missouri fans

including myself have been curious about Marcus Allen status the former Missouri tiger who

transferred along with C.Y. Young sort of back home to his hometown area of Miami and is now

with the canes and played just a few ball games and collect just eight ball games before shutting it

down he has non Hodgkin's Lynn Foma and seems to be doing okay based on my very limited social media

scouting just was looking at Marcus's Instagram page that kind of thing and well just say first

thing I noticed he's still got all his hair he's he's showing up and you know he's he's been with

his teammates lately and that type of thing so just good to see that young man is doing relatively okay

it would seem I will I am going to talk to Alex Dono tomorrow by the way of locked on locked on

canes so he'll have a better he'll have a better pulse on what's happening with Marcus and of

course the rest of that ball club and just looking forward a little bit of course we do look forward

still on this show even with the NCAA tournament coming up but especially with the guy like Jason

Crowe coming in and with T.O. Barrett's emergence here down the stretch with Anthony Robinson at

least in my opinion I hope Ant is still on the roster next season with both of those guys on

the roster and you're bringing in Jason Crowe a lot of people are saying hey you have a little bit

of a log jam here at the point guard position at the lead guard position whatever way you want to

look at it well I will say Jason Crowe a big time prospect obviously an NBA prospect a guy who

scored 40 plus points a game in high school obviously he's used to having the basketball in his

hands a lot but you know what there's always an adjustment period there I think with any kind of big

time player like that who again is basically getting whatever shot he wants in high school that's

not going to exactly be the same case in college and yet Crowe is such a such a unique talent I think

he's going to have the ball a ton at Missouri as well so how does that work with T.O. Barrett and

Anthony Robinson you know what I actually think it works better than most people might expect especially

offensively and I think I think that's the main concern here that people are thinking about defensively

that's another story I have to think about that one a little more Crowe is neither obviously

Robinson and Barrett have solid size and or solid defensive players what to see with Jason Crowe

as a true freshman they're usually not great defensively but offensively actually like the fit

better than you might think because I think Crowe's ability to be the lead ball handler to take the

offense on his own actually takes a lot of pressure off of T.O. Barrett and off of Anthony Robinson

and Robinson has shown he can play off the ball this season can Barrett maybe be a little bit

better of a shooter off the ball next season if he can that'd be a big deal for Missouri but also

say going the other way if T.O. Barrett has it going as he did against Tennessee for example well

Jason Crowe to me from the little I've seen of him in high school I can't see I've watched an entire

game or anything like that but just seeing all of his highlights he can he can catch and shoot as

well as shoot off the dribble that's one of the reasons why he's such a high level prospect because

it's not because it's not because he's six foot nine is an incredible athlete no Crowe is much

closer to Anthony Robinson and T.O. Barrett's size and much more normal size player and I'm sure

he can dunk the basketball but he's not you know he's not Zion Williamson or you know whatever crazy

athlete you might want to think of that's not why he's the high prospect he is he's that high

of a prospect because he has an incredible skill set he's got everything in his bag from the off

the dribble stuff to the off the ball stuff as well so I think the fit thing while I understand the

concern I think Crowe's such a good player I think he's going to figure it out and hey again

sorry for being a little bit late on today's program but thanks for figuring it out and finding

your way to the Lockdown Mizzou podcast as usual as well and by the way if you never miss an

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and until tomorrow with Alex Donno by the way of Lockdown Keynes I am John Miller this has been

Lockdown Mizzou.