Tennessee vs Missouri: 5 storylines for SEC opener between ranked foes

Missouri’s ‘switch and recover’ defense

As the leading scorer on the Volunteers, we can expect Bailey to be involved in a lot of ball screens, especially since Coach Barnes will be targeting Jeremiah Tilmon and attempting to put him in as many screens as possible. As demonstrated by his five fouls versus Illinois as Cockburn and Dosunmu would put Tilmon in the screen and roll action, Tilmon’s perimeter defense is suspect at best.

If Coach Martin sticks to switching and recovering on defense, Tilmon will have to contain the guard until his teammate is able to recover, as Tilmon can sink back to the paint and pick up the center. This defensive scheme is the reason why there is only a minute difference between Mitchell Smith’s and Tilmon’s playing time.

To accentuate Tilmon’s liability on defense, there were times versus Illinois when Cockburn was sitting that 6’7 /240 Kobe Brown played the center spot for Missouri in the switch and recover defense. For all the physical toughness Tilmon will bring to the Tigers’ post-up game and on the boards, he will not be able to influence the game in any way if he is sitting on the bench with fouls. Bailey’s ability to recover will be instrumental in keeping Tilmon on the court.