Missouri Basketball: 3 biggest questions heading into 2023-24 season
By Justin Wiles
2) Who will lead the team in scoring?
Missouri had one of the best offenses last season, averaging just under 79 points per game. But the Tigers saw their top three scorers leave the team this offseason, Kobe Brown to the NBA Draft, D’moi Hodge and DeAndre Gholston to eligibility. Those three alone accounted for over 41 points per game, which was 52 percent of the scoring.
The Tigers have plenty of players capable of stepping into a larger scoring role. The real question is who will take advantage of the extra touches on offense? In my mind, there are three players who are in the best position to take over the bulk of the scoring in the upcoming season.
The first is John Tonje. Tonje has proven that he has the skills to lead a team in scoring. He averaged 14.6 points per game last season and was the second-leading scorer for Colorado State. Last season Tonje scored in double figures in 26 of 33 games, dropping a season-high of 25 points on two separate occasions. He is able to score from almost anywhere on the floor and do so consistently. He is a good shooter from three making almost 39 percent of his shots from behind the arc last season. He is also a threat to drive to the basket with a quick first step, and his size allows him to bully smaller guards when he gets to the rim. A fast-paced Missouri offense should allow him to thrive on the offensive end.
The next player is Noah Carter. Carter has shown flashes on the offensive end. He averaged just under ten points per game last season, scoring in double figures 15 times. His best offensive game was against Penn when he dropped 28 points hitting six threes. He is quick enough to get around bigger defenders but is a little undersized as a post. A majority of his shots came from three last season, taking 118 of his 243 from behind the arc.
Carter has shown that he can score from almost anywhere on the court, the biggest step he needs to take to lead the team in scoring is becoming more consistent. His points scored varied quite a bit from game to game. He should see more minutes this year with the departure of Kobe Brown, now it will be up to Carter to become a scoring threat every game.
The third player that I think could lead the team in scoring is Nick Honor. Last season Honor averaged 7.9 points per game. Most of his scoring came from threes, hitting just under 40 percent of them. He has proven that he can make shots when they are needed the most, he hit the game-winning three in an overtime win against Mississippi State. Honor oftentimes deferred to others to score last season, playing the facilitator role. But that doesn’t mean he couldn’t score when he needed to. He scored in double figures 12 times and had a season-high of 17 points twice.
He started every game last season and should do the same again this upcoming season. The opportunities for Honor to up his offensive production this season are there, he just needs to become more comfortable in taking on a larger role when it comes to scoring.