Throughout his three years at the helm of the Missouri Tigers, Dennis Gates has been asked about his extensive substitutions and seemingly-endless rotational combinations so many times.
And he’s tried to answer in a few different ways.
But it’s mainly always boiled down to a focus on depth and a desire to keep the ball moving fast.
“Obviously that’s one of our strengths is our depth,” Gates said.
Early on against Florida, Missouri was running and gunning, hitting shot after shot while playing 10 players in the first 8 minutes. Mizzou played 11 players in the first half and 13 total.
And that’s been pretty normal. It leads to some decisions that make fans question Gates’ mental process, like playing Jacob Crews the final handful of minutes in the first half against Vanderbilt when a couple of mistakes allowed the Commodores to cut the lead to single digits going to halftime.
And it led to a couple of minutes for Peyton Marshall who did not look ready for action Tuesday night.
But it also led to an ability to keep the track meet energy high against a Florida team that played eight total players and only six for more than 15 minutes.
“In the first half, my starters were playing 5 to 10 minutes and our second unit was the unit that really took the lead,” Gates said. “... I got guys rest and we were able to come back in the second half and battle on those boards.”
That use of depth early in the game allowed the Tigers to keep their energy high throughout.
And the use of it throughout the season became important down the stretch as the referees attempting to get the game under control.
With Ant Robinson sitting at four fouls midway through the second half, the Tigers were depending on Tony Perkins, but an errant elbow to a defender’s groin meant Perkins was automatically ejected.
The Tigers didn’t want to turn to Marques Warrick, I expect because of the defense required to control Florida’s guards, so they turned to T.O. Barrett, a true freshman averaging less than 5:30 per game and who has also received calls as the player who signals Gates making weird decisions.
Barrett then helped lock down the Florida guards to keep the Gators from going on any extended runs in the final 7 minutes.
“T.O. Barrett, all of his minutes came in the last six minutes of the game,” Gates said. “A freshman being ready on the road to close out a game when a senior is out ejected, when a second-year unbelievable point guard is in foul trouble, you have a freshman come in who hadn’t played probably the last two games and close us out at the point guard position. That says a lot about what his team thinks of him, what I think of him, but more importantly, the confidence he has in himself to go out there and do the job.”
And that confidence comes from Gates repeatedly showing that he is willing to trust his players in important moments whether it’s going to his star guard play after play against California to power a second-half comeback, sticking with a freshman big man in key minutes during Braggin’ Rights, leaving in his poor free-throw shooting forward knowing he will be the one fouled late or sticking with a freshman point guard and trusting his defense in the final minutes of a marquee win.
The rotations have tightened in SEC play, but Gates is never going to be a coach who only plays eight players in a game and sometimes that will anger fans. Other times it will lead to wins that change the Tiger season the instant the final buzzer sounds.
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