Missouri coach Dennis Gates held a zoom press conference Friday ahead of the Tigers’ matchup with Georgia today.
Here are some of his quotes I found most telling.
When asked about how depth helps off the court
What Gates said: “I think depth has an invisible sort of power to it and we don’t really know exactly where it helps, but we know. We know it helps our guys, especially when it comes down to the rigors of the non-stop, the travel, even the ability for other teams to concentrate on the roster. It serves its purpose. But from a health standpoint, it gives us added insurance.”
What went unsaid: There are a lot of benefits to having a deep team. It makes for some confusing decisions at times, but having guys averaging closer to 20 minutes a night than 30 allows for faster recovery game to game, it makes scouting tougher on opposing teams and as Gates mentioned, it helps the injury bug.
The Tigers have been very lucky injury wise this year after getting the rough end of the stick last season and part of that has been guys are able to stay fresh.
I think I’m preaching to the choir at this point, we’ve all moved past the point of thinking the amount of guys Gates uses is an issue right?
When asked about team chemistry and how to cultivate it in the transfer portal era
What Gates said: “Speed dating, that’s what it is. … I just think that the background that our staff has done on kids during that short period of time, obviously the type of players that we have in our program that are returning, and the one thing that we do is, obviously we sift through kids and make sure they fit into our core values.”
What went unsaid: I’m pretty sure this year’s team building has worked better than any actual speed dating ever has.
The roster this year has such an incredible bond that is great to see. From shushing the media to trusting a freshman to be the first to talk after a tough road loss to the resiliency we’ve seen after just about every loss this season.
This group has a special connection and even with all the new faces on the roster, Gates and his staff did a wonderful job of cultivating a family atmosphere.
When asked about Josh Gray getting so many lane violation calls
What Gates said: “He is causing havoc, but it’s his level of concentration. I think being able to get that, that third one, is par for the course, it’s him being able to have a mulligan. And that’s what he’s able to do in that situation. But I think sometimes he loves to hear the crowd response to his ability to execute.”
What went unsaid: So it is on purpose!
It’s been a very funny development to watch, it feels to me like Brett Norfleet and his inclination to hurdle a defender every game. Whether it makes a huge difference isn’t the important part, it’s just a fun extra thing that brings some joy.
Josh Gray isn’t going to make a high percentage of his free throws, so might as well give fans something fun to see and get himself a third attempt.
When asked about Trent Pierce playing only two minutes against Oklahoma
What Gates said: “There was some rhythm of some other guys. Obviously, we saw Mark Mitchell play a little bit better and then we saw Josh Gray make an impact. So I kind of wanted to stay big, but ultimately, I thought Marcus Allen and Jacob Crews and those guys provided something that I wanted to keep going because ultimately what I thought they were doing was stretching and defending the 3-point line.”
What went unsaid: I have a feeling this one is a little deceptive.
It works to say the team had good rhythm when you end up winning by 24, but that’s also a reason why you might throw him back in for the final 10 minutes to let him try to get his individual rhythm back.
Yes, Mitchell played fantastic, there was no reason to not let him take the minutes to get his new career high, but did Caleb Grill need to be in during the final 5 minutes? Did Tony Perkins?
There were plenty of places where the rhythm of the game just didn’t matter anymore. I think Pierce’s minutes where Gates trying to send another message like he did with Mitchell against Texas A&M.
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