Missouri basketball coach Dennis Gates held a zoom press conference Thursday ahead of the Tigers' matchup at Vanderbilt today.
Here are a few of his answers that stood out to me and what I think went unsaid in them.
When asked about playing at Vanderbilt
What Gates said: “It’s a unique place in itself, I think ultimately, the way I operate as a head coach, I never sit down, so I’ll still be communication with my staff and team in the same area that I have normally done it. As it relates to time outs, we have a veteran team with some guys sprinkling in there with it, with some younger guys, … but our guys do a great job connecting. What the difference is, not the layout of the benches, but obviously the layout of their fans.”
What went unsaid: Vanderbilt sets up its court in a pretty singular way with the benches along the baseline and the court set slightly above the level of their lowest level of seating.
Maybe it’s the seating, maybe it’s the environment with the fans, but whatever it is, playing on the road there is tough.
Vanderbilt has beaten Tennessee, Kentucky, Texas and Ole Miss on the way to a 13-2 home record this season. Their only losses came to Auburn and Mississippi State.
The Commodores have been giant killers at home this season.
When asked about the Tigers' defensive efficiency
What Gates said: "Our level of communication is great. We’re good defenders when we can seal the possession with rebounding. So that’s an area that we’ve been able to increase and get better at. The other thing is minimizing fouls. When you play great defense and then it ends in a foul, you’re constantly, continually putting your guys in a disadvantage.”
What went unsaid: Coming off a recent week where the Tigers gave up two 90-point performances, it might not feel like Missouri is a great defensive team. And they’re not among the country’s absolute best, but KenPom now ranks Missouri at No. 52 in defensive rating. The.Tigers are also No. 52 in Torvik defensive efficiency.
And when you’re top 5 in offensive efficiency, being around the top 50 in defensive efficiency is enough to do a lot of good things.
When asked about the next step of development for the defense
What Gates said: “Protecting what we need to protect, obviously the paint, obviously the free-throw count and not giving up certain drives. Kind of stay in rotation and communicate at a high level. Ball screen defense is very important, transition defense is always going to be important, but how do you give those transition baskets up? Is it after a miss? Is it after a make? Is it because of a turnover? Is it because of a missed free throw? We’ve got to maximize our opportunities to make sure our shell defense is set and then that gives us a great opportunity to get stops.”
What went unsaid: Paint defense is a big part of why the Tigers are a good, but not great, defense. It’s been pretty apparent since the Georgia game when Asa Newell was able to get anything he wanted in the interior.
It’s part of the issue with the more versatile lineup the Tigers have gone with since Game 2 of the SEC schedule, there isn’t a real big protecting the paint. And even when Josh Gray is in there, he’s a fantastic rebounder, but not necessarily a great rim defender.
The Tigers average about 2.8 blocks per game, which is No. 247 (out of 364) in the country.
For a team that has multiple seven-footers, and one who plays regularly, that might be a surprise.
So yes, paint defense is a major factor in the Tigers taking another step forward as a team, getting say, 7-foot-5 Trent Burns (now that we’ve heard he might actually still be available, check that story out here), in there could be a big addition to the Tiger defense in specific situations.
When asked about Jacob Crews and his extra year of eligibility
What Gates said: “Jacob Crews is a young man that will have an extra year of eligibility, … We want to concentrate on where we’re at and then now be able to make decisions when decisions are needing to be made. … He’s a husband, family, unbelievable wife and child, what’s going to be best for his future? We’ll get with his representation, have a group family meeting and we’ll talk about that in the postseason to see what’s best.”
What went unsaid: Alright, good to get official word from the team. I had been operating under the assumption that Crews would get that extra season, but hearing it out of the coaches’ mouth is nice.
Whether he’s going to take it, who knows at this point?
I think people tend to work with the idea that if you’ve got another year, why not use it? But Crews has been in college since 2020, he’s moved around and played for four different programs and had to adjust to college after college all while becoming a father and getting married.
It wouldn’t shock me if he does decide to come back, a lot of guys want to be an athlete as long as possible, and I think he could be a key piece of next year’s roster, but sometimes it’s also time to move on.
He’s eligible, but don’t start counting him as a sure part of next year’s team until he tells everyone himself.
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