It feels like it’s been a minute since a said or unsaid, but the media got to talk with Missouri basketball coach Dennis Gates and guard Tamar Bates on Friday as the team prepares for its road trip to Memphis.
Here are some of Gates’ quotes I thought stood out most and video of Bates speaking.
On starting the season on the road:
What Gates said: “Team building is an important part of our program, but you have to look at both teams having the number of new players that they’ve had. Memphis has one returner on their entire team. We have a couple guys, but we’ve added a great high school class, we’ve added a great transfer portal class and that’s where we are.”
What went unsaid: I’ll start by saying Dennis often gets off on tangents within answers, so the header to these about what the initial question was might not connect as well to what the answer was. But I want you guys to know what he was asked about and where it went. This one isn’t real crazy, but some might be.
Memphis and Missouri have both almost completely rebuilt their teams after last year. I analyzed the matchup in my look through the season, so check it out here for all the details of who Memphis brought in.
It’s hard to know what to expect early on from teams that haven’t played much together. Another question got asked about how to scout a team like Memphis when there’s just no film of them playing together and the answer boiled down to “you watch the individuals.” But how those individuals gel together is very important. So it’s hard to really predict what will happen on Monday.
But it’s hard to predict for both teams.
Maybe Missouri’s guys gel a lot better than Memphis’ and work more cohesively early in the season, maybe vice versa. We’ll just have to wait and see.
About how the Tigers have gelled together leading up to the season:
What Gates said: “It’s a slow process when you have personalities, experiences, guys walking and, or coming from all walks of life. But the non-conference schedule allows you to get better weekly and what I’m satisfied with is where our guys and how our guys have been competing against each other. I think that says something about our team, the level of competition we’ve had in the gym.”
What went unsaid: Gates has built all three of his rosters in Columbia on transfers, but this year is a little different. The first season was a lot of guys from the Horizon League, guys who followed Gates from Cleveland State, guys who were taking steps up in their careers by coming to Missouri.
Last year included guys who were taking side steps prestige-wise. Tamar Bates coming from Indiana, Caleb Grill coming from Iowa State, John Tonje coming from Colorado State, I know the SEC is still a step up from the leagues those guys were coming from but it’s not the step up from the Horizon League.
This year is different.
Tony Perkins is coming from an Iowa team that has made the tournament the past four years averaging 20 wins a season. Marques Warrick is taking a step up in competition, but is the active leader in career points in college basketball. Josh Gray is making a lateral move from South Carolina and Mark Mitchell is here from Duke.
Different attitudes enter the room when guys take what could be considered a step down program-wise than when they’re taking steps up.
It’s easy enough to get guys coming from Cleveland State to buy in to your message, but when a guy is coming from Duke, he might have something to say about what makes a successful team.
I don’t have any info to say Mitchell isn’t buying in or anything, that’s not what I’m saying, but the room is there in a way it hasn’t been the past couple of years.
So that gelling process has probably been more difficult this season than the past two.
On if Tony Perkins is expected to play Monday:
What Gates said: Well, Tony Perkins has been practicing and I’m excited about what he’s been able to do. So for me, he’s had a great week in practice.”
What was unsaid: The word “yes.”
Simple as that. I was pretty confident based on the responses after the scrimmage that Perkins had been dealing with something minor that was easy to heal up from and he was expected to play Monday. The fact the words “Yes, Tony will be on the floor Monday” didn’t come out of Gates’ mouth makes me a lot more worried.
On losing the rebounding battle against Lincoln in the exhibition:
What Gates said: “I don’t look at us losing that battle. I look at the point of which our best rebounders were subbed out. Mark Mitchell, Caleb Grill, those guys were subbed out for a large portion of that game. And it’s key for freshmen to get reps and we’ve learned from those reps with our freshman group.”
What went unsaid: Me yelling "YOU CONSIDER MARK MITCHELL AND CALEB GRILL YOUR BEST REBOUNDERS???" Why are Josh Gray and Aidan Shaw out there if not to be the best rebounders. They’ll clear space for quicker guys to come in and grab the ball, sure, but that’s kind of the whole deal with guys who are approaching or above 7-feet tall.
I get the point he’s making and I’m honestly not worried about losing the rebound battle to Lincoln because he’s right, a significant portion of that game was played by guys who won’t be on the floor that much in games that count. But Gates saying Mark Mitchell and Caleb Grill are his best rebounders stuck with me.
That’s not good, you shouldn’t need two guys listed on your roster as guards to be the best rebounders. I know they’re both actually forwards, but that’s how they’re listed.
If Gray isn’t the best rebounder on the team or at least facilitating almost every rebound Mitchell and Grill are grabbing, then what’s he doing out there other than being a big body? Connor Vanover was a big body and just having a tall guy out there doesn’t help if he’s not able to do the job of the tall guy.
Here's Tamar Bates
Head on over to the Tiger Walk to discuss these answers and so much more.
