Everything Dennis Gates said Thursday: "Happy with our program, where we are."
Missouri coach Dennis Gates met with media Thursday ahead of the Tigers’ weekend matchups with SEMO and VMI. Above is the full video.
Here is a transcript of everything he said.
Opening statement
Gates: “Well, I want to say good luck to our football program this weekend, big game here at home, make sure we’re there to support as an institution and a community. In addition to that, I want to wish Kellie Harper and her program good luck, as well. Last, but not least, we got to go out and support volleyball. They’re in their last, I believe, home game of the season against a tough opponent, and our presence has to be felt in the Hearnes Center.
“Happy with our program, where we are. Just to get it out the way. I did not allow Trent Pierce to practice today, although he practiced yesterday and the day before, so he won’t be it, I won’t play him in the game. And same with Annor Boateng. He’s just day-to-day trying to get his situation evaluated, and Trent Burns has not been cleared yet fully, but it was great to see him run and do some things.
“Great program, great institution here in Missouri. Coach does a great job. Last season, they were able to win the regular-season championship. Wasn’t able to bring home the NCAA Tournament berth in the tournament, and this team has some unfinished business. They have eight returners and a great culture returning one of the great mid-major coaches. So, when you look at the prospects of SEMO this season, I believe they’ll contend for a regular-season title in addition to contending for a tournament title. So, in my eyes, we’re facing that caliber of a program, that caliber of a team, and I’m definitely excited to see where my, our players are in our home opening.”
Question: After looking back at the tape from Howard, any takeaways?
Gates: “Yeah, there’s a couple of things you would want to clean up. I thought Howard did a great job, a tremendous job of protecting their home court, giving their very best. Even being able to even cut a lead, right? They didn’t give up. They have a lot of a lot of a ton of fight. I believe SEMO will do the same thing. They’ll come out and fight. But our guys were able to show some resolve on the road.
“It’s not an easy task to start on the road at all, and the score is not indicative of how tough of a game that was for us from a mental and emotional standpoint. So, I thought our guys did do some great things. We turned the ball over. It put us in a great learning environment, a great situational to figure out how to dig ourselves out of it.
“And obviously we got to execute free throws. And we didn’t do a great job in our free throw. Against Kansas State. I think we were 26-for-31 and then on the road, which is what that environment does, or road environment does, we just got to concentrate and execute on the free-throw line, and we wasn’t able to do that. So being able to take those situations and the turnovers back, I think that will give us a different outlook on that game.”
Question: Stylistically, what will be the similarities and differences that you see from Shawn Phillips to the way that you used Josh Gray last season?
Gates: “Well, they’re, they’re two totally different players. Josh Gray was comfortable defensively more than offensively. Shawn Phillips has more confidence, if not parallel, in his offensive ability, in addition to his feel, overall feel for the game. And we know what his presence is. Defensively, he’s more of a vertical threat. Josh Gray was a physical, positional threat, where guys couldn’t get to their spots. Both are great in ball-screen defense, which gives us an opportunity, the difference is that Shawn Phillips can go get a rebound that’s 12 feet, and Josh Gray more so in his area at the 10-foot mark, and those are the differences between the two guys.”
Question: What did you see learning to those turnover issues?
Gates: “I think ultimately, when we look at the game, it’s just early jitters, early jitters. Early on, I thought you look at Shawn Phillips. The numbers, he had five or six turnovers, and he was just dribbling the ball too much and not allowing it to just be moved. And I want him to be at least a little bit, maybe a step closer in his post-feeding opportunities, versus a step off the block, and our players got to understand and put him in the right situations. You know, we got to be able to meet every pass play in a fundamental triple threat position, and those things will limit. But I think part of it was Howard’s doing. Part of it was our lack of and our early jitters on the first game of the season.”
Question: How encouraging was it to see positive 3-point shooting contributions from Luke Northweather, Jayden Stone and Jacob Crews?
Gates: “Well, I think those guys give us a difference, a different look. I want Jacob Crews to continue, I mean, he missed some wide-open ones as well, in and out. I want those guys to be able to find great opportunities. But I thought all three, they had great shot preparation. They were ready to shoot when that ball was delivered. And our guys were able to throw them strikes where they wasn’t picking bad passes and trying to turn those into shots.
“It was right there in the pockets. It was off maybe the third- or second-side rotation, and they were wide open. And I thought those guys did a great job of executing the game plan. I think the passers were Ant Robinson, Mark Mitchell and T.O. Barrett. Those guys were able to make the extra passes to those guys for those shots. And whenever we have our feet set and we execute our fundamentals being able to stick our landings and sign up and put a signature on our shot, I think we give those guys a good chance of making them.
“So, it was pleasant to see, and I’m thankful we didn’t fall in love with the 3-pointer. We ended up attacking the paint and being able to get 40-plus points in the paint as well.”
Question: What can Jayden Stone open up for you guys? Especially just as a spark with his scoring?
Gates: “Jayden Stone averaged 20 points a game for a great coach. I would like to take all the credit when he was able to do that for Mike Davis at Detroit. Obviously, Mike Davis coached his son as well, who’s one of the leading scorers in college basketball, was very close to an NCAA record. Wasn’t able to get it, but I respect the heck out of Mike Davis and what he’s done, and I’ve seen up close and personal being at Cleveland State, his preparation, his style.
“So, to have a player be able to do that in a Horizon League where there’s great coaches, right? Unbelievable players in preparation, which, again, firsthand, I saw it to be able to average 20 points a game. That says something about you. He did it on less dribbles, he was able to get and sign his shot from an execution standpoint, hold his follow through. He gives us an edge. And I’m thankful that again, that he’s here with us and, and his teammates, you know, they love him. He’s a great teammate, and he plays the game the right way. He plays very hard.”
Question: What kind of stands out to you about this SEMO team?
Gates: “They’re scrappy, man, they’re very good. They’re very talented. Again, the championship residue whenever you’re able to win what I think is difficult, anybody can get magic over a weekend and win three games in a tournament, right? But to do it over weeks and months in a great conference, that says a lot about the DNA of that team. Coach comes from, you know, Webber, Bruce, Bruce Webber’s tree, you know, played in a great program at SIU, coached at Kansas State, coached at SIU.
“He has residue. I don’t think he’s a mid-major, I think he’s a high-major coach. He’s a great coach, great tactician. He’s a great situational guy. When you watch the film and see how they control the game, they do a good job, and we’ve played them before, and it’s not, you know, ironic that this will be a Super Bowl for SEMO. They’re going to be excited to play us. We can’t allow their passion to out match ours.”
Question: When you look at the distribution of all the points and everything with everybody scoring against Howard, what do you feel like that says about this group?
Gates: “Yeah, we got to make sure. I think some of those turnovers earlier was because guys were trying to get points, right? When you overdo it. But allowing the game to come to you is what that results in. I thought our guys, for 35 minutes out of the game allowed the basketball to get to the best score in that possession. And we have depth, being able to play the right way. You have weapons, and I love the versatility of our team. We just got to continue to get better, and that’s what this is.
“This phase is about getting better. We transition from our fighting focus thing, and now we’re in that rhythm and resilience, thing that our team is really taking a liking to. And I’m excited to see what results, not just in the game but through the process, week-by-week, day-by-day, it brings to our growth, and our growth is going to be the most important thing in this juncture of the season.
“I’m excited to be back here at Mizzou Arena. Obviously, you see on the decals, the new stickers you got Central Bank. So, I appreciate Central Bank. We got Mpix. I appreciate Mpix for their partnership. That is a great thing. So, I’m excited about being here at Mizzou Arena. I believe it’s going to be a great environment, because of where our department is, to have a home game against Texas A&M on Saturday that’s going to bring people to the city, and being able on a Friday to have a great dinner in this great community, and then come to a basketball game, that is what a heck of a weekend looks like to me. That’s what it looks like to our fans and our supporters and our student section. So I’m excited to be home, MIZ.”
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