Dennis Gates Looks Back on Week 1 of Mizzou's Season

The Tigers are 3-0 early in the season, with a big test on the way.

Missouri basketball coach Dennis Gates during the NCAA college basketball game against Tennessee on Wednesday, Feb. 5, 2025, in Knoxville, Tenn. | Saul Young/News Sentinel / USA TODAY NETWORK via Imagn Images

Dennis Gates and the Missouri Tigers are three games into the 2025-26 season and have a record of 3-0. Despite the quality of the opponent through those three games, there have been plenty of positives and negatives to delve into.

On offense and defense, the Tigers have shown some strengths and weaknesses. They've been aggressive on offense and are knocking down around 42% of their perimeter shots to start the season, while finding some success utilizing tranfers like guard Jayden Stone and big man Shawn Phillips.

Defensively, the length of the Tigers has shown up. They've managed to defend ball screens well and protect the rim. On the flip side of that, they showed that defending the perimeter may be a challenge, though it's not something that head coach Dennis Gates is worried about.

It's still early and Missouri is still figuring out its identity, with a good test against the Minnesota Golden Gophers on the way to see how it'll fare.

"Early season, I think when you look at games, it's all about getting some type of rhythm with your new guys, rhythm with the culture, rhythm with what's going on and meshing everyone together," Gates told the media on Tuesday. "And that's that's the phase that we're in, and obviously the phase that Minnesota's in."

Here's a look at what Gates thought about Missouri's first week of the season.

Length is impacting the defensive side of the ball

Nov 9, 2025; Columbia, Missouri, USA; Missouri Tigers point guard Anthony Robinson II (0) defends VMI guard Tan Yildizoglu (30) in a game that the Tigers won 106-68 at Mizzou Arena. | Amber Winkler/MissouriOnSI

Though the Tigers don't look like world-stoppers on defense to start the season, it's clear that they'll be able to find some success in certain areas. Defending ball screens seems to be an area they've naturally improved in, especially given how big the team is.

Players like Mark Mitchell, Phillips and others help guard these ball screens because they have such good size. It makes it harder for opposing offensive players to find looks into passing lanes.

"We have versatile ball screen defenders," Gates said. "Again, having Mark Mitchell and Shawn Phillips in a ball screen. I mean, you got 6-foot-9 and 7-foot with reach, and that kind of takes some vision away from your guys."

Most of the players on the roster have longer wingspans in general, making it easier and more effective when defending ball screens and passing lanes. Players like Anthony Robinson II and T.O. Barrett generate lots of deflections because of their defensive tenacity and longer arms, which gives the Tigers more fast-break opportunities.

In ball screens, the same thing applies. The length of Missouri's guards and wings allows for more deflections that can result in turnovers.

"You want one guys to be able to go from one versus two ball screen coverage back into a numerical neutral situation, getting out of that coverage, and that's where I think our length is buying time and hesitation for passers because of our length and deflection opportunities," Gates said.

A changing offensive philsophy

Nov 9, 2025; Columbia, Missouri, USA; Missouri Tigers guard Jayden Stone (17) goes up for a contested layup against the VMI Keydets at Mizzou Arena. The Tigers won the game 106-68. | Amber Winkler/MissouriOnSi

Missouri gained some players in the offseaon who really help with the court spacing aspect of the offense and those players have made quite the impact in that category so far. Guys like Stone and Jacob Crews make it easier for some of Missouri's downhill guys to do exactly that.

Last year, finding shots for players like Tamar Bates and Caleb Grill, along with Mitchell, was a priority. The shot selection of Grill and Bates is very different compared to the likes of Missouri's volume scorers this season.

"The philosophy is making sure that we have guys on the court that create gap opportunities for Ant, Mark and Sebastian, because they are great drivers," Gates said.

Stone helps with that spacing because he can space the court out. He's most dangerous from the perimeter, given he's shooting 46.2% from it this season, and has no fear when it comes to taking advantage of catch-and-shoot opportunities. The same could be said for Crews.

At the same time, big men like Luke Northweather, who don't have to live in the paint, can also help with that spacing for Robinson, Mack and Mitchell because they are threats from other spots on the court.

"Whenever you have Jayden Stone in the game, Luke Northweather at the five, the versatility of Nicholas Randall, you look at that Jacob Crews on the court," Gates said. "The gravity allows that court to be wide open a little bit, and that's where we want to make sure we have the right lineups [in].}

The Tigers tip off against Minnesota at 7 p.m. on Wednesday at Mizzou Arena.