How Mizzou's Caleb Grill is Adjusting to New Defensive Challenges

If the rest of the Southeastern Conference wasn't fully aware of Caleb Grill's ability as an offensive playmaker before this season of conference play, they seemed to have learned after an impressive January for the guard.

In a seven-game stretch from Jan. 7 to Feb. 1., Grill averaged 15.7 points and 3.9 rebounds per game. At one point during the stretch, his 49.3 percentage on 3-point shots was the best in the country.

Since that stretch though, teams have found ways to limit Grill by focusing extra defensive attention on him.

"There's not as much help, and there's a lot more grabbing and holding," Grill said in a press conference Tuesday on how defenses have been playing against him recently. "So just having to switch up how I prepare for games. I've been having to change different ways of how to find myself to get open. "

Grill has found ways to still score in recent games, though. He's scored 15 in each of Missouri's recent two games. He made three of his four 3-point attempts against Oklahoma. Part of combatting that extra attention from defenses comes from extra attention from Grill himself on the opponent's defensive strategies.

"Going into games, just finding different ways to find opportunities to get open," Grill said on how the changing defensive coverage have impacted his play and preparation. "[I watch] a little bit of film, and then re-watching our own games and seeing like, where I could have maybe set up different or maybe where I could have cut different."

Grill has also evolved the ways in which he can help out his team, even if he can't find the open look. In the last three games, he's created six assists. The attention placed on him means more open opportunities for his teammates.

"Just because of how they're guarding me, it's going to open up different opportunities for other people," Grill said. "Shoot when you're open, and then when they take away the shot, sometimes there's going to be driving lanes in open areas to get other people open."

Missouri also doesn't have a shortage of other shooters who can make the most of these new opportunities. Against Georgia, Tamar Bates made three of his five attempts from outside the 3-point arc. Additionally, Jacob Crews has made nine total 3-point shots in the last five games.

The ways Grill has elevated the team, even in ways that don't show up on the stat sheet, is no surprise to Missouri head coach Dennis Gates.

Early in the season, Gates had a challenge for Grill. The shooter was paying too much attention to lighting up the scoreboard, shooting 10 3-point attempts in Missouri's first two games but only making two.

Tennessee's Igor Miličić Jr. (7) tries to protect the ball from Missouri's Mark Mitchell (25) and Caleb Grill (31) during an NCAA college basketball game on Wednesday, Feb. 5, 2025, in Knoxville, Tenn. | Saul Young/News Sentinel / USA TODAY NETWORK via Imagn Images

Gates ordered Grill to forget about looking to be the star on the stat sheet, and instead focus on the impact he could make defensively. Since then, Gates has continously praised Grill's defensive play.

And as for his 3-point shooting, that aspect of his game seems to come more naturally too him when his mind isn't stuck on it.

"His maturity has come because of his patience," Gates said of Grill, "increasing his understanding of the game, and also his teammates understanding who exactly he is. And there's no identity crisis when it comes down to what he does for our basketball team, he draws attention. He draws defenders."

"What we have to do is continue to make sure he touches it, because his usage rate is very high when he touches it, it increases our chances, whether he shoots it or not, he makes the right plays. He's not forcing things."

Read more Missouri Tigers news: