Coach Gates' Deep Rotation: The Method Behind the Madness for Mizzou Basketball

With the Missouri Tigers six games into the 2024-25 season, the depth of the team is becoming increasingly apparent.

Through the first six games, Coach Dennis Gates has yet to play fewer than 11 players in a single game, utilizing an unusually deep rotation.

This approach has left many fans puzzled, but in reality, Gates has a perfectly logical method behind it—one that involves far more advanced analytics than the average fan might fully grasp.

After the Tigers' (5-1) game against Pacific on Friday night, Gates addressed a question that has been on many minds for the last two seasons: why is his rotation so much deeper than a typical college program?

"As it relates to the rotation, again, in my career, this is normal for me," Gates said. "I've been able to do it as an assistant coach at previous stops, where we had 12 or 13 players deep in certain years. And then as a head coach here, and obviously the last two years. This is the deepest team I've had here, but not the deepest team I've had as a coach."

"What it does is gives you added insurance," Gates explained. "It gives you added insurance that your team will always continue to fight and get better."

Gates continued his thorough explanation, emphasizing that it’s not just about getting the most effort from his players, but also how analytics play a significant role in dictating the rotation.

"Player efficiency rating, analytics is how people make decisions," Gates said. "It's what you do with the time you have, and PER is the most important thing. Josh Gray is probably one of the best rebounders in PER, but nobody's writing about that here, right?"

Gates then held up the printed box score next to him before continuing.

"This fact sheet is like a black-and-white TV," Gates said. "Who has a black-and-white TV here? Nobody. This is no longer relevant. You should not go by this. It's not the telltale unless you have a calculator and you're dividing minutes per rebound, per shot, for everything. Those are the stats you need to look at and ultimately give guys the credit where it's due, because Josh Gray is one of the best rebounders per minute in the country."

Gates also mentioned the importance of maintaining balance on the court at all times, which is a major reason why players like Aidan Shaw or Trent Pierce haven’t seen the court in certain games this season.

"Once I saw how the scout was and how we were being defended, I couldn’t afford to have both Aidan Shaw and Mark Mitchell and Josh Gray in the game," Gates said.

This is because if Mizzou were to play multiple bigs at the same time, the opponent would pack the paint and force the Tigers into taking bad shot selections.

"I had to make another decision, an executive decision," Gates said. "We have three games in six days. Aidan Shaw will play next game, but it gives you a glimpse of how deep our team is, and our guys are unselfish."

Part of playing with this much depth is the entire team understanding that minutes will be spread out, and opportunities will be more limited. However, it's crucial that the team buys into this approach, and Shaw demonstrated that on Friday evening, despite not playing.

"Aidan Shaw wasn't pouting. Aidan Shaw was cheering for his teammates," Gates continued. "When everybody looks at the schedule and calculates, okay, three games in six days, we’ve got to be prepared, and our depth will allow us to get through situations like that. I’m just thankful for our coaching staff and our players for always being unselfish, the way they have been."

Mizzou currently leads all of college basketball in bench points per game, averaging 49.67 through the first six games. This is a remarkable feat, highlighting the depth of the Tigers' roster. While the level of competition has been relatively lower, aside from Memphis, it will be interesting to see how these metrics evolve in the coming weeks.

"One of my favorite parts about playing so deep is seeing all of our teammates, who we've been going against since June, get their chance to make an impact on winning," Caleb Grill said. "As a player, it excites me to see others who have been working just as hard as everyone else get that same opportunity."

The Tigers are back in action on Wednesday night, hosting Lindenwood, before multiple Power Five teams travel to Columbia. Next Tuesday, Mizzou will host California in the ACC-SEC Challenge, followed by the biggest game of the season when No. 1 Kansas comes to town on Sunday, Dec. 8th.