Kwiecinski: 10 thoughts on Dennis Gates' first 100 days with Missouri men's basketball
Dennis Gates was hired to rejuvenate a lagging SEC program to the point where Missouri aligns with Gates' goals of winning championships.
So far, so good on June 30, which marks Gates' 100th day as head coach of te Tigers. But the real tests are yet to come.
Here are 10 thoughts on the state of Missouri men's basketball after Gates' first 100 days on the job in Columbia.
1. It's fair to feel some reservations about a Tigers team with a similar blueprint to last year
Missouri pieced together a roster with mid-major transfers after losing most of its players from the year prior.
This broad statement applies to the 2021-22 Tigers. And the 2022-23 Tigers.
That’s not to take away from any excitement the newcomers have created. Whatever buzz currently surrounds the team is warranted. However, there’s need for slight caution as Missouri prepares to face a schedule including the likes of Kentucky, Illinois, Kansas, Iowa State and the rest of the SEC.
More: Missouri basketball to face LSU twice in SEC play during 2022-23 season
At times, the Tigers’ roster of mid-majors jelled last season in wins at home over Utah and Alabama, and on the road against Texas A&M.
But the success was never sustained.
Missouri may have remade its roster, but will that be enough to go toe-to-toe against the likes of UK’s Oscar Tshiebwe, Tennessee’s Santiago Vescovi and the plethora of five-stars Arkansas added this year?
Some of the best junior-college and mid-major players in the nation are still only that until they produce at the SEC level they have to in order to win games.
This isn’t to say Missouri can’t or won’t eventually give those teams all they can handle. The Tigers just have a lot to prove in order to separate themselves from last year.
Gates and fired coach Cuonzo Martin had the same approach to fielding a team, so it's OK to be wary about that approach considering how last season unfolded.
But it’s not all the same.
More: Missouri men's basketball: Why Dennis Gates wants to build a top-rated walk-on program
2. Methods aside, there's a key difference in how Gates compiled his team
While the method is similar, it isn't the exact same.
Gates pulled top-ranked JUCO players to pair alongside productive mid-major stars who will have specific roles to fill in his offensive and defensive schemes.
In fact, Gates filled three of Missouri's biggest needs:
A point guard.
A perimeter shooter.
A rim protector.
Transfer Sean East is a pure point guard. He's going to have his hands on nearly every offensive play, and that's by design.
Mohamed Diarra, the second top-rated JUCO recruit, fits right next to East as a key part of Gates' offense.
Diarra also fits the last need as a rim protector with his size after Trevon Brazile’s transfer to Arkansas.
"Mo' is a perfect fit for how Coach Gates wants to play in terms of his athleticism, length and diverse offensive skill set," Bill Morosco, Diarra's coach at Garden City Community College, told the Tribune in February. "He fits the mold of other 'point forwards' that he has coached and developed."
Then there’s the addition of Isiaih Mosley, which fills the need for improved 3-point shooting.
Filling those spots should make this team more complete.
3. It's OK to feel excited about this new-look Missouri roster
How can you not feel at least a jolt of excitement?
After last season began with massive reservations, this season promises to have at least some sort of intrigue, at the bare minimum.
The immediate future of the team is secure in Kobe Brown, Mosley, East and Noah Carter's hands. The future is in the hands of Aidan Shaw and the coaching staff's recruiting efforts.
Considering how Gates sold recruits on joining MU literally by himself for the first month he was here, it's hard to bet against him and his staff when they're at full capacity.
There's no reason why Missouri fans can't be excited. Genuinely, when is the last time that could be said about this program?
4. Isiaih Mosley has to be Mizzou's impact player
When Mosley committed to Missouri on June 6, it changed the perception for what Missouri could be in Gates' first season.
That's what happens when you pluck a player The Athletic, ESPN and other recruiting sites peg as one of the best transfer prospects in the nation.
The peak of those expectations are if Mosley lives up to his billing as a top-tier playmaker. If he does, the Tigers could be a 20-win team. It’s why much of the offense needs to run through Mosley.
Had he been on Missouri’s roster last season, Mosley would have led MU in almost every major statistical category.
Sure, it's fair to wonder how he'll look defensively and if he can adjust to the SEC. Having the ace up your sleeve is one thing. Using it properly is another.
More: Kwiecinski: With Isiaih Mosley, the complexion of Dennis Gates' first year has changed
5. D'Moi Hodge's impact will be the most underrated
With East's offensive capabilities, Cleveland State transfer D'Moi Hodge's presence falls in line as the marquee defender.
DaJuan Gordon was assigned to defend the opposition's best player last season, and it's fair to think that Hodge, the 2022 Horizon League defensive player of the year, will assume that role when he's on the court.
His size and length give him an advantage, as do his offensive capabilities, as he averaged 15 points per game last year.
Hodge will play alongside Mosley, giving the Tigers two extremes: a player who was one of the best mid-major defenders last season and another who was one of the best mid-major scorers.
More: Cleveland State's D'Moi Hodge commits to Mizzou basketball, reuniting with Dennis Gates
Mosley's skills can have Missouri in a position to win, but it won't be surprising to see Hodge's defensive skills help close out games.
Missouri needed a lot at the end of last season, but the need for a player known for his defensive prowess was a big one.
Having a defensive specialist in Hodge will pay off.
6. Gates was brought in to recruit, and he's proven it's a priority
Gates' first hire at Missouri was assistant coach Charlton Young. The two previously worked together to recruit future NBA players to Florida State.
While Gates' first roster at Missouri isn't complete with one more open roster spot to go, he's not complacent with just handing out a few offers.
Missouri has been offering players in the class of 2023, 2024 and 2025 this offseason. That will only pick up as AAU teams and events, including the Peach Jam in Georgia, play out this summer.
These offers will materialize into players Missouri will prioritize as the months move on. Gates and his staff haven't shied away from big-time prospects. MU has offered three five-star players in the class of 2024 in Paul McNeil, John Bol and Jayden Williams.
"There would be no one that's going to outwork him," Ricardo Patton, whom Gates was an assistant coach under at Northern Illinois, told the Tribune in March.
So far, no one can argue against that. Expect the recruiting efforts to pay off in the coming months.
7. There's no better time for Gates to enter the SEC than right now
This offseason, the SEC had Florida, LSU, Georgia, South Carolina, Missouri and Mississippi State all change head coaches. There was almost a seventh had Ole Miss decided to move on from Kermit Davis.
Not every situation is the same across the SEC. Georgia, South Carolina and Mississippi State are in more difficult situations than Florida and LSU.
Todd Golden has pulled some talented transfers to pair with some talented freshmen to go alongside returnee Colin Castleton at Florida. Matt McMahon has pieced together a talented roster at LSU with transfers galore.
Gates' first team is already one that passes the eye test. I would fit Missouri in a similar category as LSU and Florida as opposed to with Georgia, South Carolina and Mississippi State.
Georgia and South Carolina both pieced together teams with transfers, but they're not as complete as Missouri. Plus, considering Vanderbilt lost its best player in Scotty Pippen Jr. and Mississippi State lost its best player in Iverson Molinar, the Tigers are on pretty equal ground with much of the SEC.
That makes things much easier on a first-year head coach.
8. The early objective is this team needs to prove it can hang with Mizzou's big rivals
Sure, Gates has earned the excitement of Missouri fans. But how does Gates earn the respect of Tigers' fans? The simplest way is to make games against big-name opponents compelling.
Kansas comes to Mizzou Arena in December. Make the defending champions sweat in their first return to Columbia in a decade's time.
Braggin' Rights are up for grabs in St. Louis. Make Illinois yearn for Kofi Cockburn as you show St. Louis the gateway to the future of Missouri basketball.
MU gets another crack at Iowa State, which dismantled the Tigers last season. Remind the Cyclones that Hilton Magic doesn't really travel when you make it to SEC country.
While wins against all three of these would be game-changing for Gates, it reminds me of a conversation I had with an athletic director once at a past stop.
This AD was starting a men's basketball rivalry virtually from scratch against a team with a rising head coach and a more talented roster.
His goal was simple: Keeping the score close would make that rival sweat a bit. Even if that AD's team didn't upset the opponent, they would have made their point. They were one step away from winning that game.
Making Kansas sweat would be a heck of a start for Gates in December.
9. A projected starting five
This is how I envision a starting five looking for Missouri in its first game.
Point guard
Nick Honor
This is where Mosley's commitment changes the complexion of the team. Before Mosley's arrival, I thought Sean East was penciled in as the starting point guard. Now, Clemson transfer Nick Honor makes a bit more sense.
Mosley's offensive skills, combined with the offense Brown, Carter and Diarra bring, will undoubtedly mean the offense will improve. Honor's role would be defending and facilitating.
Having Honor's defensive skills on the floor would help complement the team's best offensive player.
Honor doesn't turn the ball over. He averaged .09 turnovers per game last year. Only Kaleb Brown had a turnover average under 1 per game last year, and that's because he was on limited minutes.
Gates wanted East from day one and got him. When he's on the floor, he's going to have the ball in his hands on nearly every play. Honor makes a little more sense to start with his skills and Power Five experience.
Shooting guard
Isiaih Mosley
Mosley was one of the top transfers in the nation and averaged over 20 points per game. If he's not starting, something is very wrong.
Small forward
This is where the discussion takes a turn. With Mosley's commitment, the shooting guard position is filled. Small forward is up for a bit of debate.
1A: Noah Carter
This is where it gets a bit tricky, as it might come down to what kind of style Gates prefers. Carter, a 6-foot-6 transfer from Northern Iowa, averaged 15 points per game at UNI. He shot 48.2% from the floor and 79.4% from the free-throw line.
That free-throw percentage would have ranked second on MU behind Kobe Brown's 79.5%. That is the kind of efficiency the Tigers lacked last season.
It's hard to justify leaving that offense on the bench, especially as offensively challenged as MU was at times last season.
Carter brings valuable experience. He's played a lot of basketball, officially playing in 84 games and starting 35 at a Northern Iowa program that knows success. UNI won the Missouri Valley Conference regular-season title last season.
1B: Aidan Shaw
Coaches don't recruit four-star players to sit on the bench.
A website called Torvik's RosterCast, which allows anyone to add or subtract players from a lineup to see how it affects team projections, noted that Shaw gets squeezed out of minutes with Mosley's addition. I really don't see that happening.
Shaw has the length, athleticism and defensive ability to affect a game in a myriad of ways. Once he gets used to the speed of the game at the college level, it's fair to assume he could see himself on the All-SEC freshman team.
Once Trevon Brazile got up to speed, he was a starting piece of the rotation. Shaw has the potential to be better.
It might come down to what Gates sees in the preseason, but that's better than having no versatility at all with the lineup.
Power forward
Kobe Brown
Brown is back as a 2021-2022 All-SEC second-team player. He can play on the wing and in the post. Much like Mosley, if he's not starting, something is very wrong.
Center
Mohamed Diarra
Diarra's presence is a boon at 6-foot-10. He brings length and a fit in Gates' offense. His talent is there as one of the best junior-college transfers in the nation.
The biggest questions are:
How will he fare against SEC bigs?
Will he still be starting if Gates adds another post player?
That doesn't take away from the potential he has for MU.
10. Bottom line: This team will still win more than last year
Even as MU goes into July with one open roster spot, there are two things to consider when wondering what the ceiling is for this new group.
1. This roster is more complete than last season's roster.
2. Assuming this roster stays healthy, it'll be deeper.
Losing games to UMKC and Liberty by double digits was unacceptable last season. That should never happen, and it's unlikely to occur again this winter with how the roster is structured and the staff is bringing its experience and a breath of fresh air.
If Gates and his staff add another post player who brings rebounding, depth and defense to the front court, I don't see why this team isn't capable of finishing over .500 and hovering around seventh or eighth in the SEC standings in a conference with so much turnover near the bottom of the standings.
10a: Thanks for reading!
Chris Kwiecinski is the sports editor for the Columbia Daily Tribune, overseeing University of Missouri and Boone County sports coverage. Follow him on Twitter @OchoK_ and contact him at CKwiecinsk@gannett.com or 573-815-1857.
This article originally appeared on Columbia Daily Tribune: 10 thoughts on Dennis Gates' first 100 days with Mizzou basketball
