Lineup Performance: Missouri vs. Pacific

There’s not a cheeky preamble for this edition, folks.

After a stilted start, the Tigers shrank their personnel, started creating deflections, and cranked up the tempo midway through the first half in a 91-56 rout of Pacific. Sometimes, it’s hard to spy what tasks are on Dennis Gates’ to-do list. The intentions weren’t opaque on Friday night.

Let’s review what MU sought to accomplish in moving to 4-1 on the season.

Gates didn’t use the same lineup twice last night, and for the most part, the mixing and matching didn’t drag on the Tigers’ performance. 

There are two areas where you could pick nits, though.

Again, the starting five got out of the blocks slowly. Annor Boateng missed a few jumpers, and Mark Mitchell quietly struggled with contested rim finishes. Pacific’s scout also sold out to choke off clean looks inside. Consider this: MU did not have an open 2-point look all night in the half-court. 

So, Gates swapped in Caleb Grill at the under-16 timeout, which could punish Pacific for shrinking the court. He also rolled out Jacob Crews, who is still trying to get untracked offensively. 

Yet the best move might have been inserting Trent Pierce. With the sophomore on the floor, the Tigers’ lineups featured enough length to create deflections within their zone. Those deflections led to transition opportunities, resulting in a 16-4 surge to take a 27-14 lead. 

Once the margin was comfortable, Gates started rolling freshmen through the frontcourt. He tried to give Crews another shot at building some mojo by bumping him to the wing while Grill got a breather. The result: MU muddled through before tearing off an 11-0 run to close the half. 

After the break, it’s hard to assess the effectiveness of the substitution pattern because Gates made it a point to feed minutes to Boateng on the wing, Marshall in the post, and Marcus Allen at the four. Then, he gave T.O. Barrett seven minutes to close the game. 

As always, I don’t intend to single one Tiger out as a culprit for issues, but the struggling lineups often featured Peyton Marshall. The only mistake I can attribute directly to the freshman is biting on Elias Ralph’s pump fake early in the second half to give him a bucket. 

What Marshall’s presence might have done was sap some offensive punch when paired with Trent Pierce, whose jumper isn’t quite dialed in. But this is why Aidan Shaw was a bystander. As Gates noted after the game, Pacific’s defensive setup would have made Shaw a non-factor in some lineups. More importantly, though, Gates wanted to evaluate what Marshall and Pierce offered as reserves – experimentation that meant pruning Shaw’s PT for a night. 

Those observations about Marshall-infused groups are reflected in parsing lineups.

Quietly, Josh Gray settled in as a backline anchor in the zone and created a couple of deflections last night. He also scored five points in transition situations. His game won’t always be pretty, but it was effective when the Tigers needed it.

I’d also underline some lineups where Marques Warrick ran the point. MU tweaked some of its sets featuring high pick-and-rolls and handed the Northern Kentucky transfer the keys. Specifically, the Tigers are now setting a secondary screen at the nail once Warrick turns the corner. Theoretically, it should help spring a roller, but it’s also removing a low-help defender from the restricted area – and helping more undersized guard in Warrick find room. 

The same setup can also benefit Tamar Bates, who also piloted some high PNRs. Tony Perkins’ absence isn’t ideal, but Gates has seemingly used it to vet Bates and Warrick as primary creators. Each offers a different approach in those situations, but again, buy games are where MU tests hypotheses.

Look at Mitchell’s efforts as a small-ball five. When he occupied that spot, MU roasted Pacific. Yet the Duke transfer is only averaging 0.817 points per possession this season, including 0.667 last night. But the Tigers adjusted defensive efficiency with him on the floor is a gleaming 81.1 points per 100 possessions. 

Put simply, Mitchell’s presence helps make the Tigers stingy.

Moving him to the small-ball five spot allows a freshman like Marcus Allen to log developmental minutes as a hybrid four. So far, Allen’s only allowing 0.214 PPP, and MU gives up just 81.2 points per possession with him in the game. And when Gates has paired them up for 41 possessions this season, the Tigers posted an adjusted efficiency margin of 83.7 points per 100 possessions. 

Mitchell and Allen pair nicely, and validation required putting Shaw on the shelf for the night. When the competition ramps up, I’d assume Gates returns to Mitchell at the four and Shaw as the five, but he’s steadily amassing data that using Allen to give those guys a breather might not result in a drop-off. 

To recap: MU used last night to try alternative creators in ball screens on offense and get a refined sense of what backup fours bring to the table, particularly on defense. Oh, and Crews got 13 more minutes to establish a semblance of rhythm. 

With the Tigers set to host UAPB on a quick turn, the next question is whether Tony Perkins, who sat out again with a leg injury, will have enough to ramp up his performance with big games looming in a couple of weeks.