Dennis Gates on High-Paced Princeton Offense, Practice Constraints, and Seeking Mentors {Missouri}

Slappin’ Glass sits down this week with the Head Coach of Missouri MBB, Dennis Gates! The trio dive into a variety of subjects including playing a Princeton-style offense with great pace, seeing mentors, and talk practice constraints and and learning from other sports during the always fun “Start, Sub, or Sit?!”

Inside the Episode

Dennis Gates has Missouri off to a 6-0 start in his first year as the Head Coach of the Tigers, and we were happy to have him join us to discuss a number of valuable topics when it comes to building an offense, relationships, and a program. This week we dove into:

  • Princeton with Pace: Coach Gates has run his own style of the Princeton Offense for years, and we dove into how Coach Gates prefers to teach “pace” within the offense. This was a 30 minute segment in which we covered philosophy, teaching points, and the unique advantages that the Princeton Offense can provide.
  • Seeking True Mentors: Coach Gates was fantastic speaking about how he sought out coaches to help mentor and be invested in his success as a young coach. Some valuable insights on building true relationships in the coaching business. 
  • Practice Drill Constraints: During “Start, Sub, or Sit?!” we discussed various ways that Coach Gates will use constraints in drills to help drive home teaching points and areas of emphasis.