Comments on: Sam Dower, “The Rotation,” and You

By: Mike

Mike — Wed, 09 Feb 2011 03:18:32 +0000

The recent game against Portland was a great example of what they can do off the bench. I think it’s a mix of timing, attitude and will. When Harris didn’t start the second half the commentators even seemed a bit confused but coach had it right, make him know “Hey, we can get it done without you on the floor or you can show us why you should be on the floor.” He stepped it up after that! The talent they have this year is golden however the teamwork has been the main inconsistency, Gray in my opinion is a great player but he’s over-rated. The Memphis game was lost because Grey wouldn’t pass to Sacre who would’ve scored with his hook or drawn the foul but because Grey has to be the center of attention the team suffered a loss they did not deserve. I’m not saying he’s a narcisist, he’s a awesome player and student all around, but maybye if he wasn’t constatntly presented as if he were “This years Bouldin, Step, Morrison etc.” He might not be so inconsistent from game to game. I find myself saying “PASS THE BALL!” more often than “Nice shot!” there’s no question he could be what the media vamps him up as being if he’d just make logical decisions when it comes to shooting vs. assists. Go get’em Zags! I’ve been a devoted fan for 11 years, staying up late (As I am a Spokane native living 1100 miles away) to watch Mark Fews genious coaching talent . This year though can be compared to building a race car, just because each part of the motor is the highest quality, they still need to be compatible to work together otherwise the car just wont run.

By: Nathan

Nathan — Sat, 05 Feb 2011 17:55:56 +0000

As a basketball coach, it’s very difficult to get a good sub rotation. I’m an assistant for a varsity HS girls team, and that’s the toughest part the coaching staff has during the game. There’s so many variables to deal with: foul trouble, fatigue, matchups, point differential, and so on.

The main question the coaching staff deals with on my basketball team is this: How do we get our less experienced players playing time without sacrificing our performance? I think this is what Mark Few and company deal with too.

There’s a lot of freshmen on this year’s Zags team. I’ve found that the less experienced the player, the more inconsistent he/she is. A great game or practice one day can be followed by a stinker the next. A coach has to evaluate if a player is at a peak or a valley, and then decide playing time based on that.

Since most of the games this year have been fairly close, it’s been tough to get the bench players more minutes because there’s no margin for error. If there’s a known inconsistency, why would you risk the game to get a freshman a little more playing time?

By: panhandleZagFan

panhandleZagFan — Sat, 05 Feb 2011 02:51:02 +0000

How good is the best Wide Receiver if the QB never gets the football to him?

It’s difficult to develop big men without good guards. Take the best big man in the world and you will never know it without a PG to feed them the ball and run the offense. I think Dower is developing fine and do not think changing his playing time in previous games would have changed the outcome. However, I like watching Dower play. He has great attitude from what I can see, and I would only ask for him to be a little bit more physical in boxing people out and in holding his position. So, I agree that their size is a strength, but sometimes figuring out a way to minimize weakness is better than showcasing your strength, and sometimes your weakness makes it difficult to see your strength for what it is. Would Dower have done as well if Meetch was running the point over the last couple games?, and how many Zags do we have that can dribble the ball consistently, at speed, without getting the ball snaked from them or turning it over?