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 Head Coach Mike Montgomery |
All this hoopla about rankings is great stuff and Stanford plays a fun gameto watch (I haven't missed one in years), but something has beenmissing. Is there any chance we'll see your son out there at halftimeshooting three pointers again? He was a great crowd pleaser.
Coach Montgomery: The son is playing high school basketball now so the days of that are over,plus he can't make any threes anymore. He's turned into a ball-handler. SoI think those days are past.
Bill Martin (Auburn, CA)
As you plan for each game, do you have a specific idea as to how manyminutes of playing time each player will see? Are the players given anyidea of what to expect in this respect? How carefully do you "script"substitutions in advance (especially in the first half or if no one is infoul trouble)?
Coach Montgomery: I'm trying to get as many players playing time as I can depending on thegame situation. Now that the conference has started that will change:there's no more complimentary time. Now I'll have about nine or 10 guysthat will probably get into games, but the minutes will be based on howthey're playing and what we need in each specific (situation). I've gotseven starters and I've got a bunch of guys who can play, so it's not likeguys don't deserve to play, but if somebody is clearly standing out andplaying well, then those guys will play longer. I'd like to get guys in thefirst half because then they'll have had the experience of having been inthere and if they have to go back in the second half it won't be likestarting over and they won't be quite as nervous.
Ben Bratman (Buffalo, NY)
I am thrilled that you have stayed at Stanford for so long, bringingcontinuity and success to the men's basketball program. With mostprofessional and collegiate level coaches jumping from job to job andhaving such short tenures in each position (even when they are successful),why is it that you have chosen to stay at Stanford for so long? Only once,to my knowledge, has your name come up when a position was open -- someyears ago when the University of Virginia job was available.
Coach Montgomery: Well there have been lots of opportunities but it's pretty tough to beatStanford. This is a great institution, and from the stanpoint of the wholepicture -- guys you're working with, the ability to have success, place tolive, place to raise a family -- it's pretty hard to beat it. The factthat I've been here a number of years and my family's established, it'simportant I think that they have a home and this is it, so we'll probablystay here 'til the end.
Mike Gillman (Laguna Beach, CA)
As you prepare for starting Pac-10 conference play, do you tailor practicesspecifically for the particular team that you will be playing? Do you scoutteams ahead of time? Do you employ unique offensive and/or defensiveschemes for opponents, or do you concentrate on an overall game plan?
Coach Montgomery: Well we're more concerned about what we're doing, running good offensiveschemes. A good offense should handle anything a team would do against youdefensively, whether it be pressure, zone or overplay or double-team orswitch or whatever. And we're working them on the things that we need todo. At the same time we do scout, and we try to minimize other people'sstrengths. Arizona State, for example, with (Eddie) House, who's capable ofputting up big numbers, you may want to minimize his touches and try toforce him out farther away from the basket. Or you might want to be awareof a team that zones, and work against a zone in any particular week ifthat's something they do in particular. So there is definitelypractice-specific things from week to week.
Dan Lynch (San Francisco, CA)
You have done a phenomenal job this season with the young cubs -- you trulydeserve recognition for all of your fine work this year. Now, a lot ofseason ticket holders might criticize your home scheduling this year, butgiven the inexperience on this team and the difficult away games you haveplayed, I think you made the right call. I am curious, with the team nowlooking as "loaded" for the future as it ever has, will you attempt tobring in some better competition to Maples? As a season ticket holder, Iparticularly look forward to tough non-conference games at home. I wouldthink you could land just about anyone in the country for ahome-and-home. Secondarily, what are your thoughts on a new arena? I see noreason why the best program in the PAC 10 has to play in the smallestarena. I think with your success you have earned a new facility that willaccomodate more people. With a better home schedule and more athleticplayers like Justin Davis coming in, I think you would draw extemely wellin a bigger building. What are your thoughts?
Coach Montgomery: First of all, we've gotten into some neutral games that have been greatgames for us. It's hard to get people to want to come to anybody else'shome court. With the scheduling problems we have with women's volleyball,women's basketball, dead week and finals, there's not as many opportunitiesto even play at home as it would seem, particularly when the students arehere in what would be a good time-frame. So we've gotten into a lot ofneutral games that have been great opportunities for us: the NewellClassic, the John Wooden Classic, Coaches vs. Cancer in New York, that havebeen great experiences for the kids. So a lot of what we've done at homehave been home games that we don't have to return, to give us a chance toplay young players, give us a chance to get some experience. That'sprobably the way it's going to continue to be, although we will always lookfor the Virginia home-and-home and the Connecticut home-and-home, but wedon't want it to be during conference because that's too tough on ourplayers. A new facility would be nice. I just don't think it's in theoffing. It's a long ways down the road. It's not something I'm going tospend a long time worrying about. We would, however, like to bring Maplesup to standard: heat, lights, warmth, food, some of the other things that Ithink the fans deserve, because it is a nice, intimate place to play.
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