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![]() Head Coach Mike Montgomery |
John Cunningham (San Mateo, CA)
This is a recruiting question. This year you had one scholarship to offer.Since you had depth at all positions did you select Matt Lotich as 1) bestplayer available or 2) did you select him for that position to solve afuture need?
Coach Montgomery: We had a position need that we felt we wanted to fill. We had six big guys,so we felt like we were in pretty good shape with big guys, and Lottich isa very good player with great upside, and we liked him very much. So it wasa combination: good player, and also position need.
Sally and Ed Truitt (Los Altos, CA)
Could you please tell us how many time outs each team gets per half. Weassume that each team has a limited number of both 30-second time outs andfull time outs, but we have no idea how many are allowed. Thanks for yourgood work!
Coach Montgomery: TV format, which is what we use in the Pac-10, the TV takes timeouts at thefirst dead ball after 16, 12, eight and four (minutes), and those are fulltimeouts. That's first and second half. So there's eight timeouts rightthere: 16, 12, eight and four, both halves. Then each team is allowed five30-second timeouts. No fulls -- 30-second timeouts -- one of which must beused in the first half, which allows you four in the second half. If youchoose to use, or even if you don't use it, then you're cut to four30-second timeouts in the second half.
Theodore Stevens (Los Gatos, CA)
On road trips, does the team get to "see the sights" at all? What do you dowhen not practicing or playing?
Coach Montgomery: I think most of the guys have been most of the places. If it's a specialevent like New York, when we played in the Coaches vs. Cancer, they took usto the Stock Exchange, but as far as guys getting out and pounding thepavement and going to things, typically that doesn't happen. They're prettybusy with practice and video and team meals and that kind of things. Ourkids, because we can trust them, have some freedom, but most of them don'tspend too much time out and about.
Oliver Morrison (Los Angeles, CA)
What do you use as a measuring stick to gauge your success individually andthat of the team as a whole? You will assuredly reach the 20-win plateaufor the sixth-straight season (which is a tremendous attribute to yourabilities).
Coach Montgomery: Really the best criteria is whether you've reached your potential or not asa team. Used to be that 20 wins was always the measuring stick, but withthe number of games now, sometimes that's not always totally accurate,although I would take 20 every year and be fairly pleased generally. But ifyou win 20 and you're not reaching your potential then you really probablyhaven't done as good a job as a coach as you'd like.
Matt Lindstrom (Mountain View, CA)
What do you feel you might do differently the next go-around with Arizona -if anything? If you can't comment on that, I understand. As a backup - doyou keep in touch with Ernie Kent outside of your meetings on the court anddid you know he would be such an outstanding head coach? Thanks and GoCardinal!!!!
Coach Montgomery: Well, we're going to have to do a better job, obviously I think, inpreparation. They are very good and it will probably be a pretty big game.We'll look at the tape and see what kinds of things we didn't do well andtry to correct those and do a better job of them obvioulsy. Ernie and I seeeach other at various coaching events periodically. Ernie is at Oregon andloves it. He's got a lot of passion since he went to schoool there, andhe's done an outstanding job.
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