Not only important to win, but how to win and what we do with the playing time is critical to preparing for tournament play, particularly for a team still very young. Meech and Sacre need to keep doing what they are doing, Matt will always be Matt, and Steven will defend whether or not he is hot on offense (we should pray he stays hot for the stretch!). Obviously, when we can do so, more playing time for all the bench players, because our fate may depend on our depth in critical moments.
My wish list: (1) for Bol to rediscover his confidence/shot; and (2) for Elias to function more effectively both as a defensive player and as a member of a team in transition and offense. He needs to learn that he can’t shoot through a wall, particularly if he is struggling at the free throw line…

GO ZAGS!

How about Manny Arop!! Right now, he is definitely our sixth man, and should continue to earn enough playing time to spell Matt, Steven and Elias. Bol and Grant need more time to find their place. Will and Kelly are both looking good, and GJ is finally starting to show the ability to back up Meech. If the team continues to play without letting up, they should be able to create enough breathing room to develop the bench.

I’d like to see a couple things from the team as a whole. First, the ability to play with maximum intensity for 40 straight minutes no matter what the score is, or who is on the floor. We need to get in that mindset to get ready for March. Secondly, for the players to get comfortable in their roles and play consistently within them. Meech, for example, has started the last couple games to slow down on offense. If he keeps that up, he is so much more effective and his TO/game plummet. Sacre won’t find his drop step this season, but has shown a lot more aggressiveness the past few games. Now that Harris is getting more attention from the defenses, he needs to adapt and realize his patent moves might not work. He can’t let his intensity cool off if he’s not getting his points though.

Really going to be focusing on the bench. With the sporadic minutes they’ve been getting, it’s hard to build confidence. We’re really going to need them come March though. Manny has been great, but KO will need to step up more. Will has been giving some good minutes lately (to my surprise), but I do see us needing both Will and KO a lot in the tourney.

24-36 last game! It’s just like a turnover. (Any time we go to the charity stripe and miss two). If we hit our free throws several of our close wins aren’t close! If we hit our free throws we beat Michigan State, Wake Forest, San Francisco. This is going to kill us down the stretch if not corrected! We are an agressive team that has plenty of bodies that attack the rim. We must make the opponent pay however!

His body language is terrible! I’m not sure how good of a teamate he is? He needs to understand he’s got better players in front of him. He’s got potential, its just not going to be this year.

He needs to score 11+ from every game here on out. As a team they need to continue to give Rob touches in the early portion of both halves. Rob seems to wither if this approach is not taken.

On another note, I dont think Elias is slumping. As a team we are not giving him isolation plays on the block as frequently as we were early on. This is because it is more important Rob gets his touches on the block than E. Elias can find his own way to score and he has really impressed me with his ever expanding offensive package. I mean…. 15 foot fadeaway jumper off the glass last game, nobody in america can stop that shot.

GJ will be just fine. He has his own personality but there is no doubt he is a good team mate. He has played in the last two games better than I’ve seen Meech play early in the season…And,I love Meech!
I Think it would benefit E to work harder at reading double teams before he tries to bull his way through heavy traffic to get to the hoop. He, (as does Rob) for that matter, needs to continue to improve on practicing when to shoot and when to pass…in essence…learn to be fundamentally patient offensively.
And one more thing…PRACTICE FREE THROW SHOOTING…ALOT!!!
Go Zags

Need more touches. We’ve seen them both play at high levels this year and they need to become consistent before the tournament. We can’t win in march with a 3 man team.

Hopefully the bench will round itself into shape, but I’m mostly concerned with seeding. If we come out and crush the rest of our schedule, a four is within reach. If the games are close we may get dropped to a different region. Having the first two rounds at home is huge and would be a big boost to our chances of getting to the sweet sixteen unscathed (we all remember davidson playing at home as a lower seed, yes?).

And yes. Free throw shooting. Jesus Christ guys.

In the last 5 games I think the goal needs to be on the continued effort to involve Rob, which is working well. The continued effort to involve Foster, which is working. Lastly the need to learn what will be the best rotation for the year end push through WCC tourney and the Big Dance.

I think that if Manny can come in and rest Bouldin and Gray this is ideal as he always gives quality minutes and makes hustle plays….If Bol could rest Meech this would be ideal as it puts a very tall athletic team on the floor…and If Foster and Kelly could spell Rob and Elias for 5-7 minutes this would be work well as it keeps us tall in the front court….Lastly if Few can find a way to work Gibbs in the line up for about 5 minutes in the second half and have him work along side Bouldin and Kelly all three of these seem to have a high basket ball IQ and are able to make good back door / cut to the basket type plays…It also slows the pace just a tad and makes for a good change of pace when Meech and Gray come back in…and the game speeds back up…

www.cousyaward.com

Rob needs to eliminate the dribble. Turn, step, dunk. If he cant do that- kick it back out to restart the offense.

To have Mark Few continue to pull all of the right strings with a very young team. He is doing his best coaching job yet and should be a coach of the year candidate. I’m glad he hasn’t listened to the over-reactions we’ve had on this site (I’m guilty too) and kept staying the course. His steadiness gives us a chance at a Final Four run.

a four seed is a lock, and probably at Spokane considering the selelction committee tries to place teams near home to start the tourney. Lunardi (ESPN) already has the Zags as a 4 seed and he uses the same data and formula that the selection committee uses. Lose one of the remaining games, and it’s anybody’s guess.

I hope that the next five games will see Manny solidify as the sixth man, the spark. If we could have a bench player consistently scoring double figures, along with the current starters scoring, the Zags will be hard to stop.