Jan 20th, 2010
Injuries to non-star players are always dismissed as insignificant news – sort of like the annoucement of the nominees for best supporting actor. Yeah, it has to be reported, but is it worth remembering?
Andrew Zimmermann (center) is good at taking charges, among other things, of course -- Photo by Matt Cohen/Southcreek Global
Most of the time, it is not worth noting – unless the actors are Gene Hackman, Al Pacino and Robert DeNiro (yes, they were nominated for best supporting actor at one time or another) or unless the injured players are Cal’s Jorge Gutierrez, Cal’s Markuri Sanders-Frison, Stanford’s Andrew Zimmermann and Stanford’s Gabriel Harris. Their importance is not necessarily what those players contribute, but what their absence or possible absence prevents their coaches from doing.
Zimmermann will be sidelined for two to six weeks with a stress fracture he sustained in the first few minutes of Saturday’s loss to Washington State. The 6-9 Zimmermann averages only 5.9 points and 3.6 rebounds, but he is a starter and one of only two Cardinal big men who have received significant playing time. Even before the season began, Stanford looked thin in the middle, and since then it has lost 6-9 freshman Andy Brown, 6-8 junior Josh Owens and now Zimmermann, who is the team’s best interior defender. Jack Trotter, a 6-9 starter who was a walk-on until this season, is the only big man left who received significant playing time.
Coach Johnny Dawkins could replace Zimmermann in the starting lineup with either of two 6-10 walk-ons, Matei Daian and Elliott Bullock, neither of whom has played much. Or Dawkins could go with a smaller lineup with Landry Fields moving from small forward to power forward and Drew Shiller inserted into a three-guard lineup that would include Jarrett Mann and Jeremy Green. Dawkins has used that lineup quite a bit anyway with pretty good success, but it is an important decision.
Stanford also lost freshman guard Harris, who will be out two to six weeks with stress fractures in both feet. He had not played much until last week, when he played 12 minutes against Washington on Thursday and 13 minutes against Washington State on Saturday, scoring five points in each game. He was becoming a part of the regular rotation.
Losing Zimmermann and Harris leaves Dawkins with just six scholarships players, or five if you don’t include Trotter, who came to Stanford without an athletic scholarship. The short bench is a problem in itself, because foul trouble must be avoided at all costs.
Over at Cal, coach Mike Montgomery probably won’t know until just before Thursday’s home game against Oregon whether Gutierrez (knee) or Sanders-Frison (back) will play.
Sanders-Frison scores the least of the Bears’ five starters, but he gives the Bears some much-needed bulk inside. Omondi Amoke can slip into that spot, but then defensive matchups become an issue and the Bears’ bench is weaknened.
Gutierrez is the quintessential sixth man, providing the energy and defensive intensity from the guard position that coaches love to have off the bench. The Bears are 2-2 without Gutierrez, and he has been noticeable by his absence. Montgomery has no other backcourt player who can provide that kind of spark. For those who love to play with numbers, you will note that Cal beat Washington twice last season when Gutierrez played and lost to the Huskies by 15 last week when Gutierrez did not play. (Yeah, yeah, Cal’s Harper Kamp, who is sitting out this season, played last year too, and a lot of other things contributed to the different outcomes, but tying the results to Gutierrez fits nicely into our story, so we’ll stick with it. Poetic license, or something like that. The point is, if Gutierrez plays on Thursday, it will help the Bears.)
The stars remain the same. Cal still needs Patrick Christopher, Theo Robertson and Jerome Randle to hit their shots, and Stanford has to have Jeremy Green and Landry Fields putting up big numbers. But if Oregon State center Roeland Schaftenaar destroys Stanford like he did last season, or if Oregon guard Tajaun Porter gets hot against Cal, you can remind the guy beside you that things might be different if Zimmermann and Gutierrez were playing. Believe me, he’ll be impressed.
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