It was a long fall season for Douglas boys' basketball coach Corey Thacker.
Every home football game, he'd stand in the corner of the north end zone and watch as six of his prospective players took their lumps from the Northern 4A competition.
In the course of two weeks he saw his top post threat, senior Parker Robertson, go down with a knee injury (from which he returned three weeks later) and his top returning scorer, James McLaughlin, go down with a broken leg (He is due back in mid-December).
While no one was lost for the winter season, it did re-enforce what Thacker believes will be a major theme for his squad this year.
"We're out there seeing those guys get hit like that, it's tough to see," Thacker said. "But it also lets you know that guys have to be ready all the time. No matter what happens, we have to have guys ready to step up."
Not that Thacker is anticipating any major injuries this year. It's just that with four starting spots to fill from last year's state tournament squad (McLaughlin was the fifth), he is entering the year with a novel approach of starting five by committee.
"We have 15 guys on the roster and we could be putting different guys out there every night, depending on what kind of matchups we have," Thacker said. "We're really going to be encouraging our guys every day to step up and play because you never know what we're going to be doing come game time."
If Saturday's season-opening loss to Hug was any indicator, that will be the exact approach the Tigers will take.
Douglas rotated 11 players into the game in the first quarter alone, ran four different point guards in the game and fielded a wide array of frontcourt combinations.
"One thing we've been working on is our continuity," Thacker said. "This is how it is going to be. We're going to play 10 to 12 guys regularly and they have to get used to playing with a lot of different combinations in a lot of different situations."
As for the Hug game?
"We didn't even run with all the different combinations we can run with," he said. "We have a lot of looks. Depending on the day, depending on the week of practice, we have a lot of different things we can do."
Fittingly, Douglas' roster is a varied bag of tricks with six returners from last year's squad, three players who have been to two regional championship games and nine players who were on the roster for last year's state tournament.
Add to that six first-time varsity players, four of whom are sophomores and Thacker's point begins to hit home.
"With the young guys, we're just trying to get them as much experience as possible these first few weeks," he said. "We have a bunch of games coming up in a short amount of time, so we'll be throwing them out there in different situations just to see how guys react. We want to get them the experience and we also want to see what they can do."
Regardless of what look Douglas is sporting, McLaughlin (6-3, 10.7 ppg last year) will figure to be in the middle of things once healthy. The third-year starter was a first-team all-leaguer last season and is one of the top players in the region entering the year. The rangy senior can play either the 2 or the 3 and has the vertical leap to contend with many post players in the area. He also hit 37 3-pointers last year.
Junior CJ Marcotte (6-2, 3.3 ppg, 13 3-pointers last season) is the top returning scorer after McLaughlin and led the team with a career-high 24 points against Hug.
He is one of the better pure shooters in the league and has improved his game inside in the offseason. He'll likely see more time at the 3 spot, but played the 2 last season as well.
Robertson (6-4, 280, 2.0 ppg) is the team's top returning player in the frontcourt and gives the Tigers solid presence in the paint. He had six points and three blocked shots against Hug.
Nick Hales (6-2, 180, 1.2 ppg) is the team's only other returning frontcourt player and was strong against Hug with seven points. He also logged his first career start in the game.
Robertson and Hales are joined by a talented and varied group of newcomers including junior Michael Whalin (6-3, 160), sophomore Jorey Scott (6-4, 210), senior Cale Pete (6-2, 200), sophomore Garrett Getty (6-2, 160), junior Daniel Brady (6-5, 178) and sophomore Austin Neddenriep (6-2, 160).
Senior Tim Rudnick appears to be the front runner to start at the point after splitting time there last season.
The remainder of the backcourt can cycle in at either spot as sophomore Chris Downs, senior Tyler Hoelzen, junior Luis Pina-Duarte and junior Nikolai Vasquez will be battling for playing time.
"We have a lot of guys with non-varsity experience," Thacker said. "We need to get them in as much as possible before league play starts up."
While the overall experience isn't there yet, Thacker said he has been impressed with the prevailing attitude.
"You look at the guys we have back, they have been where we want to be," he said. "They understand what it is going to take to get there. The intensity is there. That's not something we have had to coach. It's already there, which is nice.
"It should continue to be there with 15 guys every night. We have a young team, we'll just have to find out who is going to step up and lead the team. We're challenging guys to see who is going to do it."
With realignment, defending state-champ Reno and perennial league power Hug have both left with always scrappy North Valleys.
Regional semifinalists Manogue and Galena come in with Fallon.
Douglas has its home opener against McQueen Dec. 9, which is followed two days later by the three-day Carson Valley Classic. Faith Lutheran, North Valleys, Dayton, Merced, Calif., Manogue, Fernley and Fallon are scheduled to play in the tournament.
Douglas' first league game is Dec. 16 at Fallon. After a tournament in Las Vegas and a trip to Elko, the Tigers return for their first home league game Jan. 6 against Damonte Ranch.
