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Florida St. Seminoles
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Gonzaga Bulldogs
Friday, Mar 19, 2010, 4:10 PM PDT
NCAA Tournament - West Region - First Round - HSBC Arena - Buffalo, NY
Gonzaga Bulldog Basketball Prospects
2011 Prospects
Kyle Wiltjer
Position: PF
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Ht: 6'9"
Wt: 200 lbs
AAU: Drew Gooden Soldiers
High School: Jesuit HS (OR)
Gary Bell Jr.
Position: PG
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Ht: 6'1"
Wt: 175 lbs
AAU: Seattle Rotary Select
High School: Kentridge (WA)
Nick Johnson
Position: PG
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Ht: 6'3"
Wt: 185 lbs
AAU: Drew Gooden Soldiers
High School: Findlay Prep (NV)
Brett Kingma
Position: PG
Highlight Reel
Ht: 6'2''
Wt: 160 lbs
AAU: Emerald City Basketball Academy
High School: Jackson HS (WA)
2012 Prospects
Jordan Tebbutt
Position: SG
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Ht: 6'5''
Wt: 190 lbs
High School: Horizon Christian HS (OR)
Landen Lucas
Position: PF
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Ht: 6'8''
Wt: 200 lbs
AAU: Northwestern Panthers
High School: Sunset HS (OR)
Anrio Adams
Position: PG
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Ht: 6'2''
Wt: 175 lbs
High School: Franklin HS (WA)
Darien Nelson-Henry
Position: C
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Ht: 6'10''
High School: Lake Washington HS (WA)
Show us your brackets!!!!!!
by Max Mandel on Mar 16, 2010 11:58 AM PDT
3 comments
We would like to officially welcome everyone to the Slipper Still Fits bracket challenge. We just created an open group for Gonzaga fans with ESPN Tournament Challenge and would like all of our readers (invite your friends as well) to compete for the title of Bracket Champion. In the spirit of this site, I have selected Gonzaga to make the Final 4, but there are no requirements for how far you must pick the Zags to go. We do encourage people to be a little risky and pick the occasional upset, but if you want to choose all the #1 seeds in the Final 4, that is totally fine.
Here is how you join:
1) Go to ESPN Tournament Challenge (Click here for direct link)
2) Create an ESPN account (They are free. If you already have an ESPN account, skip this step)
3) Fill out your bracket
4) Click on Join group
5) Search: Slipper Still Fits (Key Note: The group for this blog is: "Slipper Still Fits, not "The Slipper Still Fits)
6) Join Slipper Still Fits
7) Sit back and enjoy this terrific competition.
If you have any questions or something isn't working, please feel free to email us, and we will do everything we can to help out.
3 comments | 0 recs |
Who are the Seminoles? Breakdown of Florida St.
by Max Mandel on Mar 15, 2010 11:06 PM PDT
14 comments
Over the past two months we have spent endless amounts of time debating and discussing the same seven opponents. One of the refreshing aspects of the start of the NCAA Tournament is that there is a fresh opponent for us to preview and attempt to dissect. While last year gave the Zags mid-major opponents in the first two round, this NCAA Tournament run will begin against the Florida St. Seminoles from the ACC.
The first thing that jumps out when you look at Florida St. is the incredible amount of athleticism that Leonard Hamilton has at his disposal. Normally, Memphis presents the most difficult match up in terms of athleticism and length for the Zags, but this season that distinction will belong to the Seminoles. In Solomon Alabi, the 'Noles have a future lottery pick who is a legitimate 7'1 and can absolutely dominate the game with his defensive play. Alabi averages 2.4 blocks per game, and there is little doubt that he will be the most difficult match up that Robert Sacre has gone up against during his time at Gonzaga.
However, like the rest of his teammates, Alabi is not a huge threat on the offensive end, with most of his scoring coming on second-chance opportunities and open dunks. Alabi averages only 11.6 points per game and is also an ineffective rebounder for a guy his size, pulling down 6.2 boards per game. If Sacre and Foster can box out and use their size and strength to keep Alabi off the glass, his impact could be nullified.
With Alabi dominating the paint, Chris Singleton has the ability to guard and dominate defensively on both the perimeter and in the paint. Singleton is the engine that makes this Seminoles team run, and he offers a very rare blend of size and quickness. The 6'9 forward was recently named the ACC Defensive Player of the Year, and it will be interesting to see if he starts the game using his length to try and eliminate the effectiveness of Matt Bouldin on the perimeter, or if he matches up with Elias Harris. With so much length in both a basic man-to-man defense, as well as in a potential 3-2 zone (which SIngleton often plays at the top of), Gonzaga will need to make sure they take care of the ball and make smart passes in both transition and in the half court offense.
While there is a pretty good indication of the type of performance that Gonzaga fans should expect to see from Alabi and Singleton, I believe that Deividas Dulkys and Michael Snaer will be the difference in this game. With Florida St. being the top defensive team in the country (they the lead the country in field goal percentage defense), the ability of Dulkys and Snaer to score and provide a threat on the offensive end will be imperative watch. Dulkys is an excellent shooter, who hits nearly 40% of his shots from beyond the arc, but he is incredibly streaky on the offensive end. It's vital that either Matt Bouldin or Steven Gray is always aware of where Dulkys is on the court, as making sure that he doesn't get hot from the field should be one of the main priorities for the Zags.
Snaer is an explosive freshman scorer, who is one of the most highly-touted recruits to play in Tallahassee. Snaer recently moved into the starting lineup, and I wouldn't be surprised to see Steven Gray match up with Snaer when Gonzaga is in their man-to-man defense (it wouldn't surprise me to see Gonzaga in their zone defense for the majority of the game. Making FSU score from the perimeter might be the best approach). By not allowing Snaer and Dulkys to get in the offensive flow of the game, Gonzaga should have enough skill and scoring ability on the offensive end to pull out a gruleing and tough victory.
14 comments | 0 recs |
Every Second Counts in March: Demetri Goodson sinks Western Kentucky
by Zach Bell on Mar 15, 2010 6:22 PM PDT
5 comments
With the NCAA Tournament right around the corner, this seems like a great time to continue our "positive vibes" movement here and reminisce about some of the great postseason moments for the Gonzaga Bulldogs. The past decade and some have been remarkable for this once nationally unknown program. Many players in the past ten years have gone down as legends and everyone has their favorite Gonzaga moment. For me, there is really no reason to go too far back into the past as one of the all-time best moments happened just a season ago. Playing in Portland, Gonzaga entered the 2009 NCAA Tournament as a four seed after absolutely dominating the West Coast Conference tournament. After getting a stiff test from Akron in the opening round, the Zags narrowly advanced to the second round where they met Western Kentucky. The Hilltoppers were a popular sleeper pick a season ago and had dominated five seed Illinois in their opening round match up. The game would be hotly contested throughout but, on arguably Gonzaga's most talented and veteran-laden team, it was their youngest contributor that stepped up when it mattered most.
continue reading after the jump to reminisce about Gonzaga-WKU...
5 comments | 0 recs |
Cool video from Nike for the NCAA Tournament
1 day ago
Max Mandel
7 comments
0 recs
JUICIEST MATCHUP: Gonzaga vs. Florida State
Boeheim wasn't pleased to have this as his 8-9 game; as he said on Sunday, "I have [Gonzaga] 15 in my poll this week. I don't see how they're not a 5 or 6 seed." He's right on the Zags being underseeded; they're more dangerous than your average No. 8, and are only in that position because they sleepwalked though a West Coast Conference title game loss to St. Mary's. The team they're paired with, Florida State, is no slouch, either: The 'Noles rank No. 1 in the nation in defensive efficiency, using 7-1 center Solomon Alabi to shut down all action in the paint. The game will hinge on whether Zags guards Matt Bouldin and Steven Gray (and to a lesser degree, small forward Elias Harris) can knock down threes.
1 day ago
Max Mandel
5 comments
0 recs
Gonzaga to take on Florida State in opening round of NCAA Tournament
by Zach Bell on Mar 14, 2010 9:22 PM PDT
23 comments
Selection Sunday is always full of surprises. After the first three brackets were released, Greg Gumbel said "tensions are building around here" and that is seemingly the way this day always goes. Lots of head shaking, even more finger pointing, and plenty of heartbreak. You can't classify Gonzaga's fortune today as heartbreak but you can say it was disappointing. The 8-9 game is what many look to avoid as you are typically taking two strong teams that were inconsistent and pitting them against eachother. This is why you have match ups like Texas-Wake, Cal-Louisville, and Gonzaga-FSU all residing on the 8-9 line. The second obvious caveat to being involved in this game is the fact that your next contest (if you are lucky enough to survive and advance) will be against a #1 seed. Gonzaga has this difficult, and exciting opportunity as they look to make a deep run in this season's NCAA Tournament.
I'm sure Max will come along tomorrow with a more detailed look at Florida State because, to be quite honest, I never see much of them. I know about Solomon Alabi, Michael Snaer, and a few other touted Seminoles. I know that their reputation is a strong, athletic, and defensive minded team. They're one of the best in the country defensively and really frustrate opposing teams into taking bad shots. But, like every other team not in the top 6-8, they are incredibly inconsistent. They've swept Wake Forest and Georgia Tech but then they've lost games they had no business losing. Overall, it's exactly the type of team I expected the Zags to play in the opening round, even though I didn't think they'd slide to an eight.
There's really no point anymore in looking back and complaining about the committee or how this team finished the season. I know it makes for good discussion and is a good way to grind an ax but the second season is almost upon us and I'm damn excited to get it going. The facts now indicate that Gonzaga will play Florida State on Friday. The Seminoles, while strong and very dangerous, are also very beatable. It's going to take all the same efforts we have seen in flashes through the year. There's no next year for Matt Bouldin to have his tournament success. There is really no more grace period for Demetri Goodson to have the "just a sophomore" excuse. There's also no reason why this bench should be looked upon as a guessing game regarding who is going to play well today.
Many things have to come together for this tournament to be viewed as a success. I can't harp on how much Elias Harris should be priority #1 in the gameplan. Against an outstanding defensive team like Florida State, you have such a small window to come out with fire before they can just wear you down. The good thing is that we all know that this team is capable of doing some very good things against anyone. They can also do awful things against anyone but...I'm one of those fans that happens to think the best version of Gonzaga is going to come to play every game no matter what and I expect nothing less in Buffalo.
Go Zags.
23 comments | 0 recs |
Selection Sunday Open Thread: Send your positive vibes here
by Zach Bell on Mar 14, 2010 11:11 AM PDT
70 comments
The best day of the year has arrived.
In just a short amount of time, the field of 65 will be released by the selection committee. We all know that Gonzaga has been sliding in the wrong direction for the past month or so but the Zags should easily land an at-large bid in this year's tournament. Most bracketologists have concluded they will be somewhere on the seven line playing at a place other than Spokane, Washington where many fans were hoping they'd wind up.
If the Zags do indeed land on that seven line, you can bet that there will be some dangerous teams waiting for them. Teams like Florida State, Missouri, Georgia Tech, Utah State, San Diego State, Clemson, UNLV, and Old Dominion could all be potential opponents for Gonzaga. What this means is that Mark Few's team will have their hands full from the get go. What makes things worse is that there will definitely be a lengthy plane flight involved to wherever the Bulldogs wind up. Probable locations include Milwaukee, Buffalo, and Oklahoma City. A few weeks ago we were talking about how cool it was going to be to play our first two rounds in Spokane probably against a twelve seed and then a four but that is now all distant history.
Don't get me wrong, there is still hope for at least a six seed which is why we're asking for some positive vibes in this thread. Feel free to stop in and share your thoughts in the comment section below. The Selection Show will air at 3 PM pacific time on CBS and you can also stream it live on CBSSports.com.
GO ZAGS!
70 comments | 0 recs |
Be careful, we're "experts"
by Zach Bell on Mar 13, 2010 7:21 AM PST
7 comments
If you are like Max and I, no day compares to tomorrow. Selection Sunday is better than Christmas, dwarfs the 4th of July, and blows Halloween out of the water. Tomorrow's show is easily the best reality television going. You've got jubilation, heartbreak, and depression all wrapped into the announcement of 65 teams. The show also begins what is easily the best and most exciting postseason set up of any sport, college or pro. March Madness has become a national institution and has slowed down American productivity since its inception.
With that being said, we are proud to announce that we have been invited to participate in the CBS Selection Sunday Challenge Experts Group. When we first got the e-mail inviting us to join this group, I thought the term "experts" was just for show but this bunch includes some of the best college basketball writers in the business. Joining us in this contest will be Gary Parrish (CBS), Jerry Palm (CBS), Gregg Doyel (CBS), Andy Staples (SI), Ryan Fagan (SportingNews), Ryan Feldman (Hoops Report), Daniel Evans (OnlineSportsFanatic.com), Shawn Siegel (CollegeHoopsNet), Andy Pawalowski (Digital Hoops Blast), Jeff Borzello (March Madness All Season), Shelby Mast (Bracket WAG), Chris Kulenych & Craig Gately (Bracketology 101), and Zach Hayes (Rush the Court).
These are basically all the guys and blogs we check up on daily so it is a tremendous honor to compete against them. We're still working hard to get our brackets laid out before the show tomorrow and we'll post them when we get it done. Here is the link for the contest, you can search "NCAA Hoops Experts" to find our group and belittle us as our bracket gets torn to shreds. Here is a little more via CBSSports' press release:
With NCAA.com’s "Selection Sunday Challenge", fans use a highly interactive online application to stack the field with their favorite teams, randomly choose from more than 330 eligible Division I men’s basketball programs or use the research and tools that the Division I Men’s Basketball Committee puts to use such as RPI, schedules, recent results and more. New features this year include expanded team statistics and an "Evaluate My Picks" function, which will evaluate your selections against the official rules used by the Division I Men’s Basketball Committee. Also included are video clips from the NCAA’s Mock Selection show that describe the selection process.
7 comments | 0 recs |
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Bulldogs Basketball Schedule
Next 5 Games
|
Florida St.
|
Fri 03/19 | 4:10 PM PDT |
Last 5 Games
| St. Mary's, Calif. | Mon 03/08 | L 62 - 81 |
| St. Mary's, Calif. | Mon 03/08 | L 62 - 81 |
| Loyola Marymount | Sun 03/07 | W 77 - 62 |
| Loyola Marymount | Sun 03/07 | W 77 - 62 |
| Cal State Bakersfield | Tue 03/02 | W 78 - 59 |
West Coast Conference Standings
(updated 3.8.2010 at 10:45 PM PST)
| Conf | Overall | |||
|---|---|---|---|---|
| W | L | W | L | |
|
Gonzaga Bulldogs
|
12 | 2 | 26 | 6 |
| St. Mary's, Calif. Gaels | 11 | 3 | 26 | 5 |
| Portland Pilots | 10 | 4 | 21 | 10 |
| Loyola Marymount Lions | 7 | 7 | 18 | 15 |
| San Francisco Dons | 7 | 7 | 12 | 18 |
| Santa Clara Broncos | 3 | 11 | 11 | 21 |
| San Diego Toreros | 3 | 11 | 11 | 21 |
| Pepperdine Waves | 3 | 11 | 7 | 24 |
Gus and Us
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