Player Previews: This is Matt Bouldin's Team
by Zach Bell on Oct 14, 2009 4:29 PM PDT
21 comments
Ahhh...it feels good to be back on a computer! I'd like to apologize to our readers for the past week's activity (or lack there of). I have literally just gotten home from Dallas after a week of traveling around the vast state of Texas and EDZ just kicked off his new job so it made for the perfect storm for all of you! This is the first time since last Tuesday that I've sat in front of a computer and now that I'm back, I might as well blog about something. The good news is that it was a pretty quiet week as far as Gonzaga basketball is concerned. That will all change quickly here as practice begins on Friday...that's right folks, college basketball is right around the corner. With that being said, let's get right to it...
For the past few years, many players have come through the Gonzaga basketball program and have made tremendous impacts. This is particularly true when you think about last season's graduating class. Jeremy Pargo, Micah Downs, and Josh Heytvelt all have their own individual legacy that will live on in Spokane, Washington. While those players were all excellent in their own way, there is one player that now has the opportunity to benefit from their departure and build his own personal legacy and can perhaps have the word "great" attached to his name when it is all said and done. That player is senior guard Matt Bouldin. Bouldin, who has been an instrumental component of this Gonzaga program since his arrival in 2006, will have to deal with the pressure of being the go-to man this season and while he has been looked upon as a leader the past few years, he has never had to be THE guy.
While I think most Gonzaga fans would agree that Bouldin can fill that role, there is no doubt that he must avoid and grow out of some of the pitfalls that have plagued him for the past three years. With that being said, he's on the Wooden Player of the Year watch list for a reason and he is going to be a player that the whole nation has their eyes on this season.
Like we've been saying all summer, leadership is going to be huge this season. Not that it hasn't been important the past few seasons, but it is particularly important this year because their is a wealth of youth on this team and only two seniors. While both seniors have been at Gonzaga for all four years, it is pretty safe to say that a majority of the on-court leadership will have to come from Matt Bouldin. Will Foster has been a nice role guy for Gonzaga but has struggled to get on the court. Bouldin on the other hand, has played about 32 minutes per game the last two years and has always been reliable to eat up quality minutes. He has rarely been dinged up and typically plays with a high level of energy. It will be very interesting to watch the way Matt handles leading this team. The past three years, we have seen him take on a more laid back on-court demeanor but he has always been a calming force under pressure. I think that kind of attitude will really go a long way with this young team. There is no doubt that guys like Manny Arop, Bol Kong, Elias Harris, and the rest of the class have tons of talent but they can't understand the pressure that comes with playing in East Lansing against a very good Michigan State team. That is where Matt will come in and he'll be able to put this team on his back emotionally, the question is if he can do it with his play on the court.
There are a number of games that you know Matt is going to play well in. He has historically been fantastic during the West Coast Conference slate. He is obviously going to play well against the cupcakes on the schedule as well. The key for Matt, and it has been something we have stressed for a long time, is that he must be more consistent in the big games for the Bulldogs. As good as he has been the past three years, Matt has caused Gonzaga fans plenty of frustration during that time. The main reason for this frustration is because of his inconsistent play during those five or six important games on the nonconference schedule. This did improve a bit last season as Matt put Gonzaga on his back in both Tennessee games, and played well against Oklahoma St., Arizona, and Indiana but there were those few games where he completely disappeared. His play against Memphis has never been good. The last two seasons against Memphis, Matt has had identical stat lines: 2-9 from the floor with six points. Whether it is the freakishly athletic ability of Memphis or just their talent in the past, it has always been a tough match up. But last season he was also bad against Maryland, Connecticut, and Utah to the point where many Gonzaga fans thought Steven Gray and Micah Downs should be starting over Matt. This inconsistent play has always been a point of contention with fans of Matt and the program and it really raise a lot of question marks about what to expect from him now that the pressure is on.
His abilities as a basketball player really can't be questioned and he has been a favorite of many Gonzaga fans since he came to Spokane as a freshman. One of the best performances I have ever seen from a Gonzaga freshman was Matt's against a top-10 University of Washington team. He scored 21 points that night against the Huskies and ended the year playing about 28 minutes a game which is huge for a freshman in Mark Few's program. Now that we are nearly four years removed from that game, Matt's role in his final season as a Bulldog is to be a consistent force every game. He doesn't have to be Adam Morrison and score 30 points and shoot the ball 20 times but he does have to linger around the 15 point mark all season or else it might become a long season. The key for him to be consistent is for the offense to run though him early in the game. If he can hit a few backdoor screens for easy buckets and rattle in some mid-range jumpers, Matt can score 20-plus points. If he doesn't get out of the gate fast, especially in big games, he tends to struggle mightily. The good thing as far as this team is concerned is that the offense kind of has to run through him as a majority of last season's offense graduated in May. Mark Few has to find ways to get him going early and I think that he will realize that pretty quickly. Steven Gray and Demetri Goodson will provide him some help in the backcourt but make no mistake, Matt's going to take this team as far as his play can.
0 recs |
21 comments
|
Email
Print
Comments
Just one day
Other than that I was perusing the backroads of South Texas.
The Slipper Still Fits - SB Nation's home for the Gonzaga Bulldogs!
Formerly BuffZag
Bol Kong for President!
Matt
Your question that goes with the picture covers Matt’s biggest issue. “Does he have what it takes to become great?” When I saw him in HS I would’ve said yes but after coming here there seemed to be a willingness to allow the upperclassmen to dominate his mental toughness of taking command of his true position and leading the team. I also feel the Coaching staff attributed to this greatly. Matt was the best “basketball player” on the team as a Freshman, IMO. The biggest problems to overcome were the guard tandem of DR and JP. Nice kids but their style of play along with their, IMO, type of selfishness on the court in that style distanced Matt from his natural play of the game. My Brother and I used to joke every game that if it weren’t for Sean Mallon taking out the ball and throwing it in after the other team scored and throwing it to either Pargo or Raivio GU would’ve been called for the 5 second count every time because it was obvious neither one of those two, JP or DR would throw it to the other and give up a chance to score, lol. Thats just the surface of the problems that team had with that leadership. It’s another blog entirely! Back to Matt!
His personality is not confontational but appears to be more of a “take what crumbs are left” type of player and some times he’ll grab the whole cake if your still deciding which side of the piece to start eating on. He needed to be told in his Freshman year EXACTLY what they wanted him to do, then inform the others of that. How good is he? He’s probably the smartest player on the West Coast, the best team player I’ve seen in his 3 years here and judging by the lack of stare-downs at him vs all of the other stars here in the last 3 years by Coach Few as they come off the court…………his Favorite! It might be too late to get to his best play as a Zag but he will give it his best and I can assure this blog, he will do whatever this staff asks of him. Afterall, he’s been doing that since he first walked on to the Kennel Floor, even though IMO, it cost him a “Great career” by doing just that, Team first! I know how strongly many feel about questioning this staff on coaching issues but because I feel so strongly about this player, I will just say that, they wasted his first two years and now he’s gone after this one. Matt’s come along far and few between in hoops and thats why as Coaches, you just have to smile and shake your head when you get them!
“Does he have what it takes?” He always was and will continue to be great, IMO! Greatness means different things to different people i’m sure but to me and my Bro, he’s the “Greatest” basketball player that has played at GU since we started following them in 1996 and this program will reap the benefits of having him there this year especially for the new kids. They will see how much it means to the team when your star is a team player first, leader, then hooper!
Ya, he’ll do OK!
Matt
You bring up a great point mikesequim. Matt has had a pretty low-key career as a result of the coaching staff. Is it the staff, or is it Few? I just discovered this site, and as a pretty serious Zag fan I was wondering if anyone else thinks that it’s time for a new head coach? Can’t deny the success, but we had UConn by 14 pts in Seattle last year and lost. How many did we have UCLA by in 06? We’ve become known as a choking version of Memphis. LOVE going to the tournament every year, but the program could grow by giving recruits a coach who won’t stunt their growth like in Matt’s case.
Basically I want to know the general concensus on Few from people who follow the program closely…
Few
I agree with some of what SoundPound has said. As an in game coach there are a lot of things that Few does which can be pretty frustrating. For instance, the year before last years team was a pretty talented club, but I remember watching games and getting frustrated with Few’s lack of a consistent rotation. He tried too hard to keep everyone happy and when players were on a hot streak it seemed like they were instantly pulled out of the game.
I think most of Few’s coaching flaws boil down to one thing, his loyalty. It is great in some aspects; his loyalty to Gonzaga keeps him from taking other jobs, it helps him recruit, it helps him develop talent. But it also blinds him to some of the talent he has. He is very loyal to his seniors even when it isn’t in the best interest of the team. Case in point being Derek Ravio. For two years we ran the offense through Ravio and it made him the WCC player of the year. Ravio would fire up ill adviced shots, not look for teammates and played suspect defense, but Few was trying to showcase him in an attempt to give him a future. Think about it, why would Ravio be the play maker on a team with Bouldin and Pargo. Would it not have been smarter to let Ravio reap the benefits of others creating open 3-pointers for him. Instead Ravio had the ball all game and we lost in large part because of his decision making. Anyways the point is, Few has done this before and he will do it again.
That said, the man can recruit and develop talent. So do i want to get rid of Few…no, he has taken this program to a new height, and this year his loyalty should be to the key senior, Bouldin, which means the offense is likely running through him. So in this case it works out how it should, but my feeling is that the Ravio situation will occur again some day and we have to be ready to accept these kinds of decision along with all the good that Few brings to the program.
Few is great for the program
I follow this program with all my heart and soul and as a high school coach it pains me to read some of the comments written by the self proclaimed coaching genius on this website. Few will not truely be appreciated until he is gone. Yes I am talking about you mikesequim who believes his knowledge and expertise is so amazing and yet your insight is always pointed to try to prove how amazing he is at breaking down the game. You always have one guy on a site like this and I speak for many when I say just chill out with the over analysis and get fired up for the Zag season to begin
Jason Vanderwall
Huh?
Did I miss something here? I was assuming that the blog was about opinions. Hmmm, “self proclaimed coaching genious”, thanks. At least I always set the table with, IMO or JMO, unless I’m referring to stats or other’s comments. I really try to make it clear when the comments I make are my opinion or when they’re factual or stats. I don’t think I said Few was bad for the program, should move on, or Few will not be appreciated until he’s gone but let me look back at my post!……………..Nope, didn’t say it. I’m always interested in other folks comments, especially those that disagree with me on a hoop issue, backed up by intelligent facts or common sense and well articulated. I would hope that shot at me wouldn’t keep you from at least providing facts when talking stats and as far as I’m concerned, can’t speak for others, when you preface your dislike with me or anyone elses views on personnel, coaches or game play or recruiting or anything other than facts with JMO or IMO, I’m cool with that and you should be too! Opinions are just that. Sorry for the insight, just comes natural, IMO!
Replace Few? Are you serious?
There was a time when this kind of discussion was going around regarding (then) Mariner’s Manager Lou Pinella. After Lou left and they stopped taking steroids, look at the results.
Don’t it always seem to go, you don’t know what you’ve got till its gone!
I am sorry my friend, but there’s a bit more to this discussion than style points. Look at wins, graduation rates, character of the players (being an Oklahoma U alum I can tell you this matters a lot — one Heyfelt in 10 years isn’t bad at all), continuity, recruiting, fan support, moving the tournament to a neutral site, not to mention the new facility.
At the risk of being offensive, you remind me of this guy:
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=ExWfh6sGyso
I hope Mark Few coaches till they have to carry him out the door. He deserves our support.
mjc
mjc
Who and what are you talking about?
Your reply was to vandyman! Did you read his post? Must be the time of day or maybe my oatmeal kicking in but that one’s tough to understand. Maybe it was for me? If it was, you didn’t read mine either. No matter, even OKU alum’s are entitled to their opinions!
Should have been a reply for Sound Pound
Sorry,
I was replying to Sound Pound. Dunno how this got here.
BTW, I am a legit GU alum as well.
Dual Citizenship as it were.
mjc
Off the subject
Are they going to make a comeback and a shot at #1 in the BCS? (OKU) Boomer Sooners!
[OT]
Very disappointing season.
Freshman QB just isn’t up to championship level play. The only good thing that comes out of this is the experience he will gain by playing this year.
OU Defense is second to none but they won’t win many games all by themselves.
mjc
Few
I completely agree with Vandyman. There seems to be a lot of Zag fans that make negative analysis of Few’s coaching. But everybody who gets paid to analyze college basketball has Few in the upper echelon of current head coaches and there is little doubt that he will be in the hall of fame some day. So where are all of these experts making their mistake?
2nd – There is no doubt that Bouldin can become one of the great Zags this year but his past performance has nothing to do with coach Few. It is all personality, he’s not a killer. Morrison, Pargo, and even Raivio were killers. All three of them were not scarred and even enjoyed taking over games. Bouldin will need to find that ego in order to become the player we need him to be.
Bouldin and Few
To preface things, I’ve never been big on Bouldin. Having personally seen him crumble under the pressure of big games (or the defensive prowess of the teams in them), I do not believe he has a future in the NBA (MikeSequin, do not respond to this point, we know your stance), or even the ability to be a Wooden Award caliber player. However, that is not to say he is incapable of being the leader of this team in many different ways. Bouldin has a great basketball IQ, admirable temperament, and approach to the game. Even though he’s had some off nights, he is very consistent and balanced in his type of play. It is that consistency and balance that are going to be so incredibly valuable to this team this year. I honestly don’t believe it will matter more than on one or two occasions this year whether he can top 15 pts. in a game if he simply remains the core of the team and manages the style of play of our newcomers and less experienced players. While Meech will be the one handling the ball, Bouldin should be the one handling the tempo, calling plays and being the on-court coach.
Considering that Few has been the coach for the past decade, which has been the high-point of Gonzaga basketball, I don’t see him losing his job because of his inability to finish a few of the more high-profile games we’ve played. Like it or not, Few is Gonzaga basketball. I don’t always agree with some of his decision, but the guy is exactly what a school like Gonzaga needs—a face for the program that is capable of recruiting top-tier talent year after year. Few is also able to find a way to schedule almost any team in the country (Duke, Oklahoma, Tennessee, Memphis, Michigan St., UConn, etc) and get Gonzaga on the radar. I really believe that his on-court performance as a coach is immaterial if we consistently make it to the tournament, win the WCC, and pull out at least one respectable non-conference game.
Zagnificent - GU Class of 2011
Don't respond, Why not?
Zagnificent,
Isn’t that the point of a blog? Your statement from YOUR OPINION is just as accurate as mine or Seattlezag’s or vandyman’s or EDZ’s or Zach’s or crawdads or SoundPounds or whomever’s. So whats wrong with that? Nothing! Don’t get caught up in the surpressing of others opinions just because they don’t meet yours, although I dn’t mind’m too much, Strongly disagree with them. Do you think you’re going to change my mind on Matt, Nope? So what, express your opinions and move on. Taking shots on these boards at others only because they disagree with you or me is wrong! Now, when discussing facts…………thats when everyone should be on the same page.
Previous Posts
I was just alluding to some posts made over the summer in which you believed Matt would be a first round pick in next year’s NBA draft. I’m not saying I don’t value your opinion, I just didn’t want to get side-tracked into a discussion that’s already been had. I know how incredibly highly you value Matt Bouldin as a player, and wished to get your opinion on his place on this team and the role he will fill as opposed to simply the list of strengths he possesses and how high you are on those qualities.
Zagnificent - GU Class of 2011
Your right!
Won’t bring up the NBA again. Maybe was hoping a little high for him. As for the best role he’ll play I addressed it in my lengthy blog above. He will mean so much to these young kids coming in because of how he plays. Not how high he can jump or neatly he dribbles or how well he shoots. That will be his legacy. I wonder how Matt fits into the shoes of past Zags? Maybe it’s in the eyes of the beholder, huh? Seatllezag says he’s not a “killer” like JP, AMMO and DR. He’s right! He’s a complete basketball player, IMO and thats what separates him from the others. They were fun to watch also, but different. Finally, I disagree with “this is Matt Bouldins team”. He’s always a Zag first…………….that will be his role, IMO.
Ready
I’ll leave the arguing to you guys. I’m just ready for Craziness in the Kennel next week and then I’ll make my opinions first hand. Whether you like, Few or Bouldin, they are our team this year and I am just pumped to see them on the court and ready to see the best season in history.
GO ZAGS
Good stuff, all
I can tell the season is coming up because everyone is starting to get a little more fired up!
I’m a bit surprised to see some of the Mark Few questions coming at this point before the season. I never really had the belief that Coach Few has held Matt back in any way. If anything, we’ve seen that Mark Few has done a great job developing guards. He did a great thing with Jeremy who came in pretty under the radar. He has obviously produced guys like Dickau, Raivio, Santangelo, and many others to the point where Gonzaga has become a destination for guards. His track record is pretty flawless thus far with guards but I think the big tester will be Steven Gray. Gray has all the tools in the world to be even better than Bouldin and if he fails to develop, it’s hard to not look towards Coach Few. I know people will say, “yeah, he can recruit and develop the guys that no one expects much from but he obviously can’t deal with guys that already have tons of talent”. I happen to think Steven will grow into that role and become outstanding and Matt, as long as he isn’t forced to play out of position, will have an amazing senior season.
The only player I feel like may have been mismanaged (and I’ll probably catch flack for this) was Austin Daye. Daye was never really a power forward and because of Rob’s injury and Gonzaga’s desire to stick with a three guard lineup, he played out of position. He is kind of a new breed of small forward that should have played more on the outside and had more freedom with the ball in his hands on the perimeter and not been so heavily relied on in the paint. I think we’ll see in the NBA that his skills really translate better outside the paint and in transition with the ball in his hands where he can attack.
I won’t sit here and tell you that I have always been 110% behind Coach Few as an in-game coach but he is such an amazing ambassador for Gonzaga University that he has earned the right to kind of have that lifetime pass at GU. His recruiting prowess and abilities to gameplan for opponents can’t be questioned either. One of our readers, DKzagblazer wrote a great piece about Few after the Pitino and Calipari stuff this summer that really summed up the great things about Coach Few.
The Slipper Still Fits - SB Nation's home for the Gonzaga Bulldogs!
Formerly BuffZag
Bol Kong for President!
ZB
I agree with you on Coach Few. I don’t think it was on purpose either. It did happen though, IMO. How? Wasn’t there. Watching his development on the court with JP and DR there along with PMAC, he seemed out of place all the time. I believe there is always a premium put on players minutes when upperclassmen of roughly the same talent level are involved. The old “you’ll get your time later when your the upperclassman”. The problem is players get trapped in those situations and Coaches do as well. It just appeared to me that thats what happened and the Staff couldn’t bring themselves to make the changes, thats all. “Wasted 2 years”, probably too strong of a statement overall but to me, thats how I viewed usage of Matt for his Freshman and Soph years. Just an opinion.
As far as Coach Few goes…………..HE is GU basketball! Can he coach? I would have to agree with whomever said it here earlier, he’s Hall of Fame material. If anybody on this blog could coach like this man they wouldn’t be commenting here!!!!!!!!!!!! Just doesn’t mean I’m in lock step with all of his or his staffs decisions recruiting, game calling or scheduling or other bloggers here with the same opinion, but who cares? I do have an opinion though and thats what makes this blog so much fun……so do others. I’m 61, watched some hoop in my lifetime, doesn’t mean I’m smarter or more knowledgeable than someone 60 about BB, just older with an opinion, thats all, lol. I’ll try to sugarcoat it a little more from now on………….Naaaaaaaa.
Wow
I’m sorry for firing this up and not looking back at it for a week! I was the one who brought up questions regarding Few. I recognize that he is very responsible for our success. He’s taken us to the tournament every year. He’s brought in good recruits. He’s resulted in continuity. But with how far he’s taken us, we’re at a new level now. My question is: Are we at the point where a new coach would benefit us more that Few? A coach should be held accountable for always having HUGE team identity issues. He should also be held accountable for epic choke jobs and heartbreaking defeats. It’s almost like Few is getting bored(as ridiculous as it sounds) and the great players he gets can’t reach their potential.
Bigtime basketball analysts DO love Few, but a lot of them also work for a certain Worldwide Leader In Sports, whom we have a TV contract with :) $$$
Comments For This Post Are Closed
Secondary Sidebar
User Tools
Related FanPosts on The Slipper Still Fits
FanPosts
Community blog posts and discussion.
Certain photos copyright © 2010 by Associated Press or Getty Images. Any commercial use or distribution without the express written consent of Associated Press and Getty Images is strictly prohibited.
