Gonzaga-Duke postgame embarrassment thread
by Zach Bell on Dec 19, 2009 3:36 PM PST
45 comments
For the second straight year Gonzaga has been embarrassed while the whole world was watching. Last year it was against Memphis when College Gameday was in Spokane and this year it is against Duke at Madison Square Garden.
I'm going to try and be brief but we'll see if that works.
A 35 point loss is obviously painful enough, but when you think back on how Gonzaga looked today, it's easy to think that Duke could have beaten us by 60 points. Let's start with the players on the court. Matt Bouldin and Steven Gray were awful. They combined to shoot 4-15 and 0-7 from three. I get that Matt was coming off a concussion but I look at this two ways. 1) He was playing will the effects of his concussion and hurt the team or 2) He was healthy and just played awful. Either way, it was terrible. He missed layups, made bad passes, and refused to assert himself. It looked like one of his classic Memphis games. As for Gray, I really have nothing else to say. He had a two minute stint in the second half where he actually looked good and worked hard. For the rest of the game, he was lazy, sloppy, and just off. These two "leaders" failed to show up.
Robert Sacre was Gonzaga's leading scorer with a whopping nine points. Awesome. Shooting a blistering 2-12, Rob failed to convert some easy chances early in the game and that basically send his afternoon into a tailspin. Elias Harris might have frustrated me just as much as anyone else today. For as calm, cool, and collected as he looks, if Elias doesn't get things going his way early, he is going to hurt this team. He got some questionable fouls called on him early and missed some shots and then proceeded to commit six turnovers. Many of us thought Elias and Rob would have great games today and Mark Few definitely set them up to get going early but they failed to connect.
continue reading after the jump...
Speaking of Mark Few. I thought the rotation was horrible. Mangisto Arop had an excellent first half where he played great defense, hit the glass, and did a lot of nice things and didn't see the court again until five minutes left in the game. Meanwhile, Jon Scheyer was torching Gonzaga. Think we could have used Manny's length against him? Secondly, we all know that Bol Kong is instant offense. We also all know that Kelly Olynyk is not. After a horrible first half, Kelly played a good number of second half minutes and did nothing good. He is playing out of position at the four and I thought it would have been better if we stretched Duke out to the perimeter and let Kong get some clean looks and maybe we could get a run started.
I understand that Mark Few wants to keep Matt and Steven in there because they are "bound to get hot" but I'm starting to think that some things need to get blown up. First off, I would bench Steven Gray. He's done nothing recently to warrant a starting spot. I don't know if the answer is Manny or someone else but for a team that is horrible rebounding the ball, getting Manny in there would really set a tone because he just works hard and is so long and lanky. Secondly, you have to shorten the rotation. There were so many lineup variations out there early on in the game that no one could get in a flow. I get that Kelly works hard and G.J. has great speed but they should play about two-four minutes a game. Bol Kong needs to be first or second off the bench. If you keep starting Gray, Manny needs more time. Then I would probably add Grant and a sprinkling of Will and call the rotation good.
There's some stuff I missed but I just want to open it up to some thoughts. As you can probably tell, this is a rare feeling at Gonzaga. Embarrassment is not something we are used to in Spokane but I feel the best way to deal with it is to shake things up.
Let's hear what you have to say.
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its one game, but one really really bad game
its just one loss, and its a long season; same time, this was really frustrating and embarrassing. Only consolation was that, by the end, the game was so absurdly going in Duke’s favor (the three near the end when the shot clock was at 1 is the moment I think of) that I think it was just a horrendous game where Murphy’s Law was in full force.
Either this is a signature game that our team is too young and this isn’t their year, or this is a game much like last year in the NFL, when Arizona went into New England and got hit by a truck; they learned a lot and made the Super Bowl.
I really hope it is the later.
Rough Game
We looked a little sloppy, and looked like a lot was going in Dukes favor. I am sure we will rebound eaisly against EWU and should be able to handle OU the following game. Stick with what we have, get them working more together and we should still be able to do some damage come tourney time.
Bol Kong
Clearly Bol needs more minutes he has the most natural talent on the team, his baskets tonight were all skill and effortless, Bol and Manny need to be on the floor at the same time, Bol Kong could be the star of this team if few lets him
Agreed we need more KONG!
We needed points today and the only one that looked like they even had a chance was Bol. Few better open his eyes and realize this. these games are all about winning so put the ball into the hand of the player that can score and today was Bol! Enough said.
This lemon could become lemonade...
Remember when the Zags went to face Illinois and were down 40 at half? Sometimes a butt whooping is just what is needed. Syracuse is one of the best teams in the nation at this time and they lost their exhibition game!
It’s all about the team’s response. We know how last years’ team responded – with the December slide. The next few games will show this young teams character.
Don't forget Meech
He has to start finishing around the bucket. A point guard that can’t make a layup is useless.
No one was finishing layups tonight. We must have missed at least twenty from point blank range, not to mention the charity stripe.
Few obviously knows more than us; his record is incredible and plenty of elite programs would love to have him. So let’s not lose sight of that. Still, I think we can make suggestions.
First, I’d get rid of the black uniforms. They’ve appeared in a lot of ugly Zag games (Memphis). Teams like Duke don’t wear a special jersey to play us, we shouldn’t overhype the game by wearing special clothes for them. It’s clear the Zags were overthinking things and playing to tight and jittery all game. MSG is distracting enough, we don’t need fancy jerseys on top of the glitz of NYC. The jerseys obviously can’t be blamed for all the turnovers but I can’t help but think it only makes split second passing more complicated when your teammates are wearing a color you haven’t associated with them all year and the other team is wearing your home color scheme of white and blue. I guess we might be obligated to wear them due to some Nike contract; either way, they ought to be canned permanently.
Gray’s shot hasn’t been around for about a season and a half now. Bouldin’s not really a shooter unless you’re comparing him to Meech. Harris might have better perimeter shooting than the three of them, but he shouldn’t be out there either. Sacre’s had one good game. Harris seems like Daye redux: he gets pissed off easily, doesn’t seem to be a team or franchise player, and could show up or not. If you’re gonna act like a prima donna, you have to light it up on the big stage and that did not happen at all tonight.
Only Kong has shown offensive consistency. He’s made the most of his touches. We ought to have called at least one play in the first half for him when it was clear that scoring was harder than pulling teeth. We need perimeter shooting or Sacre is going to be double teamed to hell all year. Meech can’t play point guard anyway, so just give the ball right to Bouldin and call him what he is. Put in Kong to take some pressure off of the interior so that Sacre can get back some momentum and confidence. Keep Harris obviously. Keep Gray and hope he gets his shot back but let him know Meech can take his job if he can’t land shots. This might not be the best lineup against talented teams at first, but it ought to work against lesser teams and if we can defend with it then we’ll be great. If Kong is getting driven around too much, we always have Meech, Manny and GJ. It baffles me that Kong saw so many minutes and so few touches. We were letting him get driven by and then not utilizing his strengths on the other end.
A (relatively) small thing. Maybe not small but harder to pick up on. Clark Kellogg pointed out how Gray hurt us on a 5 vs. 2 by slowing things down. Gray kept slowing things down by ineffectively trying to drive, making it about two inches in, and then being forced to pass it backwards, destroying all our momentum or advantage when we needed to pick up the pace and get some transition offense. He did this systematically throughout the game as if it was an intentional plan. Kellogg only mentioned it once because, before long, there was much more going wrong. The most embarrassing things about this game may have been all the pregnant pauses where the announcers were just dumbfounded at the spectacular and unexpected impotency they were witnessing.
Free throws were unacceptable. The percentage of shots under the hoop that we missed was terrible. I’d like to say we should have gotten to the foul line more due to those misses, but we were getting away with a lot on the other end, too.
Adjustments
Few notes from what I saw.
- Sacre still cannot handle double teams. At all. He looks terrible against them. He can’t get a decent shot off. He doesn’t have patience to wait for the double team to show itself and then react. He doesn’t react fast enough to split the double. He doesn’t pass out of it well.
- Meech cannot spread the floor. When him and Sacre are in the game the guy guarding Meech almost always leaves him to double Rob. It’s just getting sad how often this occurs considering how often we feed Rob in the post.
- Harris is the only guy that showed any ability to score against Duke, but he wasn’t able to convert. That being said he got to the rim, he wasn’t killed by doubles, and he was able to dribble drive in some cases. He needs the ball in his hands more often.
That being said, let’s not get too carried away in some respects. We played pretty solid defense, especially in the first half. If we didn’t give up, I think we could have held Duke to under 60 points. That’s usually a win in college basketball. That means our guys are doing something right, especially on defense. It’s our offense that needs help. Whether that means a different rotation or just improving the individual player’s abilities, I’m not sure.
I will say I’d kill to get Mark Few to figure out a way to get more spacing for these guys. Part of it is our seemingly season long slump of not being able to make a 3PT shot. Without that weapon, we really are going to struggle as teams just continue to pack the paint. We should have had a speed advantage against Duke, but with their entire team just sitting in the paint they utilized their size to frustrate us everywhere.
And we do need to practice FTs. We shouldn’t be shooting that poorly from the line. Ever.
I will give someone $100 if they can explain why we don't run the offense around Bol Kong.
Especially when no one’s shooting good at all. Bol got 2 touches (no seriously he only touched the ball twice) before the final minute of the game. He got 2 in the final minute and went 2-2.
Also, the wheels came off Gray in the Wazzu game and he still hasn’t recovered. He’s TERRIBLE right now.
I don't understand why he's just not in more
I’ve worn out the defense argument. I’ve watched him all year and have seen great strides on the defensive side of the ball.
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Right, I too realize his defensive liability...
But you still have to score to win the game. Hey may take away from the defense…I dunno…10% efficiency. He adds well more than that much efficiency on the offensive end.
Bad start, then gave up?
It looked like there was no flow to their offense, and some poor ref calls may have frustrated them a bit. I think the team was expecting Matt to get going and for whatever reason he couldn’t.
Sacre needs to pass out of the double teams sometimes instead of ALWAYS trying to take a shot. Bol Kong more, Kelly Olynck less. Manny more, Meech less. Do you think the coaches will make a change or stay set in their rotation?
They absolutely were waiting around. They were either forcing up crap or everyone was deferring to everyone else. It reminded me of the tournament loss to Wyoming where everyone was frantically passing it to Dickau since they felt they were worthless. Except everyone was worthless this game. Or Bol Kong.
Look, maybe Kong sucks. I don’t know what he’s like in practice. He’s gotten few touches, so the sample size is low. But he’s made the most of those touches, so at least let us make sure that he shouldn’t get more. He’s always looked smooth and unworried. If the offense ran through him, he might get flustered and things could fall apart. I don’t know. No one knows. Let’s find out. Things fell apart today when we were trying the same old, same old. You can’t blame Few for trying what has worked alright, and you can’t expect him to try drastic new things in the middle of a game when they haven’t been practiced. But offense has been a problem all year. Let’s try some new things against Eastern. They haven’t beat anyone approaching decent; they had to go to overtime to beat Seattle. We don’t want to cause another December slide by switching things up unnecessarily, but I think this is worth a try.
Rotation
I think you are spot on with your Bol Kong/Kelly Olynyk analysis. Kelly hasn’t impressed me at all so far, and just because the kid works hard doesn’t mean he needs to be played. He reminds me of Sean Mallon without the offense. Bol on the other hand makes everything look so easy and while he may be somewhat of a liability on defense he is exactly the kind of player we needed to be aggressive today offensively. Too often he passes it up to Matt or Steven when he is easily the best shooter on our team right now.
What was most disappointing for me today was the fact that the Zags just looked like they had given up to start the second half. The amount of intensity we needed to compete today was miles above what we brought and it was evident. Not once did I see Few get in peoples faces, not once did I see him trying to light a fire under our guys. On the other side, Duke once gave up 6 straight points to us, cutting their lead to 16 points, and I thought coach K’s head was going to explode. We need intensity, and we need it quick, or this is going to be a long season.
Forget about this one!
1. We were missing layups. This kind of performance just can’t happen again, this was in all seriousness the worst Zags game I have ever seen. By far. We left 20+ out there just on missed point blank shots.
2. We were missing free throws. Early we were getting to the line when shots weren’t falling, but going 0-2 more often than not just demoralized us. I know we came in under 70%, but we couldn’t make any free throws today it was just agonizing to watch.
3. We couldn’t make… anything. Was the rim changing heights every possession? So many air balls and bricks, even without a threatening defender. It was kind of fishy how NOTHING fell, NOTHING! It was like all of our bad luck for the season went into this game. Unbelievable.
4. Matt shouldn’t have started. It’s easy for me to say this now, but if we used him it should have been off the bench just to see if he had a stroke going. We put too much on him coming off that concussion.
5. The officiating. We weren’t going to win regardless of how we played. Look at how many phantom, tick-tack fouls we picked up, and neither Sacre nor Harris got and-1’s on their dunks?!? We were missing in close a lot because we were getting raped on many of the shots but with 90% of that crowd riding the Duke wagon they got each and every call. We had multiple travels that left me looking for answers or a replay. I know we were out East going against a lot of $$$, but this game was not fair.
The bottom line is the Zags had their worst game in the last decade AND had any momentum sqandered by terrible calls. Things cannot and will not get worse, so lets hope this game forces through any rotational changes that were about to happen. They have to take this as a chance to break themselves down and change the trend so many talented Zags teams have set.
Counterpoints.
2. We’re not a good FT shooting team. This is not a new point, it’s just something we’re gonna have to deal with. We already lost the Wake game at the line.
4. There’s no reason to think this. He didn’t play good, sure. We really can’t say if that was concussion based. Everyone played like shit and they all didn’t have concussions.
5. MSG is Duke’s 2nd home. We had to go in expecting this. If the team played at it’s top level they still could have won.
Gramps
This could’ve been a game if we made our free throws early. I’m sure the refs started swallowing the whistle eventually because they themselves were embarrased by our FTs. We’re not a good free throw team, but we shot 47% yesterday. That’s demoralizing. Usually when nothing is going right a team pounds the lane and gets to the line, and a 70% FT shooting team should’ve been able to keep the game reasonable this way, but 47%? Ouch.
Yeah, everyone played bad. You don’t think Matt being rusty and panicked contributed to that? He wasn’t ready to have the load put on him for this game. Like I said it’s easy to say that in hindsight, but when your leader is running around looking confused it rubs off on the team. At least if we got torn inside out without Matt, it would’ve been without Matt.
The officials were so one-sided I don’t see how we could’ve won. They were terribly biased even with us getting smashed, just imagine if it were close. We had at least 3 travel calls that weren’t travels, a couple offensive fouls that were moronic calls, as well as a slap to the arm for 50+% of our shots in the paint. I know we didn’t help ourselves at all, but there was no way they were going to let us win!
But you are right we DID know that going in, which was apparent because we stopped arguing calls pretty quick. I know we would’ve won by keeping it close, but I think we were cheated. And it’s cool to see Nolan Smith be something other that a disappointment! We caught him for the game of his life which was unfortunate. I can’t blame Few for leaving him open all day other coaches have let him run free with great success. Just another example of how unusual and weird this game was.
AT LEAST WE BROUGHT BACK THE BLACK JERSEYS!!! There’s a positive we can take from it. Best jerseys in CBB along with Marquette’s powder blues. I thought we scrapped them so this makes me feel a bit better about the way things went.
THIS WASN'T OUR TEAM
I think those guys in the black unis on the court tonight were imposters. Did anyone see the old movie “Capricorn One” about a botched trip to the moon — and the government made the astronauts fake their landing and exploration? I think the REAL GU team was someplace besides MSG tonight. So relax, people — everything will be fine.
No such Thing as "Free"
They need to spend more time practicing making free throws – making under 50% doesn’t cut it. And this has been an on-going problem with this team. Tomorrow, Few should make the entire team watch the game.
by banditoshagster on Dec 19, 2009 8:57 PM PST reply actions
Zags vs Duke
Whoa!
We saw a young team that appeared to be overwhelmed by their own emotions in combination having to play a very good, very well coached team on their “home floor”.
My family was gorked, disgusted, despondent by 5 minutes into the second half. One person lobbied for assigning three positions to Kong and going 3 on 5 for the rest of the half.
Some perspective is in order. GU graduated the bulk of their experienced players. Only 1 player with experience in big games was on the floor. And he may still be suffering from a whopping head injury. The Zags will recover. And I also don’t like the black uniforms.
But the real tragedy of the day was the Senate ( I am reluctantly capitalizing the word) voted to continue the passage of a horrendous bill which will include yours and mine money funding the destruction of innocent human lives. The Zags will live on, causing much joy and nail biting, but the unborn are more in danger tonight than they were this morning. Peace and God Bless
by zag4Mary on Dec 19, 2009 9:15 PM PST reply actions 1 recs
I'm with zag4life.
I obviously don’t make the rules, but I do enjoy reading the posts and comments here and I appreciate the community this blog offers. Seriously, I thought this was a basketball blog. As such, I personally feel you should save us all that other garbage; talk to your church group about that stuff and come here to sing the praise of Bol Kong (or comment on other GU basketball related material).
I couldn't agree more
With regard to the Senate bill, so much was taken out, but the spending wasn’t adjusted? Everything about the bill screams disaster, so I won’t get into politics here. I’m just accepting that we really need to hit rock bottom as a country before things get better (Somehow a 12 trillion debt isn’t rock bottom yet) and people wake up with respect to their government and tax dollars (and future tax dollars). Actually, I need to find a way to get involved in healthcare fraud, I hear it is very lucrative and rarely prosecuted…not to mention easy.
Now, on to the Zags… Until Kong hit his two shots, I was determined to shun the team for the rest of the year. They get my hopes up and attain a bit of hype and a respectable ranking, then they dump me and show me that I was an idiot to become so emotionally attached. I vote for Manny to start in place of Steven – the guy is just such a headcase and doesn’t look even the slightest bit interested when he’s on the court. He’s shown he has all the skills, but isn’t nearly as determined as he needs to be. Also, is it too late to redshirt Kelly? The guy has the strength of a 12-year-old, and the on-court intelligence of one. I am sick and tired of Kelly taking worthless and stupid fouls around midcourt after he loses possession of the ball and gets frustrated. At the very least, Bol needs to come off the bench before him – His defense has improved dramatically, and his team first disposition was clearly noticeable this game. He would be very effective if we had an actual point guard to run set plays to get him his shots. Unfortunately, Few hasn’t found on of those yet. My bitterness is taking over me. I could go on forever, but my blood pressure would hate me for it.
Zagnificent - GU Class of 2011
Horrible Game.
Obviously, we know how bad it went and Steven Gray needs to be done for awhile.
My honest opinion is that there is no need for anything BUT basketball/Gonzaga talk on this thread. I come here to read everyone’s posts about the Zags and their competition, not what the Senate voted on today.
I think it’s important, yes. But this isn’t the place to vent about it.
Gonzaga will still be okay as long as Manny and Bol see more time than Steven, but Few has always kept his older guys in over younger guys. I’d hope to see it change, but doubt it will
A good idea for Gonzaga not to embarrass the entire state like they did yesterday against Duke:
Next time they play on national TV, why don’t they wear Seattle Sonics jerseys to remember they’re from Washington State. The Zags should ditch the black jerseys and replace them with Sonics jerseys to show their support for the state.
And another thing: Maybe Mark Few should give his team motivational pep talks from former Sonics owner Howard Schultz, former Mariner manager John McLaren and former Seattle Sonics players. After all, last night’s loss to Duke was another embarassment to sports in Washington State, in the same ranks of the Sonics relocation to Oklahoma, Super Bowl XL and the 2001 ALCS.
Right now, Oklahoma City Thunder owner Clay Bennett (the man who took the Sonics away) is wearing a Duke jersey seeing a Washington State sports team fail.
Philip Fitzsimmons says Padres rule,Dodgers suck!
by Philip Fitzsimmons on Dec 20, 2009 5:11 AM PST reply actions
Need to Watch the Game Video
I think that Few needs to sit everyone down and have the team watch the entire game video. That should be plenty of motivation, especially since the team will have to see what everyone else saw.
by banditoshagster on Dec 20, 2009 8:43 AM PST reply actions
blog!
First off, please leave your political views for a different blog. This is a basketball blog! The Zags were awful tonight! Mark Few has made adjustments in the past after these types of games, so I would expect to see the same? There was not one person in uniform tonight aside from Manny and Bol that showed up to play! What I saw on the floor tonight was a bunch of Blue Chip Basketball Players kicking the snot out of our non Blue Chip players. You can call out Few all you want, but Duke is clearly much more talented! The only thing I would like from Few is to implement more movement on offense. We clearly don’t have guys who can create there own shot (against elite comp.) , with that said, this team needs to see more movement on the offensive end to recieve higher percentage shots. This offense has no movement and is way to flat right now! I would like to see the lineup of Matt, Bol, Gray, Manny, and Elias. Go small, but higher IQ. I’m not ready to bail on Steven yet, But he has been dissapointing thus far.
glen mccloud
minor adjustment
i’d have Matt, Manny, Bol, Elias, and Sacre.
both Manny and Bol can shoot or make plays, so that will make double-teaming Sacre more difficult. i think Gray would be better off the bench, kind of like Downs was. he just can’t handle the pressure right now and doesn’t really have the personality, focus, or leadership to handle it down the road. that might change eventually, but for now we should just have him play some pressure free minutes off the bench. i bet his shot would vastly improve.
as for the other bench players, Meech should be on the bench until he learns how to finish and also how to knock down some jumpers. once he can do that, he’s back running the point. i also agree we need to see less minutes from GJ and Kelly. they aren’t showing enough on the court yet to warrant their minutes.
big applause for Will’s performance in the game though! he showed up in the first half and played well. hope he continue’s to improve so he can have a memorable senior year.
by trufflshuffl on Dec 20, 2009 10:56 PM PST up reply actions
Don’t know what most of you guys are watching, but stats do not back up any of your assertions. Look at the stats of all the players you want to get more playing time. Manny- Fg% 37.0 FT%-44.4 3pt 33.3 point per shot.93. Gibbs- FG%37.5, ft 30, 3pt% 28.6%.
GJ by far is the most effective of all those when he plays. HIs stats- FG % 47.4, ft%68.4, 3pt% 40. He also has less turn-overs and scoring more point per game. In fact, he has the highest points per shot of ANY player on this team 1.74.
The line-up you are suggesting can’t play against teams that we want to eventually beat. Too slow, can’t defend and don’t have a point guard… This team better commit to GJ and Meech, they are the only two that can’t eventually get it done there. Every second you spend with all this wacky stuff some of you guys are suggesting the further away we get from being a legitimate contender. You can’t win big without speed and athleticism from your perimeter players and on this team you only have 2 guys.
Admittedly, Meech has not been consistent or demonstrated he can get it done consistently and GJ, really has not been given a true opportunity and has certain things he has to get better at, but to suggest that some of the other guys you’re talking about deserve to play , the stat lines do not reflect your suggestions as being a grounded assessment.
On another note, as it relates to GJ, they better invest time in his development. He does have opportunities but his raw physicality are off the charts. If they properly spend the time developing him he could be special. They are NOT going to find guys to come to Gonzaga with his physical attributes that also have all the intangibles and are fully developed. Guys like that go to the blue bloods of college basketball.
I'm sure there are blogs on the internet where the Senate can be discussed
this isn’t one of them.
I was reluctant to really criticize Meech because he got the hook so quickly. But I think we saw why Matt and Steven are not point guards. They’d dribble two feet past the half court line, get pressured, turn their backs to the play and cause a turnover. When they were at PG, the entire offense started well beyond the three point line and we just kept moving further and further away from the basket. Meech did struggle yesterday but I think the great part about having him on the court is that he can give the ball up to Steven and Matt on the three point line and get the offense rolling. When your point guard (matt/steven) is stopping their dribble way outside the three-point line, there is really no chance for offensive success unless someone makes a bail out three pointer.
The good news is that the sun came up today and we’ve still got plenty of basketball left to play.
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by Zach Bell on Dec 20, 2009 10:22 AM PST reply actions 2 recs
Still a Zag fan
Sure the game against Duke went badly and there’s a lot of blame to go around, but first and foremost I’m a Zag fan and will continue to watch and cheer for this team. One game doesn’t make a season and I think yesterday’s game was an aberration. I sincerely believe this team will make us proud by the end of the WCC conference play and in March Madness. Let’s not criticize the kids….cause that’s just what they are…kids! 20-year old kids who had a bad day. I certainly had my share of those when I was that age!
This is all true but . . .
I’m going to find something black to wear and do a little mourning for a week or so.
I cannot believe they could look so bad.
Cannot say I was surprised — young team playing over their heads came to earth rather hard.
Just the same. Very disappointing.
mjc
by quidveritas on Dec 21, 2009 11:31 AM PST up reply actions
Agree!
This may be the most appreciated game these young men play in this season, for experience, and learning what this game is all about on a national stage! Go Zags!
by Zagsaremywestcoastteam on Dec 21, 2009 7:03 PM PST up reply actions
KONG
I love Bol, but I think the calls for him to be our offensive focal point are ridiculous. The guy can make open 3’s better than anyone on this team, but he’s a shooter and not necessarily a scorer. The guy comes in to pick up minutes in games vs garbage competition, hits some open 3s and for that reason we should run the offense through him? LOL. I like Bol and I think he needs some more minutes, but he would get embarrased if he was seeing starter minutes because he is slow and would pick up 3 fouls in the first 8 minutes of the game. He will be a star, but give the dude time!
Uhm...
- Kong can get shots off the dribble. He’s not just a spot-up shooter.
- Even if he could only shoot threes, get him the ball and let him shoot threes. He’s out there for offense and doesn’t even get touches. It was ridiculous.
Let the game speak for itself
It seems like one of those times your dad doesn’t have to say a word when you screw up because you already know you messed up beyond belief. There is not one person in America that can say we even played respectable—- Now its time for growth and maturity to set in with this young team and let this experience that guides them over the next 4 years for many of these guys. It was the first time in years I have walked away from the TV during a game and yet a good ole Christmas with the family can do a lot for our souls and get us back out there cheering. Merry Christmas to all loyal Zag fans
mixed bag
Didn’t see the game. However, the loss is constructive in order to focus the team properly. Perhaps the lineup needs to be adjusted. Didn’t Few adjust the lineup after the embarrassment against Memphis last year?
My expectations for this year weren’t Sweet 16 or Elite 8, especially after losing four guys to the NBA or graduation.
Josh Normand
Bo Kong
Yes the Zags missed lay ins and turned the ball over a ton and for that they deserved to get their arses handed to them…make no mistake that is what will happen to you when you play a great team…With that said, there was a point in the first half that Mark Few could have went with Bol Kong…ran some sets for him to hit some threes. It is what he does thus far…make shots….that is what they needed. Instead he put in Olynk and Gibbs who constantly miss defensive assignments which result in open looks for Duke. Is is an idiotic argument to talk about Kongs defense as compared to Olynk and Gibbs…even if he is a little behind them, which he is not, he provides consistent scoring. The man can stroke it and ppl want to talk about his poor defense. Had Few given him the chance I think this game goes totally different…still results in a loss as the other players were not on, but it would not have been a blow out. The mentality would have been different, the defense would have been spread, and the offensive game for gonzaga would not have been forced. Few is a good coach, it is the things he fails to do in key moments in the game that to often keeps this team down.
Yank the Black Uniforms
Who do we need to contact to request that the team burn those black uniforms? They suck.
by banditoshagster on Dec 21, 2009 9:38 AM PST reply actions
Gloom & Doom?
Uh…last I checked the sun did NOT come up. Feels like Seattle around here.
But seriously though, That was a total choke out and embarrasment. I have never seen so many missed lay ups, dunks, 2 foot shots, tip ins, and free throws. The only player who brought it was Foster. My god, did I just say that? Foster. Now that is getting down the food chain.
I agree that Bol Kong is instant offense. He is also very green, looks a little slow and clumsy out there, and in my opinion would not fare very well with teams doubling him. Give him more minutes, but if he starts he will get clobbered.
The Zags will recover vs EWU and hopefully regain some momentum on Christmas eve at the Arena.
Now, if only I could coax my dogs out from under the beds. They do not like Zag beat downs either…LOL!
The refs? Really?
I’m a little bit baffled by the argument that the “refs cost the Zags the game”. Zags lose by 35 and “it’s the refs fault”? Trying to understand this a little bit better, I checked the box score, and the Zags shot 21 free throws (at 47.6%), while Duke shot 20 free throws (1 less), but at 80%. The refs lost this game for the Zags? Really?
Now it has been reported that MSG has poor lighting and a depth-perspective for the baskets that takes some getting used to. I watched some basketball in November where I think Duke’s and UConn’s shooting percentages were in the 20’s.
I would agree with the comment to “can the black jerseys”. Maybe if they wear them more often in home-game situations so they feel comfortable passing to “that color”, then try them out on a big national stage, at least then they wouldn’t hurt the effort.
I agree with one suggested remedy – have the coach and the players watch the film together, and give EACH OTHER feedback – both to the coaches and the players. Then burn the film and move on to the rest of the season. This can’t be the real Zags that showed up.
by Zagsaremywestcoastteam on Dec 21, 2009 5:23 PM PST reply actions
This season
We have to realize that this is not our year to dominate. Yes we will lose Matt, but probly not anybody else. This is a rebuilding year, we just happen to be fortunate enough to still be good while we rebuild. We are a very young team and kinda have to expect some games where we look lost and confused. Im not saying that is an excuse for how poorly we played because that was far beyond a bad game, but its gonna happen and I bet we see another game like this again this year(hopefully not that bad tho). But This will be a great learning game for everybody on the team. And for everybody that is saying that meech and GJ need to see less playing time, that is not smart. If they don’t see the playing time this year, then next year we are going to have the exact same problems. Let them work it out this year and next year we can be a top 5 elite team.
Also
as much as i love the black jersey’s(because they are some of the sickest uni’s in CBB) we need to not only get rid of them, but burn them. Make sure there is nothing left of them because they are cursed and we need to rid ourselves of them
non-basketball comments on this section
Zag fans,
I apologize for the apparent misinterpretation of my comments following the Zag’s-Duke game. I tried to put the loss in perspective by bringing up a contemporary issue that is important to many people. I will not again speak to any issue not related to basketball.
I hope that some commentators have the ability to see the finest Zag game analyst and announcer ever on his new spot called “Are you kidding me”. I am speaking of Dennis Patchen. I think he is and was the best at calling the Zag’s games. He offered his comments tonight, and they were spot on. Peace and God Bless
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