Mark Few and Elias Harris postgame videos
by Zach Bell on Dec 6, 2009 7:17 AM PST
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PrintEven though yesterday's upset loss to Wake Forest was Gonzaga's second "L" of the season, it is probably the first time most of us have felt disappointment all season. The Michigan State game was obviously a game that we thought Gonzaga had a great shot at winning but realized that in mid-November on the road in East Lansing probably wasn't going to result in a win. Yesterday was a game that Gonzaga should have won. A reeling Wake Forest team came into the Kennel and for once Gonzaga got off to a hot start and the idea of a dominant victory started to creep into our heads. All the credit in the world to Wake Forest as they battled back and completely flipped the table on Gonzaga. Yes, the Elias Harris ejection played a huge role but I'm pretty sure Matt Bouldin, Steven Gray, Rob Sacre, and Demetri Goodson were still wearing Gonzaga uniforms for the rest of the game!
We've had a lot of comments wondering about Coach Few's thoughts on the game and, as usual, KREM 2 (Spokane's CBS affiliate) has come through with some great postgame videos. Obviously I want you to come here for your Gonzaga discussion but KREM is another site you just have to check out because they do a great job covering this team.
continue after the jump for the Elias Harris interview...
A lot of people have jumped on Elias for his flagrant foul but, and you can call me a Gonzaga homer, I am not ready to label this kid dirty or anything remotely close to that. To be honest, I expect and want to see him in the starting line up come Wednesday. Everything I have heard him say and the leadership I have seen him show indicates that he is a highly emotional, and passionate player. There is no doubt that he needs to learn from this mistake but let's not make this bigger than it is.
As for the rest of the game, I think Coach Few nailed it. Wake shot better than they have all season long when it mattered: early in the second half when the game was just waiting for someone to take control of it. They outrebounded Gonzaga and pulled down 16 on the offensive glass in comparison to Gonzaga's six.
All in all, the stats really tell the whole story. It's had to get killed on the offensive glass and miss 13 free throws and come away with a win. That second stat is just completely ridiculous when you consider we were playing at home.
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Coach Few was clearly upset about incident but composed. Good to hear from him about Bol’s future role. He also gave credit, rightly so, to WF and their overall play. We had the chances to win the game at the FT line and we didn’t. I was surprised that no questions about Meech’s “T” which was also a game changer! I believe Coach will handle things just fine and move on.
Elias’s video speaks for itself. He just didn’t get it. I do believe the Coaching staff will explain it to him and move on. I will point out one other thing about Elias. I posted during and after the Maui games his getting in the face of his own teammates about some calls when they clearly tried to reel him in shows a me along with his comments on the video, he needs some work on his role as a player in the GU system and his obligation to his team and Captains. I’m pulling for him though to come through this and be a Zag!
I think Few was upset at the question
Can’t believe that guy seriously asked “Do you think Elias getting ejected effected the game?”
Then he noted that Elias is an extremely nice kid so he didn’t think there was any ill intent there.
I also loved hearing about Bol’s role on the team. Coach seemed genuinely excited about the way Kong played so you have to assume that he has responded well to Coach Few’s criticism in practice.
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thought that was obvious
it was a postgame interview.
I still maintain that we’ll see Elias starting come Wednesday. That’s just my humble opinion.
The Slipper Still Fits - SB Nation's home for the Gonzaga Bulldogs!
He is a zag
I for one am fine with Elias. He plays with passion and sometimes that will bite us. But I will take that any day over the years of questionable toughness in our line up. Elias is a zag and I’m proud to call him such.
?
What exactly are you referring to when you say you will take “that” any day? Rather than misreading your intent, I would appreciate your explanation.
Thanks
what I'm saying is
that I will take him being overly aggressive and manhandling a much bigger player without fearing the contact vs being soft like we have been since Batista left.
Yo AJ
I completely agree with your point. In March toughness will always prevail. I love the toughness and now feel bad for Poling in practice cause he probably gets thrown around by Harris.
Also loved your intensity in the crowd….you guys brought it…looks like I taught you well! haha
Phantom Karate Chop
I say tell Elias next time he blocks out to go a little lower. That will stop the flopping from “taking.”
But then again Mcfarland was like 9 feet tall. I can see where one might get a lil confused as to how high/low to set the forearm!
Whats that sound I am hearing? Hopefully its swish,swish,swish…the nets being worn out at the FREE throw practice…LOL
Bouldin Foul
The part of the whole sequence with the Harris getting the T that hurt was the foul called on Matt. CJ Harris did a good job (Oscar worthy) of selling the slight contact and the official bought his act 100%. The extra free throws hurt.
But having said that it still boiled down to rebounding and our poor free throw shooting.
WyZag
Your right on the money. Where do you put your finger on the right pulse for the loss? Clearly, they out scored us. Simple! It’s ridiculous to put the blame on Elias for the loss. It’s just as crazy to say Meech caused the loss because of his “T” or Matt’s foul for 3! Bottom line, we had the opportunity to stay ahead, block out, make our FT’s and play better “D”. Those are the reasons we lost. We got out played!!!!! As a Zag fan, I also think the Meech and Elias "T"’s need to be dealt with as a separate issue. I’m confident the Coaching staff will right the boat, so to speak.
officiating a problem in all sports
This official who is a self-righteous human being over-reacted by throwing him out of the game. A foul is appropriate but not an ejection!!!! Officiating in a lot of sports has gone downhill and they have no ability to control the game or over-react to silly fouls or infractions.
Josh Normand
Disagree
I think the officials had a lot of trouble with this one. The monitor review did not help Harris.
I think Harris was boxing out. I think McFarland was trying to go low and avoid the forearm. I think Harris did over do it. I also think McFarland flopped nicely.
Anyone that watched the game could see McFarland wasn’t hurt at all — after the fact.
The problem for the officials is AT THE TIME they had to make a call based on the information available to them at that point in time. What they did was not unreasonable.
Better this happened in a game like this and not in a tournament game later on.
Remember, just because these guys are winning, they are still essentially a bunch of Freshman making silly, stupid Freshman mistakes. It happens.
We’ve won games we probably should not have — now we lost a game we probably should have won.
mjc
mjc
Free throws
This loss is owed to free throws. They lost by 2 and they missed 13. Sacre missed 4 Olynk 3. End of story.
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