Let's Shift the Conversation to: What Does Gonzaga Have to Do to Win a National Championship
by MdZagFan on Jan 17, 2010 11:53 AM PST
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Ladies and Gentleman- Let’s start talking about an NCAA Championship. Our gripes, our criticism, our enthusiasm can have at its core what the team needs to do to go all the way. A lot of this conversation is just blather if we don’t take this approach. Of course, for the Zags to reach their fullest potential, Dimitri Goodson HAS to be the point guard. Let’s be patient. Unfortunately young kids often need to make mistakes to learn. He is a walking, talking genetic mutation. He’s the fastest player in the NCAA with a ridiculous vertical. Matt Bouldin is our best all-round player and steady at the 1, but his best position is 3. From the 3, Bouldin can help the Zags reach their fullest potential. He can post up, he can look for big shots from the wing, he can penetrate from the wing, and most importantly he can act as a "point forward". (Anyone remember Larry Bird, arguably the greatest PASSER that ever lived.) We are the best we can be with Steven Gray at the 2. Let’s watch him become more consistent and stop asking Mark Few to bench him. Let’s watch Robert Sacre grow as a center. Consider how well he has already done with such limited experience. Maybe we should root for Will Foster contributing more but frankly I think Mark Few is a genius to have gotten this much out of him. How many of us have ever played with a real big man or coached a real big man. They are different breeds, different species. They spend their childhoods as somewhat outcasts. They generally are not good in sports overall and are ridiculed for being unusual, gawky, and clumsy. Suddenly, when they arrive at high school, they are courted by coaches to play basketball. Do they even like basketball? Now, consider Will Foster. Is this him, or is he a caged lion ready to take the NCAA by storm.
I’m not sure what rnplijusn was blogging. What’s with all the Mr. stuff. It was hard to even comprehend. Heck with the polls. We’ve done all we can re: the polls. I don’t even think we should rise in the polls. Should a hometown team of mine, Georgetown fall below Gonzaga, after 5 or 6 Big East losses? We had our chance to rise and we did pretty well! One more thing: the success of this team is for the players and coaches on this team, not for the program. The program will live on because of the integrity of those participating. Let’s watch and share in it with them!
This post does not reflect the views of the blog authors or SB Nation.
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Recruit, Recruit, and Recruit some more
In all honesty, the combination that takes to win a national championship is talent and luck. I actually think this team has the potential to do something great, and part of that has to do with a fact that there isn’t a North Carolina team from last year that is just leaps and bounds ahead of everyone else. However, if it doesn’t happen this year, I really like the 2011 team assuming we recruit well. Here is how the depth chart would look
PG: Meech/Gibbs/ Gary Bell
SG: Arop/ Bell/ Dranginis
SF: Kong/Olynyk/ Wiltjer
PF: Olynyk/ Dower/ Wiltjer
C: Sacre/ Dower
Pretty ridiculous 9-man rotation that has athleticism, skill, and length
Final 4 or bust
Don't blame the free throws!
I started researching FT% this season v. last season to show that we will never win a championship without improving from the charity stripe. What I found out was that I was wrong. Follow me here: Over 17 games this season GU has shot 480 FTs this season and made 319 for an underwhelming percentage of 66.5%. That is a considerable drop from last year’s average of 71.7%. 480 FTs in 17 games averages out to approximately 28 FTs per game. This means that we are leaving an average of 1.5 points at the line each game vs. last season. Don’t get me wrong, I would love to see the FT% improve and I understand that this could be the difference in a close tournament game, however, there are a number of things that this team could improve upon on offense and defense which would make a bigger difference than 1.5 ppg.
As far as I am concerned the biggest opportunity is in the hands of Robert Sacre. He has the body to bang with anyone and early this season he showed that he had the skills but he has had some extremely uninspired outings as of late including a lot of low single-digit performances. With Elias grabbing more and more attention in the post coach Few needs to emphasize getting high percentage looks from his big. Statistically speaking one more FG from big Bobby will have more impact than returning to last season’s FG% and there is no reason that he shouldn’t be getting 12-8 every game.
66% as a team from the free-throw line
is a bit misleading. It is the average of the entire team including the bench. If you average our starting 5 FT% then you get a somewhat better picture of where we are at. Our starting 5 averages 71% free throw shooting.
Then you have to consider how we play on any particular night. If we are having a good shooting night from the field, then the free throw % will increase and vice versa if we are haveing a poor night shooting.
So don’t get too wrapped up with FY%. We have room for improvement in that category, but it also depends on who we play. If they aren’t any better, or haveing an off night shooting all around then we can match up well at the free throw line.
The old saying goes, if you want to improve free throw shooting, recruit players who can shoot free throws.
Tom117
Are you talking THIS year? Well...
1. Have a good tournament draw full of favorable match-ups and close sites.
2. Get lucky.
3. Clamp down on 3-point D.
4. Keep playing hard and running the offense with a big lead to avoid the letdowns that occur seemingly every game.
5. Optimize lineups.
6. Don’t run the Pargo Play in crucial situations.
7. Shoot FTs better.
8. Get hot and stay hot from beyond the arc.
9. Try and get the streakier players (Sacre, Meech, and Gray) involved early. If it’s just not their night, don’t force it. There’s capable guys on the bench.
10. Hope Kansas falls apart.
To win the champoinship?
Execute.
I mean we can talk about getting lucky and shoot better, but Mark Few has an offense and defense game plan and style that has been proven to win games – big games. It is only a matter of time intil Few takes Gonzaga to the final four.
Tom117
What we have to do...
Hope John Wall somehow leaves for the NBA before the Tournament
Recruits
Anyone know how the 7’ kid from NIC is doing? and is he still someone Gonzaga wants? If you have any updates on any recruits i would like to hear about it.
Guy-Marc is averaging about seven points, seven rebounds a game.
And I don’t believe he is still on the radar at this point.
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No playing time for GJ
So i see a walk on got on the court tonight. That cant be good for GJ. Is the plan to not play guys so they will leave the team? Meech had 4 fouls and i kinda thought we would see GJ tonight. Did GJ piss someone off?
Winning a title
Well, it will be a tall order. I’d love to see it.
They would need to have two future pros on the team. Most champs have that. Even if they are just bench players in the NBA, they are heads and shoulders above the competition at the college level.
Since Gonzaga can’t leave the WCC anytime soon, focus on what we can do and that is take care of business in the league.
One thing that the Western teams need to do more consistently is schedule harder non-conference games. Gonzaga does that VERY VERY WELL. Unfortunately, Washington and a lot of the Pac-10 and MWC teams don’t.
Thanks.
Josh Normand
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