After Matt Bouldin is gone......
by ZagaZags on Jan 26, 2010 12:14 PM PST
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Over the past 11 years we have always had the point guard to lean on in big games. Quentin Hall, Matt Santangelo, Dan Dickau, Blake Stepp, Jeremy Pargo and i should add Derek Ravio with his 90+ FT % And now Matt Bouldin. I just dont see Meech being the next guy to add to this list. I have no doubt that Steven Gray will great next year but he is a SG . Bring on Brandon Dunson.
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We have an embarassment of riches right now.
I wouldn’t write off Meech just yet. We all had our frustrations with Ravio and Pargo early on. Meech can learn a lot from this year’s experience. If he can learn to play within himself and avoid the trees, he might do just fine. 100 made free throws and 100 made 3’s in practice every day wouldn’t hurt him either.
That said, Gibbs has a very similar skill set to Bouldin — I fully expect him to step right in when Matt leaves. We won’t miss a beat.
Could Arop play point with a long summer of work on his ball handling and passing? He just might surprise.
Finally, I think Gray has the skill set to play point if called upon. The trouble (or the good thing) about Gray is that he accepts his role on the team — what ever that may be. Personally I think he sacrifices a lot of personal opportunities from time to time because he is such a great team player.
From where I sit, we have no where to go but up. It will be a bit different next year but I don’t think anyone will want to play us come tournament time.
mjc
I agree about Gray
All I heard about him while he was in high school was his offense, but this year I’ve really enjoyed watching him hustle and step up his D when Gonzaga’s needed it.
And I will say that all the current players should probably work on the 100 made FTs.
cant help but agree with you...
meetch clearly still has a lot to learn and i think he mightve set a high bar for himself after the way he stepped in and immediately had an impact for us last year. ive been sayin that coach few should be making these kids shoot and make a hundred free throws after each practice all season now, mainly because of how frustrating it is to see meetch struggle at the line. hes got a sound jumpshot and is in my mind a smaller yet mirror image of pargo. if he worked on his shooting, though, as you pointed out, he could be a lot better.
im impressed with gibbs and he should be getting a lot more pt although i do see hes starting to earn more with the way hes been playing. he would be a nice addition to the tradition of pgs here at gonzaga. hes familiar with the role and he has the all around game to relish in it. another person you mentioned is gray, who from what i remember wasnt just recruited for his shooting but he was also a pg at the time. fews developed him into more a a sg now but he can play the position if needed.
not sure if arop could play the part though. hes a solid player but i think he belongs more at the sf position.
I wouldn't put Pargo int the class of PGs we could lean on in big games.
Then again, the stats kind of prove me wrong. As much as I love all the GU PGs I wouldn’t say many of them came up big in the REALLY big games (aka the NCAAs). If you take a look back Gonzaga’s PGs, while huge during the regular season, have been historically awful shooters when the NCAA Tourney rolls around.
Bulldog starting “PGs” FG Shooting in the NCAAs:
2002 NCAA: Stepp/Dickau – 8-37 in 1 game.
2003: Stepp – 11-32 in 2 games.
2004: Stepp – 5-29 in 2 games.
2005: Ravio – 4-17 in 2 games.
2006: Ravio – 9-22 in 3 games.
2007: Pargo/Ravio/Bouldin – 7-23 in 1 game.
2008: Pargo/Bouldin – 9-18 in 1 game.
2009: Pargo/Bouldin – 29-59 in 3 games.
I have found
that if you start pouring over stats, then this team is sunk. They are not in the top 100 teams in most categories. I’ve looked. St. Mary’s has a much better stat sheet than Gonzaga, yet the Zags finds ways to win no matter if they cannot hit 3’s consistantly, or shoot free throws consistantly. Maybe what they excell at is hustle and grit – but that can’t be measured by numbers.
Here is a great site for looking stuff up.
Tom117
Still a huge hole to fill.....
It looks like we wont find another PG in 2010. So i really hope Meech, GJ and Gibbs can do well in 2010. And it would make my year if we could get Nick Johnson in 2011.
Im sure Nick Johnson looks at this from time to time to check on the Zags, so we should make a Nick Johson spot so Zags fans can let him know how much we want him at Gonzaga.
Ravio
While a great free throw shooter, he could never have a great game against athletic defense. If he was wide open, he could make threes, but he couldn’t create and I have never seen someone stuffed behind the three point line than him.
He was just polarizing to me. He did disappear in the tournament against those aggressive defenses.
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