Gonzaga to take on Florida State in opening round of NCAA Tournament
by Zach Bell on Mar 14, 2010 9:22 PM PDT
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PrintSelection Sunday is always full of surprises. After the first three brackets were released, Greg Gumbel said "tensions are building around here" and that is seemingly the way this day always goes. Lots of head shaking, even more finger pointing, and plenty of heartbreak. You can't classify Gonzaga's fortune today as heartbreak but you can say it was disappointing. The 8-9 game is what many look to avoid as you are typically taking two strong teams that were inconsistent and pitting them against eachother. This is why you have match ups like Texas-Wake, Cal-Louisville, and Gonzaga-FSU all residing on the 8-9 line. The second obvious caveat to being involved in this game is the fact that your next contest (if you are lucky enough to survive and advance) will be against a #1 seed. Gonzaga has this difficult, and exciting opportunity as they look to make a deep run in this season's NCAA Tournament.
I'm sure Max will come along tomorrow with a more detailed look at Florida State because, to be quite honest, I never see much of them. I know about Solomon Alabi, Michael Snaer, and a few other touted Seminoles. I know that their reputation is a strong, athletic, and defensive minded team. They're one of the best in the country defensively and really frustrate opposing teams into taking bad shots. But, like every other team not in the top 6-8, they are incredibly inconsistent. They've swept Wake Forest and Georgia Tech but then they've lost games they had no business losing. Overall, it's exactly the type of team I expected the Zags to play in the opening round, even though I didn't think they'd slide to an eight.
There's really no point anymore in looking back and complaining about the committee or how this team finished the season. I know it makes for good discussion and is a good way to grind an ax but the second season is almost upon us and I'm damn excited to get it going. The facts now indicate that Gonzaga will play Florida State on Friday. The Seminoles, while strong and very dangerous, are also very beatable. It's going to take all the same efforts we have seen in flashes through the year. There's no next year for Matt Bouldin to have his tournament success. There is really no more grace period for Demetri Goodson to have the "just a sophomore" excuse. There's also no reason why this bench should be looked upon as a guessing game regarding who is going to play well today.
Many things have to come together for this tournament to be viewed as a success. I can't harp on how much Elias Harris should be priority #1 in the gameplan. Against an outstanding defensive team like Florida State, you have such a small window to come out with fire before they can just wear you down. The good thing is that we all know that this team is capable of doing some very good things against anyone. They can also do awful things against anyone but...I'm one of those fans that happens to think the best version of Gonzaga is going to come to play every game no matter what and I expect nothing less in Buffalo.
Go Zags.
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Possibly the most pessimistic the fans have ever been
going into the tourney.
I’ve never seen so many people thinking we’ll lose the first game.
I know!
I can’t help it either. It’s a combination of the LMU loss and how we lost to SMC. One bad loss (USF) is forgivable. The second bad loss to LMU is hard to take. Add on top of that the uninspired play against SMC and you just can’t feel good about the team right now. It feels like it’s been so long since we’ve seen our Zags.
The First Game
Seems like we might struggle an awful lot. I expect win, but good defensive teams have given us fits. LMU and USF didn’t have a great game plan against us. They beat us by hustling, trapping us, and never ever letting up. They stayed in it, and we paid because of it. Duke did the same thing to us. If we have to bang around inside for points, this probably won’t go well.
That being said, I really think we should win. FSU is the type of team we usually beat in the beginning of the season. Mediocre team, power conference.
Let’s do this! Go Zags.
I blame myself.
I got my acceptance letter from Syracuse’s grad school last week and my first thought was, “Aww f$@&. We’re gonna be matched up against Syracuse. I just know it.” So, sorry. Blame me.
Also, what the heck people? Flordia St. isn’t very good. Don’t worry about them. The ACC was trash this year. Plus, if we lose it will go in the face of very clear destiny.
I'd feel better if ...
- Our team leader wasn’t playing like crap, or disappearing for long stretches, for whatever reason.
- Our dynamite freshman was playing like his big bad self. When’s the last time Elias had a double double? Feb. 18., that’s when.
- Our energizer bunny off the bench wasn’t in a boot.
The Zags looked great against LMU in the WCC Tourney semis mostly because of Steven Gray and contributions from the bench. St Mary’s was a debacle. Yeah they stopped the Gaels’ big scorers but let two other guys have career nights and wilted down the stretch. It’s gonna take a lot more than that to get the Zags past FSU. I’m not throwing in the towel but I also think it’s safe to say the Zags aren’t playing anywhere near their best basketball, which is what this team has to play to win at this level. Who knows, maybe this layoff has done them some good.
Can't Wait!
The matchup between Solomon Alabi and Will Foster should be a treat to watch.
errollknight22
Expectations
While I was disappointed at first with the seeding, Zach is right, there’s no point in getting too upset. We got ourselves into that position. But despite the lowered tournament expectations this year, I want to see the Zags get to the FF. Getting there means at some point we are going to have to play and beat a really good team and get a little lucky. Florida State will be tough, Syracuse will be extremely tough, but we can do this.
We haven’t played extremely well for quite a while, but if we do, we can play with anyone. What I hope for this year’s tournament, whether we lose first round or make an underdog run to the FF, is for us to play the kind of basketball that the players, coaches, and fans can be proud of. I wasn’t happy last year seeing us get to the Sweet 16 then getting blown out by NC, but conversely I was extremely proud of the guys in 02-03 when we lost to no. 1 seed UofA in double OT. After the Mich St. loss, everyone was more psyched about our team than disappointed (if I remember correctly, our ranking actually went up). That’s the kind of result I want to see, except hopefully this time with a W.
GO ZAGS
by BW2020 on Mar 15, 2010 8:07 AM PDT reply actions 1 recs
Losing is more tolerable when you go down swinging.
…which is why the losses to Duke / SMC part 3 were so aggravating.
Losing to Michigan State was absolutely tolerable, because we saw what this team could do. Maybe it was early and MSU has gotten better since then, but, as you said, losing that game and losing to Arizona in 03 – you saw the team “leave it all out on the court.”
We’ve got a tough road ahead, but from this point on, I just want to see our guys play to their abilities.
No such thing as a good loss, but...
If GU controls the game against FSU and wins in somewhat convincing fashion, and goes on to lose to Syracuse in a hard-fought game, I will be happy and satisfied. Of course, I hope we win every game and win the National Championship, but to put some perspective on this: A) This was supposed to be a rebuilding year, B) They are not playing their best ball at the end of the season, and losing Arop hurts more than we may think, and C) TheZags’ recent tournament runs are less than impressive, including last year.
If you think about it, we haven’t beaten an impressive team in the tournament since St. John’s in 2000. You can argue Virginia in ‘01 and Indiana in ’06, but the loss to Arizona in ’04 was more impressive than most of our wins of late. Most of us forget that we only beat 14 seed Xavier by 4 in the first round in ’06 before our epic meltdown against UCLA. Last year’s Sweet 16 run was great to see us back there, but being down 6 before coming back against Akron and giving back all of a 9 point lead to WKU in 2 minutes before Goodson goes ball-hog and suprises everyone on both sides with that layup is not exactly showing GU dominance!
I think if we are playing smart ball and getting a full effort from the starting 5, we should handle FSU and give Syracuse a helluva run and possibly win that game! I just want to see a couple of 40 minute 100% effort games. Been awhile and would be nice to have those Zags back!
Be a nice step. Gonzaga has done well in the regular season for a long time now. What changes come tourney time? How to break through that barrier of consistently making it to the second weekend?
Not that I’m complaining – its nice to have a team who make the playoffs every year. Being a WA sports fan is depressing enough, sometimes Gonzaga is the only saving grace.
by Jerikantilles on Mar 15, 2010 5:56 PM PDT up reply actions
What to expect from FSU?
The reason the Noles are dancing is solely because of their defense. Ranked #1 in efficiency by KenPom, they’re long and committed to executing basic half-court defensive principles. They rarely offer any type of full court pressure, instead setting up the half-court D and making teams work. Their help defense is impressive to watch, and they play inside-out, rarely get beat down low. Teams that win typically get hot from beyond the arc. Singleton was the ACC Defensive Player of the Year, and Alabi was 1st team All D. Snaer was a 5* recruit who takes pride in his D.
Offensively, they were the worst team in the ACC. Turnovers are the killer, and they’ve had several games with 20 or more. There’s only 10 or so teams in the NCAA that turn the ball over at rate higher than the Noles. They travel, commit offensive fouls, step on the baseline, pass it to guys standing out of bounds – you name a way to end a possession and they do it. They run a hybrid dribble-drive/3 out 2-in motion offense, but are severely limited by their guard play – they don’t really understand entry pass timing and angles, and they’re not quick enough to break down a D on the drive. Dulkys can get hot from the 3 and really open things up – but expect a deliberate, grinding, ugly offense.
by norcal_nole on Mar 15, 2010 8:13 AM PDT reply actions 3 recs
If FSU turns the ball over and doesn't press on defense...
I really like the Zags’ chances. GU plays well in transition, so I like our odds if we get a lot of fast-break opportunities. As was stated earlier, teams that have pressed the Zags and forced us into errors, have had success. If the Noles are going to let us bring the ball up and setup the offense, I think we will win. You can’t tell me that Bouldin and Gray are both going to go completely cold for 40 minutes.
My 3 keys to take down FSU:
1- Floor spacing on offense: When this team is spaced out and running good offensive sets, we give any player in the game a chance to flourish. Conversely, when we get into poor offensive positioning we force one of our big three to take over the possession. While they are capable of hitting a big shot, they come easier when things are spaced out.
2- Pass: This point reiterates the importance of offensive spacing. We have great passing guards and guys that can fill it up when fed properly. One thing I’ve noticed about both Bouldin and Gray is, they tend to nail shots after an assist or good pass.
3- Defensive rebounding: FSU plays great defense, that is the main reason they are in the big dance. Limit them to one shot per possession (hopefully less with their tendency to turn it over) by rebounding on defense. This will allow GU to get out in transition and finish before FSU can setup their half-court D.
by GU.AmericasTeam on Mar 15, 2010 9:41 AM PDT reply actions
We can beat these guys.
Dial up the Defense and watch FSU melt. I really don’t think they can stay with us if they start turning it over (and they are really good at turning the ball over).
mjc
mjc
by quidveritas on Mar 15, 2010 12:06 PM PDT up reply actions
Defense is a key
It is always a key, so I failed to mention it on my previous post. You are right, if we play good defense it will lead to good offensive movement and scoring.
by GU.AmericasTeam on Mar 15, 2010 1:46 PM PDT up reply actions
Defense and guard play are what make the difference in March
So hopefully our defense will step up :S
by surfmonkey89 on Mar 15, 2010 2:50 PM PDT up reply actions
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