So, Is This the Year it All Falls Apart?!

I like your take on the Dons. They have been a thorn in the Zags side for a couple years now and return their key players+starters this year. Rex Walters is fast becoming a great coach and his players believe in him and they buy into his system. GU will have their hands full when we play them in Spokane and down at their place. Like all games before if we defend the three better this year against everyone and hold them to a lower FG#, we have a chance. Great post Gaz as always!
Looking forward to Kraziness in the Kennel!! Should be lots of fun. Go Zags!!

:)

On to your points:

Gray did score the most but he also took the most shots…and there are 4-5 major contributors returning this year with better averages and eFG% Meaning Gray accounted for 26% of our shots and there were others who would have made more of those opportunities.

Meech was a good defender due to his athletic ability and he played with heart. Loved Meech for this. That is where it stops for me. He was undersized, terrible on the close out, over-penetrated, had no understanding of passing angles or how to attack the gaps…I could go on and on but I won’t. The players we have to replace him are an upgrade…they will take a bit of time but nonetheless, upgrades.

BYU- Lost Jimmer. HUGE LOSS! This cannot be understanded. He accounted for 38% of their shots taken…that was 1 in the nation by the way. Having a player like that on the floor helps the productivity of all the other players. The level of play for this entire team with drop considerably without a superstar on their roster. their gym…yes tough place to play, 3rd largest in college basketball…but in the center of all those ppl is still a court just like everywhere else basketball games are played…and that is where the game is decided…not in the stands.

SF: Pretty good team with some good players coming back. Something to fear? Of course not! it is SF man…not say Illinois, Mich St, Butler, Arizona, shall I go on?

SMC: Will be good. I agree but they will get steamrolled by GU this year. When you have two pg/sg types in McConnell and the Cave man Delladorka or whatever his name is…then it makes it very difficult to defend the outside…not the greatest streangth of GU in the past…this made SMC very dangerous last year. Make no mistake, this will not be the same team it was. McConnell scored out of a balanced offense but he also shot 54% from the 2 and 45% from the 3. Very tought to replace all the things he did for the team. Jones shot 33% from three…that is hardly precision. Also we beat them 75- 63 the last time we met.

Main reasons will not fall apart:

The front court is a beast. With the ability to create match up nightmares.

The 3 spot can be manned by Hoff, Landry, Q or even Olynk and Harris…all depending on need. Nightmare for teams

We have multiple guards who can handle the ball, create their own shot, and hit from deep….and of course…feed the post in half court and in transition.

No rose colored anything here…just facts. ;)

Now tell me what you have done with Gaz and we might let you live.

so, they might make it to the NIT second round this time? Come on, McConnell is gone, there’s no way they win 10 WCC games and they could be a sub-.500 team. Think about it: Dellavedova and Steindl are completely worthless unless given a quality wide open look from deep, who will get them those looks? They had a player in McConnell that they won’t be able to replace, and they don’t have the talent or depth to compensate. Even with Mickey they weren’t a top-50 team, so what is there to be scared of?

We got hosed in scheduling this year, as a few WCC teams got their break in conference play at the same time as other conferences. We got our break at a time where we can’t schedule an OOC game in the middle of WCC play. As a result, BYU is playing at VTech and we take a week off.

are the core that will once again make St. Maries a top 25 team. They have so many shooters it aint even funny. Heck, they have shooters just waitng for their chance, so losing McConnell will probably barely be a hiccup.

They paid the sched gods off, so what else is new? It just makes repeating as champs that much more difficult.

from a “Glass is half empty” perspective.
    I was in the front of the stagecoach on Steven, and Meech’s bandwagon…Looking back, both WERE good defenders, Meech, IMO a little moreso than Steven. Looking back though, neither improved enough to be much better than a top 25-30 backcourt..Especially after he hurt his back, Steven was not a consistent go to guy though he had his moments. Meech improved, though they were mostly marginal improvements, and as much as we love him, I think he had reached what he was going to reach here.
    Even with our awesome front line, judged by many across the nation to be top 10-15 in calibre, we need a better, more effective, more explosive, AND more consistent backcourt.
    Hardly things to expect from mostly freshmen and sophies…
    Still, MD’s points are valid, many top teams lose seniors, and rely on dynamic young players. The question is, how GOOD are the young players?
    Questioning this season is legitimate, but I believe we have extremely effective young talent in the backcourt, and they will mesh with the frontcourt better than last year.
    WE WILL BE A BETTER TEAM.

And its a good thing because I think the WCC is much stronger this year than last. Yes there were some losses due to graduation and gambling scandals but on balance, I think most teams are going forward and look to be better in 2011 than last year.

Gonzaga will be challenged this year like no other. I view this as a great opportunity to really make a statement.

Yes, we really do have what it takes to rise to the occasion and put an extremely talented team on the floor.

I do think this team will struggle early on if we don’t get good consistent guard play or if the perennial pourus perimeter defense becomes an issue.

BUT

All things considered, comparatively speaking, we are loaded and deep.

Other teams may have a very good first 5 but can they match our depth? Is there anyone that can match up with Sacre? Can anyone stop Dower?

It may be tough, but I don’t think it will be as tough as last year — no body is going to stop Gonzaga.

What are we afraid of? The WCC is improving as a conference, the days of the ZAGS steam rolling or WCC conference is over….this is a good thing, and we have the ZAGS to thank for it. Everyone wants to beat Gonzaga, they don’t want us to win another conference championship, or make another trip to the NCAA tourney..

We have competition now, this is not a two team battle anymore, bring on the competition! Maybe we will finally get some recognition as a conference.

I am not afraid of SMC, or SF…I would take Sacre, Dower, Olynyk, Bell, Carter, Pangos, Landry over Delladova, Jones and whoever else… Our players look scary to opposing competition as well!

last year we had PG questions/problems as well, we weathered the early storm and came out alright…I believe our PG situation this year is much more secure, just young.

two three game losing streaks, our star playing hurt, and we still had people saying we were a final four team in March.

Not to mention SMC had their Adam Morrison, once in a program type of player, and still choked away a WCC title and proved they were a low-NIT or CBI type team.. SMC is going to crash and burn this year, try and talk them up all you want but they aren’t that good.

This is like 2 years ago when people on here were saying Portland was on the upswing and they were poised to take the WCC from us. What the f—- happened to that? lol. No school in the WCC outside of Gonzaga and BYU (who is gone after this year) can create sustainable success. First it was Pepperdine, then Santa Clara, then SMC, then Portland, now SMC again. The one thing our WCC rivals always have and will always have in common: they finish second.

So no, this isn’t the year it all falls apart.

I honestly believe we will be a better team this year than last. Steve Gray was a fantastic Zag (one of my all-time favorites), don’t get me wrong…But I think the progression of our returning players and addition of our new student-athletes outweighs the loss of Gray and Meech. I could go in-depth on how I think each player will progress but I’ll just keep it to a few key guys.

1.) Harris – Will be back at (hopefully) full-strength for a whole year.
2.) Rob – Overall I liked what I saw from Rob last year and expect him to add 1 or 2 new moves in the post and hopefully improved passing and defense.
3.) Dower – Showed (in glimpses) that he can be an incredible offensive force. I would hope for more consistency this year however.
4.) Carter – Loved what I saw from him at the end of the season and I see him improving on his game as the season goes on.

I like what Pangos brings to the table offensively as a freshman, although I’m still unsure if he will redshirt or not. Defensively, I have questions on KP. I think GBJ starts form day 1 and proves to be a solid contributor offensively and defensively.

On paper, the WCC appears to have strengthened from top to bottom. I don’t see St. Mary’s experiencing much of a drop off and the addition of BYU adds a top 4 team to the league. I like what USF brings to the table and SCU can be a trap game in CA simply because of Kevin Foster. The loss of Transolini takes them from a potential #2 in WCC to 4th or 5th IMO.

Of course, I may be a lilltle impartial but, He is 100% on point!

Look at it this way, this year you do not have your usual barn burners like a Morrison, Turiaf, Bouldin, Stepp, Dicau, Heytfelt, or Downs to ride.

You have two scubs that are supposed to lead your team to the promised land.

1. A 5th year senior who cannot jump, barely rebounds, and can’t pass out of a double team, any guess as to whom I am referring? ROBBY SACRE.
2. A 5th year senior junco transfer that is a wanna be point guard, who has the handles of a 3 at best. Lateral speed is a joke, with only one year in your system. MARQUISE CARTER.

These two players needed FIVE YEARS to reach this point to where they are considered your leaders. Good luck with that.

C’mon guys…..is this really what you are basing your National Title asperations on? And please, don’t say it’s your wings. That’s altogether another issue.

One more thing, I am not in here to bash. Really enjoy reading what is going on with you guys. Only wanted to temper what I feel is this rampant, unrealistic mindset and bring you back to a more REASONABLE reality.

I honestly feel that you will have a down year, face it, you cannot keep wining the WCC forever. I see a drop off this season followed by an upswing led by your splendid recruiting crop of Pangos, Bell, Spangler, and Dranginis.

Sorry if I pissed anyone off. Good Luck with your season

Also- My predicted order of finish in the WCC Conf is 1. USF 2. St. Marys 3. Gonzaga 4. BYU 5. Santa Clara, and who cares about the rest.

Part of me thinks it will be THE YEAR. But, part of me is concerned about what I have said in my post.

We have a monster sched early, but it’s mostly at home. Will we take our lumps early, And then get some steam going into the Dance? Will our fantastic young recruits gell in time to make a difference this year?

I say this every year but…I REALLY am excited about this season, more than any other. LOL

LEGOOOOOOOOO Zags!!~

Frankly, I don’t care whether our back-court is top-15 or top-20, etc. All we need them to do is carry their weight and feed our tremendous front-court. If Sacre has improved his mid-range jumper, Elias is healthy, and Dower continues to develop as he did late last season, that’s really all we will need to win another WCC title. Let’s face it, St. Mary’s and BYU don’t have enough talent and size to match up with these three players when they’re on their game and healthy. If our back-court can minimize turnovers and efficiently get the ball to these guys in position, and occasionally drain an open three, that’s our game plan! We don’t need Gary Bell to score 15pts/game if he is just enough of a shooting threat to take pressure off of Sacre and Harris up front. We don’t need to have an outstanding point guard, just one who can distribute the ball to the rim and cover his man on defense. That is something we NEVER had last year. Stockton was a defensive liability and not much of an offensive threat, though he could distribute the ball respectably. Meech could defend, but had no role offensively. I’m hesitant to even comment on Carter because his advent came so far into the season and may have just been a brief step out of his mediocre shoes (I’m hoping that’s not the case, but I can’t rule it out). If we can get a player or two that can do a little bit of each of those roles, I don’t see a team in the WCC that can compete with us (unless they’re shooting 65% from beyond the arc). And even then, it becomes a war of attrition—can they keep their defenders from fouling out long enough to hang on to the game?