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2011 Zags Basketball, and so it Begins…

Ahhh, Game Day at last. After what has seemed like an eternity, Gonzaga gets their 2011/2012 season going tonight with an appetizer at the McCarthy Athletic Center against a Big Sky opponent, the E.W.U. Eagles. It promises to be a magical season and this first game should give us a peek at several things. 1. Is our frontcourt improved? 2. How will our guards fare with the loss of Steven Gray and Demetri Goodsen? 3. Can we defend the three? 4. Who is going to play the wing? Who is going to redshirt?

Lots of questions to be answered, but first, let’s take a peek at our opponent:

The Eastern Washington University Eagles. So, who are these Eagles otherwise known as "Eags"? They come with a brand new head coach, Jim Hayford, who has spent the past 10 years at NAIA Division III Whitworth. In his 10 seasons he coached the Pirates to a 217-57 record and into the Sweet 16 and Elite 8 the past two years. A very good coach indeed.

Returning players of note:

A trio of guards is the foundation. 1. Coliman 10.4, Forbes 9.8, and Winford 9.9 are back and bring some hot handed shooting from deep. They are all less than 6’ tall.

6’7 Senior Forward Tremayne Johnson 10.0, Australian 6’9 Hickert hits 43% from three, and Juco transfer 6’6 forward Chiverton popped for 19/5 while at San Francisco City College.

This looks to be an uphill battle for the heavily out manned Eagles. There is little chance that this will be a competitive game and it should allow the coaches to clear the bench and get lots of minutes for everyone.

But hey, this game counts, and we get to see how our newbies perform as well as get a feeling about some of the off-season questions we have.

Let’s get the season off on a magical note!



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