Why do we always allow comebacks?!
by GUforlife on Dec 19, 2011 9:39 AM PST
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PrintI think that everyone who frequents this site knows that there are generally two points of view on the TSSF; we are lucky to be the team that we are and should cherish it, OR we have seen the potential our teams have had over the years and want us to take the next step. Regardless of what point of view you have, I think that many of us agree that this team tends to play far below its potential. Sitting at the Arizona game during half time, I know that I wasn't the only one thinking "ok, how close are we going to let them get in the second half?" Its expected that no team can keep up that momentum we had going, but at that point, most elite teams would be able to easily put away another team after building that kind of lead. I would like to know everyone's thoughts on why we have been unable to do that over the years.
Personally, I believe that we are horrible at adjusting to games as they are being played. Its obvious how bad we are at it when you look at how other teams like Arizona, Illinois, and Mich St are so good at it. What is it about this program that almost always leaves so many of us feeling frustrated throughout the season after bad losses and lucky wins?
This post does not reflect the views of the blog authors or SB Nation.
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I'd say it boils down to this
Good teams make runs.
Great teams can stiffle several runs over the course of a game from the competition but I would argue that GU hasn’t played like a great team in a few years.
GU prides itself on scheduling good teams in the pre-conf schedule so I expect the opposition to make some runs at it while we have the lead. The inverse is true as well.
Your comment hits my point right on the head:
“most elite teams would be able to easily put away another team after building that kind of lead”
(long time reader, infrequent poster)
by GU.AmericasTeam on Dec 19, 2011 10:51 AM PST reply actions 1 recs
B/C Mark Few is an average (being generous) in game manager and lacks a killer instinct. Teams are reflections of their coaches. He is consistently out coached by big coaches. He has trouble counter punching to other teams adjustments. At no point in the MSU game did I feel like Gonzaga was going to win even though on a talent level they are no better. Izzo’s in game adjustments were far superior. Secondly we play and up and down style which will always leave you vulnerable to the other team making a run.
by RadoZag on Dec 19, 2011 11:07 AM PST reply actions 2 recs
?
Aren’t you insinuating that you know better than he does? You know, the guy that gets paid to coach for a living, who has been part of coaching his whole adult life.
I mean, who are you? And why aren’t you coaching an elite programs with all your knowledge?
Everybody allows runs
even the good teams. Louisville let Memphis come back from 13 down in the 2nd half to take a lead. But in most cases Gonzaga wasn’t as good as they played in the 1st half, and Arizona wasn’t as bad as they played in the 1st half.
Also, many times we commit too many turnovers to really hold a big lead. On Saturday we couldn’t buy a bucket to keep a big lead. Arizona really started to pressure us defensively, Pangos was having a little trouble setting up the half court offense. Many times he had his back to the basket near the half court line. Our offense was starting way too far out.
And Arizona isn’t going to keep shooting ice cold. We don’t have the mind blowing athleticism that can really keep a good team down the whole game(ie..Butler v UConn title game)
We beat Arizona
2 Freshman guards, Dower (finally) showed his talent.
We beat one of the most talented teams in college bball.
I’d say we had a great game.
One of the most talented teams in college basketball?
Hardly. They’re maybe top-40.
Zagnificent - GU Class of 2010
He didn't say best team
He said talented. I agree Arizona gets more talent in a year than we get in half a decade.
We are simply just not that good......YET (in the hope that w/ Edi back, and Hart out, we will get the line up gelling, it would sure help.
We needed to have an aboration of a first half to get that far out vs Zona. Reality set in during the second half where they beat us by 39-32.
Coaching substitutions, and playing 4 on 5 {Hart} did not help matters any. Did anyone else notice that Hart seemed to spend most of the second half flat on his back? I started to look rediculous.
Talent. I keep hearing about how much talent we now have. Where is it? I can’t think of many top 20 D1 teams that start 2 walk ons. Thats a fact folks.
Partial solution (we can’t make up for Fews shortcomings): Get Edi going, if he’s capable. Get Hoff and Keita going…if they are capable, if not, they are wiffs, and that is on some GU coaches!
Final 4 or Bust!!~
by gaz-tastic on Dec 19, 2011 8:18 PM PST reply actions 1 recs
We dont have to killer instinct
I believe that when we get big leads we venture away from what is ultimately working in that game, sure defenses start to clamp down but Few tends to sit back when we have leads when we should be pouring on the same kind of pressure, we need to be in attack mode and keep the pressure on the opposing teams, we seem to let other teams dictate tempo when we have leads.
Also Az is better than most think, racking up top recruiting classes in multiple years, very athletic and skilled. That was a good win for the ZAGS.
JSH
Strange lineups
I feel like Few tries to put in different lineups when we are up by a significant amount. It is like he wants to try and see what might surprise him.
Against AZ, he had Stocks, bell, marquise, hart, and dower. I THINK. Don’t yell at me if it wasn’t quite that. The point i’m making is he tries to give players more quality time and try out different lineups rather than have his 5 starters try to crush the other team.
All i know is a lot of you live on the less green side of the fence. We win, and you want to blow out every team. We lose, “all i want is to win.”
Not suited to play in the half court
This team is best offensively when we push the tempo after a basket or in transition. When we got up by 15 or 20 against Arizona, we did what most teams would do…slow down the tempo and run time off the clock in the half court offense. To Arizona’s credit they stepped up their defense, but we still looked pretty poor when running half court offense in the 2nd half.
There are always runs in basketball
While I do think we may not always have the pedal to the medal in the 2nd half, College sports are full emotion. Especially in basketball you see at least 4 runs every game. Its hard to dominate someone for 40 minutes straight. You have to be significantly better than a team to get up by 20 and never let it below 20. If you watch any game on tv you will notice that there are multiple runs per game no matter who is playing. When your crowd is yelling and into games, the refs get emotional and make 50/50 calls in your favor. On the road its the opposite. We just need to execute better with both the 1st & 2nd team even when we are up big
Good post! Your first sentence, second paragraph................spot on!
A few good respoonses.
dunno. Maybe, its because we make the mistake of getting ahead by 10 points early.
You never let a team make a “comeback” unless you are ahead.
That being said and acknowledging that Gonzaga is 8-2, not 6-4, or 5-7 (B-U-T-L-E-R, with famed Coach Stevens) and doing all of this with the 22nd best “Strength-of-Schedule” in the nation……and considering that Few is wise to be experimenting with different lineups and strategies now rather than during the conference schedule or NCAA Tournament time; still it is true that we would like to see the Zags mop up on a couple of teams. And although that is not likely against some of the higher quality teams, Gonzaga did only win by 19 against Hawaii and 20 against Western Michigan. I will also ignore the often claimed psychology that some elite teams that regularly blow away lessor opponents have problems when a team surprisingly gives them a game and often loses in the stress of a nailbiter.
Soooooo, I agree with GUfor life, and I will not be satisfied until Gonzaga mobs all its opponents in a dark alley and fleeces them for all their loose change. Oh…..I guess that got Xavier into trouble. Oh well.
There are better teams and I am sure better coaches, but there are also definitely more important things to worry about. I would definitely say that GUforlife’s analysis may have the emotional aggressiveness necessary to blow people away, but it is lacking in integrity and comprehension and ultimately ends up disintegrating way before halftime. He should keep these type of fears to himself or rant them at the local bar. If Gonzaga blows out opponents by an average of 34.9 points per victory, then he can complain that they have not learned to win the close ones, that their only losses came in close games!!!
Duh!
by walla2ak on Dec 22, 2011 5:09 AM PST reply actions 2 recs
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