Didn't see that coming...SMC blows out BYU

by MickeyJoe on Dec 30, 2011 9:47 AM PST

Of all the things I thought I'd see this year, with the newly shaped WCC. Never in a million years did I expect SMC to blow out BYU. Pre-season coaches polls had GU-SMC-BYU as 1, 2 and 3. I figured they only ranked BYU 3rd because they were less familiar with the program. I guess the coaches knew what they were doing after all. This should make for an interesting season.

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SMC

I’m a lurker on this board. Graduate of SMC during the Gonzaga Fitzgerald (Pre-Monson) days. That entire 1992 Gonzaga team was in my dorm room having a good time back then (they drank my Natty-Lite)… :)

Anyways…

BYU makes this a conference to deal with going forward. GU, SMC, BYU games will be very, very interesting. You got to hold serve at home, and not lose games to the USD’s (ouch, us) and Santa Clara’s/USF’s (ouch, to you).

Good Luck!

by Colorado Fan on Dec 30, 2011 10:20 AM PST reply actions 1 recs

Hold Home Court

I definitely agree with you about holding home court. We know from years past that the top of the WCC can go on the road and get an L. With many of these teams they look like completely different teams and are 20 points better at home. A perfect example was Pepperdine getting a win at home last night vs SF. It seems like every year each time will have at least 1 of those unexpected road losses….

With the addition of BYU I am extremely intrigued to see how teams handle playing them in a 26,000 seat arena or whatever it is. Gonzaga plays in big venues many times year after year, but for the other schools this is going to be a big change. That will be a very difficult environment to play in (even if they aren’t full of booze, caffeine, or bad language), and I do not see them dropping more than 1 conference game at home.

This is what I see for conferences losses…
GU 2 Losses (1 BYU, 1 Random)
BYU-3 Losses (1 SMC, 1, GU, 1 Random)
SMC- 4 Losses (1 BYU, 2 vs GU, 1 Random)

On a side note, Davies is going to be a tough match up for us. From what I saw last night- Very versatile player who has good fundamentals. With all those pump fakes and that quick first step he will be a handful and a difficult match up for our big men… Go Zags!

by GUbball05 on Dec 30, 2011 10:55 AM PST reply actions

I don't know dave...

but i see the entire byu front line as a tough matchup. we all know that our bigs cant guard the perimeter or pick and roll worth a crap. And hartsock at least looked like he could hit jumpers pretty solid. Rob jones will also give us fits again with the pick and roll if he doesn’t get in fould trouble.

by zagtastic32 on Dec 30, 2011 11:45 AM PST up reply actions

BYU

I just don’t think they are up to snuff this year. They will lose @ GU, @USF or Santa Clara, @ home vs. SMC or GU (or both). Davies is tough, but if they think they can play their style of offense versus anyone, they will lose at least 4 games in conference… wouldn’t surprise me if they go 10-6 either. Every team is going to get after BYU at home.

by Colorado Fan on Dec 30, 2011 2:19 PM PST up reply actions

St. Mary's

is a really good team. They’re going to be tough to beat, and near very tough if they’re knocking down their 3’s. I put them ahead of BYU.

Tweet me some sports knowledge

by 1AndDone on Dec 30, 2011 11:47 AM PST reply actions 1 recs

Depth

If I’m ranking GU, SMC, and BYU on starting 5/6 it goes GU, BYU, SMC

If you’re ranking depth past the 6th man I’d go GU, SMC, BYU.

SMC and GU can grab points off the bench, I don’t BYU being able to do that as easily.

I see GU losing at SMC for our only loss of the conference (revised from my preseason prediction)

by i_am_a_ZAG on Dec 30, 2011 12:20 PM PST reply actions

Actually, BYU had more bench points last night (15 vs. 13).

by Pyrrhuloxia on Dec 30, 2011 3:14 PM PST up reply actions

sigh

using one game as evidence is a pretty poor way to discount an argument.

While BYU has more players that see time, it is in my opinion that SMC’s bench provides better quality, where quality can mean more than just points.

Of course, neither of this is very relevant considering GU’s bench is better than both SMC’s and BYU’s.

by i_am_a_ZAG on Dec 30, 2011 5:15 PM PST up reply actions

Plus a guy like Page was a starter last night because Steindl (sp?) was out with an injury

So in a way, his contributions were ‘from the bench’. Definitely a better bench than BYU has.

by Nevtelen on Dec 30, 2011 7:20 PM PST up reply actions 1 recs

We lose 3 possibly more depending on the lineup.

The only way we don’t lose 3-5 is if MH is off the bench ONLY for the rest of the year! If he continues to play 20-30 minutes against the top 5 in the league…………GU loses 3-5 period, end of story, take it to the bank!

Should the coaching staff go with Rob, E, Sam, KP, GB, DS, GLE, MC and RS as the main rotation and ONLY play our walk-on in certain circumstances, GU could get by with 1-2 losses. Short of that……………..3-5!

By the way, SMC was at it’s very best last night. They are not capable of getting better than they played last night. BYU will get better. This is fun, aint it?

by mikesequim on Dec 30, 2011 9:14 PM PST reply actions 1 recs

kinda like...

Illinois loses to Purdue,,, who lost to Butler,,, who lost to GU,,,, who lost to the Illini!!!
Style makes fights,, just establish who you are, and do it as well as you can,, we are light years ahead of last year, IMO,, love Pangos and Bell!

by mattzag72 on Jan 1, 2012 10:25 AM PST up reply actions

Watched the first half of the game

and from what I saw, we match up very well with St. Mary’s. I would consider our matchup with BYU “favorable”. Davies is very creative in the post for BYU and can create shots for himself, but he will become frustrated and force shots, which happened a lot in the first 7-8 minutes. Hartsock plays the 5 for them, but can hit the outside 3, but I think Rob’s strong perimeter D can take that away.

As for SMC, Rob Jones played strong the second half, I see him as a poor man’s Elias, Delevadova is… the MOUTHGUARD, but he can obviously play. It’s totally different for him now without McConnell, not as many open shots, they’re looking for him to do more dribbling and distributing.

by NewEnglandZagFan on Dec 31, 2011 11:07 AM PST reply actions

St. Mary's

Another year, another year building their pre-conf record w/ cuppycakes.

Of course, I have to give them credit for beating BYU and Missouri State (who just beat Creighton tonight).It does look like they are on a roll.

But, they lost to Denver and Baylor too. Delle & Jones will be no match for Bell, Pangos, Elias, and Sacre. St. Mary’s is lacking depth and it will be very apparent in Moraga when the Zags come to visit very soon.

Final 4 or Bust!!~

by gaz-tastic on Dec 31, 2011 10:17 PM PST up reply actions