Let's Talk About the GU-St. Mary's Rivalry. Is it Passionate or Just Another Big Game?

Of course when they come to Spokane, that will be THE GAME but that must wait.

1) this particular game

This game probably means more to St. Mary’s than GU — which is not necessarily a good thing. GU has played some tough teams and already has a pretty good resume for March. Not so with St. Mary’s. They really need this game.

2) game strategies and match-ups

I don’t think either team is going to do much different from what they have been doing. Dellavadova and Jones will be the keys for St. Mary’s. Look for GU to pound it inside early and St. Mary’s to use every foul needed to send our bigs to the foul line. There won’t be many uncontested layups. Going to be a very tough, physical game. Rebounds and perimeter D will spell victory for the eventual winner.

3) any history or tradition associated with this game

??? Nothing out of the ordinary that I know of

4) rivalries you’ve been associated with (fascinating 30 for 30 on ESPN about the Alabama-Auburn football rivalry) 5) How should we be behaving, interacting (golf claps or frothing at the mouth)?

This series has acquired more significance under Randy Bennett. To tell the truth, long term, there is nothing special about the GU-St. Mary’s games. Pepperdine used to be the big dog in the WCC and frankly (when Pepperdine was good) they played us a lot tougher than St. Marys does these days. That was, IMO, the better rivalry. Well the page has turned — maybe someday I’ll change my mind.

For six or 7 years or so Saint Mary’s has been nipping @ our heels, they want what is ours and they have been so close to ultimately having sole possession of conference champs (last year) but we went on an amazing run and kept what is ours…St Marys hates us for that, they have a chip on there shoulder.

I have been nervous about this game all week, like quid states above I to feel like SM will want this game more than GU, I hope thats not the case because they are dangerous..

Matching up I believe they do with there starters, but they dont have our depth. Looking at box scores of past games, there success comes from Dellavadova and Jones, if we contain them around 15 points a peice or so I feel like they dont have the extra firepower to stay with us. They move the ball very well and if Rob Jones starts hitting 3’s and feeling confident I feel like we could get in trouble in this game.

Rivalries come from years of work, but in this short time I believe a rivalry has been built, these two teams hate eachother and both know whats at stake here, these our the games that will decide a championship when conference play nears end..

Hopefully we make the big shots, and if we contain Jones and Dellavadova I like our chances!

This rivalry has developed rather quickly, and I hope the addition of BYU doesn’t slow it. Gonzaga has been the king of the conference and like quid said, since Randy Bennett came along, SMC has been coming ever closer to dethroning the Zags. Even with BYU, at least this year, SMC is still the most legitimate challenger.

Unlike the old Pepperdine teams, Saint Mary’s helped elevate the WCC. Without their NCAA worthy teams the past 5 years or so, I don’t think BYU would have joined the WCC.

Until Saint Mary’s starts playing a halfway decent out of conference schedule for a team that wants to be taken as seriously as they do, these two games will be their biggest games. Saint Mary’s will be playing to stay off the bubble, which hasn’t been kind to them in years past. Gonzaga will be playing for breathing room in the conference.

I love this rivalry, and honestly I like Saint Mary’s except for the 2 or 3 nights they play the Zags. They’ve been the only team capable of beating Gonzaga in the WCC for a while now (not counting the random road stumbles that happen every now and again). Playing a tournament quality team is incredibly helpful for the Zags. Few has his team battle tested coming into conference play each year, but there are two months of blowouts between playing tournament worthy teams out of conference and playing tournament teams in March. These two games (and now the BYU games) will keep the Zags in top form heading into March.

This is the WCC’s premier rivalry. If SMC starts putting together a good nonconf schedule and earning some respect before WCC play, this rivalry will be one that gets even better, and even more hype.

And for me the moment that cemented the bad blood involved Omar Samhan taunting the student section and generally the interviews he gave on ESPN. Honestly, I don’t hate Samhan, but being outspoken got him a lot of TV time and he ended up being booed pretty lustily whenever he was on the court. I can’t speak for the St. Mary’s side of the rivalry, but it seems pretty clear cut: Gonzaga gets a number of games on ESPN every year and St. Mary’s doesn’t, despite being pretty consistently successful lately. We’ve dominated the WCC long enough to make literally every team in the conference hate us, but a “rivalry” is something that inspires hatred on both sides. When I was watching the Portland game I said to the people around me that if this were St. Mary’s I would be loving the blowout and begging for more threes, but because it was Portland I kind of felt bad.

Essentially whoever the other good team in the WCC is instantly becomes our rival. Lots of people seem to forget that for many years at the start of the great Zag run it was Pepperdine and St. Mary’s was nothing.

Zag’s program has developed very well over the years and St Mary’s has taken much smaller steps to get where they’re at. No “big guy” on the block wants to acknowledge another team, especially when it means sharing the limelight of the WCC. I really don’t “like” any team in the WCC that beats GU even if it’s for the “greater good” of the conference. Sure, it’s better for the WCC to be competitive, but when we’ve lost in the past to other “lesser” teams…it just seemed to be a lapse in the Zag’s ability for that game. I believe Zags have to realize that there’s not room for any more “lapse’s” and we have to bring it each and every game… against each and every team in the WCC. This is the year the Zags never take a nap (put it in cruise) during the WCC conference play! Time to show the Gaels we only have one speed – “kick ass and take names” speed!

to me it’s just another WCC game: a non top 25 team that prepares constantly to beat us. If we beat them, it’s just another WCC win and if we lose it’s really disappointing because SMC isn’t a tourney team (in reference to last year, probably not this year either).

I think it would go a long way to being a big rivalry if SMC beat us more and played other games that would divert their attention. We have to prepare for 7-12 big games against BCS/top tier mid majors (Memphis, Butler, Xavier), usually on the road, while SMC stays home and plays trash teams with GU on their mind.

Right now it’s kind of a sad rivalry, they put everything into beating us and still can’t ever win more than 3/10.

I spent the last 4 years in the student section and no other game gets the students fired up more than the Gaels. Maybe it’s just my timeline, but I feel like the rivalry really elevated with Samhan. Not sure if everyone on here knows but he sent a pretty scathing facebook message to a couple students that circulated around the campus like wildfire. to paraphrase: “You play in a high school gym, nobody wants to live in that shithole city of Spokane, all of your girls are ugly, your school is a joke.” (for exact quote look through spokesman reviews, it was published in there"

I think that this is certainly our biggest rivalry. It definitely does not have the history that some of the big 10 and ACC schools have but I feel it is just as intense. Walking around the casino’s in Vegas last year we ran into a lot of St. Mary’s fans and there was a ton of trash talking going both ways. I also live in the Bay Area and I can say that there is definitely mutual hatred.

I love this rivalry and I think it’s great for the conference. As someone said above, I find myself rooting for St. mary’s just so the game means that much more when we stomp them 3 times a year (hopefully).

to quote their coach in a statement he recently made…

“It’s been pretty competitive,” Bennett said. “But they’re still the team to beat.”

also from the article:

Saint Mary’s is 42-6 in WCC regular-season games the previous four seasons against everyone else in the league, 2-6 against the Zags.

Here is the article “replacing hope with belief”….hmmmm…..maybe more rose colored glasses than belief….I guess we will see.

I found this very telling…

Bennett said he’s pleased when Gonzaga goes outside the WCC to beat high-profile teams.
“People keep underestimating how good they are. I’ll say, ‘I told you they were good,’ " Bennett said. “I respect them. No matter what, you’ve got to play them. That’s who you have to beat to win it.”

It seems as if he is counting on us doing going outside the WCC, so…if they can beat us, then they are good by default….I don’t buy that argument….If they want to be GU then they need to go out and schedule like GU….otherwise they are just riding our “RPI , nationally relevant, hard earned respect coat tails”….IMO.

SMC beat GU last year on a trick shot….ok….neat….but for that, they were…pretty much one shot away from going 0-3 against us last year….and we all know GU was not so great last year….my point? not a rivalry…..not on our side at least.

but St. Mary’s has been there for awhile now. I hope it stays that way because its fun to get pumped about big games, especially conference games. Samhan alone was able to get the team, students, and fans blood boiling (which probably is the root reason I dislike St. Mary’s so much, the thought of that chubby center still makes me shake my head).

Yes, tomorrow’s game is a big one, but I still have trouble calling this a rivalry. Don’t get me wrong, St. Mary’s has put together some good teams that pushed GU to its limits, but it has been a lopsided affair since GU began it’s conference dominance.

Until St. Mary’s can continually make noise and shake up the WCC top spot, St. Mary’s will be more of a continual pest rather than a full blown rivalry. I believe that when St. Mary’s begins to knock off GU year after year and takes the lone top spot is when we’ll begin to circle their name when they schedule comes out. I still feel like the mood is we get excited about whichever WCC school is the biggest threat to our dominance (which is currently St. Mary’s).

Between Samhan, Mick, and now Delly and Rob, they seem to have lasting power.. I dont’t hate them, but I do subscribe to the “they ride our coattails” line of thought.
I really think of St. Josephs, Xavier, and Butler as teams I’d like to build up a rivalry with in the future. If I ever believe BYU is here to stay…