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Busy, busy, busy around here, so this is the first chance I've had to reach Jim Meehan's blogs regarding the Idaho game, with lots of good stuff, as usual:
Read the rest of yesterday's blog here.
Gonzaga hikes record to 2-0, routs Idaho - Posted by Jim
at 10:14 PM on 18 Nov
There are few things more satisfying for a coach than seeing his team take a game plan from the drawing board and execute it on the basketball court.
For 20 minutes, Gonzaga did precisely that, disrupting Idaho’s offensive sets and limiting the Vandals to four first-half field goals. The second 20 minutes weren’t nearly as crisp, but the issue was long decided by then.
“I was totally, incredibly pleased with how they took our game plan and how they took the challenge of setting the tone with our defense,” Gonzaga coach Mark Few said after his club dismantled the Vandals 80-46 in front of a sellout crowd of 6,000 Tuesday at the McCarthey Athletic Center. “We talked about doing it the last couple days and they took it to heart.”
at 10:14 PM on 18 Nov
There are few things more satisfying for a coach than seeing his team take a game plan from the drawing board and execute it on the basketball court.
For 20 minutes, Gonzaga did precisely that, disrupting Idaho’s offensive sets and limiting the Vandals to four first-half field goals. The second 20 minutes weren’t nearly as crisp, but the issue was long decided by then.
“I was totally, incredibly pleased with how they took our game plan and how they took the challenge of setting the tone with our defense,” Gonzaga coach Mark Few said after his club dismantled the Vandals 80-46 in front of a sellout crowd of 6,000 Tuesday at the McCarthey Athletic Center. “We talked about doing it the last couple days and they took it to heart.”
“It was a fun half,” said senior forward Micah Downs, who had 16 of his 18 points by intermission. “Coach (Steve) Hertz said it’s the best half he’s ever seen and he’s been around here for a long time. If we can keep up halves like that every game we’re going to be a tough team to play against.”
It’s customary for Hertz, the former Gonzaga baseball coach who is the school’s director of athletic relations, to address the team after games.
It’s customary for Hertz, the former Gonzaga baseball coach who is the school’s director of athletic relations, to address the team after games.
Gonzaga had nine steals, made 10 3-pointers and won the boards 47-27. Austin Daye (16 points, seven rebounds) and Steven Gray (11 points) supported Downs’ and Heytvelt’s 33 combined points.
“Micah was terrific,” junior guard Matt Bouldin said. “He hit his first couple shots and got into a rhythm.”
The Vandals got a brief spark from Luciano de Souza, who made consecutive 3s to trim GU’s lead to 17-7, but points were scarce for the remainder of the half. Kashif Watson rebounded from a scoreless first half with 12 points in the second.
Few was pleased with various aspects of his team’s defense, everything from his players maintaining a defensive stance for entire possessions to the high number of deflected passes.
“If this team buys into (defense) and can make it a strength, which is going to be a challenge for some of them just because of their physical attributes, than the better off we’re going to be,” he said. “I think we have enough different weapons that we can always play pretty good offensively if we keep sharing the ball like we have been.”
“Micah was terrific,” junior guard Matt Bouldin said. “He hit his first couple shots and got into a rhythm.”
The Vandals got a brief spark from Luciano de Souza, who made consecutive 3s to trim GU’s lead to 17-7, but points were scarce for the remainder of the half. Kashif Watson rebounded from a scoreless first half with 12 points in the second.
Few was pleased with various aspects of his team’s defense, everything from his players maintaining a defensive stance for entire possessions to the high number of deflected passes.
“If this team buys into (defense) and can make it a strength, which is going to be a challenge for some of them just because of their physical attributes, than the better off we’re going to be,” he said. “I think we have enough different weapons that we can always play pretty good offensively if we keep sharing the ball like we have been.”
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