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Very comprehensive and interesting post from this guy. It's long, so broke it up into two posts.
Link to their board ------> http://mbd.scout.com/mb.aspx?s=169&f=2616
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Link to their board ------> http://mbd.scout.com/mb.aspx?s=169&f=2616
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GONZAGA UNIVERSITY: Located in Spokane, Washington, it is a private Catholic school with a student enrollment of 7,637 undergraduates and post-graduates. Gonzaga was founded in 1887 by a Jesuit, which is da Vinci code for "The Society of Jesus." The school is named for an Italian Saint, Aloysius Gonzaga, who, if I've read the wikipedia entry correctly, was canonized for not staring into the faces of female authority figures and surviving the Plague. So, he was a lucky misogynist. (I'm kidding, please don't send that albino dude to get me). Their gang colors are blue and white, Spike the Bulldog is the mascot, and their coach is Mark Few. B-B-B-Bing Crosby, John Stockton, Adam Morrison, Ronny Turiaf and Dan Dickau were all Zags. They ball in the West Coast Conference.
LAST YEAR: The Bulldogs were able to do something the Illini couldn't, which was to beat Western Kentucky in the NCAA tournament, barely doing so in the second round 83-81. In the Sweet Sixteen, they actually gave North Carolina kind of a game, losing 77-98. The Zags had a sparkling #7 ranking from Ken Pomeroy and finished with a 28-6 record. They only had one bad loss, a home defeat to Portland State, and many fine victories, including two against Satan and his Tennessee minions. They shot the rock really well (#6 effective field goal percentage), did not turn the ball over (#7) and had the number one defense in the country at stopping two-point shots. They were not supposed to be that good this year, having graduated four of their top 5 scorers, including NBAers Josh Heytvelt and Austin Daye, and Jeremy Pargo, who's balling in Israel. If you include Micah Downs, that's 47.4 points per game and 21.3 rebounds.
THIS YEAR: The reason that Gonzaga is a lot better than expected? Blame Canada! It seems that everything's gone wrong since Canada came along. The Bulldogs have four Canadian freshmen and sophomores doing well on the team. They also have a freshman from Germany. The Illini are forced to play a team of venison-eating, hockey-reject all-stars! The Zags sport a 9-3 record, but one of the wins was against Division III Augustana, Illinois. They're ranked #22 in the ESPN poll, and the first receiving votes but not a number in the other rankings. Their losses are at the Breslin Center to Michigan State (71-75), at home against Wake Forest (75-77), and on a neutral court to Duke (41-76) (???) (Chess notation meaning, ""). They earned their good rep this year with the close loss on the road to Sparty and their sweep of the Maui Invitational. To get the Maui crown, the Bulldogs beat Colorado (76-72), a very good Wisconsin team (74-61) and a very surprising Cincinnati squad (61-59 in OT). They are currently ranked #64 on Pomeroy's site, with the Illini at #52. The Zags defense and offense are both ranked in the 70's, and they have a hard time snagging offensive rebounds (#270). They also rank a lowly #260 in creating turnovers. What they do exceptionally well is get to the free throw line and score from the stripe. There, they are ranked second in the country.
THE MICHIGAN STATE GAME: Talk about your early season tests! The Zags played their second game of the year in the Breslin Center, and their close (71-75) loss gave them confidence. For the Bulldogs, center Robert Sacre and wing Elias Harris had 17 points apiece, but Harris grabbed 9 boards to Sacre's 4. The limiting factor for the Zags was Sacre's foul trouble. He only played 19 minutes but shot 7-12 from the field. The Spartans didn't have an answer for him and were lucky he took himself out of the game. Nobody else for Gonzaga shot well, as the team ended up with 35.7% from the field. Michigan State shot 44%. Both of the teams were terrible from three. The Spartans killed them on the boards, 43-30, but this was evened out by the Zags committing only 11 turnovers to 20 for Sparty. Matt Bouldin shot pretty poorly, but he did end up with 15 points, 3 rebounds and 4 assists (but 4 turnovers). Durrell Summers and Draymond Green owned the boards, combining for 21 rebounds, and Summers' all-court game allowed him to lead all scorers with 21 points. Both Raymar Morgan and Delvon Roe started on the bench and ended there by fouling out in a combined 34 minutes of playing time. They did get 10 boards, but Roe was held scoreless, and they also combined for 6 turnovers.
THE WISCONSIN GAME: The Zags smashed a pretty gosh-darn good Wisconsin team in Maui by the score of 74-61. I really enjoyed watching this game, as it was well played and actually pretty good until the Badgers ran out of steam. Also, this was the game in which Jon Leuer (of the tiny-headed Leuers) became a leader and go-to guy, scoring 18 points, grabbing 5 rebounds and dishing out 4 assists for Wisconsin. Also, Jordan Taylor came of age with 19 points on 7-10 shooting. Trevon Hughes had a decent game, with 10 points on 4-8 shooting, but he managed to play 30 minutes without getting an assist. For the Zags, four starters finished in double figures, including Matt Bouldin's 18 on meh shooting (except the 7-7 from the line), Steven Gray's 15 points on good shooting (except the 0-3 from three), center Robert Sacre's 13 points on 3-4 shooting, which included 7-7 from the stripe, and Elias Harris' 12 points on meh shooting. The Bulldogs won this game by controlling the boards, 35-27, shooting a better percentage from the floor, 47% to 39%, and absolutely killing Wisconsin on the line, 21-25 versus 10-14.
THEIR TEAM: Matt Bouldin was the second leading scorer last year on a team with two players now in the NBA and one playing in Israel. He has upped his scoring rate to 15.1 per game, and he also grabs 4.5 boards and dishes 3.5 times. The only knock on the kid is that his 1.3/1 assist-to-turnover ratio isn't wow-inducing, and he looks like Bobby Brady, younger brother to Greg (Adam Morrison) and Peter Brady (Dan Dickau). Bouldin is hitting .400 from three, .852 from free. He is listed as a 6-5, 224 pound senior.
Elias Harris is the wunderkind freshman wing from Germany. He is 6-7 and 215 pounds. Harris is getting 13.3 and 6.8 per game and shoots .357 from three. Like all of the big guns on the Zags, he gets to the line a lot. Steven Gray is a 6-5, 208 pound junior averaging 12.9 points and 4.1 rebounds per game. He shoots .382 from three and .792 from free. Robert Sacre is the big guy in the middle. You want to foul either him, Demetri Goodson, G.J. Vilarino or Mangisto Arop. Sacre is a big dude at 7-0 and 247. He scores at an 11.8 point per game clip and grabs 5.3 board fruit. He has an amazing 1/7.7 assist to turnover ratio. Beat him down the court, keep pushing him out of the lane, and make him put the ball on the floor or pass out of a double team. If we can get Sacre in foul trouble -- and he likes to be in foul trouble -- this game would become ten times easier.
Demetri Goodson is a speedy 5-11, 164 pound sophomore who goes for 7.7 per game. He is a turnover from beyond the arc, hitting only 1-12 threes. The Great and Powerful Bol Kong is a 6-6, 220 pound sophomore averaging 5.9 points and 2.1 rebounds per game. He has only been allowed to play in 9 games, and is averaging only 11.6 minutes per contest, so expect him to shoot when he gets on the court. He has been deadly from three, making a huge percentage of his 16 attempts. Kelly Olynyk has taken the rule that "y" can be used as a vowel and truely twisted it for his own selfish purposes. He's the freshman backup banger to Sacre at 6-11, 215 pounds, scoring 3.8 points per game. G.J. Vilarino is a 6-0, 177 pound freshman who likes to drive and dish or shoot free throws. Give him some room! He's only 2-6 from three. Finally, there's 6-6, 220 pound freshman Mangisto Arop, who's name, backwards, is Pora Otsignam.
LAST YEAR: The Bulldogs were able to do something the Illini couldn't, which was to beat Western Kentucky in the NCAA tournament, barely doing so in the second round 83-81. In the Sweet Sixteen, they actually gave North Carolina kind of a game, losing 77-98. The Zags had a sparkling #7 ranking from Ken Pomeroy and finished with a 28-6 record. They only had one bad loss, a home defeat to Portland State, and many fine victories, including two against Satan and his Tennessee minions. They shot the rock really well (#6 effective field goal percentage), did not turn the ball over (#7) and had the number one defense in the country at stopping two-point shots. They were not supposed to be that good this year, having graduated four of their top 5 scorers, including NBAers Josh Heytvelt and Austin Daye, and Jeremy Pargo, who's balling in Israel. If you include Micah Downs, that's 47.4 points per game and 21.3 rebounds.
THIS YEAR: The reason that Gonzaga is a lot better than expected? Blame Canada! It seems that everything's gone wrong since Canada came along. The Bulldogs have four Canadian freshmen and sophomores doing well on the team. They also have a freshman from Germany. The Illini are forced to play a team of venison-eating, hockey-reject all-stars! The Zags sport a 9-3 record, but one of the wins was against Division III Augustana, Illinois. They're ranked #22 in the ESPN poll, and the first receiving votes but not a number in the other rankings. Their losses are at the Breslin Center to Michigan State (71-75), at home against Wake Forest (75-77), and on a neutral court to Duke (41-76) (???) (Chess notation meaning, ""). They earned their good rep this year with the close loss on the road to Sparty and their sweep of the Maui Invitational. To get the Maui crown, the Bulldogs beat Colorado (76-72), a very good Wisconsin team (74-61) and a very surprising Cincinnati squad (61-59 in OT). They are currently ranked #64 on Pomeroy's site, with the Illini at #52. The Zags defense and offense are both ranked in the 70's, and they have a hard time snagging offensive rebounds (#270). They also rank a lowly #260 in creating turnovers. What they do exceptionally well is get to the free throw line and score from the stripe. There, they are ranked second in the country.
THE MICHIGAN STATE GAME: Talk about your early season tests! The Zags played their second game of the year in the Breslin Center, and their close (71-75) loss gave them confidence. For the Bulldogs, center Robert Sacre and wing Elias Harris had 17 points apiece, but Harris grabbed 9 boards to Sacre's 4. The limiting factor for the Zags was Sacre's foul trouble. He only played 19 minutes but shot 7-12 from the field. The Spartans didn't have an answer for him and were lucky he took himself out of the game. Nobody else for Gonzaga shot well, as the team ended up with 35.7% from the field. Michigan State shot 44%. Both of the teams were terrible from three. The Spartans killed them on the boards, 43-30, but this was evened out by the Zags committing only 11 turnovers to 20 for Sparty. Matt Bouldin shot pretty poorly, but he did end up with 15 points, 3 rebounds and 4 assists (but 4 turnovers). Durrell Summers and Draymond Green owned the boards, combining for 21 rebounds, and Summers' all-court game allowed him to lead all scorers with 21 points. Both Raymar Morgan and Delvon Roe started on the bench and ended there by fouling out in a combined 34 minutes of playing time. They did get 10 boards, but Roe was held scoreless, and they also combined for 6 turnovers.
THE WISCONSIN GAME: The Zags smashed a pretty gosh-darn good Wisconsin team in Maui by the score of 74-61. I really enjoyed watching this game, as it was well played and actually pretty good until the Badgers ran out of steam. Also, this was the game in which Jon Leuer (of the tiny-headed Leuers) became a leader and go-to guy, scoring 18 points, grabbing 5 rebounds and dishing out 4 assists for Wisconsin. Also, Jordan Taylor came of age with 19 points on 7-10 shooting. Trevon Hughes had a decent game, with 10 points on 4-8 shooting, but he managed to play 30 minutes without getting an assist. For the Zags, four starters finished in double figures, including Matt Bouldin's 18 on meh shooting (except the 7-7 from the line), Steven Gray's 15 points on good shooting (except the 0-3 from three), center Robert Sacre's 13 points on 3-4 shooting, which included 7-7 from the stripe, and Elias Harris' 12 points on meh shooting. The Bulldogs won this game by controlling the boards, 35-27, shooting a better percentage from the floor, 47% to 39%, and absolutely killing Wisconsin on the line, 21-25 versus 10-14.
THEIR TEAM: Matt Bouldin was the second leading scorer last year on a team with two players now in the NBA and one playing in Israel. He has upped his scoring rate to 15.1 per game, and he also grabs 4.5 boards and dishes 3.5 times. The only knock on the kid is that his 1.3/1 assist-to-turnover ratio isn't wow-inducing, and he looks like Bobby Brady, younger brother to Greg (Adam Morrison) and Peter Brady (Dan Dickau). Bouldin is hitting .400 from three, .852 from free. He is listed as a 6-5, 224 pound senior.
Elias Harris is the wunderkind freshman wing from Germany. He is 6-7 and 215 pounds. Harris is getting 13.3 and 6.8 per game and shoots .357 from three. Like all of the big guns on the Zags, he gets to the line a lot. Steven Gray is a 6-5, 208 pound junior averaging 12.9 points and 4.1 rebounds per game. He shoots .382 from three and .792 from free. Robert Sacre is the big guy in the middle. You want to foul either him, Demetri Goodson, G.J. Vilarino or Mangisto Arop. Sacre is a big dude at 7-0 and 247. He scores at an 11.8 point per game clip and grabs 5.3 board fruit. He has an amazing 1/7.7 assist to turnover ratio. Beat him down the court, keep pushing him out of the lane, and make him put the ball on the floor or pass out of a double team. If we can get Sacre in foul trouble -- and he likes to be in foul trouble -- this game would become ten times easier.
Demetri Goodson is a speedy 5-11, 164 pound sophomore who goes for 7.7 per game. He is a turnover from beyond the arc, hitting only 1-12 threes. The Great and Powerful Bol Kong is a 6-6, 220 pound sophomore averaging 5.9 points and 2.1 rebounds per game. He has only been allowed to play in 9 games, and is averaging only 11.6 minutes per contest, so expect him to shoot when he gets on the court. He has been deadly from three, making a huge percentage of his 16 attempts. Kelly Olynyk has taken the rule that "y" can be used as a vowel and truely twisted it for his own selfish purposes. He's the freshman backup banger to Sacre at 6-11, 215 pounds, scoring 3.8 points per game. G.J. Vilarino is a 6-0, 177 pound freshman who likes to drive and dish or shoot free throws. Give him some room! He's only 2-6 from three. Finally, there's 6-6, 220 pound freshman Mangisto Arop, who's name, backwards, is Pora Otsignam.
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