Meehan's day after WSU post

[CDC84]

http://www.spokesman.com/blogs/sportslink/2010/dec/09/day-after-wsu/

[U Zig, I Zag]

This makes me like KO a little better.

“I felt like nothing was clicking,” Olynyk said. “They jumped on us a bit, we knew they were going to come out strong. It’s almost unexplainable. I’ve never seen that from us before. Guys missed shots early, I don’t know if that deterred some people and got us thinking, but we didn’t really respond well.



“I’m not sure what’s happening, if we’re not looking for shots or executing right. I just think we need to settle down and play basketball. We’ve all played since we were little kids. We need to clear our minds and play the game we love playing.”

[Baldwinzag]

I love this from KO:

"I just think we need to settle down and play basketball. We’ve all played since we were little kids. We need to clear our minds and play the game we love playing.”

I would go back to the drawing board and simplify the game for these guys. Instead of 200+ plays, cut it to 20 plays and allow these guys to play. We're scoring most of our points in transition, which is precisely when we've made our mini-runs vs Illinois, K-State, and WSU last night. We need to put our fastest lineup on the floor and RUN. Meech, Gray, Arop, Dower, Elias and play loose, confident, and give everyone the "green light". Its sounds erratic and we may lose a couple given our simplified offense, but these guys need to restore their esteem, see the ball go into the hoop, and rid themselves of the hesitancy and/or nervousness they are playing with. I think if Coach Few goes back to the way he practiced at the beginning of last year, it'd help in the long-run.

We are a talented bunch, but imploding at the moment and not on the same page whatsoever. Our body language, chemistry, and hesistant play is killing our chances of being able to do anything efficiently. So, scratch the half-court crap for awhile and let these guys loose. Make practice about defensive intensity, defending the three, and some rebounding drills. After that, let them have fun on offense and see what they can do. At least for the next 3 weeks or so...until they gain some momentum as a TEAM again. We have no business losing to Xavier, Wake, or even Okie St, but we will lose if we keep trying to go against the grain and turn our guys into teams of old. They need to break out, play loose, and inspired. Let them go for a little bit and see what happens.

[U Zig, I Zag]

I can't imagine we have 200 sets. ( I mean, I imagine we do... but it doesnt show).

BZ is right, we get points in transition and that's about it. There isn't a set for transistion ball - just play quick and smart.

[Hoopaholic]

Hard to compete when you studs fail to show

1rst Half

Gray miss
Sacre TO
Gray TO
Gray TO
Sacre Foul
Harris miss
Goodson miss
Sacre Foul
Sacre TO
Gray Miss 3
MM TO
KO Miss
Gray Miss
Gray Miss 3
MM Miss
Carter Miss
Gray hits a 3 with 7 minutes gone



2nd Half to the 15;00 mark

Sacre miss dunk
Sacre TO
Gray Miss 3
Sacre TO
Sacre TO
KO made 2 point (17;25 mark)
Sacre made
MM Miss
Gray TO
Gray Miss 3
Dower TO


Nothing from harris, gray cant buy a bucket and Sacre was a TO machine

Hard to win games that way.

[bballbeachbum]

Hard to compete when you studs fail to show

1rst Half

Gray miss
Sacre TO
Gray TO
Gray TO
Sacre Foul
Harris miss
Goodson miss
Sacre Foul
Sacre TO
Gray Miss 3
MM TO
KO Miss
Gray Miss
Gray Miss 3
MM Miss
Carter Miss
Gray hits a 3 with 7 minutes gone



2nd Half to the 15;00 mark

Sacre miss dunk
Sacre TO
Gray Miss 3
Sacre TO
Sacre TO
KO made 2 point (17;25 mark)
Sacre made
MM Miss
Gray TO
Gray Miss 3
Dower TO


Nothing from harris, gray cant buy a bucket and Sacre was a TO machine

Hard to win games that way.

thanks for the recap. that's pretty bad obviously. couple the 2nd half start with what WSU did (51 2nd half points...51) and it's blowout city

[SWZag]

This makes me like KO a little better.

“I felt like nothing was clicking,” Olynyk said. “They jumped on us a bit, we knew they were going to come out strong. It’s almost unexplainable. I’ve never seen that from us before. Guys missed shots early, I don’t know if that deterred some people and got us thinking, but we didn’t really respond well.



“I’m not sure what’s happening, if we’re not looking for shots or executing right. I just think we need to settle down and play basketball. We’ve all played since we were little kids. We need to clear our minds and play the game we love playing.”

What I see with his comments are that the players know something's not right. They don't want to lose. They don't want to be embarrassed. These are competitors, and if they had the answers, they wouldn't be doing what their doing now. They will find a way. They don't need the fans to harp on the fact that they aren't performing as past teams have. Teams need to find themselves. They will come around. It can't be easy to struggle and a large portion of the fan base not being positive and supportive.

Keep it up guys, you'll turn it around and utilize these struggles to make the future even better. Pull together and get closer as a team to get thru these tough times and you'll be well off.

Go Zags

SWZag

[VinnyZag]

At the start of the second half, WSU ran a really simple downscreen, which Thompson curled for a wide-open jumper. It looked like they were trying to get Thompson something easy to build some confidence, and after that he took off.

What's Gonzaga's version of that play? Why don't we have something in our arsenal to get Gray an easy look in order to build confidence?

[JPtheBeasta]

At the start of the second half, WSU ran a really simple downscreen, which Thompson curled for a wide-open jumper. It looked like they were trying to get Thompson something easy to build some confidence, and after that he took off.

What's Gonzaga's version of that play? Why don't we have something in our arsenal to get Gray an easy look in order to build confidence?

WSU was playing zone all night and cheating his way when he got the ball with two defenders. The weak spot was in the corner but Gray was running the offense from around the top of the key. Incidentally, this was also an aweful place to feed the post because the middle defender was able to get help from the baseline defender all night because there wasn't an offensive threat in the corner to keep WSU honest. That's my two cents...

[Zag79]

Hard to compete when you studs fail to show

1rst Half

Gray miss
Sacre TO
Gray TO
Gray TO
Sacre Foul
Harris miss
Goodson miss
Sacre Foul
Sacre TO
Gray Miss 3
MM TO
KO Miss
Gray Miss
Gray Miss 3
MM Miss
Carter Miss
Gray hits a 3 with 7 minutes gone



2nd Half to the 15;00 mark

Sacre miss dunk
Sacre TO
Gray Miss 3
Sacre TO
Sacre TO
KO made 2 point (17;25 mark)
Sacre made
MM Miss
Gray TO
Gray Miss 3
Dower TO


Nothing from harris, gray cant buy a bucket and Sacre was a TO machine

Hard to win games that way.

+1! Gray was getting open looks, sacre too. The shots weren't going down and we were still in the game. On the road against a good team that always spells disaster if they don't start falling. And I fully agree with SWZag, fantastic post.

[Zag79]

Gonzaga spent the last 7 minutes of the first half, in particular the last 5, trimming a 19-point deficit to six at the break. Game on, it appeared. But on the Bulldogs’ first possession of the second half, Steven Gray lobs a pass over the back line of WSU’s zone defense to center Rob Sacre, who misses a dunk. Sacre gets the ball back and is promptly stripped by Abe Lodwick.




Klay Thompson drives and scores at the other end, WSU 32-24. Gray is open from 22 feet, but his shot is long and Elias Harris picks up his third foul on the rebound. Lodwick buries a 3 on a pick-and-pop, a recurring issue for GU’s defense this season.




WSU 35-24, timeout Gonzaga.

yeah, meech didnt shoot and maybe should have. but he wasnt mentioned in here, ya know where we muffed it up majorly. interesting. so note to self, meech shoot more. others, do alot of things better. defense, limiting turn overs, making a basket, making a pass, and so on. get better, go Zags!

[Saxon_zag]

At the start of the second half, WSU ran a really simple downscreen, which Thompson curled for a wide-open jumper. It looked like they were trying to get Thompson something easy to build some confidence, and after that he took off.

What's Gonzaga's version of that play? Why don't we have something in our arsenal to get Gray an easy look in order to build confidence?

That sounds way too simple for Few to implement. Our offense had the movement of a bad High school team last night. A reporter asks Few about the 3's and he dodges that and says "we couldn't guard anyone tonight. Great Mark, but seriously why can't any of your teams ever guard the 3?

Best big man on the team right now = Dower. He is the only guy that can catch and finish down low. Sacre has some of the worst hands and worst ball habits I've seen from a GU big man since Mamerry Diallo, he is an absolute turnover machine. Dower= only zag that didn't stink up Pullman last night.

Stockton is terrible on D and a huge liability. Reggie Moores' eyes lit up every time little Stockton was on him and he got him in the air for a foul on 3 separate occasions, someone tell the kid he's not going to block any shots.

Sacre should flat out not start against ND. Give Dower and Harris the starts. Take Carter off the leash and kill the hard-on for Stockton, Mark.

[Saxon_zag]

Oh and I LOVE Sam's game and think he will be an absolute beast here. That is if Few's odd treatment of him and this team in general this season don't scare him away.

Tell me this team couldn't use G.J. or Grant Gibbs right now. I wish

[MickMick]

Oh and I LOVE Sam's game and think he will be an absolute beast here. That is if Few's odd treatment of him and this team in general this season don't scare him away.

Tell me this team couldn't use G.J. or Grant Gibbs right now. I wish

This team might actually be really good with Gibbs passing/shooting from the point. We will never know.

When Matt missed the Davidson game with the concussion, Gibbs started and the offense looked like it had a nice flow to it. At least relative to what we are seeing now. He wasn't robbing Meech (who had a nice game) of minutes either.

[ZagnetitForce]

This team might actually be really good with Gibbs passing/shooting from the point. We will never know.

When Matt missed the Davidson game with the concussion, Gibbs started and the offense looked like it had a nice flow to it. At least relative to what we are seeing now. He wasn't robbing Meech (who had a nice game) of minutes either.

Yep, I just don't get the Gibbs thing at all. I was very excited when we got him and was impressed every time I saw him play. GJ I get...he was a Meech clone and we don't need 2 of them. Gibbs was more of a Matt B prototype and we can sure see how we need that now! I would love to hear the conversations that went on to make GG decide he needed to leave.