Gonzaga vs Memphis...Statistics and post game thoughts

[Reborn]

Rebounds and turnovers were about the same. Memphis got 2 more rebounds and 2 less turnovers than Gonzaga. Great defensive effort by both teams. Memphis outshot the Zags 38.6% to 35%. Gonzaga shot a little better from behind the 3 pt line, making 6 of 20 for 30%. Memphis's made 6-22 for 27%. From the free throw line, the Zags made 14-18 for 77%, to Memphis' 12-17 for 70% shooting.

Gray shot 28% from the field on 4-14 shooting. He was 2-9 and 22% from behind the 3 pt line. Stockton was 0-3 and 0-1 from behind the arc for 0% shooting. Carter was 1-3 or 33%. All of his shots were from behind the 3 point line. Our 3 main scoring guards were a combined 5-20 for 25% shooting. They were 3-13 from behind the arc for 23% shooting.

The Zags will not win games when they shoot this poorly. It was a real close game though, but only because Memphis shot almost as poorly.

I thought it was an exciting game, and the Zags definitely fought to the bitter end. I don't think you can blame the guys for not giving it all they had. Both teams played with a lot of heart, imo. This was a game of two teams who come from very good basketball programs, and who play with a lot of pride. Even though both teams are definitely down this year, and may Need to win their conference tournaments if they are to go to the NCAA tournament in March, you just know that everyone will leave all they have on the court. Both teams had a lot of trouble scoring today. Sometimes you have games like this.

I was proud of the Zags for fighting back. They have done this so many times this year now. I don't understand why they play so poorly coming out for the second half, but they do. The only game they have not played poorly at the beginning of the second half was against Portland, and the only difference I could see was that Few started Stockton and Dower the second half against Portland. Why he didn't do that tonight is beyond me. In fact, his substitution pattern has me completely baffled.

The Zags had the ball last and were down by just 2 pts with 38 seconds left on the clock. Plenty of time. Unfortunately, the play called by Few in the huddle fizzled out and Harris desperately fails to hand the ball off to Gray and decides to go one on one and selects a fifteen foot fall away jump shot. He does manage to get the rebound and now hands it to Gray with 8 seconds left. There are no time outs left so Gray dribbles right to the top of the key and fires in a great pass to Sacre posting down low near the basket. Sacre fumbles the pass and loses it. Game over. Wow!!! One more heart breaking, gut wrenching defeat at the end of a game.

[ZagsGoZags]

agree they gave it their all
every ball player has a bad night, and gray and david had bad shooting tonight
it has been obvious for some time that our main shot this year is to win the WCC tournament, and now that is moreso

[roxdoc]

Sacre - my favorite Zag - had a particularly poor night and I would have said that prior to the final fumble.

[zag67]

+1. They played hard and the game was fun to watch. If they had shot "reasonably" we would have won. They played hard defensively (most of the time)

[Hoopaholic]

8 shots for our stud post player SIMPLY is not enough

[bballbeachbum]

really believed GU was going to win that one up to the last whistle. fought well.

Memphis collected 14 offensive rebounds; that speaks for itself, and seems a recurring theme in the defeats.

if we shoot better, we win. if we protect our defensive boards better, we win.

yet, how many close games decided by wacky plays will this team have to endure this year??? the basketball gods have not been with us...so far

[DZ]

Even though Steven shot poorly, he always seems to come up with a few big baskets every game - in Portland he really helped put a dagger in them (along with Stockton) and SG hit a big three yesterday to get us back to striking distance.

I'm sorry, I just can't get down on Steven, in fact, I feel aweful for the kid - he has been the consumate Zag, one can argue that no player not named Ronny got more out of his GU experience than Steven. He soooo deserves to go out better than this. I know that his play has not been exceptional - he has not risen to Bouldin status when we needed him, but I will remind everyone that against SDSU, when no one had a clue how to run the offense, Steven was the only reason we were in the game (35 pts) - - and from that point on the book was out, shut down Steven, force them to be one dimensional inside.

I really wish that when the ball came out to him 4 feet outside the arc that he confidently just lofted it up - I think it would be at least 50/50 he makes that knowing the win is on the line. (BTW- he damn near made that half court shot at the end of the half and seemed upset at himself for not making it.)

One question, when down by 2 and 35 seconds left, why did we not get a line-up of SG, Carter, Arop, KO, Rob - - that way we could have 4 three point shooters that would have to be guarded and give Rob more space.

[Reborn]

The other thing that has not been said about this game is the very poor scheduling. The Zags had a HUGE game in Portland Thursday night, and it was a game that they needed to exhaust every bit of energy that they had. It was also a huge emotional victory,and I imagine they didn't sleep very much. They only had one day off before they had to get ready to play Memphis, who is usually a pretty tough team who defends well. And it was an early game, 1 pm. They could have used a few more hours rest. I believe this.

The first thing that goes when a player is tired is his legs, and his legs are immensely important to shooting accuracy. This was one of our worst shooting nights of the year, and I believe that the fact that they only had one day off, after traveling to Portland, was a big reason for it. I really wish that Few would sit down with Jerry Krause and have a good discussion about scheduling. Few has admitted that it was too much for this young group of guys. Why was a game on the road, two nights before a game so important, ever scheduled?
Our scheduling philosophy , imo, really needs to be analyzed. Is it really all that important to travel so much to play really great teams?. St. Mary's doesn't do it. Most teams do not do it.

[northsidezagfan]

One question, when down by 2 and 35 seconds left, why did we not get a line-up of SG, Carter, Arop, KO, Rob - - that way we could have 4 three point shooters that would have to be guarded and give Rob more space.

I like the idea. Only problem might be ball handling since Gray/Carter are the only real solid ball handlers, but I think this would have been much better than what we did (obviously). WIth how poorly we played on the perimeter our only real option was to go into Rob this would have definitely helped his cause.

[ID ZAGFAN]

The other thing that has not been said about this game is the very poor scheduling. The Zags had a HUGE game in Portland Thursday night, and it was a game that they needed to exhaust every bit of energy that they had. It was also a huge emotional victory,and I imagine they didn't sleep very much. They only had one day off before they had to get ready to play Memphis, who is usually a pretty tough team who defends well. And it was an early game, 1 pm. They could have used a few more hours rest. I believe this.

The first thing that goes when a player is tired is his legs, and his legs are immensely important to shooting accuracy. This was one of our worst shooting nights of the year, and I believe that the fact that they only had one day off, after traveling to Portland, was a big reason for it. I really wish that Few would sit down with Jerry Krause and have a good discussion about scheduling. Few has admitted that it was too much for this young group of guys. Why was a game on the road, two nights before a game so important, ever scheduled?
Our scheduling philosophy , imo, really needs to be analyzed. Is it really all that important to travel so much to play really great teams. St. Mary's doesn't do it. Most teams do not do it.

I don't think the Zags have any control over their WCC schedule. In any event, the Memphis game was scheduled before the WCC schedule was announced.

And a lot of their OOC schedule is out of their control--remember SDSU? And I don't think we would have scheduled games 36 hours apart 2 years in a row if we had been given a choice. (New Year's 2009 and 2010.) And ESPN determines a lot of the timing--2009 BIS was moved from (about) 1:00 PM to (about 5)

But I think (hope) that with BYU allowing us to have 2 fewer OOC games, that will help our traveling.

ZaGranny

[TacomaZAG]

Spokane Arena..........

Have the Zags ever played, or shot, well in the Spokane Arena??? As I recall, cloudy recollection as best, we typically play poorly in the Arena, and typically shoot it horribly (like yesterday).

Any of the stat guru's out there have info?????

I know it is great for more people to be able to see the Zags in person, and a ticket to the Kennel is very difficult to get, but I think the next step in scheduling is getting rid of the OOC games in the Arena. True home and home or forget it, except for the pre-season tournaments. I know it's typically only one game a year, but every game is of vital importance, especially in years like this one.

Thanks in advance, stat wizards.

Go ZAGS

[roxdoc]

Don't have stats Tacoma, but I was thinking the same thing. Through the years I have been to any number of games at the Arena (not yesterday) and they always are not very entertaining (not talking about W vs L)

During the game I was thinking that the hoops seemed tight. This effects everyone for sure, but it just makes for an ugly, no rythm game.

Wonder if the hoops don't get much use other than B tourney and a couple of college games per year???