Biggest question I have

[Malastein]

Has this team improved as much or more than Michigan State and Illinois?

[bartruff1]

We will find out more next week...my guess is yes....Few is a genius at putting pieces together...they seem to have bought into (and enjoy ?) playing defense and it appears that "chemistry" means sharing the ball and the minutes and encouraging each and everyone... MSU might have been a good lesson about how solid defense can win on the road. If so, they could extend the streaks and more.

[Martin Centre Mad Man]

Has this team improved as much or more than Michigan State and Illinois?

I think we'd beat Illinois in their house if we played them at this moment. We've got a much better team than we had when we played them. Michigan State? I'm not so sure. Izzo is such a great coach that I have to think his team is improving a lot as the season progresses.

[Zagpower]

Michigan State is playing better now than when we played them...Illinois...not so much.

[jazzdelmar]

ND is

i know one thing, ND is playing a LOT better. kudos to brey....

[ZagHouse]

I don't know, but it sure appears that way. I do know I am having much more fun watching this team than the past few years. Winning takes care of a lot of things and even though I may be reevaluating after Thursday's game, my eyes tell me this team is different. They appear more engaged and focused on both sides of the floor, and their defensive effort has never looked better. Kudos to Few for allowing us to move on from the "Should Hart be starting?" threads.

[roxdoc]

We certainly are a much different team offensively - finally got away from that "feed the low post at all cost" mentality. That and our improved D might make a rematch with MS an interesting match up.

[DZ]

I think almost 95% of teams are playing better than they were playing in Nov/Dec, what I think is more important is how much better have we gotten compared to other teams.

There is a huge temptation to say that we are a lot better b/c we are so young at the guard/wing spot that with each game they improve tremendously and that is probably true. But, unlike most years, we have only 2 true road games coming into this game, one win and one loss. I think there is still a big question about how our guys will react in an extremely hostile, small environment.

This is the week that Rob and Elias need to be talking to all the younger guys about how this is different than what they have experienced before. Maybe it will be even worse this year b/c we have blown out all three conference teams and "conference is much tougher" - but it is on the road where it is tougher. It helps that we won at SMC last year. That should give the guys some real confidence coming in.

[Johnnygu]

If this thread is about how much has Gonzaga improved and how good is Gonzaga...my question is....can we beat any team in the top 5? My answer....maybe....but not Syracuse, I watched them a few times now and there is no way, at this point, I see Gonzaga beating a team like that when it matters. Gonzaga should keep this in mind when it's beating up all these little guys.


Jardine, Triche, Fab Melo, Christmas, and Joseph-these guys are a murderer's row of a roster and will be tough to beat (nobody has yet).

If Gonzaga played Syracuse in the tournament, I think the result would be similar to when Dickau and Co. played Michigan State the year they won it all. Gonzaga hung tough for a half with its best effort, but after that, MSU was too much and ended up winning easily.

[JPtheBeasta]

We certainly are a much different team offensively - finally got away from that "feed the low post at all cost" mentality. That and our improved D might make a rematch with MS an interesting match up.

I agree. I don't blame Few for force-feeding the post early on though, considering the question marks at the 1-3 spots to start the year. It was awesome to see Pangos wave away the high ball screen (Dower, I think), break his guy down one-on-one, and drain a jumper on him. That's a very confident play for a freshman to make. It's hard not to get geeked out by the potential of our back court. I thought our future was bright with these guys coming in, but after watching them step up the future is now.

To the original question, we have definitely improved. We'll see another jump in the development of the team if they are able to win these WCC games on the road. Illinois is looking kind of stagnant. Michigan St got off to a slow start and is not as much "improved" per se as it is living up to expectations, if that is a distinction that is allowed to be made.

To think that we could be undefeated if we kept Green from going off and didn't fritter away the Illinois game with turnovers is pretty remarkable.

[MickMick]

The big improvement by GU has been from three things:

Sam Dower has found his shot.

Team defensive intensity including a bunch of full court press.

The game has "slowed down" for Gary Bell (and will continue to do so).

The Zags are far different than the team we saw against Hawaii or Eastern and now we are starting to see Carter, Hoff, and Harris turn the corner and play much better as well. That Xavier game was the turning point for me. The light bulb came on for that game and the Zags have not looked back since.

[Mantua]

The Press

The big improvement by GU has been from three things:


Team defensive intensity including a bunch of full court press.

This is where our depth is incredibly useful because running the full court press is exhausting. That is why it's frequently employed late in the second half. Otherwise, you would see it more often.

[TheGonzagaFactor]

I think there is still a big question about how our guys will react in an extremely hostile, small environment.

I think Illinois and Xavier are two of the top 3 environments we will play in this year, and so far we have handled it well. I don't buy that the small "cracker box" gyms are that tough to play in. They played in them all the time in HS, and we have beaten SMC in their place 3 years in a row. The small gyms don't get to us as much as the non existent PG play we had the last 2 years and WCC teams that prepare all year for their one ESPN game (San Fran, Santa Clara, LMU).

[Reborn]

I would say the Zags have improved more than both Michigan St and Illinois. Elias Harris admitted he played poorly against Michigan St and was trying to do too much all game long. I agree. Elias has become a different player since the Michigan St game. The Illinois game was all about how the expectations for Sacre were too high, and he had a lot to learn about passing out of double and triple teams, and as is noted, he is doing that so much better now. Sacre had to carry so much of the load at the beginning of the season because the guards were so young, and Hart really had no offense. since then the guards have improved way more than Michigan States guards and Illinois' too.

I also remember that here on the board there was so much talk about defending the 3 pt shot and how Few's teams will never be able to defend the 3 pt shot. That has now become one of the Zags' greatest strengths.

For some reason Dower was not playing well at the beginning of the year. It may have been due to the new guards and their inabiliity to get him the ball. He is certainly more improved then anyone on either Michigan State's or Illinois' teams.

Gonzaga is dang good this year. Winning at Xavior was huge. Not only was winning big but how they won. The Zags had control of the game for most of the game and held on to their lead, in the same way Michigan State did against us. Good teams know how to repel any and all attacks by opposing teams. Thats what the Zags can do now.

The WCC may be better this year, but the most improved team in the WCC is Gonzaga. In my opinion this year's team is way better than last year's Gonzaga team. I do not think there is any comparrison. This team is better in every way: assists, asssist to t/o ratio, steals, rebounding, 3 pt shooting percentage, 3 pt field goals made, defending the 3 especially. I do believe we may be down a little bit in scoring average but the Zags make up for it on defense. As good as Steven Gray was on defense, Gary Bell is better.

Saint Mary's has a great team, but I doubt that they are better than last year's team. And I know that BYU is not as good as their team last year. they are good, but not that good. I don't think we should over hype how good the teams in the WCC are. San Francisco for some reason does not appear to be as good. They have the same guys back but they have lost a lot more games. This Gonzaga team is capable of running the table this year. I think it's that good.

This year's team reminds me more of the '99 team than Morrison's team in I think '06. Morrison had a heart like a lion. He was the heart of that team, and often carried them on his back. JP was great, there's no doubt about that, and Raivo too. But like the '99 team, this years Zags ALL have the heart of a lion. Thats what I consistently see in this team. They are fearless and they are tough, and they are the King of the jungle. Im taking it one game at a time, just as the Zags are. And imo, they will make a big statement on Thursday night. It's going to be like Michigan St going into Indiana.

I forgot to say that the bench is by far the best Zag bench ever (I think...Im not sure but I think it is). Has Gonzaga ever had a guy come off the bench as good as Dower? And the bench now has a guy who was not only a starter last year, but one of the best players on the team (Carter). And Carter, I think, has found his role on the team and he really looked good the second half last night. It was the best he has played by far. And look at Spangler. And now Guy Landry-Edi. This Zag team is DEEP.

[gozags09]

I would say as much as Michigan State and more than Illinois. With KP and GBJ with at least 8 more games under their belts, we are a much better team than when we played either. Add to the mix a powerful Dower, and a few minutes of D from GLE, and we are a different team. Izzo always has Sparty playing better with each game. I think we could beat Illinois here or there, and we could handle Sparty at home.