Guards: We're gonna need 'em

[FuManShoes]

Staring the obvious, but it's one I think gets lost in the breathless coverage of our front court and a promising bracket: We need Pangos and Bell to hit open shots - consistently. It can't be feast or famine (well, famine, anyway), because chances are slim the Zags can survive an off night when facing this caliber of competition. It worked at BYU, which was no mean feat, but from here on out the Zags are unlikely to survive a 1-11 performance from Pangos. As I see it, he doesn't need to be spectacular, just solid, and consistent. Keep defenses honest, protect the ball, slow opposing guards or funnel them to help. GBJ needs to keep doing what he's doing: defend tenaciously, look for shots, keep defenders honest by driving inside a couple times a game. And take care of the ball. Do that and the Zags can beat anyone in this bracket. To me it's the key to the whole thing. Well, that and rebounding, and stopping penetration, and defending the three, and protecting the rim, and making foul shots...

[MickMick]

Chill out.

Zags got this.

Check out the how those guards are taking care of the ball.

Gonna be fun watching them destroy thousands of brackets, but in a much different way than in the past.

[Goshzagit]

+1

in the tourney, bigs get in foul trouble or tired after so many games in so many days. its bound to happen.

good news is our depth on frontline is unlike 98% of teams, yet you are right...

we talk about our boys down low, yet this team goes as far as Pangos "shoot to get hot" mentality. If he stays "hot" and within himself, we survive and advance, yet if he's launching double-digit 3's and making just 10-20%, we're in big trouble.

its a new season, of course, yet last year Pangos shot 1-10 from 3pt vs SMC in WCC Tourney = lost. then, in the Round of 32 vs OSU he shot 2-8 from 3pt, 3-13 FG = bounced. In comparison, he shot just 3 3's vs WVU and we had balanced scoring and won big time.

don't prefer to re-hash games of the past, yet I am concerned about this team it it gets behind. we've only been behind twice ALL season. how will we handle it? Pangos has a tendency to begin launching 3 after 3, rushing, when its a tied game(see 1-12 from 3pt vs BYU) or when we are behind(see 3-9 from 3pt vs Ill). its not his fault, i'm sure everyone is telling him to "keep shooting", but this isn't necessary with this group...maybe 5 yrs ago, yet not now. We CAN grind, if we must.

i am confident we will figure it out, yet we will most assuredly be behind at one point in this tournament and if Pangos is "shooting to get hot" or "make the next one" all game long, we'll be bounced once again.

unlike before, a lot of responsibility will fall on our guards shoulders, especially if/when we face a high pressure/intense/in your face perimeter, full-court defense such as Pitt and Wich St employ.

will be fun to watch, but this topic touched on my biggest fear, as mentioned above...our guards OVER-SHOOTING the basketball, as they've done in past games...err...losses.

[MickMick]

This is simple:


Guards shoot ball, ball has chance of going in.

Guards turn over the ball, ball has no chance of going in.


GU guards are taking care of the ball. As far as shooting? The green light is on.

Can't make it any clearer than that.

[bartruff1]

This

This is simple:


Guards shoot ball, ball has chance of going in.

Guards turn over the ball, ball has no chance of going in.


GU guards are taking care of the ball. As far as shooting? The green light is on.

Can't make it any clearer than that.

Our guards will be fine...this bracket is full of grinders...very low scoring games after Southern...

[TexasZagFan]

Not trying to sound overconfident, but:

Kelly & Elias are absolutely going to shine in this tournament.

Both handle the ball well for big men, and they're excellent passers. Teams that press us do so at their peril. If Pangos and Bell aren't getting open looks, that means the area at the free throw line will be there for taking.

And Sam off the bench...oh my!

What we need is a quick start against Southern, to allow Dranginis, Barham, and Karno to get meaningful minutes, to get the rust off.

Our 7-deep rotation is a veteran group, and I'll put them up against anybody in the country.

[DZ]

I agree with Mick that our guard work has won us games even when the shots are not falling.

I want balance between the two. Kevin is far more likely than Bell to go 7-11 from 3, Bell is far less likely to go 1-11. If Kevin is cold, Bell needs to stay within himself and shoot just enough to keep people honest, go 3-6 from 3. That is more Bell's game and he is doing more of that lately.

But, with our frontline scoring, Mick's right - - don't turn it over, let the bigs have a touch and good things have happened. I would love to see Karno and Sam both get 6-10 pts against Southern.

[NumberCruncher]

This is simple:


Guards shoot ball, ball has chance of going in.

Guards turn over the ball, ball has no chance of going in.


GU guards are taking care of the ball. As far as shooting? The green light is on.

Can't make it any clearer than that.

Agree all the way. Plus...

Guard steals ball, ball goes the other way.


Pangos and Stockton combined:

Assists = 215

Steals = 100

Turnovers = 87

[gamagin]

this is the worrywarts thread, I see

reminds me of my beloved mom. She'd start picking on anything and everything because SHE was worried sick about something totally unrelated to anything any of us had done or said.

Even the cat wasn't spared. It could go from sleeping to flying out the back door in a millisecond.

SO here's a virtual hug for you FU, and a reminder. Worrying won't help.

But for the record: Pangos and Bell know where the basket is located. They know how to shoot and when to shoot.

Whether the ball goes in or not is up to none of us, even KP and GBj. Some days it does and some days it doesn't. Thanks to thousands and thousands of hours of practice, the ball goes in just over four times out of 10 for KP and close to that (I think) for GBj from the three. On a great day, 5-6 drop.

Here's hoping for a great day for both. And everyone else. For the next six games.

Motivation won't be a factor. Concentration, focus and luck will be big factors. As well as the efforts of our opponents.

And yes, we're going to need em.

[tinfoilzag]

This is simple:


Guards shoot ball, ball has chance of going in.

Guards turn over the ball, ball has no chance of going in.


GU guards are taking care of the ball. As far as shooting? The green light is on.

Can't make it any clearer than that.

Clear as crystal. From a conservative numbers standpoint:

A turnover trying to force it inside = 0% chance of the ball going in the basket and 0% chance of an offensive rebound, with over a 50% chance of the other team scoring/us fouling.

A 3-pt shot = 37% chance of the ball going in the basket around 25% chance of offensive rebound, defense gets to set up.

If the opposition jams up the inside, shoot the 3 with confidence. Missing a 3 is so much better than a turnover.

[Sarenyon]

Only thing to add: when the guards are hitting from outside, it will be really, really hard to beat this team. IMO when all Zag Cylinders are firing, this team is the best in the nation. But they don't always do so, so our big front line, low turn over guards, and depth is the security we need to pull out the win.

I'm looking forward to a game when we are just plain ON, and no team, who-ever it is will be able to do anything about it.

[former1dog]

I'm going to agree with Mick Mick that we are just fine in the guard department.

I think everyone would generally agree that our biggest challenge will be running into teams with big, athletic, dynamic guards. I would agree with that, but I'm going to add to it a little bit. I think even if/when we play a team with big guards, that those guards are still going to have to play better than average to be effective against our little guys.

[FuManShoes]

Only thing to add: when the guards are hitting from outside, it will be really, really hard to beat this team. IMO when all Zag Cylinders are firing, this team is the best in the nation. But they don't always do so, so our big front line, low turn over guards, and depth is the security we need to pull out the win.

I'm looking forward to a game when we are just plain ON, and no team, who-ever it is will be able to do anything about it.

I'm so down with this. While I am a worry wart, I really look forward to seeing the Zag Machine in action. And I guess my point isn't that Pangos and Bell have to be amazing offensively; they just need to hit their averages and protect the ball so the bigs can dominate as we all expect them to. The beauty of this team is that no one really has to play beyond themselves because the pieces all fit so well. Do your thing, play to your heady max, and it all comes together.

[SwainZag]

While I agree, the guards need to shoot the ball well, if the shot selection is anything like the BYU game they will lose.

This team should never be taking 30+ 3 pointers in a game, not with the lineup they have out there. I know it was a unique situation against that BYU zone, but if they can't get the bigs the ball, they won't last long.

[MDABE80]

Gamagin said.........."Worrying won't help". <--- perfect advice. Aptly put. Perfect for life and perfect for the rest of these games. How do we implement it???