Farewell, Ray

[BobZag]

Thank you for your tireless work during the season and offseason as well. One thing is for certain, Drake will never have a more hardworking coach who knows his stuff.

Best!

[cjm720]

Congrats to Ray...was bound to happen, especially after the ponzi scheme. Looking forward to following Drake in the future.

[stevet75]

I guess that answers my next question.

[gamagin]

+1 bz

This is most surely our loss. Tremendous asset. At the same time, he deserves a HC shot and we can always use a fresh look at our program, which this kind of move makes possible.

It must get a little bittersweet among these close friends, their wives and children. They really do constitute a big family.

And they've enjoyed each others successes and lives for most if not all of their adult lives, beginning mostly at GU.

[webspinnre]

Congratulations to Ray, but a major bummer for us to lose him. Best wishes for success at Drake!

[MDABE80]

Back to the head coaching ranks. Congrats! Thanks and well done Ray! Best wishes.

[LongIslandZagFan]

Congrats to Ray.


I hear a former GA named Ben might be looking for a job.

[MickMick]

He deserved another shot.

Make the best of it Ray.

[hegotit!]

With Giacoletti leaving who does Gonzaga hire?

Who does Few and staff go after to replace Ray? A defensive specialist who changes our culture on the 3 point defense?

[hooter73]

Been a fan of his since his days at Eastern. Congrats to him.

[Hoopaholic]

make us proud Ray....you deserve it and will do great...we will miss ya

[sullyzag66]

Who does Few and staff go after to replace Ray? A defensive specialist who changes our culture on the 3 point defense?

Any number of folks on this board could step right in...

[siliconzag]

Ray and Drake

Drake will have better luck in the MVC now that Creighton is gone. While they have not managed to dominate the MVC as much as Gonzaga has the WCC, they do steal a lot of the thunder. Drake and Creighton had a good rivalry going, and I am willing to bet they continue to play each other in the pre season. OTH, I am not sure Creighton will play Wichita State, as that rivalry is considerably less friendly. That is a tough conference, and winning on the road is nearly impossible. Ray might need Prozac in order to cope with the officiating in that conference. Buona Fortuna Giacco.

Sili

[TexasZagFan]

Any number of folks on this board could step right in...

I can think of several off the top of my head, but they've been banished by BZ.

[maynard g krebs]

Who does Few and staff go after to replace Ray? A defensive specialist who changes our culture on the 3 point defense?

Wasn't Ray the defensive guy who got this relatively unathletic roster to a top 25 defensive ranking?

GU was 130th out of 340some teams on def 3%. Better than average. Better than 60some percent of the teams in D1.

That's with Pangos and Stockton on the floor a lot, guys who just aren't built to bother shooters. Edi, the guy most built to challenge/bother 3 pt shooters, played his way out of the rotation.

A mediocre shooting team got hot, like Illinois did, like Baylor did. Like even the Cougs did at the end. It happens to everybody a few times a year.

It happened at a bad time. Random chance works that way. GU gave up 33% for the year. Wich shot 33% for the year. On average. Averages are made up of highs and lows. Why is that so hard for some people to understand?

3 pt defense was adequate this year, given the makeup of the roster. And met reasonable expectations, the last game notwithstanding.

The real issue in the "culture" is playing tight at tourney time, something Few has to address in terms of looking at his own personality and how it influences the players in big games. The last game was lost just as much because KO, EH, and KP shot a collective 20% below their average (add 10 makes to their 47 attempts and what's the result?), and there's a whole row of dominoes behind that occurrence that would require another post.