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After looking at the stats this morning and seeing that the team once again shot poorly from beyond the three point line, shooting 27%. They made just 6 of 22 shots. Only one player, Melson, made more than one three-pointer (2). And he made those at the beginning of the game. I looked at Kenpom's stats and saw how the Zags are the 120th best three-point shooting team. My first thought was, whatever happened to Gonzaga being called Guard U. I think about our perimeter shooters (Perkins, Melson, Norvell, and Kispert) and honestly have a hard time understanding why they aren't shooting better. I've given some thought to that and here's what I think.
We seem to shoot our poorest when we play good teams. Teams like St. Mary's, San Diego St, Villanova, San Francisco and even Pacific. Against 'Nova and St. Mary's they shoot 27%. 31% against San Diego St. And low 30's against San Francisco and Pacific (around 32%). Pacific and St Mary's games were in K2. In my opinion two things contribute to the poor shooting. The first is that Perkins is unable to penetrate the lane, like most point guards, and make that kick out pass to our shooters. He is also unable to score going to the basket down the lane. He has no runner at all. Teams know this and really plug the middle to keep him from penetrating. The second problem and maybe the biggest is that our post players do not make passes to our shooters, and Williams tries desperately to force shots when he's double teamed, which is most of the time. Williams also quite often holds the ball too long before he makes his move; so when on rare occasions he does pass, the shot clock is down to five seconds, or less.
JW3 is a very good player, and would really be hard to stop (like Landale) if teams guarded him one on one (as GU did against Landale). However only one team guarded him one on one and that was Florida where He got like 39 points. JW's problem is that he forces way too many shots, and he rarely makes a good pass to our shooters. He does not know how to handle a double team. He has had half a season to try to figure out how to pass, and hasn't figured it out yet. I sure hope he can because if he continues to play the way he has been the Zags are in trouble.
We seem to shoot our poorest when we play good teams. Teams like St. Mary's, San Diego St, Villanova, San Francisco and even Pacific. Against 'Nova and St. Mary's they shoot 27%. 31% against San Diego St. And low 30's against San Francisco and Pacific (around 32%). Pacific and St Mary's games were in K2. In my opinion two things contribute to the poor shooting. The first is that Perkins is unable to penetrate the lane, like most point guards, and make that kick out pass to our shooters. He is also unable to score going to the basket down the lane. He has no runner at all. Teams know this and really plug the middle to keep him from penetrating. The second problem and maybe the biggest is that our post players do not make passes to our shooters, and Williams tries desperately to force shots when he's double teamed, which is most of the time. Williams also quite often holds the ball too long before he makes his move; so when on rare occasions he does pass, the shot clock is down to five seconds, or less.
JW3 is a very good player, and would really be hard to stop (like Landale) if teams guarded him one on one (as GU did against Landale). However only one team guarded him one on one and that was Florida where He got like 39 points. JW's problem is that he forces way too many shots, and he rarely makes a good pass to our shooters. He does not know how to handle a double team. He has had half a season to try to figure out how to pass, and hasn't figured it out yet. I sure hope he can because if he continues to play the way he has been the Zags are in trouble.
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