Smoke and Mirrors

[Zag 77]

Go figure. Go 9-2 in non-league against some good competition and then do a face plant against WCC bottom dwellers.

[Section 116]

Coaching??? Lotta talent on this team! In this game however, there was a marked difference in three point shooting. You would expect the home team to shoot better on its own floor? If you were Pacific, however, you may note you got homered by the refs as there was a big discrepancy in the free throw numbers!

[sylean]

I am just so stunned and sad about this....I sat in my seat for several minutes trying to "handle" it.....its like following the WSU football team...the ups, the downs, the uncertainty....

but I'm also very upset, not at the players, they played hard....

mistakes?..sure..that is part of the game....

but my rant is over basically 4 things...

1. this petty/silly unwarranted campaign against JB....didn't get the start yesterday, got pulled within very quickly in the first quarter.....if they want to destroy her confidence they're doing a bang up job.
......other players can throw the ball away, or fumble it away, and they stay in....but Jill needs to get punished and then get lectured by Craig.....

2. LS on paper had a good game, but it does not tell the whole story.....turnovers, throwing the ball away, not getting the offense set up......why she is getting so many minutes, especially following the game on Thursday is beyond me...I honestly don't know where she got 5 assists....

3. WHY take Zhane out, after scoring several points.....and why not have in there at the end?.......its baffling.....I know they put Mak in but Mak never even touched the ball in the last 15 secs...

4.I do not understand why our offense is so stifled.....we need to PASS the ball way up the court and try to take advantage of a lagging defense....instead we throw away the opportunity.....
....I think if we could get the ball into a shooters hand well before she is surrounded by the other team, we could score better....and what happens when fast breaks result in points....the defense would be rushing up the court to prevent that, opening up our players to get more defensive rebounds....

Heather Bowman and Haiden and Shaq were at the game....too bad it had to be another bitter game ending...

LF said on her radio talk show that YES the coaches were focusing of last minute shots but apparently, they need to go back to the drawing board...


This game was on the coaches....again....its becoming a habit.....



































game again is on the coaches....

[pony]

I don't think its confidence busting just against Jill, I don't see confidence from other as well, could it be a Military mentally, bust them down and then build them up your way. Doesn't make much sense, it's just a game, make it fun and praise all that is good, good thinks usually happen when you don't take things to seriously.

Feel sorry for the coaches, has to be a lot of pressure for them when jobs are on the line. There's probable a reason KG took his top assistances with him, to bad we couldn't have hung on to more of them , would have made it easier to keep the ball rolling.

Watched the replay and usually come away with a different take than watching live. Sometimes balls take a bad bounce, but overall if we could get better looks for our shots I think % would go up, a few more shots falling and the game looks way different.

Also don't understand LS getting so many minutes, but worse yet is a offence that is dribble dribble instead of pass pass pass. Sometimes I think that LS would be a better 2 guard than a 1, if we had two guards that could be used interchangeable based on who was guarding them the offence would have more options. Disappointed that ES, ET and others can't penetrate the seams and make more happen. Passing it inside when posts have two defenders collapsed on them make it very hard to get clean shots inside, a few outside shots falling would sure help.

I don't blame all on the coaches, usually a 10pt advantage for home court, even/even coaching usually balances things out. When one coach is clearly more experienced it probable makes a 10pt difference. Can't this difference be made up by better play.

[ZagDad84]

Once again, most of the comments on the offensive side of the ball.

Yes LS obviously did not get the memo on the color of jersey's the ladies were wearing yesterday, although to be fair, the vast majority of her mistakes occurred in the first 15 minutes. Although since she is shooting 15% or so from 3-point land, why she continues to shoot these does not make sense.

I am not offended by the benching of JB. She needs to learn that when you are double and triple teamed, you don't take the ball up particularly with a scoop shot. Sure you get some fouls, but just as often the ball is blocked. If your double teamed, throw the ball back out. JB still does not play good defense, enough said. If she is not scoring, she is costing you points on the other end, that is why she was pulled in the first quarter. The last score for Pacific was a fast break with Barta trailing (jogging) she did not get in front, she did not run directly behind the player with her arms up (the pass could not have been made) and as per usual she fouled the player from behind without interrupting the shot. The last play was a highlight of JB's lack of defensive effectiveness.

Still don't understand why "Z" is not getting many minutes. Sure she was 0-3 but all of her shots went around the rim and rimmed out (no air balls - are you listening all guards #1-#3). She does not bring the ball down to prepare for a shot where it can be blocked or swiped (Barta & EW particularly). When the shots are not falling you need someone who can get open and shoot the 8-12 footer in traffic (Kiara and "Z").

Despite all or our offensive maladies yesterday, that is not why we lost the game. Just like the Northwestern game, the ladies put their heads down and worked their way back to a 9 point lead in the 3rd period and finished the 3rd quarter with a 5 point lead despite most of LS's turnovers, lack of offense and poor shooting.

We lost this game because despite having a 5 point lead, playing at home with the crowd energy behind you and you having the momentum going into the fourth quarter, you allowed Pacific to score 24 points in the quarter - that's a 96 point per game rate. Yes they hit a one or two contested 3s but they also hit a couple of uncontested 3s, lay-ups and put backs. Whether the girls were tired or whatever, just like the Pepperdine game, when the chips were down, Pacific wanted the game more. They out worked, out hustled and out wanted the Lady Zags yesterday and it ruined a very good comeback.

As I have stated most of this season, if you are not going to play good, consistent defense for 4 quarters, this team will loose most of the games that they do not shoot very well. So far in the conference schedule, I am 2 - 0 and the Lady Zags are 0 -2.

O'K coach, pressure is on. The next two games are at home and you need to get it turned around right now. Status Quo is not working. The teams coming in next week are better than the teams we lost to this week. We have no more time to act like things are alright. What are YOU going to do to change things up for next week.

Go Luck Ladies, I think you are going to need it.

ZagDad

[ZagDad84]

Section16 - I think the foul shots were very misleading.

Pacific got away with muggings on the point guards as well as the #2's, most of the night without the fouls being called. Hand checks and hip checks on the perimeter were rarely called.

I don't blame the refs very often and I certainly don't blame them for the loss, but GU could easily have shot twice the number of foul shots they did and it would not have been "homered". Pacific earned all of their fouls and many more that were not called.

ZagDad

[sylean]

I want to apologize if I come across as negative....my NY's vow is to be more positive...since "fan" means fanatic and being a good fan means supporting....

its easy to point the what ifs, etc...

I think the girls played hard with Pacific....from my vantage point I'd watch their 3's seem to be off and yet, that went in.....

I do wish that we had a little different mix in for the last shot but I don't blame LS for that.....we grabbed the lead and we should have held it....it should never come down to a last desperation shot...

anyway, in other news interesting that WSU women beat Oregon today....interesting that OSU beat the Wash. women...

the other interesting thing is that I believe a post player recruit was probably at that game....she had a little posting on the Zag womens FB page....I hope she was impressed with home crowd and our energy...perhaps Haiden,Shaq,and Heather talked Gonzaga up for her....

[sylean]

Zagdad....I was puzzled yesterday when she was pulled very early and Craig came down to sit by her and talk with her.....that after not starting the game before...certainly didn't see anything that JB would have done that early in the game to deserve that.....its not like everyone on the team was playing great ....

[zag on the run]

FYI. JB did not start the Pepperdine game because she missed practice. Not sure what the reason was.

[SkipZag]

Watched the OSU / UW women's game today... OSU was up at halftime by around 25.

You always wonder why good teams like GU and UW have games where nothing goes down... And it becomes not just a player problem, but a team problem.

I started getting concerned with the Lady Zags the second half of the Colgate came... Then the Pepperdine game.
I have seen what happened Saturday happen with the Lady Zags in past years... where they lost an away game that they should have won. Then come home and can't buy a bucket. And yes there are reasons a plenty...

Attitude adjustment... Another challenge. Maybe they need to watch the first quarter of the WSU game and part of the NW game and talk about the positive things they did. Ask the players why and who they are playing for...

Time to put the fun and rewards back in the game.

Go Zags!!

[seacatfan]

Since others brought up the subject it's fair game. I watched OSU-UW today. Strange game. OSU is known for stingy defense, they had Plum all kinds of frustrated, shots weren't dropping. OSU was on fire. Up 44-22 at the half, 53-26 about halfway thru the 3rd quarter...then a complete flip flop. Beavs went cold and UW caught on fire. Got it down to a one possession game but ran out of time, 73-70 final. If there were 2 more minutes on the clock UW probably would've won. Plum with 22 on an off night. Osahor is amazing, there isn't another player like her in college bball. The real difference maker though was Fr. PG McDonald, she really got the turn around started. Wiese for OSU led all scorers with 26, continued to add to her total for most career 3 pointers made in Pac 12 history. OSU was getting good contributions from a bunch of players early, but at the end it was pretty much just Wiese that kept them barely clinging to their lead.

Didn't see any of WSU-UO except some grainy highlights. Ducks are falling fast since Ionescu has been out with an injury. Good win for the Cougs, road wins are gonna be tough to come by in the Pac 12 this year.

[sylean]

FYI. JB did not start the Pepperdine game because she missed practice. Not sure what the reason was.

thx for the info....

[ZagDad84]

Zagdad....I was puzzled yesterday when she was pulled very early and Craig came down to sit by her and talk with her.....that after not starting the game before...certainly didn't see anything that JB would have done that early in the game to deserve that.....its not like everyone on the team was playing great ....

My guess, and it is strictly a guess, is that she was pulled immediately after she tried a scope shot against 3 opposing players. If there are 3 players guarding you, there are two lady zags open somewhere on the court. The best shot is to get the ball back out to one of the open zags, not try the 3-on-1 shot. This is simply a learning experience.

The top notch recruits are used to being the "go to" person on their high school and maybe AAU team. When you get to D-1 basketball, basketball is a team game that requires the players to play as a team. Unless your name is Kentucky or maybe Duke, NC or Kansas, putting 5 "individuals" on the court is not the key to success. I think that several of the girls are actually "trying" too hard and not trusting their fellow team members. Slow down a touch, take a breath, survey the entire court. Several times, on defensive switches we get two or three people switching not one, leaving people wide open. Several times the guards were poaching toward the key leaving the player they were supposed to be guarding wide open. Drive the middle, the guard pinches a little more throw the ball out to the wide open guard for the 3. There are numerous examples of this type of play on both the offensive and defensive sides of the ball.

To improve, the players must first make sure they are each doing their job and not trying to provide additional help. If everybody simply did their job, and played team ball, the team would be fine. If somebody is unable to do their job, let the coaches make the switch of players or the switch to a different defense.

Even with last year's abysmal season, a victory over GU means a lot to our WCC counterparts. A win in the Kennel means even more. After last year, the lady zags have lost the mystic that came from wearing the GU uniform and playing in the kennel. There is blood in the water and the sharks are circling. Are the coaches and players going to fight or are they simply going to accept their fate. Last week's games do not bode well for the lady zags. Thankfully, the losses were to teams that most likely will be bottom dwellers, so we need to start our win streak on Thursday and let the rest of the WCC know that the championship trophy is destined to once again reside in Spokane.

Zag Up Ladies,

ZagDad

[Zagfan14]

When are these coaches going to try something other then es, she can't buy a bucket the last few games, then put her back in at the end of the game after templton scores 5 straight points, absolutely blew my mind, try something else you have nothing to lose, I see 3 girls on the bench I would be playing over her(mak, temp, Chandler). This team needs someone who can drive to the basket and finish, or dish, not sure who that is, but you can't just pass the ball around the premeter and throw it inside we're seeing alot of the same play as last year but were healthy, coaches have no excuses this year!!

[ZAGS ATTACK BASKET]

Makenlee Williams we need you to light it up, time to heat it up Microwave. Your in the WCC its time to get hot. Believe in your shots they will start falling.

Jill Barta lets get back to the good shooting percentage this game, and keep getting to the free throw line. If they are all caving on you find the open player, guide us back to the win column.

Kiarra Kudron keep shooting good percentages show the Dons we are more Gritty than them, get to the free throw line.

Lets get their bigs in foul trouble.

Elle Tinkle let get those charges on their bigs, get those steals and lets get some easy buckets.