Gonzaga vs Villanova postgame thoughts/analysis

[Hoopaholic]

Nova had better players and the Zags were outhustled and outsmarted.

Agree with two of the three

Lots of tape for the young ones to learn from. It is first week f December and
Many of these kids still learning roles expectations intensity and detail

[seacatfan]

I don't know about rolling his ankle but something definitely happened, stumbled or his foot got caught, something. Probably due to indecision or hearing footsteps behind him.

[CDC84]

I also very much agree with a previous poster that this team lacks leadership. Josh, Silas and JWIII are all too quiet. Probably the best innate leader in the whole bunch is Corey Kispert, but with the exception of transcendent talents like Carmelo, it is ideal that your leader(s) be upperclassmen like Nigel and Karnowski. That is the one major issue with Duke right now. I asked a basketball analyst today why is Duke, despite all their talent, messing around with these 18 point wins vs. teams like South Dakota? The #1 thing I think about Duke, outside of Coach K, is their traditional ability to absolutely trash guarantee opponents. The Duke norm is to beat low majors by 50 pts.. One of the issues with this year's Duke bunch is that they have no leader. Who is the guy who is supposed to be their leader? Grayson Allen. In other words, they have no leader, but their talent is carrying them through right now.

Unfortunately, leadership has to come forward naturally. Coaches can't force players to be leaders. They can only encourage them.

[bartruff1]

I thought Josh was going to pass the ball back for a dunk..... Melson played well....as usual... Nova controlled the tempo and never let Gonzaga get comfortable....they are very good and will get better...and so will Gonzaga, Norvell is not afraid to score......

[Birddog]

Check out this boxscore, it's kinda cryptic.

http://www.espn.com/mens-college-basketball/boxscore?gameId=400986882

[Skimhvn]

Rui, how do you play without your best skill.

[JPtheBeasta]

The game might have been different if Nova had any pressure on them. The Zags played tight and the other guys were comfortably hitting 3s all night, making 10 and shooting 48%. GU was able to score on them when they weren't dribbling the ball off their feet. And that was without JW3, who is supposed to be the go-to post scorer. Larsen looked really good and his size down low was much needed. It was good to see Perkins taking the ball to the hole (I'm going to try to erase that would-be lay-up turned transient ischemic attack of a pass to Jones). Tillie wilted a bit when we needed him.

It's alright to lay an egg. This win would have been nice but is not a deal breaker on a good season.

ETA: As bad as this was, Villanova is a team that the Zags can beat. Considering that Villanova is an Elite 8 quality team, this bodes well for the Zags.

[Zag4Hire]

I was excited for this game but not looking forward to this game. The Florida game was one thing but the Texas game was another. Outside of first 5 minutes, hard to understand this team.

If you are opposing team, how do you not put more pressure on this team to bring it up the court (Full Court, 3/4 Press, Half Court Trap, etc.)? I would do this every time. Also the way GU defends the 3 ball, this might be an option for them as well.

Was the team ill-prepared for any kind of pressure? Any play that beat pressure was a crazy 20+ yard pass with a very nice reception but nothing in the flow of the game to matter.

Sweet jesus almost a 50 piece from 3 pt land?! C'mon guys. The worst part was seeing GU pack the zone and lose O-boards due to long rebounds.

The rest of the way won't anywhere near resemble a Nova team. A lot of work to do but plenty of time.

[jim77]

Agree with two of the three

Lots of tape for the young ones to learn from. It is first week f December and
Many of these kids still learning roles expectations intensity and detail

Lots of tape is right.

Nova has to be the most fundamentally solid team I've seen play this year. They do so many things well....this wasn't the Zags having a bad game...this was just a victory by the superior team. I really think this is a good loss....The film of this game needs to mandatory viewing at practice for the forseeable future. The Zags can pick up some nice pointers and make a nice deep run this year.


Props to Larsen...his size clearly bothered Nova.....and Zack Norvell's fearless play. JW3 is still the starter...but Larsen needs to get fully up to speed by March.

Props to Jay Wright....that is a dam disciplined team right there...they might not win it all...but nobody plays with the IQ they do. They are gonna school a bunch of foes this year. Hopefully they are nowhere near our bracket come March.

[Zag4Hire]

Lots of tape is right.

Nova has to be the most fundamentally solid team I've seen play this year. They do so many things well....this wasn't the Zags having a bad game...this was just a victory by the superior team. I really think this is a good loss....The film of this game needs to mandatory viewing at practice for the forseeable future. The Zags can pick up some nice pointers and make a nice deep run this year.


Props to Larsen...his size clearly bothered Nova.....and Zack Norvell's fearless play. JW3 is still the starter...but Larsen needs to get fully up to speed by March.

Props to Jay Wright....that is a dam disciplined team right there...they might not win it all...but nobody plays with the IQ they do. They are gonna school a bunch of foes this year. Hopefully they are nowhere near our bracket come March.

Respectfully disagree with every single point you are attempting to make. The Zags did not play well whatsoever. If you witnessed any effort to date, you could clearly see there was no offensive rhythm and a lot of missed opportunities. I think Nova just took what the Zags gave them but a solid effort similar to the PK80 game vs Florida, would have made the game real close if not outright in GU's favor. There was no post presence by Nova and GU should have sought the advantage there but it wasn't well connected. The 3 pt defense or lack thereof once again betrayed them. Hard to hear me utter it but the refs helped out GU quite a bit tonight I believe and if they played like this against Texas or Creighton, they would have more losses.

Let's stop pretending this is the same team as last year but a different team with potentially different strengths. This team will force tempo regardless apparently whether it benefits them or not. One upside is the future is bright for Norvell Jr. He has a nose for the offensive side of things and it will only get better.

[VinnyZag]

Villanova is really good, and they played probably their best game of the year. They actually reminded me a bit of last year's Zags.

I think his sorta game is to be expected a little with this years Zags. Hopefully they learn from it.

Killian Tillie is their best player, in my opinion.

[thespywhozaggedme]

I've been saying it since the beginning and I'm sticking to it. Larsen is a better Shem and ZN is a better Gary Bell. This potential starting lineup next year: Perk, ZN, CK, Clarke and Larsen will be sick.

[jim77]

I'll respectfully disagree back...headfakes?....Nova crashing the boards and getting into the correct positioning ta boot. We played Novas game....and there was little we could do about it. Do we have a good team..Absolutely. We want no part of them....you may have just witnessed the next NC....yes they are as good as they looked...that's why we looked so bad. Another team might out athlete them...but they won't out think them. We aren't that close to them fundamentally. It was so bad at the end that we got breakaway steals and didn't even get a shot up. The one thing I will add...Tillie needs to quit picking up stupid fouls...we need him on the court....its happening way to much. I think Kispert would have help cause hes fearless like Norvell.

[katman50]

The past couple games or so, have been "coming out parties" for Norvell and Larsen. Those guys stepped up tonight. Zach might be a gem in the making. Missed Corey, but glad he didn't play. If he would have, wouldn't have made much of a difference in the final score. Still have faith in Tillie, Josh and JW3. Rui has to slow things down and determine what he can and can't do. Love this team. They should only get better, shouldn't they? Hats off to Nova. A very good team with a great coach.

[LongIslandZagFan]

Just throwing this out there... Zags were clanking shots in warm-ups... especially going into the second half. I knew it was going to be trouble. From my vantage point I felt they got some good open looks, but as I said to someone at the game (UConn fan in front of me) Zags just plain "shot themselves out of it". No patience in the first half... got quick shots off and clanked nearly all of them and basically handed Nova a 12 point lead... a lead they never relinquished.