Post game thread vs SMC

[amaronizag]

Somebody pinch me!! Wow. Best D of the year. Gotta hand it to Few and Company for this game plan. Sweet. This is the same team I saw at PK80. Don't know where they've been, just glad they're back. Still not back on 3pt shots, but improved. Didn't like the last 5 minutes of playing not to lose and giving back a chunk of the lead, but otherwise very happy. Just keep this intensity going.

[ZagMan in Philly]

only 3 turnovers??? Stunning!

[jpn17]

The Zags played pretty much straight-up defense in Spokane. SMC is going to have to go to school now for the tournament. There’s a new sheriff in town, at least for now.

Looks like the same ol' sheriff to me

[23dpg]

only 3 turnovers??? Stunning!

That might be a record.

[krozman]

I think both teams played unlike themselves....... not that I'm complaining this time.

[Vanzagger]

Drinking from a chalice of Gael tears.

Tastes kinda bitter.

Welcome back

[willandi]

only 3 turnovers??? Stunning!

4 according to ESPN, still amazing!

[Skimhvn]

23pts with a loss become 23pts with a win. Just great.

[Hoopaholic]

4 according to ESPN, still amazing!

We got 3 turnovers in the 9 to 5 minute stretch of first half. Then 1 rest of game

[GrizZAG]

Home baked refs weren't enough. You could tell early how bad the Zags wanted this game. Great effort and energy in a hostile environment. Game plan was masterful!

[Zags11]

Man I'm still pumped and happy!

[Reborn]

Gonzaga 78
St Mary's 65

Yeah! Yippie!!! Awesome!!! Great game Zags! Love 'em. Did they every play some D tonight. Few surprised me by doubling Landale, and it worked. And even though Landale is a great passer, Zags in general cut off the passing lane to cutters. Landale scored 4 points on only 4 shots. Just an incredible game plan by Mark Few and his staff. Zags also cut off Hermanson, as he only scored 3 points on 1-6 shooting. Narr only got 5 points and only 2 assists.

For the Zags Hachimura had 23 again on 10-14 shooting. And 3-3 from the foul line. He got 5 good rebounds. Norvell got 15 and played absolutely great. Got 5 rebounds too and 4 assists. Perkins got 13 and also played an absolutely great game. I felt the best game this year. Zags only had 4 turnovers for the whole game. What inspired me most about Josh was his hustle and toughness, and fight. He was diving for loose ball all night long. He was our leader imo. He set the stage for toughness tonight. Loved his attitude. Way to go Josh. That's who you are. Come out and play that way every night. He also hit some crucial shots. Williams got 13 and 11 boards. Another double-double. He continues to be a leader in toughness as well. He did a great job tonight outdueling Landale. I kind of thought he would. He's a Zag. iF YOU KNOW WHAT I MEAN. This looked like a Zag team tonight, and a damn good one. Melson played a good game, but was in foul trouble most of the night. He did manage to score 8 points on hit 2 of our 7 threes; so I got to give him credit for that. I kind of felt Tillie and Kispert were ineffective tonight.

The Zags did look their best when Hachimura was in. There were times that he and Tille and JW3 played on the floor at the same time and that set up looks good. Tonight Tillie was playing the wing because Rui was killing Pfitzner inside. Fitzner was just unable to guard him. Totally unable. Like we know, we just don't know who the scoring leaders will be. Tonight it was Rui and Zach. With Perkins and JW3 close behind. The offense looked very good most of the night as the Zags played at a much faster pace than they did when they lost to St Mary's last time we played. They scored 78 points and could have scored 85 imo. They really slowed the game down the last 5 minutes, which I didn't really like. I also didn't like the foul discrepancy. St Mary's shot 21 free throws to the Zags' 9. Zags did make 7-9 of them.

This was a huge night for our Zags. They looked so good, especially on D. But the offense was the best that I've seen it in awhile. I loved the pace of the game. The coaches just had such a great plan for this game. The Zags just ended St Mary's 18 game win streak. The longest one in the country. This win, this game, was a confidence builder I believe. The team is finding out who they can be. And it's beautiful to see. And I've said, I've seen it deveolping all along in the last 4 games. I'm talking about the team chemistry and cohesiveness. It's looking so beautiful. I love to see Hachimura when He's smiling. And I love to see the intensity of Mark Few this year. Looks good on him.

I'm really really proud of our team. That was a heck of a win. To go into their place and look as good as we did, and absolutely knock them out. The Zags came out tonight hitting one three after another. I think we must have had 4 of our 7 threes in the first 3 or 4 minutes of the game. I mean we couldn't miss, man. It was beautiful. I also want to thank the Bunnies because I saw their presence felt in this one tonight.

Go Zags!!!

[Skimhvn]

Can't we see the full game +/-? It says only about 1st half.
http://stats.statbroadcast.com/statmonitr/?id=197585

[Zag_Dad]

Scary that we rely on SMC being our best win... usually it's them counting on us.

That’s sill. We beat Ohio State and Creighton. Not too shabby

[JPtheBeasta]

I prefer to have my crow broiled as it’s better for my heart!!!

Wow! What a game...

Fantastic win...

We still have four games left 2@home & 2on the road...USD & BYU...need to keep our focus!

By the way, the staff had a great game plan...the top three players were taken out of the game...

Super defense!

Indeed. Good win. Relief and happiness. This is a good feeling. I can’t wait for the rubber match in Vegas.

[GonzaGAW]

- first game, coach didn't know how to coach, according to many, when really it comes down to execution. our players did not that game.
- this time around coach calls for a double team of langdale (to which many of the 'higher thinking board coaches' said was the wrong call) and the team executed plan wonderfully.

- I guess now Bennett is a poor coach, because his team did not execute well at all out of the double team. had his team executed properly, could have been a close game.

- I guess my point is, players got to play, when they do they and their coaches look great.

- good job team, go zags.

[Zag Man]

I had this one all wrong, as I thought St. Mary’s was just too disciplined and Jake Landale too good for Gonzaga to beat.

Gonzaga played their best game in a long time. Their defense was really solid and it seemed like the Gaels struggled in every possession to score.

Congrats to Josh Perkins, who played the point solidly and made the right play almost all night. He played a magnificent game!

JW3 was dominant in the paint and played with intensity that makes him a unique player.

Finally, it was so much fun watching Rui work his magic in the game. He is an amazing player who is just starting to see his full potential. Rui is going to get better and better and that’s bad news for the other WCC teams.

[CdAZagFan]

Who would have thought we would have had to stress as we watched games against Pacific, San Diego, et al - and yet this one after the first few minutes of the second half was fairly stress free? They came out of both halves with an intensity and confidence I haven't seen in them for awhile. If they can capture that intensity - especially in the WCC tourney - it will bode well in March.

[Hoopaholic]

- first game, coach didn't know how to coach, according to many, when really it comes down to execution. our players did not that game.
- this time around coach calls for a double team of langdale (to which many of the 'higher thinking board coaches' said was the wrong call) and the team executed plan wonderfully.

- I guess now Bennett is a poor coach, because his team did not execute well at all out of the double team. had his team executed properly, could have been a close game.

- I guess my point is, players got to play, when they do they and their coaches look great.

- good job team, go zags.

Perfect. Thank you

[bballbeachbum]

- first game, coach didn't know how to coach, according to many, when really it comes down to execution. our players did not that game.
- this time around coach calls for a double team of langdale (to which many of the 'higher thinking board coaches' said was the wrong call) and the team executed plan wonderfully.

- I guess now Bennett is a poor coach, because his team did not execute well at all out of the double team. had his team executed properly, could have been a close game.

- I guess my point is, players got to play, when they do they and their coaches look great.

- good job team, go zags.

I'll give the coaches a ton of credit here too, not just the players though they have to execute
adjusting the D to doubling, something SMC dares you to do, and doing it all night off the post feeder...so awesome! tactical brilliance and it rattled Landale, and even Bennett imo
on not thinking a scrambling D would be effective against SMC...guilty!

[ZagsGoZags]

Of course I am gloating. Overjoyed. We are starting to gell just like the team did the year of the HBO special. What a great time for us to be coming together. Kispert just needs more PT, he still has some of that Frosh nervousness that won't be here next year - when he will blow up. I predict. I was a little disappointed in Few that we kept our best players on the floor through 2 minutes from the end. Even against Bennett's bench. I know he didn't want a 3 pt barrage to risk losing our lead, but sportsmanship is also important, and not rubbing in a win. Maybe I am wrong, I didn't check carefully who was on the floor in the last two minutes.

[sittingon50]

Thanks Rad. That IS a great article!

[willandi]

Congrats to Josh Perkins, who played the point solidly and made the right play almost all night. He played a magnificent game!

5 assists and 2 turnovers, one of which was an amazingly stupid, no look pass, out of bounds to the baseline corner, over (I think) Melsons head.

[roxdoc]

First game was a terrible game plan and on top of that the players shot terribly. So we decided to go to plan B, referred to in the post game interview as the Lloyd-Few plan - just a terrific plan and the players got right into it.

[thespywhozaggedme]

[QUOTE=Radbooks;1359288]Great article on CBS sports about the game:

So yeah, Gonzaga's really freaking good again[/QUO

Thanks for posting that. Great article!