GUnit of the Game - @ San Diego - 01. 09. 20 ?

[RenoZag]

STATS LINK: https://usdtoreros.com/sidearmstats/mbball/media

The Toreros were gored by the Zags, 94 - 50.

Balanced scoring on offense, good team D. It was great seeing the continued growth of Drew Timme. Happy to see Watson on the floor for extended minutes also.

Gonzaga was 14 - 19 (73.7%) from the charity stripe, another positive takeaway

Who gets your salute as tonight's player of the game ?

BOX SCORE: https://gozags.com/sports/mens-baske.../boxscore/7198

[GeorgiaZagFan]

joel is looking really good this season ...

[WRHUradio]

Best positives from this game to me were not numbers but incremental steps forward taken by freshmen. Anton Watson looked a touch healthier, although may have gotten a bit winded but he was looking to finish that jam and looking to finish inside several times compared to recently, great sign for his health, my worry was he was going to be marked at someone that wasnt going to shoot. His defense is very subtle but very good and hands and blocks/alters of shots is very good. Would love to see him attempt mid-range jumpers as the next sign of his health improving.

Arlauskas dunking and then his aggressiveness over that one minute may be the breakthrough he needs! Too many times before that he seemed to turn down looks, on the next possession after the dunk he had an immediate hard drive! I had wanted to see him and Zakharov play earlier in blowouts because I'm a believer that when you're an end of bench guy, its experience, and when you do have to play due to injury or foul trouble, its not as BIG of a jump. Maybe this is the breakthrough for him.

Zakharov has shown he is quietly a VERY good interior defender. Tell you what, against a Power 5 team in the NCAA Tournament or vs Childs and BYU, I would be comfortable with Zakharov getting defensive possessions sprinkled in. He hedges well on the screens. Same thing in mop up, his left hand hook was nice, and there were a couple other postups he had that the guards didnt throw the ball into him, I want to see what he can do, but getting about 8 mins of playing time showed me he could get token minutes in competitive games, at minimum just for defensive sequences.

I still think with the toll of injuries on Tillie, Woolridge, even Gilder is still working his way back, Watson, that Arlauskas and Zakharov are important in GU's development the rest of the way. Can they be occasional contributors vs solid competition? Id like to see the subtle push in blowouts and occasional possessions to give them a chance, it would add something, especially Zakharov against a big Power 5 team in the NCAA Tournament.

[TexasZagFan]

I went with Filip, no disrespect to Joel. Petrusev had a big first half, and led the Zags to a 37 point halftime lead.

Joel had a great second half.

[TravelinZag]

The stat line filler, Ayayi, with a second half par excellence. Four with double figure points and two more with eight. FT shooting and defense greatly improved, and offense getting back into sync.

GoZags!!!

[ZagsObserver]

Ayayi with the multi-faceted game

[bartruff1]

I went with Filip, no disrespect to Joel. Petrusev had a big first half, and led the Zags to a 37 point halftime lead.

Joel had a great second half.

Me too.....the game was over at the half or before......I love to watch them push the ball.... Flip makes a lot of that work...he is not the only one but he really flies up the court... ...

[TacomaZAG]

Agree with WRHU, especially with respect to Watson. He looks to be regaining his health, and with it his confidence. He and Tillie provide so many options on both offense and defense when healthy. Hope to see Anton continue to get healthy during conference play, and be "full go" for the Dance.

Go ZAGS

[MDABE80]

18 yr old sophomore with super speed and hits shots and rebounds well with his size. AA written all over him in the next 2 years. Love the kid.

[Reborn]

Good to see Ayayi win the MVP award for this game. He is special. Still needs a lot of work on his D though but it's coming along.

[Worthington]

Zakharov and Arlauskas are going to be really good players down the line. Zakharov especially is an impressive physical specimen; he runs the court so effortlessly for someone his size and he is jacked for a freshman. I really want to see both of them continue to get minutes when our lead is comfortable. It's clear what they're both missing most at this point is confidence.

[GonzaGAW]

- voted for ayayi
- but pleased most with Watson. much improvement over past several games. I'd say a big step forward, could we hope for 2 more such steps by tourney time?

[Irish_eliZAG]

18 yr old sophomore with super speed and hits shots and rebounds well with his size. AA written all over him in the next 2 years. Love the kid.

Joel will be 20 yr old in March.

[caduceus]

I know everyone went with Ayayi, and my eyeballs told me to, too. But, as a mental exercise, note that:

Ayayi scored 20 points in 29 minutes. That's .69 points per minute.

Petrušev scored 17 points in 15 minutes, 1.13 points per minute.

Went with Petrušev.

(In fairness, Ayayi had a better EFF rating [25 vs 16] by a long shot, so Filip a coin!). ^{♫I do love puns, they're kind of fun....bye!♫}

[Birddog]

I know everyone went with Ayayi, and my eyeballs told me to, too. But, as a mental exercise, note that:

Ayayi scored 20 points in 29 minutes. That's .69 points per minute.

Petrušev scored 17 points in 15 minutes, 1.13 points per minute.

Went with Petrušev.

(In fairness, Ayayi had a better EFF rating [25 vs 16] by a long shot, so Filip a coin!). ^{♫I do love puns, they're kind of fun....bye!♫}

Good point about Petrusev, but the defense! I went with Ayayi.

[Goshzagit]

18 yr old sophomore with super speed and hits shots and rebounds well with his size. AA written all over him in the next 2 years. Love the kid.

Agree with the potential, yet dont kid yourself here...

[Goshzagit]

I know everyone went with Ayayi, and my eyeballs told me to, too. But, as a mental exercise, note that:

Ayayi scored 20 points in 29 minutes. That's .69 points per minute.

Petrušev scored 17 points in 15 minutes, 1.13 points per minute.

Went with Petrušev.

(In fairness, Ayayi had a better EFF rating [25 vs 16] by a long shot, so Filip a coin!). ^{♫I do love puns, they're kind of fun....bye!♫}

If you watched the game, Filip was gawd awful on defense once again, yet efficient on offense.

[Goshzagit]

- voted for ayayi
- but pleased most with Watson. much improvement over past several games. I'd say a big step forward, could we hope for 2 more such steps by tourney time?

The best Watson has looked since the first few mins of Texas A&M.

Just think Watson was injured during our 4th game this season.

Prior to injury he looked like the best player with the most NBA potential on the team, and by far our best overall defender.

[White lightning]

The best Watson has looked since the first few mins of Texas A&M.

Just think Watson was injured during our 4th game this season.

Prior to injury he looked like the best player with the most NBA potential on the team, and by far our best overall defender.

Watson looked good against weak teams starting the season, and now that he's getting healthier he's looking better against another batch of weak teams. Those steal attempts are going to get him bench time by getting into foul trouble or missing D assignments.


Sent from my SM-G960U using Tapatalk

[TexasZagFan]

Who's the best passing big man for the Zags...Tillie or Timme? Although Killian has been superlative as a point forward, my (biased) nod goes to Drew. He's improved since I saw him 2 years ago, the only difference is that his current teammates are much better shooters. No disrespect intended, as the gap between HS and Division I hoops is huge.

I think some of Drew's skill is rubbing off on Filip, who IMO is no longer the black hole we saw last year. He's doing a much better job at recognizing double teams, kicking it out to a guard.

When the Zags are moving the ball around, they are nearly unstoppable. Dribbling and "hero ball" leads to extended periods without scoring.

[IowaSERE]

Who's the best passing big man for the Zags...Tillie or Timme? Although Killian has been superlative as a point forward, my (biased) nod goes to Drew. He's improved since I saw him 2 years ago, the only difference is that his current teammates are much better shooters. No disrespect intended, as the gap between HS and Division I hoops is huge.

I think some of Drew's skill is rubbing off on Filip, who IMO is no longer the black hole we saw last year. He's doing a much better job at recognizing double teams, kicking it out to a guard.

When the Zags are moving the ball around, they are nearly unstoppable. Dribbling and "hero ball" leads to extended periods without scoring.

That overhead pass that Drew made to Watson, reminded me a lot of Larry Bird.

[gozagswoohoo]

Ayayi. He is the 'surprise' of the season for me. I expected some contributions from him this year...but not what he's been doing! Love it.

[LTownZag]

Ayayi is such an excellent passer.

He can hit a tin window right above the basketball without breaking stride and from 30' away. Remember his alley-oop lob to Kispert VS Arizona? How about this one to Petrusev @ 1min33sec ?

It's a lot harder to pass for these dunks than it would be to get one for a BC type player who can grab and dunk anything within an arm's length of the rim.

[RenoZag]

Went with Drew Timme. Tenacious like a bulldog with a bone.

[Mantua]

Joel.

Bien joué indeed.

I loved the post game interview. His fluency speaking English is remarkable.