Gonzaga vs San Diego Post Game thoughts and analysis

[Reborn]

Gonzaga 94
San Diego 59

It was a very entertaining game after the first five minutes. Gonzaga finally settled down and played their game. Zags score 45 pts the first half and 48 the second. ANOTHER very good second half. Petrusev led the Zags with 21 and 9, but I felt Woolridge stole the show. He was simply very entertaining the second half as he made a variety of moves and shots. He scored 15, shot 6-7 from the line (he's improving), had 6 rebounds and 7 assists and shot 4-5 for the night (one 3). i WAS REALLY HAPPY to see him score and be aggressive on Offense. I feel he needs to do that more. Kispert had a very good game scoring 16 on 7-14 shooting (2-5 from behind the arc). Gilder also continues to play very good off the bench, 12 points on 2-4 from behind the 3 point line. Timme had 7 points and 9 boards, and Ayayi had 9 points and 6 rebounds. The Zags had 18 offensive boards. That's good. At times the D looked good, especially in second half when we held them to 25 points. Kispert did an excellent job on their 20 point scorer. He held him to just 3 points. I was very impressed with the D on this player. We held them to 38.7% for the game and just 33% from behind the 3 point line.

I think there was improvement in the effort. I liked it. They fought hard on D most of the night. I really liked how we rebounded. We were really fighting for boards tonight and like I said, we got 18 offensive rebounds. I also like how we took care of the basketball. We only had 7 turnovers, and I would gamble to say that 4 of them were in the first five minutes. The Zags shot 52% for the night and 44% from behind the arc. They were down at the free throw line shooting only 63%. Good job. I really liked the effort tonight. Now lets get ready for St Mary's on Saturday.

Go Zags!!!

[Hoopaholic]

And our adjusted defensive efficiency went up to 33rd. ouch

Gonzaga 94
San Diego 59

It was a very entertaining game after the first five minutes. Gonzaga finally settled down and played their game. Zags score 45 pts the first half and 48 the second. ANOTHER very good second half. Petrusev led the Zags with 21 and 9, but I felt Woolridge stole the show. He was simply very entertaining the second half as he made a variety of moves and shots. He scored 15, shot 6-7 from the line (he's improving), had 6 rebounds and 7 assists and shot 4-5 for the night (one 3). i WAS REALLY HAPPY to see him score and be aggressive on Offense. I feel he needs to do that more. Kispert had a very good game scoring 16 on 7-14 shooting (2-5 from behind the arc). Gilder also continues to play very good off the bench, 12 points on 2-4 from behind the 3 point line. Timme had 7 points and 9 boards, and Ayayi had 9 points and 6 rebounds. The Zags had 18 offensive boards. That's good. At times the D looked good, especially in second half when we held them to 25 points. Kispert did an excellent job on their 20 point scorer. He held him to just 3 points. I was very impressed with the D on this player. We held them to 38.7% for the game and just 33% from behind the 3 point line.

I think there was improvement in the effort. I liked it. They fought hard on D most of the night. I really liked how we rebounded. We were really fighting for boards tonight and like I said, we got 18 offensive rebounds. I also like how we took care of the basketball. We only had 7 turnovers, and I would gamble to say that 4 of them were in the first five minutes. Good job. I really liked the effort tonight. Now lets get ready for St Mary's on Saturday.

Go Zags!!!

[Hoopaholic]

I thought our defense was ok first half but much much better first ten minutes of second half.

We put in a new wrinkle in the offensive sets and it seems to provide a much better flow and movement of the ball. Very little sticking issue tonight

[Reborn]

And our adjusted defensive efficiency went up to 33rd. ouch

I'm not sure our results of this game have been calculated yet. We'll see soon. The small rise on D could be due to the other games played earlier tonight by other teams. San Diego had an adj Offensive rank of 315 though.

Go Zags!!!

[MDABE80]

I was focused on Filip.especially after the dismal BYU game. He's very good on offense IF he can get to his spot. Getting him away from his two comfort spots is bound to make him look less than effective. His defense is average but he block shots well. FT's speak for themselves. In short, no matter the offense, he needs more work. At his height, he'll be ok under the basket. As with almost any big, he needs a very good array of guards to draw people away from him. We had that tonight. We didn't have that against BYU. Packed the key and just stayed there...
I do think Filip can use another year to get offensive skills polished and much more diversified.....!

Tonight our guards were really good. Woolridge was amazing. Always in the right spot and collecting his points while playing good defense.

As we head to SMC, we're back to the same old defensive issues. We have bigs that are very good on offense but none quite tough enough to hold their own underneath. Just my opinion. Kids need work. We have 3 very good offensive bigs..........just not defense. Somehow Few needs to figure out a way have our guards focus on defense away from the basket. Tillie rarely even walks into the key. Timme is a great frosh but he gets lost ...probably because he needs more experience.

[Reborn]

I was focused on Filip.especially after the dismal BYU game. He's very good on offense IF he can get to his spot. Getting him away from his two comfort spots is bound to make him look less than effective. His defense is average but he block shots well. FT's speak for themselves. In short, no matter the offense, he needs more work. At his height, he'll be ok under the basket. As with almost any big, he needs a very good array of guards to draw people away from him. We had that tonight. We didn't have that against BYU. Packed the key and just stayed there...
I do think Filip can use another year to get offensive skills polished and much more diversified.....!

Tonight our guards were really good. Woolridge was amazing. Always in the right spot and collecting his points while playing good defense.

As we head to SMC, we're back to the same old defensive issues. We have bigs that are very good on offense but none quite tough enough to hold their own underneath. Just my opinion. Kids need work. We have 3 very good offensive bigs..........just not defense. Somehow Few needs to figure out a way have our guards focus on defense away from the basket. Tillie rarely even walks into the key. Timme is a great frosh but he gets lost ...probably because he needs more experience.

Good thoughts and analysis, Doc. Thanks! I felt the bigs were moving and switching on defense much better tonight. I saw lots of energy and movement on D. The second half was especially good, imo. I do have concerns with Petrusev under the basket on D. He just seems to get lost, and is not strong at all. Its hard to evaluate them on D really when they don't have a low post player or two. So in that sense this game doesn't really help us much. I'm not sure if St Mary's will either. Their low post players are no where near the caliber of Childs and even Lee. Oh well.

[GeorgiaZagFan]

Thought the team looked sluggish and not sure of themselves until they wore SD down....then it was just good players having fun....not sure if this game did anything to put away doubts from the BYU game.....

I read some of the game thread and don't understand the harsh comments about Petrusev....he is a 19-year old sophomore who played a few meaningful minutes last year so this is really his first full season. He definitely has things to work on ...but wow, you would think from listening to some that he is the sole reason the Zags are not #1 on their way to winning it all this year!! To be honest, this team is performing much better than I ever expected going into this season....after losing Rui, Clarke, Perkins, ZN, and JJ I really was worried that this season might be the end of the Gonzaga "streaks" ....

[MDABE80]

Georgia...I think Filip just needs more training and time to blossom further. He's a great kid and player. Some part of his game is lacking. It'll come. Just some more time. I didn't see the comments in the game thread..I just watched the game.

[Zags11]

They handled business like they should have which it was nice to see. I cant wait for SR night as i will be there.

[SorenTodd45]

Tils only played 22 minutes, so that is good. It looked as if he had no issues with his ankle last night.

[A to Zags]

I thought our defense was ok first half but much much better first ten minutes of second half.

We put in a new wrinkle in the offensive sets and it seems to provide a much better flow and movement of the ball. Very little sticking issue tonight

The play Few drew up to end the first half was a highlight for me. Having your post player go coast to coast, collapse the defense and pass back for an uncontested 3 point shot was a beauty to see. Last second drawn up plays don’t always look that beautiful.

[RenoZag]

Jim Meehan's Game Story: https://www.spokesman.com/stories/20...9-claims-outr/

The coach was extremely proud of Gonzaga securing another outright WCC championship. The Zags (28-2, 14-1 WCC) have 17 solo crowns, two shared titles with Saint Mary’s and two second-place finishes in Few’s 21 seasons.

“To be able to win a league championship with so many of these teams returning almost their entire rosters, it’s got lost with all the success we’ve had,” Few said. “It was looking like a daunting task in the fall, I know that.”

Vince Grippi's TV Take Column: https://www.spokesman.com/stories/20...e-spotlight-k/

The Slipper Still Fits Game Recap: https://www.slipperstillfits.com/gon...o-in-94-59-win

TSSF' "10 Observations" Feature: https://www.slipperstillfits.com/202...-win-over-usd:

• There were still defensive possessions where Zags were not on the same page in terms of their rotations and coverages. They handed USD a handful of baskets with their disorganization, though you have to tip your hat to the Toreros as well for taking advantage of their opportunities.
• At this point, it’s pretty evident the Zags can’t allow Filip Petrusev to get isolated on the perimeter by having him switch on ball screen coverages. BYU took advantage of him on Saturday and USD followed the blueprint.