Gonzaga vs San Francisco Post Game thoughts and analysis

[jazzdelmar]

right on, my bad...it happens

NP, Triple B. Or is it Quadruple B?

[GonzagasaurusFlex]

Shout out to whoever thought up the idea to have cardboard cutouts of Zags currently (or very recently in NWG case) in the NBA stationed in front row seats under the basket. ESPN certainly liked them, nice promo for the program. Now if only they would add John Stockton to that row of fans!

[jazzdelmar]

Shout out to whoever thought up the idea to have cardboard cutouts of Zags currently (or very recently in NWG case) in the NBA stationed in front row seats under the basket. ESPN certainly liked them, nice promo for the program. Now if only they would add John Stockton to that row of fans!

Rui is always captivating, isn't he? Dubbing in the NBA theme was a bit cheesy.

[WallaWallaZag]

Reborn— you were more impressed than I was. Personally I thought it was an off game for our zags. Only guys imo that played well were Corey, Joel and at times AN. Everyone else was off. And we still beat a solid team by 25.. that does tell you something though.

zags played pretty well on offense and defense was solid to start the second half...wcc games are going to get uglied up so expect more of the same...it won't always be poetry in motion. probably only pepperdine and maybe byu a bit will try to run with the zags some and all the other teams will try to take the air out of the ball.

[BayAreaZagFan]

I found it comforting to know that one of the top players on the team can get into early foul trouble and it doesn't have that much of an impact on the game. Suggs kind of scares me with his all-out on every play mentality, though. He's already been banged up a little bit this season and I'm afraid that he'll end up hurt and missing some important games because of it. That being said, I probably wouldn't want him playing any other way, especially come tournament time, and that's probably not something that you can turn off and on throughout the season.

I wasn't overly impressed with San Francisco. Maybe they're the third-best team in the conference, but I kind of hope not. They didn't look as good last night as they've looked in the past. Maybe they miss Ferrari.

Another thing I've taken away from this past week is that it's kind of boring not playing top-ranked teams. It's nice to see blowouts, but I really enjoyed the excitement of playing other teams from the top part of the poll. And when some of those ended up being comfortable wins, I enjoyed reading and listening to comments from the national media. Now, we have to settle in for seeing maybe thirty seconds of highlights on Sportscenter at best.

[drvenkman05]

They sure were buffoonish, but then again, in Dan’s world, no one compares to him, and he makes sure the audience knows that every chance he gets. It’s nice to have announcers that don’t constantly talk-down players.

At the time? No they weren't. He was being honest. Now? He hasn't said anything.

[JPtheBeasta]

Watson plays below the rim, for the most part. Early in the season he was trying to get his shot off quickly to avoid getting blocked. He missed several bunnies and looked rushed. Lately, he seems to be gathering him self to invite contact, or create contact of his own before going up. That seems to be helping.

His long-distance shot needs to come around. I would also like to see him be more assertive in the post and try to back guys down with a few dribbles. Right now, if he receives the ball in the post with his back to the basket, it is a dribble or two then a pass.

[MickMick]

Watson plays below the rim, for the most part. Early in the season he was trying to get his shot off quickly to avoid getting blocked. He missed several bunnies and looked rushed. Lately, he seems to be gathering him self to invite contact, or create contact of his own before going up. That seems to be helping.

His long-distance shot needs to come around. I would also like to see him be more assertive in the post and try to back guys down with a few dribbles. Right now, if he receives the ball in the post with his back to the basket, it is a dribble or two then a pass.

I agree with this. I am very encouraged, though, by his vision and passing skills. So far, I think this may be his best attribute and for that reason, he is certainly not a liability. He may not be scoring, but he is still adding to the offense.

Plus, a thick body power forward is not going to have as much shine in a "Paul Westhead like" offense. This offense was made for gazelles. For the players that do their best emulation of James Worthy.

[MDABE80]

Watson plays below the rim, for the most part. Early in the season he was trying to get his shot off quickly to avoid getting blocked. He missed several bunnies and looked rushed. Lately, he seems to be gathering him self to invite contact, or create contact of his own before going up. That seems to be helping.

His long-distance shot needs to come around. I would also like to see him be more assertive in the post and try to back guys down with a few dribbles. Right now, if he receives the ball in the post with his back to the basket, it is a dribble or two then a pass.

Good post. He looks a bit lost but surely has major talent. Not sure what coaches can do to get him going. Might be in his head.

[ZagsGoZags]

Kispert is exceptional and yet Dickau still hates his game.

I never miss a game on TV year after year and I can't remember Dan making comments to this effect? Are you a friend of Dan's and you have heard him say this?

[JPtheBeasta]

I never miss a game on TV year after year and I can't remember Dan making comments to this effect? Are you a friend of Dan's and you have heard him say this?

He was caught on a hot mike saying that he couldn't stand Kispert's game. This might have been two years ago.

[jim77]

"NO defense is quicker than the pass"

The GU offense puts tremendous pressure on opposing defenses...in fact, passing is the dominant factor in the last 20 something years of success. There is nothing more demoralizing than trying to defend an offense you can't catch up with. Worse, when the the folks executing it can make you pay. They Zags play the game like Picasso paints....its a beautiful flowing masterpiece...a VERY unselfish one.

They put the "T" in TEAM.

[sheps001]

In the first half, GU switched on every screen and SF made us pay. They took advantage of every mismatch and kept the game close. In the second half, GU stopped switching, our defense was much tighter, and we started pulling away. Suggs is still not near 100%. He was slow on defense, their guards were blowing by him, and he fouled as they passed him. Doubt we will see many fouls from him when he is back to full speed. I'm glad we are in conference games where he and Cook can take time to heal.

Thanks for giving us some insight on GU's defense. Im not knowledgeable about their defense but it seemed we were not playing good defense in the first half and your explanation is oh so helpful . Could you please keep this up and make comments about defense? As I remember during the magic year when we should have won, our defense was superb and was amongst the top in Kem Pom's ratings. Not sure where they are today but I have been concerned. think part of the problem is that we are such an overwhelming powerhouse scoring machine that everything else is secondary but we both know such reliance can come back and bite you. Nice the see Nembard in there. This is one powerful defensive player. Along with Ayayi and Suggs were arguably have the best guards in the Nation. But our bigs. Once you get past Timme and Kispert you start asking some question. Thanks again. and GoZags.

[sheps001]

Checked Ken Pom and we are number 16 defensively which is good. We are 2 offensively. Interestingly, Baylor no 2 overall is no 3 on offense and no 7 on defense. These are the kind of stats were are seeking. We should get better defensively over the following months. Baylor would be a real good matchup.

[Markburn1]

Defense was not up to par last night. It’s interesting how a couple of possessions can change the perception of the defense and the score. There were a couple of contributing factors. Suggs was obviously not 100%. When he was in the game before sitting with foul trouble he cost the team on at least two possessions. Now we get to the lineup rotation. Coming off the bench for the Zags in previous games is a very good defensive guard. Bouyea scored sixteen points in the first half. Cook would have been playing defense on him and would have made it a bit tougher for Jamari. Let’s say between a healthy Suggs and Cook that they caused a missed three and denied a drive to the rim for a layup. Instead of a ten point lead at halftime it would have been fifteen.

Point is, Cook is a valuable asset and a couple of defensive possessions can significantly affect a game. That’s why coaches value a player that never takes a play off.

[TexasZagFan]

Defense was not up to par last night. It’s interesting how a couple of possessions can change the perception of the defense and the score. There were a couple of contributing factors. Suggs was obviously not 100%. When he was in the game before sitting with foul trouble he cost the team on at least two possessions. Now we get to the lineup rotation. Coming off the bench for the Zags in previous games is a very good defensive guard. Bouyea scored sixteen points in the first half. Cook would have been playing defense on him and would have made it a bit tougher for Jamari. Let’s say between a healthy Suggs and Cook that they caused a missed three and denied a drive to the rim for a layup. Instead of a ten point lead at halftime it would have been fifteen.

Point is, Cook is a valuable asset and a couple of defensive possessions can significantly affect a game. That’s why coaches value a player that never takes a play off.

Aaron was huge for us in the second half against Virginia. There were several possessions where their point guard broke down our defense for easy baskets. Cook was inserted with about 12 minutes to go. Over the next 4 minutes, the Zags increased their lead by a few points. More importantly, their momentum was stopped.

[MickMick]

I thought the Dons were running good offense myself. I'm not going to drag on this Zag team because their style of getting up and down the court is inherently a semi chaotic play style. I understand that this style of basketball will occasionally not let them get perfectly set on defense every time down the court. Unlike Virginia, which gets great defensive statistics because they ensure they are set on defense, every time down the court, because they have time to do so, primarily because they take the air out of the ball, Gonzaga is the complete opposite in ideology, and gets surprisingly good defensive efficiency while being that way. Regardless, defensive lapses occasionally come with the territory when playing a hyper paced offensive tempo. Seems to me, the staff identified the appropriate defensive adjustments for the second half very well. In the end, you measure your offensive efficiency and determine if it so exceedingly good, that you can afford to sacrifice a little defensive efficiency to get there. Virginia does the same thing only their emphasis is reversed. I think of it like this.....if Gonzaga wasn't sufficiently competent on defense, they would be Iowa.

This team is boat racing the opposition. I think we are nitpicking the little details.