Gonzaga vs Saint Mary's Post Game thoughts and analysis

[Reborn]

Gonzaga 73
St Mary's 59

It was a very different game. You could tell Bennett knew Gonzaga's offense quite well. He also knew how to slow the Zags offense down. St Mary's had control of the game early, but eventually Gonzaga got the lead with about 5 minutes left in the first half. Zags had a 7 point half time lead 32-25.

I thought Kispert's second half was very good as he hit two nice 3 point shots, and was successful on a number of drives. He scored 14 second half points and was the leading scorer with 17. Ayayi had his typical game scoring 16 in many sneaky ways. Timme had 14 and Suggs 14. I thought Cook had a pretty good game off the bench scoring 8 points and he did hit one three.

I said earlier that it is always tough playing in the WCC. Teams just know what we do, and it will get tougher in the second half of the season. Gonzaga only had 6 assists, as St Mary's really kept us from running, and were able to keep us from our passing game. What was working for the Zags was just driving to the basket one on one. That's how we got most of our baskets. Everyone was successful driving to the basket. WE scored very few points from the outside. We were 4-11 from the 3 point line. The best stat was shooting 13-15 from the foul line for 86% shooting.

St Mary's is always tough, so I was happy to get out of there with a victory. I did feel that the Zags could have fed Timme more. He was 5-6 from the field and 4-5 from the line. I felt that for him to only get 6 shots was not good, and honestly, when they did feed him, St Mary's was unable to defend him.

Go Zags!

[krozman]

GU vs. san francisco eh? lol

[rawkmandale]

I don't gamble, but I noticed that Gonzaga was favored by 15. If Ballo had made the dunk, we would have covered. That qualifies our game for Van Pelt's "bad beats."

[HenneZag]

Im glad that game is over. No flow, bad close outs on defense, Jalen trying to do way to much. Defense and lack of effort for 40 min will bite us if we keep this up. Credit to SM they played harder than we did.

[gonzagafan62]

Glad you got to see the game Bornie. Sorry about the situation you are currently in. May you find peace my friend. Much love

62

[krozman]

Suggs had 5 TO's and 3 fouls in 26 min. He needs to control himself better. You can see Coach Few on the sidelines trying to talk some common sense into the kid. I really hope he's listening.

[WRHUradio]

St. Mary's is always a pain in the ass to defend and they run their offense and system so well year after year, despite their talent level. This is the least talented St. Mary's team in 15 years, but if they shot the ball decently from 3 in the 1st half/early 2nd, they couldve won this game. They just put defenses on skates. One of the keys is to MAKE St. Mary's play from behind with a 10+ deficit.

I thought GU's perimeter athleticism might make it be a bit of a different kindve game than it was. Kuhse's improvement is unbelievable. I cannot believe that a lesser Div 1 team didnt try to pluck him via transfer a couple years ago to give him a scholarship, that he had to wait til this year to be a scholarship player. He is the least explosive lead guard/PG St. Mary's has had during this run, the guy you would pick last if you were the line up the Gaels last 10 or so lead guards, but he is still very good, he's just not the scorer that some of the others were. The other guy that St. Mary's will see progress is Mathias Tass. Prior to his torn ACL early last year, he was really on the way to being the next all-WCC Big for the Gaels, he's just not finishing at the rim yet but perhaps in another month as he continues to regain strength and lift he will be better.

Despite the 1st half issues, GU has so much depth, you just figure SOMEONE is going to be "On" and get the team going, and I thought tonight it was Aaron Cook. His first half effort of passing, rebounds, assists, usual solid defense just lifted GU and steadied the game for them. Ayayi is SO steady that you take it for granted and you dont even notice it, he's not a streaky scorer. Cook giving the team a lift and a bridge to halftime felt significant, and that this team can go to so many areas of their roster against decent competition to get that is one of the many traits that give it a chance to win big.

Now the bad; Summarizing not just St. Mary's, but also vs Pepperdine...Coach Few clearly knows the team did not play well offensively, they just lacked their usual flow. The backdoor cuts leading to easy layups, 10 pass possessions that lead to wide open 3s, just werent there. It would be interesting to do an analysis of their number of passes this weekend compared to previous games in the half court. That flow wasnt there. Pepperdine was more reaching for deflections and that was causing some disruption. I think Coach Few really wants to play another High Major Top 15 team so they get another look at that and how to handle it. You can get away with it vs WCC but vs High Major the offense the last 2 games wouldve been in trouble.

Really wondering about how much LESS the wing pick and roll and finding the roll man at the basket has been, just perplexing.

Some of this is St. Mary's and how they frustrate teams with their long possessions and GU has always wanted to play a higher scoring game against the Gaels and you get sucked into some quick bad shots and all of a sudden you only have 7 pts 5 mins into the game. St Mary's also rarely turns it over, and VERY rarely ever have Live ball turnovers, GU again very little in transition.

I think Coach Few sees past the points and wins and knows there is still a lot of improvement to be done. They won games but didnt play as well as they did vs High Major competition. Of course WCC teams know GU inside and out and what to do to narrow the gap, but he also doesnt want them to get stagnant and have peaked too early in the season.

Couple things I'd like to see more of- All the PG's take more of the FT line area jumpers, they jump stop so often there, and yes they are looking for GREAT shots, but they seem to turn down the FT line jumper very often.
And then more entry passes into Timme, and even Ballo. I dont care that Ballo may not shoot it, but sometimes he gets great position, even just with 1 pass in, and then back out, makes offensive possessions better. And because of the Flow theyve had going offensively, I thought they got away from having enough entry passes into Timme. Again, even if he doesnt have super position, it makes the defense react and move, sometimes they might double immediately, even when they shouldnt, and that gets the ball rolling.
Same with Ballo, at times when he is in there, I'd rather see him go make a move when he is in decent spots. Usually the Zags have the lead- a lot of times comfortably- I want Ballo thinking he is allowed to shoot, and not playing 7 mins and now terrified to do anything. He has enough of a leash where 1 shot during an appearance isnt going to hurt the team.

I will say this- Pepperdine is the No. 2 talented team in the WCC. They have 2 high major talents in Ross and Edwards, and then a 6'9 grad transfer from Pitt that played rotation minutes there. They played very physical vs the Zags getting lots of deflections, forced some frustration in the 1st half. I think that game is just setting a blueprint for the next meeting and the rest of the country's High Major teams when it comes NCAA Tournament time. Bullying the Zags is going to have to be something they should do, and you better believe Baylor feels this way too along with the top 25 teams.

With so much film now available, I suspect the Zags will see some 23 zone at some point in WCC, and really pack it in but be in cheat mode to Kispert. Make Non-Kispert players hit 8 3's in the halfcourt.

This GU team has so much balance but this weekend showed they are not invincible to the level that some media pundits are making them out to be. On a neutral floor vs Top 15 High major competition, they can be beaten.

[CDC84]

The Zags are still allowing teams to shoot it too well from the 3 pt. line. I know they are 14th in the nation in defensive efficiency due to other things, but you know how the NCAA tourney goes. All It takes is a team like Wichita State to get hot and you're cooked.

Suggs with 5 TO's tonight, and Nembhard wasn't as good as he usually is. Joel is always going to be good because he does so many things and has a special nose for the basketball.

I am concerned that if Baylor keeps winning, they may overtake the Zags for the #1 spot in the polls. The WCC is just not the Big 12. In the end it really doesn't matter. It's about March Madness.

[rawkmandale]

St. Mary's is always a pain in the ass to defend and they run their offense and system so well year after year, despite their talent level. This is the least talented St. Mary's team in 15 years, but if they shot the ball decently from 3 in the 1st half/early 2nd, they couldve won this game. They just put defenses on skates. One of the keys is to MAKE St. Mary's play from behind with a 10+ deficit.

I thought GU's perimeter athleticism might make it be a bit of a different kindve game than it was. Kuhse's improvement is unbelievable. I cannot believe that a lesser Div 1 team didnt try to pluck him via transfer a couple years ago to give him a scholarship, that he had to wait til this year to be a scholarship player. He is the least explosive lead guard/PG St. Mary's has had during this run, the guy you would pick last if you were the line up the Gaels last 10 or so lead guards, but he is still very good, he's just not the scorer that some of the others were. The other guy that St. Mary's will see progress is Mathias Tass. Prior to his torn ACL early last year, he was really on the way to being the next all-WCC Big for the Gaels, he's just not finishing at the rim yet but perhaps in another month as he continues to regain strength and lift he will be better.

Despite the 1st half issues, GU has so much depth, you just figure SOMEONE is going to be "On" and get the team going, and I thought tonight it was Aaron Cook. His first half effort of passing, rebounds, assists, usual solid defense just lifted GU and steadied the game for them. Ayayi is SO steady that you take it for granted and you dont even notice it, he's not a streaky scorer. Cook giving the team a lift and a bridge to halftime felt significant, and that this team can go to so many areas of their roster against decent competition to get that is one of the many traits that give it a chance to win big.

Now the bad; Summarizing not just St. Mary's, but also vs Pepperdine...Coach Few clearly knows the team did not play well offensively, they just lacked their usual flow. The backdoor cuts leading to easy layups, 10 pass possessions that lead to wide open 3s, just werent there. It would be interesting to do an analysis of their number of passes this weekend compared to previous games in the half court. That flow wasnt there. Pepperdine was more reaching for deflections and that was causing some disruption. I think Coach Few really wants to play another High Major Top 15 team so they get another look at that and how to handle it. You can get away with it vs WCC but vs High Major the offense the last 2 games wouldve been in trouble.

Really wondering about how much LESS the wing pick and roll and finding the roll man at the basket has been, just perplexing.

Some of this is St. Mary's and how they frustrate teams with their long possessions and GU has always wanted to play a higher scoring game against the Gaels and you get sucked into some quick bad shots and all of a sudden you only have 7 pts 5 mins into the game. St Mary's also rarely turns it over, and VERY rarely ever have Live ball turnovers, GU again very little in transition.

I think Coach Few sees past the points and wins and knows there is still a lot of improvement to be done. They won games but didnt play as well as they did vs High Major competition. Of course WCC teams know GU inside and out and what to do to narrow the gap, but he also doesnt want them to get stagnant and have peaked too early in the season.

Couple things I'd like to see more of- All the PG's take more of the FT line area jumpers, they jump stop so often there, and yes they are looking for GREAT shots, but they seem to turn down the FT line jumper very often.
And then more entry passes into Timme, and even Ballo. I dont care that Ballo may not shoot it, but sometimes he gets great position, even just with 1 pass in, and then back out, makes offensive possessions better. And because of the Flow theyve had going offensively, I thought they got away from having enough entry passes into Timme. Again, even if he doesnt have super position, it makes the defense react and move, sometimes they might double immediately, even when they shouldnt, and that gets the ball rolling.
Same with Ballo, at times when he is in there, I'd rather see him go make a move when he is in decent spots. Usually the Zags have the lead- a lot of times comfortably- I want Ballo thinking he is allowed to shoot, and not playing 7 mins and now terrified to do anything. He has enough of a leash where 1 shot during an appearance isnt going to hurt the team.

I will say this- Pepperdine is the No. 2 talented team in the WCC. They have 2 high major talents in Ross and Edwards, and then a 6'9 grad transfer from Pitt that played rotation minutes there. They played very physical vs the Zags getting lots of deflections, forced some frustration in the 1st half. I think that game is just setting a blueprint for the next meeting and the rest of the country's High Major teams when it comes NCAA Tournament time. Bullying the Zags is going to have to be something they should do, and you better believe Baylor feels this way too along with the top 25 teams.

With so much film now available, I suspect the Zags will see some 23 zone at some point in WCC, and really pack it in but be in cheat mode to Kispert. Make Non-Kispert players hit 8 3's in the halfcourt.

This GU team has so much balance but this weekend showed they are not invincible to the level that some media pundits are making them out to be. On a neutral floor vs Top 15 High major competition, they can be beaten.

Excellent analysis. You sound like Brian Michaelson.

[Reborn]

Glad you got to see the game Bornie. Sorry about the situation you are currently in. May you find peace my friend. Much love

62

Thanks. I really appreciate it. I also appreciated the help I got to see the game on my computer in Niles, Michigan. I went with Hulu, they have a free 30 day program.

Go Zags!

[CDC84]

This GU team has so much balance but this weekend showed they are not invincible to the level that some media pundits are making them out to be. On a neutral floor vs Top 15 High major competition, they can be beaten.

[/QUOTE]

Agreed. It will be interesting to see the adjustments that Few makes. I just wish we could play Baylor or some other top 15 team in the month of February to get another significant challenge with all the game tape that's on the Zags now.

Watson is just delivering nothing offensively, and frankly, he gets butchered in the low post too often. I don't know what the issue is. Lack of confidence? Disappointment with being a 5th option. This guy was a very highly touted player coming out of high school. I know he's great when GU presses. But it still bothers me that we don't have a rim protector at the PF spot and a guy who can score some low post buckets.

The big elephant in the room that many of these pundits are not addressing is what an advantage GU is gonna have in March with being a #1 seed and no hostile crowds. I do feel this is gonna play to GU's advantage in their pursuit of a title. No fans in the stands rooting on the underdog. However, you are 100 percent: no one is invincible. I am convinced of that. I thought the 1991 Vegas team with three lottery pick seniors was invincible, and they still got beat by Duke in the national semis.....a team they trashed in the title game the previous year. That taught me to never believe a team was invincible in the modern era of college basketball.

BTW - Baylor is very familiar with packing it in with a zone. They are the number one defensive team in the nation right now. Their two starting guards are a total pain in the neck defensively. The only issue is that for some reason, Drew just cannot beat Few. Just like Bob Huggins. It's odd.

[CDC84]

Few made a good point after the game. There is only one game this week, and it's against Pacific, in Spokane, on Saturday. They need the extra practice time. It was clear in the post-game comments that he wasn't thrilled with tonight's performance. Also, it seemed as if he recognized that some changes and adjustments need to be made to counter what teams are gonna try to start doing to the Zags. The college basketball season is a chess match. As good as Baylor is, they are not invincible either. They simply lack the NBA talent that the Zags do.

[ZagsObserver]

Big void with no production from Watson. We don’t have a good backup, or he would have been starting many games ago. This is the biggest deficiency.

[upan8th]

Six assists. Not in the first ten minutes, nor in the first half, but for the WHOLE pluperfect XX!%%## GAME! Just a shame that most of the nation's Zag doubters (they'll forever be with us) witnessed on ESPN the team's absolute worst performance of the season. Couldn't blame pollsters for elevating Baylor to #1 on Monday. If there's a shout-out to be given, it goes to the oddsmakers who nailed the line, despite bettors' beliefs, who calculated that Ballo's 22" vertical would come into play sooner rather than later, & even accounted for the 3 point prowess of the Gael's unheralded (and previously unknown) ace off the bench, a sharpshooter aptly named Mr. Brown (after Downtown Johnny I assume) and whose lore in the betting community has now been firmly planted in the firmament.

[Worthington]

My takeaway about St. Mary's is that they're extremely well coached and fundamentally sound, but they're going to lose games they shouldn't because their guys have very little freedom on offense. They were in control for large stretches, but were only able to build a small lead. All it took was one decent stretch for our high octane offense and we were right back in it. Such a small margin of error for their squad, as they never seem to be looking to deliver the knock out punch.