Gonzaga steals a close one in Pullman

Get it? We "stole" one? Haaaa. AP photo - Dean Hare

I went to a game watch at a bar here in Salt Lake City (put on by my overly talented friend Emily Stokes), and while I wasn’t drinking during the game I definitely could have used a shot after Pangos bailed us out with one of those running bankers that are becoming a trend. I had Meech flashbacks, which hasn’t happened in a while. It turns out, one does not simply walk into Pullman and get an easy victory. There is evil there that does not sleep. Before I get started, I owe some people apologies. 

Yesterday, I posted (on this very blog) a comment about the Wazzu game in which I casually dismissed this game as an impending blowout. My logic was simple (though I didn't spell much of it out in writing): DaVonte Lacy was hurt, Motum is all they had, and WSU simply didn't have the horses to keep up with us over the course of the game. Turns out, Lacy was just fine and the energy in Pullman kept them within reach all game. I was off by a little bit.

Next apology! To Kelly Olynyk and Mike Hart. Hart I don’t actually feel too bad about because I’ve never expected him to do much other than scrap for boards and play defense. So, I’m mostly apologizing for not truly appreciating his value as a key piece on this team. Last night, he did everything that we expect him to do and one thing we don’t (that big three pointer). He played solid defense and came up with a couple charges and offensive rebounds, including a huge one near the end of the game off of a missed free throw by Olynyk that led to a massive three pointer by the aptly nicknamed “KO.” This game made me understand exactly what Few sees in Hart: extra possessions. While the Flex offense works much better when you have 5 legitimate offensive options moving around and stretching the defense, Hart’s ability to draw charges, fight for loose balls, come up with steals and pull down offensive boards translates into extra possessions for the offense. The offensive downgrade that Hart causes by being on the floor is mitigated by his ability to add 3-6 extra possessions for the offense to work with, and with our team being so efficient this year, extra possessions is absolutely huge. In a game this close, it was the difference.

To Kelly Olynyk, I’m sorry I kept bashing you early on this season… I should have trusted that you were just figuring stuff out. The first couple games he appeared in this season he seemed rusty and out of sync, misplaying easy passes or missing some bunnies. I was worried that he was more hype than skill, and the fact that national columnists kept talking about him as the best big guy on our team bugged me (I thought he was more like #3 or #4, depending on Karnowski’s mood). What bothered me about KO is his lack of a true back to the basket game, something I have always felt is necessary for a 7-footer. He doesn’t really have a hook shot or a drop step or an up-and-under move he can go to time and time again to manufacture points. Instead, KO seems to just… figure it out. Spin move into the lane, scoop layup between two defenders. Pull up jump shot (?!) 8 feet from the basket. Transition three. Some weird half fade away thing. Leaner into traffic. He puts the ball in the basket, and he takes what the defense gives him. He might have trouble against a more athletic defender, but last night he bailed us out of bad possessions over and over again. So, Kelly, I’m sorry I kept making fun of your hair (not that sorry, it’s awful) instead of paying more attention to the skill you were showing on the floor. That was some truly inspired play in Pullman. You have my axe. 

Hair aside, great game by KO. AP photo - Dean Hare

Game balls go to Harris, Olynyk and Hart, who powered us through some woeful guard play. Harris was spectacular, with 23 points, 6 boards, 3 assists, 4 steals (!), and a block. He was aggressive from the start, using his polished post game to get in the lane and bull past defenders. He’s looking more and more like a legitimate Wooden award candidate. KO, as I’ve discussed, was a dynamic offensive force with 22 points, 7 boards, and 2 assists. Hart had his usual misleading line of 3 points, 3 rebounds, an assist and a steal, though it seemed like everything he did was at a time when we needed a spark. Without all three of these players stepping up, we would have fallen in Pullman to an admittedly weaker team.

Most of the blame for our struggles can be placed on our young guards, as Pangos and Bell struggled to get their shots going in consistently. Well, that’s not fair. Bell had 14 on 5-8 shooting, but wasn’t aggressive enough with his shot, choosing to pass up a couple open threes and swing the ball around. Pangos, on the other hand, had 8 points on 2-12 shooting, missing 4 three pointers. At least two of them were halfway down when they rimmed out, but a pretty rough shooting night for KP. That said, it's a testament to his mental strength that he could endure such a frustrating night and still put up the winning runner with the game on the line. Hopefully this isn’t a rerun of last year’s home/away splits, because we really need Pangos to be a consistent performer.

Rough night for Pangos. AP photo - Dean Hare

Minute distribution wise, this was an odd one. Dower, Edi, Dranginis, and Karnowski all had less than ten minutes played, though apparently Dower was sick. Few mostly stuck with a lineup of Pangos, Bell, Hart, Harris, and Olynyk. Pretty balanced on offense and defense, and it seemed to work better than any other lineup we played last night. I don’t mind this lineup at all, though in the future I’d prefer a more fluid rotation of big men that brings our depth to bear on our opponents.

All in all, a back and forth affair between two mismatched teams. Wazzu played aggressive defense last night and didn’t let the game slip away when Gonzaga tried to build on a couple ten point leads. With the game close, they turned to Motum and Lacy to make big plays, and they both delivered strong performances (especially Motum, who buried 5 three pointers). The Gonzaga offense was dysfunctional for most of the night, relying on terrific individual performances to carry them, but it says something about our team if we can score 71 on the road when our offense is struggling. This was a big test for the team… the first true road game against a team that is familiar with us and not too fond of the name on the jerseys. The crowd was pumped up and stayed loud the whole game, forcing us to deal with our first truly hostile environment this season. We didn’t exactly pass with flying colors, but we managed to squeak out an early season win against a motivated opponent. I’ll take it!

P.S. Sorry about the Lord of the Rings links, I just re-watched the first two and I got a little excited.