BYU AWAITS GONZAGA

The second to the last regular season game of the season for Gonzaga is pretty important.  A victory would give the Zags the WCC title outright. This would be pretty nice because the Zags lost their streak of consecutive WCC Titles last season and the players would like to get back on track as champions.

Also, with #1 ranked Indiana falling to Minnesota, there is the chance that the Zags could reach the elusive #1 position in the National Polls. This is something no mid-major team has ever done. Gonzaga did manage to get to #3 the last year Ronny Turiaf and Adam Morrison played together. Some say Gonzaga plays in the weaker WCC Conference and would not deserve a #1 ranking but, they had a strong out of conference schedule again that included quality wins over such teams as ranked Oklahoma State, ranked Kansas State, Oklahoma, Davidson, Clemson, Baylor and St. Mary’s twice. If teams above them keep losing, and the Zags keep winning, it might become impossible for them not to ascend to the top. It would be a remarkable feat for sure.

CBS Article: Scouting Title Contenders

This is a must read article about Gonzaga's strengths and weaknesses, directly from the mouth's of opposing coaches GU has faced this year.  The coaches are anonymous, but they give great answers on this year's Gonzaga team.

Click Here for CBS Article

NCAA Vault

Really cool link, you can go in and watch old games from past NCAA tourneys. There are 5 Gonzaga games listed from 1999-2009, most of which are losses (of course they dont have stuff from the magical elite 8 run from 1998). Still really interesting to be able to go back and reminisce about the past. Click here.

Zagaholic Weekly Rankings

1. Gonzaga 78 (3)
2. Duke 71
3. Indiana 62 (2)
4. Michigan 59
5. Florida 54
6. Kansas 52
6. Georgetown 52
8. Miami 51
9. Louisville 47
10. Michigan St. 33
11. Arizona 30
12. Syracuse 29
13. Kansas St. 21
14. Ohio St. 14
14. Oklahoma St. 14
16. Memphis 7

Others Receiving Votes: New Mexico 4, Butler 2

AP: 2
Coaches: 2
ESPN: 2
ESPN RPI: 10
ESPN BPI: 5
CBS: 3
CBS RPI: 10
KenPom: 4

New Bracketology:

 

Gonzaga by the Numbers: Just how good are we?

The new polls were released yesterday, and with the beat down Miami received last week (losing by 15 points to Wake Forest), predictions came true and the Zags were ranked #2 in the Nation for the first time in school history.  Interestingly, this is also the first time since Memphis in 2008, that a non-power 6 team was ranked in the top 2.

So the next question becomes how high can the Zags go?  Can they be ranked #1?  Perhaps, if Indiana drops a few games of their upcoming schedule- they still face Minnesota, Iowa, Ohio State, and Michigan to close out the regular season.  But have the Zags done enough to earn #1?  That is the argument that the rest of the Nation is considering.  The amount of hateful comments directed to the Zags on ESPN and local papers for being “over-rated” is astounding.  So let’s take a look at the numbers and dissect just how this Gonzaga team compares to the rest of the top 5.  I also added in Florida and Louisville to round out the lower half of the top 10 and to provide comparisons for the SEC and Big East, in addition to the Big Ten, ACC, and Big 12 conferences.

Week's Recap and is Gonzaga a 1 seed?

A week of greatness! A win over a scrappy team from San Francisco and arguably Gonzaga’s best game of the year against a Santa Clara squad who boasts four players with over 1000 career points.  Also, talks of a 1 seed?

Gonzaga was on in the midst of a polished, dominant first half against a San Francisco Dons squad that couldn't keep up with the Zags potent offense.  Just watching that first half made the Zags look like a top ten team, but somehow the Zags couldn’t put the Dons away and left the break with a 34-27 lead.  In the second half, the Dons tied it at 45 all with about ten minute left, but Cole Dickerson (14 points) and Cody Dooling (14 oints) weren’t enough to outmatch our tremendous front court of Kelly Olynyk (26, 9 rebounds, 3 assists) and Elias Harris' double-double (17 points, 13 rebounds).  The Zags eventually pulled away with a 71-61 win.

New Bracket

Here is Joe Lunardi's updated Bracket, with us as the #1 seed in the west facing Mercer in the first round: Click Here.

Another Day, Another Article Praising the Zags

The always brilliant Michael Decourcy on our beloved "Zags": Click Here.

Yahoo Article - Comparing the current Zags to teams of the past

Great article by Yahoo, comparing this Gonzaga team to zags teams of the past who were unbeaten in the WCC.  Takes a look at conference strength, average margin of victory, and post season results.

Read Entire Article Here

New ESPN Bracketology

Joe Lunardi has us in his top line now, Zags are starting to look good for a 1 seed if they can win out!

GO ZAGS!

CBSSports.com Bracketology

#1 in the West, Oh how perfect that would be...To see the whole bracket click here.

Zagaholic Weekly Ranking

1. Indiana 60 (2)
1. Miami (1)
3. Gonzaga 59 (1)
4. Michigan St. 48
5. Florida 47
6. Duke 45
7. Michigan 41
8. Louisville 35
9. Syracuse 34
10. Kansas 26
11. Arizona 23
12. Kansas St. 19
13. Georgetown 13
13. Butler 13
15. Oklahoma St. 11
16. Wisconsin 5

Others Receiving Votes: New Mexico 3, Ohio St. 2

AP: 3
Coaches: 3
ESPN: 4
ESPN RPI: 11
ESPN BPI: 6
CBS: 6
CBS RPI: 11
KenPom:  6

Current Bracketology

For those of you not following, the Zags are currently the 5th best team according to Joe Lunardi at ESPN, so we are the best #2 seed in the country in his opinion.

Top 5 Gonzaga Hairstyles of All-Time

Things are looking good for the Zags right now, and we can take a quick breath of fresh air before jumping back in with a game against SCU, so I figured what better time for a fun wife-inspired piece.

The Rules
1. Hairstyle will include any hair that originated above the shoulders. (Chest and back hair will not count.

2. Hair does not have to be good to qualify, it just has to be memorable.

3. All players and Coaches are eligible provided they were at Gonzaga for at least one season.

4. When offering your own top five in the comments below please include links to pictures.

5. There may or may not be a prize for the best "Top 5", provided I don't win myself.

Best in the West - Zags prove dominance against SMC

The Hashtag #BeattheGaelsTWICE was trending on twitter.  Vegas odds-makers had Gonzaga as a 1 point favorite.  From a pure talent standpoint, Gonzaga was the superior team.   But this was rivalry week, and this was Moraga.  This game pitted the second best offensive team in the Nation (Gonzaga) against the third best (St. Mary’s).  St. Mary’s was fighting for their tournament life, and Gonzaga was fighting for redemption on the team who took away their WCC Regular Season Championship and the tournament championship one year prior.  Anything could happen. 

Nervous excitement was running through the veins of every Gonzaga fan.  Thoughts of Dellavedova and his mouth guard, of Where’s Waldow, and the beat of the “Gaels Gone Wild” music video were hauntingly present throughout the day as we anxiously awaited the start of the game. 

Our Dynamic Duo: Olynyk & Pangos

Interesting article detailing both Zag players paths. Different, yet similar: RIGHT HERE

Gonzaga front and Center on ESPN

Go check out the front page article on Kelly Olynyk and Kevin Pangos: Click Here.

Gonzaga's Perception Problem: Click Here.

Guest Article: Defend The Three?

Note From The Editor: We are starting a new series called "Guest Articles", basically you, the reader can submit articles that upon approval will appear on Zagaholic. This first article was submitted by long time reader and big time commenter, GonzagaPride. Enjoy!

 As Gonzaga fans, it seems one of our favorite pastimes is ragging on our team about perimeter defense.  Contested, uncontested, half-court, off-balance circus shots all falling in for three; we have seen it all. Our favorable tourney seeding could very well hinge on two crucial games this week, at St. Mary’s and San Francisco.  It just so happens that these two teams favor the long ball.  All I can hope is that we really are as good as most analysts and CBB experts say we are and believe that our inside-out game works, our perimeter defense can disrupt enough shots that they don’t fall, and that we have worked hard this week on rebounding and defending the pick and roll.

Gael Force

 We all know the Zags are in the midst of an excellent season. Perfect in the West Coast Conference; the best record in the nation overall; yet only a game ahead of Saint Mary’s for conference superiority. Doesn’t it seem like every year it’s the same story? I hear the uproar about how Saint Mary’s has everything to lose and the Zags are riding the wave without a fear in the world, I completely disagree.

 The Zags have an outside chance at their first #1 seed in the NCAA tournament or more likely a #2 seed. For the Zags to get to the final four, we will need to get the best bracket possible. This means that the higher seed we get, and the closer we get to home come tourney time the better chance we have at stringing together four straight wins to get to the final four and silence the critics. This is EVERYTHING. The enormity of this season on the future of our program is insane. This is the year that things should finally come together. This is the year that we should burst onto the national scene and eclipse the age old “Cinderella” moniker. Sure we are America’s sweetheart. David to the Bigger schools Goliath, but we are at the point where we have to transcend the “Mid-Major” label and take a step toward becoming a perennial top team and big time national recruiter. A Final Four would help us take that step. 

 So on Valentine’s Day in Moraga, I wager that we NEED to win. It is simply not ok to just be in the game, or to come in and give a good effort. This is a must win game for our team. We need to come in and manhandle Matthew Dellavedova, Stephen Holt, Brad Waldow and company. We need to exert our will and show we are the superior team both at home and on the road. We need to take advantage of a game against a top 25 caliber team and continue to show the nation we are ready to take our talents to the next level this year. I don’t want to hear another Zag fan talk about how it’s ok if we lose. ITS NOT! End of Story.

Scouting Kelly Olynyk

Very good scouting video from DraftExpress.com. Well done identifying his strengths and weaknesses.

New Bracketology

Zagaholic Weekly Rankings

1. Duke 93 (4)
2. Gonzaga 84 (1)
3. Miami 81
3. Indiana 81 (1)
5. Michigan 71
6. Syracuse 65
7. Florida 63
8. Michigan St. 57
9. Arizona 50
10. Kansas St. 34
11. Kansas 28
12. Ohio St. 26
13. Louisville 23
13. Butler 23
15. Oklahoma St. 12
15. Georgetown 12

Others Receiving Votes: Pittsburgh 6, New Mexico 3, Notre Dame 2, Creighton 2

AP: 5
Coaches: 3
ESPN: 6
ESPN RPI: 12
ESPN BPI:  7
CBS: 8
CBS RPI: 12
KenPom: 9

Super Zag Fan, Christian Layman

Christian Layman is a very special Gonzaga Basketball fan. He has been asking me to put some of his pictures up on our site and I finally got a chance to do just that. We hope you enjoy them as much as we did.

Christian attended Gonzaga as a student, and while he was there he was a member of the famous Kennel Club. As the pictures will show, he has quite the Zag gear collection as well as numerous interesting mementos. Christian is quite possibly the most zealous Zag fan I have ever known....his wall of Zagdom is quite impressive and  no-one cheers louder at games than he does...GO CHRISTIAN!!~

It's a bird, it's a plane, it's super....Christian, lol!

Gonzaga 74 - LMU 55

Gonzaga became the first team in the country to record 23 wins this season, and they did so by beating a pesky Loyola Marymount team in the Kennel last night.  

Kevin Pangos and Kelly Olynyk both had team highs with 20 points, while guard Anthony Ireland of LMU put up a game high 30 points.  Elias Harris also put in a quiet double-double with 10 rebounds and 16 points.  The senior is becoming very consistent on the stat sheet and is finishing up his final year strong in WCC play. 

Unlike the 45 point blow out the Zags gave LMU last week in Los Angeles, the Lions came out and played tough and physical.  Gonzaga finally pulled away towards the end of the first half, and was just too deep and big for the Lions to stay competitive for long.  You have to praise the effort of the LMU players for putting the blow out game behind them and giving the #6 team in the nation a game they had to work for. 


Its also nice to see Kevin Pangos has finally found his shot and can be really dangerous from the perimeter.  I like seeing Dranginis getting more playing time lately, as I think he can be really special for years to come at GU.  I would like to see Gary Bell get some more looks, but he had quite a few shots that went in and out and we could easily have seen him in double figures if a few of those went in.   

Gonzaga is now 10-0 in WCC play and 23-2 overall.  With all of the losses in the top 5 this week, it will be interesting to see how high Gonzaga gets ranked tomorrow in the polls.  We shall see.  I'm predicting they will move up to #3, and we might see Miami jump from #8 to #2.  We'll know tomorrow.

Go Zags, and everyone gear up for an exciting game at Saint Mary's this week.

Gonzaga Men's Basketball vs LMU Postgame Interview, February 9, 2013

Mark Few is the Winningest Active Coach in D1 Basketball

Gonzaga's Basketball coach, Mark Few,  has finally passed North Carolina's Roy Williams and is now the current winningest active coach in Division 1 College Basketball.

In his 14th year of coaching Gonzaga, coach Few finally passed Roy Williams after Thursday's win in the Kennel vs. Pepperdine.

His record while at Gonzaga is 364-92 and that gives him a winning % of .7982. He has a slight edge over Williams who is at .7979%.

Quite an accomplishment indeed. Congratulations Coach Few!

Announcement: Free Zaggie Contest Winner is...THEO

Please email me your shipping info and I will get your prize on it's way....CONGRATULATIONS!!~

Thanks to everyone else for participating.....there will be more chances to win additional prizes soon, stay tuned, and GO ZAGS!!~

BEST.BRACKET.EVER.

This would be a dream come true right here...Chock full of overrated teams and a #2 seed in the West? I will take it...

Ride the Wave?

I could wax poetically about how we just manhandled Pepperdine for the 24th straight time, or how it has been 11 years since the Waves last gave Gonzaga any trouble. I could talk about how our young perimeter’s confidence grows by the game or how our once little used end of the bench continues to improve and provide solid minutes. 22-2 is good for the best record in the nation, we are currently ranked #6 and will probably be #3 or #4 in next week’s rankings. This should be plenty to rest our hat on, right? We SHOULD be happy, right? All’s well in Spokane right? I say WRONG.

I’m not satisfied; I do not see this as “Big” victory. When I watch these 30 point drubbings of mediocre opponents like Pepperdine or Loyola Marymount I see all the tiny imperfections that teams like Florida, Indiana, or Duke would feed off of. I see our March success thwarted in the sweet 16…again. This is a team that is as talented and deep as any in the nation. Listen to the countless pundits on ESPN, Fox, or CBS who sing praises of Gonzaga on the rooftops. They mention “Final Four” and “Zags” in the same breath more often than ever before. But I don’t see this as enough; I see it as dangerous to the psyche of this team. 

FUTURE ZAG? Sign this kid up!~

Another Gaz Giveaway Contest - Win Free Bulldog Zaggie!

It's been awhile since we've had a contest and the winter blahs are starting to get to me. So to combat them, how about we cheer things up around here and have another contest where you can win a free prize?

Of course, Josh and I are always excused from winning, and for the most part our writers are not eligible. But this time they get to participate as well as anyone else that is interested. It will not be possible for me to show impartiality because the numbers will not lie.

How to win: In comments below, simply predict the final score of Thursday's Pepperdine game.The closest combined score (both teams scores added together) wins. In case of a tie, we'll go with the closest to the Zags point total.

The prize: A Bulldog Zaggie! (code for Snuggie....we've all heard about them). Bought directly from The Zag Shop, it's a fleecy feeling blanket with sleeves. But this is a very special Snuggie because it is a Zag one. Wrap your selves up in this during these cccold winter Gonzaga games and feel the warmth! I'd be willing to bet some of those Zag fans that stay in Tent City before the games could use one of these to help show their fanhood, and to help keep warm, lol. It retails for $32.99 plus tax. Give as a gift or keep for yourself. Or do whatever you want with it, it's yours!

Directions: I will announce the winner the day after this Thursday's game with Pepperdine. You need to provide a shipping address. Contact me via email (sirfurry@hotmail.com) if you are the winner and give your shipping info. I will ship for free as well! I told you it was free and I meant it.

Best of luck to everybody!!~   GO ZAGS!!~

It was bound to happen...

You're confused...so is Mark Few
 
Let's get a couple things straight, Gonzaga is good; San Diego is not. Why did this happen then? Why did it take a Stockton runner to put us up and give us the win? Simple: Gonzaga gets everyone's best game.

If you look at San Diego's schedule it is littered with teams 90% of the college basketball world have never even heard of. The one ranked team that USD plays other than Gonzaga is San Diego State, so when you look at the schedule you see 2 games circled for USD; Gonzaga and Gonzaga.

San Diego was prepared for the Zags and took advantage of our recent weakness; defensive rebounding. Harris said it best after the game, "We really need to go back on Monday and go back to boxing out with more heart because that today was not acceptable."

Another thing that was not acceptable was Coach Few's untimely technical foul. He has to know that with the game on the line you have to keep your emotions in check. Ultimately, Gonzaga Buckled down and held on for the win, a win that helps mature this team with so much potential.

Check after the break for Gonzaga's Player Ratings.