It is official! The Gonzaga basketball is in full swing as the Bulldogs welcome the Oakland Golden Griz to the McCarthey Athletic Center today at 5pm PST. This will be the third of a four game homestand for the Bulldogs to open their 2013-14 season. The first two games gave us some valuable insight into how the Zags will go about their business in an effort to build upon last seasons success as well as replace the scoring, rebounding and over all hustle lost with the departure of Olynyk, Harris and Hart. Granted, it is a small sample size but it appears that GU will need to and has turned to their backcourt players to carry the scoring load as well as dictate the tempo of the game. As we saw in the most previous game vs Colorado ST, if you are going to pinch down or duck under screens to pack the middle, the experienced guards will make you pay by taking and hitting open jumpers from beyond the arc. In addition, when the Zags come down with the rebound you better get back on defense as these same guards are looking to push the ball in transition and to get out in the open court to create scoring opportunities. Gonzaga has done well in sharing the ball, spreading the floor and taking advantage of scoring opportunities thus far. Look for this to continue against a game, but overmatched opponent in the Golden Grizzlies.
So far, the one glaring negative has been the chemistry between Dower and Karnowski. Of particular concern is the lack of success on the high low post to post passing. Sam and Shem will need to iron this out as the season progresses, as this will be crucial to keeping teams honest in the paint as well as placing foul pressure on opposing backcourts. Look for the frontcourt to have a big game tonight on both ends of the court as they work this out and stay aggressive during their time on the floor.
Key Stat for this matchup:
Assists:
Oakland: 11 per/gm Opponent 19 per/gm Diff: -7
Gonzaga: 16 per/gm Opponent 6.5 per/gm Diff + 9.5
Players Key to the game:
Oakland: Travis Bader: Leads Griz in Scoring with 19 pts/gm with 14 of his 19 FG coming from behind the arc. Bader also only has 2 assists on the Season, so look for him to look to create and take a lot of shots.
Gonzaga: Front Court of Karnowski and Dower: Oakland does not have dominant players at these positions and thus far, averages just 27 rebounds/gm. Both Karnowski and Dower need to press their advantage on the boards for easy putbacks as well as cleaning the class on defensive end. Combined with a backcourt that likes to get out and run, this will be key in GU's ability to dominate tempo.
Oakland will be short handed tonight due to issues off the court for two of their players, specifically a key reserve in Duke Mondy (10 pts and 6 Rebounds/game) Added to this issue is their lack of willingness or ability to spread the floor and force opponents to respect their open shots. The grizzlies come into this game shooting just 35% from the floor and 30% from beyond the arc. Add to this, they only pull down 27 rebounds/game and you have a recipe for disaster against a team that loves to get out in transition and score at every opportunity. In the end, Oakland would have really faced an uphill battle at full strength, but given their additional off the court woes, the fact they are in the middle of a huge road game stretch and the fact that the Zags just don't lose at home, look for this one to get out of hand in a hurry with Gonzaga winning by 20+
Enjoy the game and GO ZAGS!!!!
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