Zags - 14/33 or .424
Kyle Wiltjer - 6/7 .857
Zags minus Wiltjer - 8/26 or .308
That's right, 31% from charity land (and Przemek Karnowski only attempted 3 for 1/3 so don't blame him).
Had we made more early, P'dine wouldn't have been breathing down our necks down the stretch. Had we made more in the closing seconds, the Zags wouldn't be giving their fans early on-set heartburn and earning "overrated!" chants.
Had we… but we didn't, and thousands of TV sets endured unjustified abuse as Zag Nation (celebrating National Gonzaga Day the January 31st) yelled at their TVs. Free throws were a difference-maker in Arizona. Just like that game, it was our shooters who were missing. Pangos, Wesley, Dranginis. Teams in the top 5 cannot be lacking skills as fundamental as free-throw shooting.
But we closed out for the W, and our #3 AP ranking is safe for now.
Bigs Played with Poise
Domantas Sabonis played much more confidence and calm, finishing big plays under pressure in the post. He went 18-12-1 on 9/9 from the field. Sabonis came into the lineup with immediate talent, but he was susceptible to getting flustered if a defense pressured him or the refs allowed contact. That didn't happen tonight. He took the bumps, made the fakes, and created clear paths to the rim. Even with defensive post presence Stacy Davis, Sabonis only had 1 turnover in 31 minutes of (very efficient) play. The true freshman is maturing quick, and with plenty of eligibility left, he's shaping up to a long-term asset for the Zags.
How do you say "GTFO with that trash D," in Lithuanian?
THROWS. FREE THROWS. FREE THROWS. FREE THROWS. FREE THROWS. FREE THROWS.
Pepperdine is the Real Deal
Pepperdine has put together an above average record on a mediocre schedule. Their non-conference record is rather underwhelming, but they went into the Marriott Center, agitated everyone but Kyle Collinsworth, and never trailed through to the end of regulation. Their success comes largely thanks to a stifling perimeter defense, and rising star Stacy Davis who has a year left to develop, and use as a recruiting token. They need to perform better when they visit St. Mary's but either way they will make a bit of noise in Vegas come conference tournament time.
Are the Zags Overrated?
No. Pepperdine fans took the liberty of pointing out that an unranked mid-major was giving the #3 Zags reason to panic by chanting "overrated!" But basketball doesn't work that way, especially Zags basketball. By that logic, Arizona and Pepperdine are similar teams, because we held the lead until the very end of regulation in that game too. What's really happening is the Zags are playing up, or down to their competition. It happened in Provo when we exploded out of the gates, then let the Cougars tie it up (on a four-guard lineup) and actually hold a lead for a while before making some changes and winning by 7. So is it something to worry about? In the sense that it's a bad habit, yes. But no, it doesn't make us overrated because we struggled with Pepperdine the same way we did with Arizona.
THROWS. FREE THROWS. FREE THROWS. FREE THROWS. FREE THROWS. FREE THROWS. FREE THROWS. FREE THROWS.
1 comment:
Great recap Taymour!
Free throws...an anomaly? Or not.
Wesley missed three that killed us at 'Zona. The usually dependable Pangos missed two near the end of P'dine to make things more interesting than anyone wanted.
Early in the season the team( especially Karnowski) was terrible at hitting FFs, but looked to have turned the corner. These hiccups are reminders that this issue is not completely solved.
We can only hope that this does not cost us a game in March.
More FFs in practice please.
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