Game Preview: Gonzaga Bulldogs vs Oakland Golden Grizzlies

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. 

Buzzer Beater Classic: Recapping the Gonzaga/Butler game

Sorry for the delay in posting the game recap.  After that heart-breaker, I took a page out of Crash Mathews book and followed my own rendition of the GU Blues.  I started with number 9 (no chick flick though, just a good ol' fashioned cry), I followed that up with number 10 (drink...a lot), done immediately following the cry and into the deep hours of the night.  After drinking, I added a new number to the list: #11, I went into hibernation.  Hibernation consists of denial, refusal to talk about the game, and lots and lots of sleep.  Finally (similar to the 5 stages of grief), I started to accept the loss and moved forward to work on number 7: thinking about the next game, and the next GU victory.  Only 3 more days to wait!

I had the fortune (misfortune, perhaps?) of attending this game, and it was definitely one for the ages. It caused a myriad of emotions: hope, elation, devastation, dismay, excitement, frustration, belief, and finally, disbelief, sadness, and shock...and that was all in the final 4.6 seconds of play.  It was a series of improbable events.  Gonzaga was up by 1 with 4.6 seconds left, Butler got the ball back, had trouble inbounding and was forced to take a timeout.  It didn't help, as the second they inbounded, they were called for a travel and turned the ball over to GU with 3.5 seconds left.  At that point, the Butler fans around me were quiet - shocked, upset, and sad...but then the place erupted.  All Gonzaga had to do to seal the deal was inbound the ball and waste the final 3.5 seconds.  Instead, the lob from David Stockton to Kelly Olynyk resulted in a steal, a run down the court, and a last second buzzer beater, awkward shot by Roosevelt Jones.  Gonzaga lost.  Just like that, the arena erupted.  The crowd rushed the court, the fans around me were screaming with jubilation, and simultaneously telling me it was a good game.  I had trouble responding, my heart was pounding, my eyes were welling with tears, and my jaw had dropped.  It was an improbable loss, one that has been since shown over and over and over again as the top Sports Center play.  It is a play that will likely never happen again, a veteran David Stockton unable to connect with the solid Kelly Olynyk.  It was a mistake, one that I am not going to fixate on, nor am I going to place blame.  It was just a sad ending to a classic game.  Had GU not been involved, it easily would have been one of the best games I had ever attended.  But that is the curse of a college basketball fan, we CARE about our teams.  Our moods are swayed by a win or a loss, and that one HURT.  If you can make it through this ramble, then please read on for more about the experience of Hinkle Fieldhouse.

Pepperdine Recap

As some of you have pointed out, my pre-season prediction of Pepperdine's record has proved to be 100% correct, while at the same time picking the wrong team in their matchups 50% of the time. This goes to show my brilliance/ignorance, and either way i will proudly brag about it to all that will listen (for the record autocorrect just informed me that i spelled brilliance wrong).





Much like my record Gonzaga's most recent win should be something that they should brag about, and be ashamed about at the same time. Gonzaga won again, and started its WCC season off on the right foot, however they shot their worst FG % of the season at 43.4 %. Despite the 43% Gonzaga actually shot better than most of Pepperdines opponents, which was holding teams to a WCC best 39%.

Eating Crow

I have been outspoken about the fact that I have never been a fan of David Stockton. In fact I even wrote an article on why Draino would steal all of his minutes.  I have said such things as: His last name is the reason he is on the team; his 3-point shot has more arch than a middle school girl’s; he just cannot succeed at a D1 level;he tries to force the ball too much and causes stupid turnovers; and his lack of size and athleticism make him a liability against top-tier teams.

I’ve also been hard on Mike Hart, saying that he is what he is, but that isn’t a Gonzaga basketball player. He doesn’t have the skill set to play for an elite D1 team. He hustles and throws his body around, but in doing so he fouls too much and causes the rest of his team to get out of position. He is so concerned with drawing charges that he forgets to play defense, and his lack of a shooting touch allows other teams to play off him and clog our lanes.
I thought neither of them deserved time on a top-10 team.

David and Mike, I want to offer my sincere apologies. I was wrong.