Gonzaga Notes

Hmmm, I don’t usually pay too much attention the national rankings of basketball teams, but I was somewhat surprised to see Gonzaga is ranked #3 by both the AP and the Coaches Poll. Wow!

Indiana is #1 and Miami is #2, but they certainly have tougher schedules ahead. GU’s toughest game(s) will probably be at BYU and whatever teams they play in the WCC Tournament. I don’t believe GU is the BEST team in the country, but with all the upsets that have been going on, I’m not sure if anyone knows….certainly the voters have a vote, but does it really mean anything considering all the variables in the wins/defeats/scheduling?

Indiana survived at Michigan State Tuesday, but still has to travel to Minnesota and Michigan. And Miami, who only beat Clemson by 2, still has to play at Duke on March 2. Yea, GU could end up #1 going into the postseason and COULD end up with a #1 seed in the NCAA Tournament……again, wow!

In recent history (20 years, or so) I can only think of St. Joe’s, UMass, Cincinnati, and maybe Memphis that were non-BCS schools when they were #1.

I think that’s good for the WCC….sure it helps GU a lot, but they can only have 13 scholarship players at once….there’ve got to be a few more elite players who would like to play in the WCC!

Don't forget, GU does it in spite of the WCC affiliation. They'll be off to the Big East/Catholic Seven/whatever in no time.

up7587 wrote:Don't forget, GU does it in spite of the WCC affiliation. They'll be off to the Big East/Catholic Seven/whatever in no time.

They will embarrass themselves in every other sport if they do.

They may not care.

PurpleGeezer wrote:

up7587 wrote:Don't forget, GU does it in spite of the WCC affiliation. They'll be off to the Big East/Catholic Seven/whatever in no time.

They will embarrass themselves in every other sport if they do.
They may not care.

I guess they could leave.....but I don't see it!

But if they did....Geez is correct, they would embarrass themselves in the other sports.

They've put all their $$$ in one basket, but it would appear they've reached their goal......now, where do they go from there?

DoubleDipper wrote:Hmmm, I don’t usually pay too much attention the national rankings of basketball teams, but I was somewhat surprised to see Gonzaga is ranked #3 by both the AP and the Coaches Poll. Wow!

Indiana is #1 and Miami is #2, but they certainly have tougher schedules ahead.

One down and one to go for GU.

#2 Miami saw its unbeaten start to Atlantic Coast Conference play, 14-game winning streak, and highest-ever national ranking come to an end with a surprisingly lopsided 80-65 loss to host Wake Forest.

Indiana plays at Minnesota on Tueday....and still has to face Ohio St. at home and Michigan on the road. Gonzaga is at BYU on Thursday and home vs. the Pilots on Saturday.

Hope you watched #1 Indiana at Minnesota this evening….one of the best games I’ve had the pleasure of watching. Minnesota came away with the 77-73 win, giving Gonzaga the chance to move into the #1 spot next week if they can get by BYU and UP.

It’s not a lock that Indiana will drop down even with the loss (thought it’s probable) as Minnesota is a helluva opponent…..tonight they were +14 in rebounds; +13 for second chance points; and +18 points in the paint.

So if you can get a #1 ranking while playing in the WCC...why move?

Duke also lost and they had potential to move up.

dholcombe wrote:So if you can get a #1 ranking while playing in the WCC...why move?

They're not moving!

Great game tonight in Provo...I was rooting for GU all the way in their win over BYU. Somehow, it would not have seemed like a WCC win if BYU had pulled it off.

BYU threw a very, very active zone defense at the GU that could easily have resulted in a BYU win, but KO once again proved the difference for GU.

Will Gonzaga be #1 after Saturday? Not if they are beaten by the Pilots!

dholcombe wrote:So if you can get a #1 ranking while playing in the WCC...why move?

The "Seven," who will call their new conference the "Big East" (yes, they're keeping it), are very close to getting Butler and Xavier to move when they start next season. Saint Louis, Creighton, and Dayton are close to joining the year after. That makes 12 teams. Gonzaga is staying put.

But man, the new Big East is going to be loaded.

PurplePrideTrumpet wrote:

dholcombe wrote:So if you can get a #1 ranking while playing in the WCC...why move?

The "Seven," who will call their new conference the "Big East" (yes, they're keeping it), are very close to getting Butler and Xavier to move when they start next season. Saint Louis, Creighton, and Dayton are close to joining the year after. That makes 12 teams. Gonzaga is staying put.

But man, the new Big East is going to be loaded.

I'm not sure St. Louis, Creighton, and Dayton are "close" to moving....there's still concern that Omaha (Creighton) is "too far west," but yes, that will be helluva fun conference to watch.

So GU won at BYU last night, in a hard fought game. Literally. If you recall the Pilot's game in Provo, one of our guys (Oskars?) took a very hard foul from the back-up BYU big man, a DE from their football team. He also put a big hit on Olynyk last night, and a BYU cartoonist captured the moment.



Found on the GUBoards, , originally from the CougarBoard.

Ha-ha, good one!

I don't know if it was because I much prefer GU over BYU in any sporting endeavor, but it seemed the Kaufusi foul met every definition of a Flagrant 2, and automatic ejection; as it was he was called for a Flagrant 1.
-----
Mark Few mentioned how he totally trusted the refs in this game to actually call a foul when GU was fouling intentionally instead of letting BYU take a 3-point shot....instead of letting play continue without the refs making a call, and alluded to the fact he doesn't actually trust some refs who work the games in the Marriott Center to make that call.

As it turned out, the decision to foul was the absolutely correct one, as the BYU player buried the 3 just after the call was made.

Ya, it is hard to say that foul was the same severity of a foul as a clip with an elbow by a player clearing the ball with a defender's head stuck in his chest. I was thinking an ejection was in order.

Well, they did it.....GU is ranked #1 in both the AP and USA Today Coaches Poll.

Congratulations! Now the pressure really starts!

Will they win the WCC Tournament?
Will they be the #1 seed in the NCAA Tournament?
How deep into the NCAA Tournament can they go?

Will anything less than a Final Four be too tough for GU fans to handle?

Congratulations to the Zags... they have had a tremendous season, and IMO deserve the #1 ranking. (Do I think they are the best team in the country? No... but that is not what that rank is about). This version of the Zags is entertaining to watch (and there is no Adam Morrison-esque player to dislike).

First-place votes: Gonzaga 51, Indiana 7, Duke 5, Georgetown 2. I figured Gonzaga would be #1 but I didn't think they would be such a decisive #1.

Looking at schedules, Gonzaga will have one game before next rankings come out (against Santa Clara if the tourney seedings hold) while Indiana has #14 Ohio State (home) and #7 Michigan (away). If Indiana wins both (thus dealing Michigan its first home loss of the season in the process) you'd have to think the Hoosiers will take a LOT of votes back from Gonzaga next week.

The important thing is that Gonzaga would have to lose a game to not get a 1 seed.

Congrats to them.

PilotNut wrote:Congratulations to the Zags... they have had a tremendous season, and IMO deserve the #1 ranking. (Do I think they are the best team in the country? No... but that is not what that rank is about). This version of the Zags is entertaining to watch (and there is no Adam Morrison-esque player to dislike).

My internal conflict is that I despise Gonzaga, yet -

1) Pretty easy to agree with PilotNut, they are a fantastic and entertaining team to watch.
2) They have two outstanding Canadians...we really don't get those too often, and it is very nice to see Olynyk and Pangos playing well.
3) As stated, good recognition for WCC to have the No. 1-ranked team in the country.

So yeah. There's some reasons to like Gonzaga...but I'm still not cheering for them

I don't think Gonzaga will get better than a #2 seed for the NCAA tournament.

dholcombe wrote:I don't think Gonzaga will get better than a #2 seed for the NCAA tournament.

Yea, I think you may be correct. I agree with PN and others that GU is NOT the best team in the nation, but they are #1 in the polls.

I think their RPI is around #9, and with all things being equal (when has that ever happened?) they could even be a #3 seed. I've watched a lot of basketball this season, and think that Duke, Miami, Louisville, Kansas, and Indiana could be better....

We'll just have to wait until "Selection Sunday" on St. Patrick's Day (3/17) to find out. I'm pretty sure the luck of the Irish will prevail, and Notre Dame will get IN....but there will be a number of good teams left out due to the conference "automatics."

PilotNut wrote:This version of the Zags is entertaining to watch (and there is no Adam Morrison-esque player to dislike).

Annoying isn't it? There's usually always at least one player that we love to hate at GU, but this year's version is made up of doggone good hard working blue collar guys. You'd think we'd at least dislike KO, but besides being really, really good, he's showing he's a good guy and a great teammate too.....darn!

Now, if we were talking about BYU........

Don't get carried away.

I hate Stockton, for all the obvious reasons.

If GU gets a #1 seed, they'll probably play in Salt Lake. I'm sure the BYU fans will support them.

Once a Bulldog, always a Bulldog?

After six years as an assistant to Mark Few at Gonzaga, Ray Giacoletti is finally getting another chance as a head coach…..this time for the Drake University Bulldogs of the Missouri Valley Conference.

Giacoletti came to Gonzaga with 10 total years of head coaching experience including a three-year tenure as the head coach at the University of Utah where he led the Utes to a 29-6 record in his first season to tie for the third-most wins in program history and advance to the Sweet 16 of the NCAA Tournament.

Prior to taking the reins at Utah, he served as the head coach at Eastern Washington University where he went 69-50 in four seasons, the best mark of any coach in the school's NCAA Division I history. He guided the Eagles to their first NCAA Tournament appearance in 2004, as well as the Big Sky Conference regular-season and tournament titles.

I don't read the GU board, but I imagine if it's anything like PilotNation, there will be any number of contributors who are highly qualified to replace Giacoletti on Few's staff....