SB Nation - Gonzaga Bulldogs

12/19 Game Links

SFBE.NF — Sun, 20 Dec 2009 16:02:56 -0000

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The Pac 10 is alive! USC routs Tennessee

Kansas handles Michigan; Xavier Henry also a pretty good freshman

Texas scores easy and often, tops UNC in Jerry Jones Dome

West Virginia tests road waters, escapes with win over Cleveland St.

Hoyas stay on campus, lose to Old Dominion

Duke routs Gonzaga at Cameron Indoor North

Richmond gets first true road win, upsets Florida

UMASS shocks Memphis in some sort of John Calipari Invitational

Gonzaga-Duke postgame embarrassment thread

Zach B — Sat, 19 Dec 2009 23:36:53 -0000

More photos » by Paul J. Bereswill - AP

I can basically guarantee this play resulted in some type of turnover. (AP Photo/Paul J. Bereswill)

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For the second straight year Gonzaga has been embarrassed while the whole world was watching. Last year it was against Memphis when College Gameday was in Spokane and this year it is against Duke at Madison Square Garden.

I'm going to try and be brief but we'll see if that works.

A 35 point loss is obviously painful enough, but when you think back on how Gonzaga looked today, it's easy to think that Duke could have beaten us by 60 points. Let's start with the players on the court. Matt Bouldin and Steven Gray were awful. They combined to shoot 4-15 and 0-7 from three. I get that Matt was coming off a concussion but I look at this two ways. 1) He was playing will the effects of his concussion and hurt the team or 2) He was healthy and just played awful. Either way, it was terrible. He missed layups, made bad passes, and refused to assert himself. It looked like one of his classic Memphis games. As for Gray, I really have nothing else to say. He had a two minute stint in the second half where he actually looked good and worked hard. For the rest of the game, he was lazy, sloppy, and just off. These two "leaders" failed to show up.

Robert Sacre was Gonzaga's leading scorer with a whopping nine points. Awesome. Shooting a blistering 2-12, Rob failed to convert some easy chances early in the game and that basically send his afternoon into a tailspin. Elias Harris might have frustrated me just as much as anyone else today. For as calm, cool, and collected as he looks, if Elias doesn't get things going his way early, he is going to hurt this team. He got some questionable fouls called on him early and missed some shots and then proceeded to commit six turnovers. Many of us thought Elias and Rob would have great games today and Mark Few definitely set them up to get going early but they failed to connect.

continue reading after the jump...

Speaking of Mark Few. I thought the rotation was horrible. Mangisto Arop had an excellent first half where he played great defense, hit the glass, and did a lot of nice things and didn't see the court again until five minutes left in the game. Meanwhile, Jon Scheyer was torching Gonzaga. Think we could have used Manny's length against him? Secondly, we all know that Bol Kong is instant offense. We also all know that Kelly Olynyk is not. After a horrible first half, Kelly played a good number of second half minutes and did nothing good. He is playing out of position at the four and I thought it would have been better if we stretched Duke out to the perimeter and let Kong get some clean looks and maybe we could get a run started.

I understand that Mark Few wants to keep Matt and Steven in there because they are "bound to get hot" but I'm starting to think that some things need to get blown up. First off, I would bench Steven Gray. He's done nothing recently to warrant a starting spot. I don't know if the answer is Manny or someone else but for a team that is horrible rebounding the ball, getting Manny in there would really set a tone because he just works hard and is so long and lanky. Secondly, you have to shorten the rotation. There were so many lineup variations out there early on in the game that no one could get in a flow. I get that Kelly works hard and G.J. has great speed but they should play about two-four minutes a game. Bol Kong needs to be first or second off the bench. If you keep starting Gray, Manny needs more time. Then I would probably add Grant and a sprinkling of Will and call the rotation good.

There's some stuff I missed but I just want to open it up to some thoughts. As you can probably tell, this is a rare feeling at Gonzaga. Embarrassment is not something we are used to in Spokane but I feel the best way to deal with it is to shake things up.

Let's hear what you have to say.

Poll

Your current state of mind after Duke's demolition of Gonzaga is...

The biggest stage in college basketball: Zags vs. Duke

everydayezag — Sat, 19 Dec 2009 01:25:11 -0000

More photos » by Ted S. Warren - AP

Hopefully Rob Sacre will be running off the court at Madison Square Garden after another great performance and victory.

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This game is one of those moments where you are excited and proud to be a follower of the Gonzaga program. Sure it was great playing at Michigan St. and winning a high profile tournament like the Maui Invitational. However, none of that compares to playing one of the most revered programs in college basketball at Madison Square Garden. When Gonzaga meets Duke on Saturday afternoon is will be a game televised on CBS and they will be playing at the greatest arena in the country, in arguably the most popular and unique city in the country. Even more important is the fact that they are facing one of the best Duke teams of this decade, with the Blue Devils ranked in the top 10 heading into this game. Coach K remains one of the most respected coaches in the industry. With that said, the days of Gonzaga looking in awe at a program like Duke are long gone. These Zags have one of the most recognizable coaches in the country, and have the same amount of talent that Duke will put on the court. The one question that remains is whether or not his team can elevate it's game on the biggest stage in the sport.

Much like the Zags, Duke has lots of experience and talent in their back court. Jon Scheyer and Kyle Singler are the two most productive and important pieces on this Duke team, with Singler being one of the more difficult guys to guard in the country. Neither is a particularly elite athlete, but both have great intelligence on the court, and both need to have hands in their face on every shot they take. In Elias Harris, I think the Zags have the ideal match up to limit Singler, as Harris has the athleticism and toughness to limit Singler and make every shot and touch difficult for him. In terms of guarding Scheyer, I would assume that it will be a combo of Meech, Gray, and Arop. I don't think Matt or Grant are good enough defenders to fight through all the screens that Scheyer will receive on the offensive end. Therefore, those two will likely match up with Andre Dawkins, who can shoot the lights out but isn't a complete offensive player yet.

On the offensive end, there is a lot to like for the Zags. I don't think Duke has an answer for Matt Bouldin, as neither Scheyer or Nolan Smith have the combination of quickness and strength to handle Matt on the perimeter or on the drive. Elias should be able to use his versatility to force Singler or Lance Thomas into a tough position, as neither of them have a chance if Elias is playing smart and aggressively. It will also be important that Gonzaga makes sure they get Rob the ball in areas where he can establish offensive position, as I don't think either of the Plumlee brothers or Brian Zoubek can handle Rob/

Another area where I like Gonzaga in this game is in the depth department. Duke has a highly skilled starting five, but there bench is underwhelming. If the coaching staff can get a nice rhythm going with rotation, and utilize match ups for guys like Bol, Manny, and Grant off the bench, Gonzaga might be able to wear down Duke with so many different looks and aggressive play on both ends. It is this depth and versatility that I not only think will be the key for the game against Duke, but also the key to success the rest of the season. Behind a strong game from Elias Harris and the Gonzaga bench, I expect Gonzaga to pull away late for the 78-73 win.

Learning more about the Blue Devils: A few good questions with Crazie Talk

Zach B — Fri, 18 Dec 2009 16:26:30 -0000

More photos » by Andy Manis - AP

Wisconsin's defensive efforts on Lance Thomas and the rest of Duke (besides Kyle Singler) keyed the Badgers upset victory. Gonzaga will have to do the same if it hopes to take down the Blue Devils. (AP Photo/Andy Manis)

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Even though you can probably catch every Duke game on national television, it's always nice to hear about an opponent from an insider's perspective. For that reason, we decided to reach out to Amogh and Jake of "Crazie Talk". They do an outstanding job covering Duke basketball from a student's perspective, much like us. We were able to ask them five questions about their squad this year and they really provided us with some outstanding information about the Blue Devils.

We also answered a few of their questions about Gonzaga which you can see by clicking here.

The Slipper Still Fits: The one blemish on Duke's very nice looking resume right now is a loss at Wisconsin. What did Wisconsin do to upset the Blue Devils? Was it just too much Trevon Hughes or can you blame it on Jon Scheyer and Nolan Smith's poor offensive efforts?

Crazie Talk: At home in Madison; Wisconsin was able to dictate the tempo of the game. Once they hit their shots early, Duke was never really able to get back into the flow of the game. Everyone was out of rhythm offensively, except for Kyle, who exploded with a career high. Nolan had himself a decent game, but Jon completely disappeared offensively and had no answer for Hughes on defense. But if you were to pick out one thing that stood out to me over the course of the game, it would have to be the lack of production from the seniors, Zoubek and Thomas, in the post. Help defense was poor (especially on Hughes) rebounding was subpar, low post scoring was nowhere to be found. That's a recipe for a loss, especially against a hungry Wisconsin team.

TSSF: One of the things that got a lot of attention over the summer was Kyle Singler's move to the outside at small forward. How has Kyle looked at his natural position and what sort of impact has him moving outside had on Duke's front court.

CT: Kyle's move to small forward has helped our squad in a variety of ways. For one, Kyle creates mismatch problems for the opposing defense. At 6'8'', he often has a smaller player guarding him. This also allows him to conserve energy; you don't fatigue as much guarding smaller players than banging down low with bruisers. As the star of our team, we need him in for 35+ minutes most games, and it's important for him to be as fresh as possible. Also, he has been able to play outside-in a lot more than in previous seasons. Kyle has a knack for drawing contact and getting to the rim, and his jumper has become very consistent, especially from mid range. The move to the perimeter, his more natural area on the court, has allowed him to showcase both of these skills. Kyle can still bang down low and get offensive boards, but now we have three 6'10+ guys to do that too.

continue reading our Q&A with Crazie Talk after the jump...

TSSF: Speaking of position changes, there were also a lot of questions about Jon Scheyer starting his first full season as the Blue Devil's point guard. From an outsider's perspective, it appears that he is exceeding expectations with his ridiculous assist-to-turnover ratio. From a Duke perspective, are you as blown away as I have been?

CT: Honestly, I'm not surprised at all that Jon has thrived at the point thus far. He's one of the smartest players Duke has ever had, and his height(6'5) allows him to see the court a lot better than other shorter guards. He's a very heady player who minimizes turnovers - which is probably the most important statistic for a point guard. It seemed kind of strange to me that all the pundits were questioning Scheyer's abilities at the point when it was very clear at the end of the season that the team was much, much better with the ball in his hands.

TSSF: Gonzaga's defense lends itself to allowing their opponent to shoot the three-point shot at will. I'm assuming Mark Few will make some changes for Saturday but how worried should Gonzaga fans be about guys like Scheyer and Andre Dawkins who have been outstanding from beyond the arc.

CT: Scheyer is coming off a career night in Cameron in which he shot 11-13 from the field, including 7-9 from beyond the arc. I don't expect him to be allowed those kind of shots against Gonzaga. But a hot shooting Scheyer makes this team a lot better. Jon has proven himself an incredible playmaker this year, mainly with the pass. With the emergence of Nolan Smith as a go-to scorer, many thought that Scheyer would be the third offensive option behind Smith and Singler. But as his 36 point outing Tuesday night proved, he can still fill it up-especially from beyond the arc.

Dawkins has been an outstanding shooter. I didn't expect him to contribute this much this fast, especially being so clutch in the Connecticut and Wisconsin games. At the Kohl Center he singlehandedly gave us a chance with four consecutive threes. He currently shoots over 50% from distance. Accordingly, his minutes have increased to 20 per game. He's instant offense if his shot is on.

As for defending these two guys, Scheyer is the king of the shot fake. He draws a lot of fouls by getting his defender up in the air and shooting into the contact. Dawkins is more of a catch-and-shoot guy. If you leave him open, he'll take it. Both have a solid mid-range game as well, and can take one dribble into space and knock down an 18 footer.

So I would say that Few must adjust his defense. If our guys get good looks and get hot early, it could be a long night for the Bulldogs.

TSSF: How is the pulse of Blue Devil nation going into this game? Is this a game that you guys are really worried about or do you expect to go into MSG and win and if you can, what really worries you about this Gonzaga team?

We're pumped. Tuesday's win against Gardner-Webb was a solid tune-up, and the team looked exceptional the team had been through a lot in the past week - from the passing of Andre's sister to the rigors of final exams. That said, Gonzaga will be the toughest test yet for this Duke team. Bouldin is a fine player, and will be a handful for whoever ends up matching up with him on defense. What worries me the most, however, is the battle on the blocks. They have been excellent thus far-we really enjoyed their play in the Maui title game against Cincy. But Miles and Mason Plumlee, along with the improved Lance Thomas and Brian Zoubek, are a formidable post presence as well. If Duke can control the glass, our size should win the game. But if Gonzaga gets a lot of second chance shots for guys like Bouldin and Gray, this could be a Bulldog win. I expect Kyle Singler to be the X-factor. If he plays like he did at Wisconsin, Duke should take this by 10. If he disappears, we may lose by 10. It will be a great game either way.

Prediction: Duke 75, Gonzaga 70 in a nail biter.

We'd like to thank the guys over at Crazie Talk for helping us (and you) learn more about Duke!

A decade of "anyone, anywhere, anytime" ends at Madison Square Garden

Zach B — Fri, 18 Dec 2009 01:23:04 -0000

Gonzaga has made it's name by playing big-named teams away from Spokane. As we are about to close out the 2000's, there is no better place to end a decade on the road then at Madison Square Garden.

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I'm not sure if Mark Few is a romantic or this is just a total coincidence but, as a Gonzaga fan, there is no better way to end a decade away from home than playing a game at Madison Square Garden. In fact, it is just so fitting that this program is playing their final "road" game of the decade on the world's most famous basketball court. It is no secret that Mark Few has lived (and sometimes died) by the motto "anyone, anywhere, anytime". This coaching staff has chauffeured its players around the country in order to get recognition and build this program into a perennial power. Everyone knows that the 1999 season put this school on the map but when you look around at basketball and how mid-majors have struggled to stay relevant, it's easy to see that Mark Few's ability to sustain Gonzaga is by far his most outstanding accomplishment.

Mark Few began his head coaching tenure after the magical 1999 run. Dan Monson left the program for the University of Minnesota and basically everyone had written Gonzaga off as a one-hit wonder that would fall back into anonymity. Looking at the 1999-2000 schedule that the staff assembled, it was obvious they had big plans for the program. Imagine playing these four games in nine days: @ #1 Cincinnati, vs. #19 Temple in Chicago, @ #11 UCLA, and then @ Washington. Gonzaga played all four of these teams from December 4th-December 13th, 1999. Some of the players Gonzaga faced during this time included Kenyon Martin, Dermarr Johnson, Steve Logan, Lynn Greer, Jason Kapono, and Earl Watson. Just in case you were curious, Gonzaga went 2-2 during that stretch of games.

Now as we sit here on the verge of playing Duke at Madison Square Garden, it's obvious that nothing has really changed. Sure, we've got a cushy new gym, lots of new Nike stuff, and a reinvigorated campus but the way this team is built is still the same. A lot of people refer to Gonzaga as a sort of "microwave" program. In this ten year span, we've had our fair share of first round draft picks, a seemingly endless streak of tournament appearances, and gym time at some of the greatest stadiums in the country. The great thing is that not a whole lot of the program has been sacrificed to keep Gonzaga relevant and all the credit has to go to the dedication of Mark Few and the quality of assistants he has and the quality of players he has brought in.

I thought about writing a big decade wrap up piece where we talk about who was the most important person to this program and why but that would be nearly impossible to do. Pinpointing the success of your program on one person means that your program hasn't been that successful. You need to have a coach that is dedicated to the program and doesn't jump ship, you need a president that is willing to risk spending money, you need the support of the surrounding community, and you need players that fit the program and buy into the cause. Many people have tried to become "the next Gonzaga" but in today's college basketball world, what happened at Gonzaga can only be described as a perfect storm.

The silver lining to this whole story is that Mark Few's only 46, Spokane still loves their Zags, the talent is at an all-time high, and that all tells me that the future is VERY bright as we are about to begin a brand new decade of Gonzaga basketball.

Rushing the polls: Down to five doubters

Zach B — Wed, 16 Dec 2009 17:45:42 -0000

More photos » by Eugene Tanner - AP

Gonzaga's Maui Invitational victory impressed most of the country, except for the AP voter in Lynchburg, Virginia. (AP Photo/Eugene Tanner)

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Whether you love them, hate them, or flat out ignore them, polls in college basketball are a part of life and go a long way in dictating where teams shake out when March rolls around. The Associated Press poll is thought of as the gold standard when it comes to polls because it is these guys' job to sit and watch college basketball to be educated journalists. The beauty of the Internet is that, at the click of a mouse, we can access how each and every AP voter ranked the teams. Through the outstanding website Pollspeak, every voter's "record" is at our fingertips and it really is an outstanding case study of how people vote and how certain biases may or may not enter their voting patterns. Like it or not, these voters control how the nation looks at the college basketball landscape and they deserve as much scrutiny as the teams they rank. Now, most of the voters hover around a general region with individual teams. However, there are always extremes on both sides and that is what makes the polls so fascinating.

This time last year...

Sadly, we have hit the point in this story where the Zags began their mini-meltdown. After running the Cougars of Washington State out of their own gym, Gonzaga headed south for a date with the Wildcats of Arizona. The U of A was bolstered by their "big three" of Nic Wise, Chase Budinger, and Jordan Hill. Heading into the game, I would describe our confidence as very high for the game as it appeared the Zags had way too much for the thin Wildcats. This did not happen as Gonzaga's veteran big three of Josh Heytvelt, Micah Downs, and Jeremy Pargo combined to shoot 5-22 against Arizona. Austin Daye was the only Zag to show up as the Wildcats upset the fourth ranked Bulldogs. The next day, the pollsters dropped Gonzaga four spots to #8 and the slide began.

Moving on to this season...

Gonzaga's rise into the top fifteen was not so much a result of their outstanding play but rather the mediocre play of those in front of them. The two-loss Bulldogs are the highest ranked team on the West Coast as Washington is barely hanging on to their spot in the poll and everyone else in the Pac-10 is just struggling to right the ship. Here is a general look at some of the AP Poll stats.

-- There are 65 voters in this year's Associated Press poll
-- Of those 65; 60 voters decided the Zags were worthy of a spot in their rankings
-- Jon Wilner continues to be our favorite voter as he put the Bulldogs #11 this week
-- After last weeks loss to Wake Forest, 19 voters left Gonzaga out of the top 25, this week only five still need convincing. We'll examine some of the oddities of the poll after the jump.

For the past few weeks, I have been discussing the poll of one Mr. Cory Curtis from Nashville. I'm now happy to report that this will not be necessary as he has added Gonzaga and finally dropped Vanderbilt from his poll. Welcome to the good side, Cory.

Jon Wilner has been one of the most extreme voters this year and he kept it going this week. He ranked Syracuse #1, Florida #5, Memphis #9, and Gonzaga #11. On the reverse side, he ranked Kansas #3, Texas #7, Villanova #14, and Georgetown #19. The first group of teams were extreme on the high side and the second group was on the low side. If I had to guess, I think it's obvious that he hasn't been impressed with the quality of teams Texas and Kansas have played. Syracuse and Florida, on the other hand, have been two of the most surprisingly good teams in the country and have done their work against some solid competition. While it's hard to argue with his logic with those two teams, I still do think he has Gonzaga and Memphis too high considering GU is a two-loss team and Memphis really hasn't beaten anyone yet. Their most impressive game thus far was probably their two point loss to Kansas earlier this year. An interesting sidenote is that Wilner actually had Gonzaga ahead of Duke in this week's poll. Looks like someone won't be surprised if the Zags pull off the upset on Saturday.

Even though Cory Curtis is out of the doghouse, I have to stay out East with the poll I question the most. Of the five voters that left Gonzaga out of the top 25, Chris Lang from Lynchburg, Virginia had the most interesting poll in my estimation. Lang covers Liberty University for the Lynchburg News & Advance. Unlike Jon Wilner's poll, Mr. Lang is not a real progressive voter as most of his rankings are pretty standard with the rest of the nation. The only area of real interest has to be that he decided to put Washington at #14. This is the same Washington that has lost two games...the only two games which they have left the state of Washington for. What makes this ranking even more interesting is that he has UW four spots ahead of Texas Tech...the team that beat Washington and has still yet to lose a game. Thankfully, Mr. Lang was kind enough to explain his rankings on his blog, here is what he had to say:

I’m not as sold on Gonzaga and Georgia Tech as the rest of the voters are, apparently. I’d like to see Georgia Tech beat someone before I rank them. Gonzaga is up there on the strength of its name and its title in the Maui Invitational, but that field wasn’t as good as we originally thought. I’ve really warmed up to Georgetown, and Kansas State had a great week last week beating Xavier and UNLV. Cincinnati would have been at No. 24 had it closed out the Musketeers Sunday night. Great double overtime game. Love that Crosstown Shootout in Cincy. And Missouri State? Well, I was pretty high on Tulsa at the start of the year and Missouri State beat the Golden Hurricane, so I’ll keep the Bears at No. 25 as long as they remain unbeaten. A Missouri Valley team tends to make noise every year in the NCAAs, and the Bears look pretty strong to this point. Memphis is ranked pretty much entirely on its effort against Kansas. I know it was a loss, but the Tigers are the only team to give the top-ranked Jayhawks a game.

Looking at Georgia Tech's schedule, you kind of have to agree with Lang as their only quality win thus far is over Siena but, in this twisted logic, you would have to say that Washington has beaten no one but he has them fourteenth. He really must dig Georgetown as he actually moved the Huskies UP after their loss to the Hoyas from 15 to 14.

As for his claim that Gonzaga is ranked high because of its name, I also find that peculiar. On Gonzaga's resume is a very close loss in East Lansing against Michigan State, and then wins over Wisconsin, Cincy, and Washington State. I normally wouldn't have the MSU loss on the resume but since he was so impressed with UW's losses to Tech and G-Town, I figured I should include them. He kind of shrugs off the Maui title like it means nothing but he was obviously impressed with Cincinnati as they lost to Xavier and he has to factor in the fact that Wisconsin, a team GU dominated, upset Duke. Aside from Vanderbilt who has been horribly average, I'd argue that the Maui field has exceeded my expectations thus far.

The good thing is that Gonzaga has a chance on Saturday to prove to everyone, even those in Lynchburg, that they belong when they take on Duke at MSG.

Chalk talk: An in-depth look at Gonzaga's motion offense

Zach B — Wed, 16 Dec 2009 05:36:15 -0000

Website of interest: Men's Basketball Hoop Scoop
PDF File: Mark Few's Motion Offense

I think we've all had those moments as sports fans where you become so frustrated with your team that you utter the classic phrase "I could coach better than this idiot!". I'm pretty sure I've written that in some of our live game threads from time to time about Coach Few and I know we've had our fair share of deep talks about coaching around TSSF. My desire to be a coach ends after I throw my hissy fit and sit back and realize what comes with the territory when you are directing 13 college kids. One of the most fascinating aspects of coaching is obviously offensive sets. I think most of us are familiar with the elementary school offensive sets whether it was a flex, motion, iso, or anything else, I'm assuming we all know a bit about offensive plays. The tough thing about being a college coach, and something that I think is often overlooked, is how hard it must be to adapt play calling to fit each players strength and try to avoid their weaknesses.

If you've been a Gonzaga fan for more than a week, you probably know that Mark Few is a pretty innovative guy when it comes to the motion offense. From the PDF file linked above, you can tell that the motion offense is based on quick ball movement and strong backpicks. We heard Mark Few talk today with Doug Gottlieb that if there is one thing this team needs to work on it is ball movement. As you take a look at Coach Few's version of the motion offense, you get a sense of just how small a window this type of set gives a team. At the top of the key when the 3 (Bouldin) comes off the staggered screens to get a shot attempt, it's pretty clear that timing is a huge factor for Gonzaga.

One of the things I have really tried to watch this year is how the offense utilizes Demetri Goodson. When I saw this PDF file of Gonzaga's set motion offense, you can really tell that Meech's overall presence is not felt until three or four passes into the play. Like we've seen all year, Meech makes the initial pass in the offense and then basically clears out and only gets the ball if Matt, Steven, or Elias can't get a clean look. The other thing that stood out to me about this was how smart of a player Elias Harris must be. In case you forgot, Elias did not have a summer to learn the offense. Unlike Andy Poling, who's had over a year to get comfortable at Gonzaga, Elias got to Spokane as school started and had to learn everything on the fly.

Anyways, it was something that caught my eye and I hope you gave it a look as I'm sure some of the things will definitely stick out come Saturday.

The Can Ball Report's NC-Double-Eh Player of the Week - Dec 13

rbala — Tue, 15 Dec 2009 12:00:42 -0000

After a slow start for Kyle Johnson at Long Island University this season, the Ajax, ON native may hit a turning point this season in the past week where he averaged a double-double on his way to being named The Can Ball Report's NC-Double-Eh Player of the Week.

Player of the Week

Kyle Johnson (Ajax, ON) – Jr., Long Island University

Kyle Johnson has been able to fill the bucket up since his break out freshman season with the Blackbirds in 2007 and this season he is doing the same. After starting the season a little sluggish he had seemed to find his stride this past week after averaging a double-double with 15 points and 10 rebounds while shooting 57% from the three point line and picking up 2.5 steals a game as well. With those great numbers, Johnson is this week’s Can Ball Report Player of the Week.

In the Blackbirds’ 80-64 loss to Iona on Dec 9, Johnson recorded his double-double of the season posting 15 points and 11 rebounds. He also added four steals and shot 3 of 7 from the three line, 6 of 14 overall from the floor in 29 minutes.

In following game against Lafayette (Toronto’s Jared Mintz) on Dec 12, Johnson put up 15 points and grabbed nine boards in the LIU close loss, 73-77. He also had a steal and shot 5 of 12 from the floor and went for a season high five treys in his productive 29 minutes.

For the season, Johnson is averaging a team high 6.7 rebounds per game to go along with his 10.4 points, which is good for second on the team, as well as an assist and a steal.

Honorable mention: Andrew Nicholson, St Bonaventure – 18 pts, 5.5 rbs, 14-22 FG, 8-8 FT, 25 mpg.

Line of the Week

Rob Sacre (Vancouver) – Soph., Gonzaga

For this week’s winner we present Rob Sacre. In the Zags tighter-than-should-have-been win over Davidson Dec 12, Sacre had a great game. He put up 23 points in a very efficient 25 minutes going a perfect 6 of 6 from the floor. From the line, Sacre was less than stellar but he managed to go to the line 18 times making 11of his attempts. If he had made the seven he missed he would have cracked the 30 point plateau for the first time in his college career. Great game indeed but the oddest thing about his stat line is that the imposing, 260 lbs paint monster only had one rebound to compliment his point total! Gonzaga is in trouble if Sacre continues with these numbers any further.

Honorable mention: Murphy Burnatowski, Maine – 13 pts, 6 rbs, 9 asts, 4 stls, 5 of 6 FG, 3 of 3 FT, 23 mins.

Poll

Who has impressed so far this NCAA season?

Gonzaga vaults to 15th in AP and Coaches Poll

Zach B — Mon, 14 Dec 2009 18:00:15 -0000

More photos » by Ted S. Warren - AP

8 days ago: Joe Few, left, the son of Gonzaga head coach Mark Few, joins Gonzaga players, including center Robert Sacre (00) as they run off the court following an NCAA college basketball game against Davidson, Saturday, Dec. 12, 2009n in Seattle. Gonzaga won 103-91. (AP Photo/Ted S. Warren)

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After a 2-0 week, the home loss to Wake Forest has pretty much been erased from memory as Gonzaga has entered the top 15 for the first time this season. The ESPN/USA Today Coaches Poll was also just released and Gonzaga is tied with Georgia Tech for the 15th spot in the nation. Thanks to a plethora of subpar performances from a handful of top 25 teams, Gonzaga has risen six spots from their 21st ranking a week ago. All five schools directly ahead of the Zags in last weeks AP Poll (Wisconsin, Cincy, Washington, Texas A&M, and UNLV) all lost this week and Ohio State also fell to Butler. So just in case you were curious how that happened, there you go!

Heading into the week I think it is pretty safe to say that we didn't expect wins over division three Augustana and a two-win Davidson team to net Gonzaga six spots but with all the mediocrity in college basketball this season, anything is possible.

Keeping an eye on Gonzaga's future schedule, there is still only one ranked team remaining this point and that is the Duke Blue Devils. Duke has improved to #7 in the nation in both polls after Villanova was upset by Temple. Expect Gonzaga's schedule strength to improve a bit as Memphis is 26th in the nation according to the AP and Illinois is also receiving votes. I expected St. Mary's to get some votes this week from the AP but that did not happen. The loss of Wayne Hunter makes them much more vulnerable. The Gaels' versatile guard suffered a season ending knee injury this past week.

continue reading after the jump...

In the Coaches Poll, St. Mary's is receiving 17 votes but Memphis is still struggling to get recognition. They are only receiving 21 votes from the Coaches this week with their only loss being by two points to Kansas. Josh Pastner did a nice job at softening the Tigers' schedule with all the turmoil and that probably explains why they have yet to be ranked. The Gaels of St. Mary's have played a tougher schedule than Memphis but are getting less recognition.

The Pac-10 continues its free fall this week with Washington barely hanging on in the AP. They are somehow 21st in the Coaches Poll but 24th in the AP. Cal is receiving a couple votes in the Coaches Poll but other than that, the Pac-10 is downright woeful. I do expect Mike Montgomery to get the Golden Bears together in time to dominate the Pac-10 season schedule but Washington has a couple of big tests before they hit easy street with the conference slate. On Saturday they have Portland and then that following Tuesday they have Texas A&M. Both games will be played at home but, much like Gonzaga, the next couple weeks are of great importance for UW.

Assuming Duke takes care of Gardner-Webb, the game in Madison Square Garden has become very important for the Zags' tournament resume. Wins over Wisconsin, Cincinnati, and Washington State look pretty good but a win over a top ten Duke team would take this team to another level. The West Coast Conference has really come back to Earth and will probably only be a two-bid league at best. Memphis should be ranked when the two teams meet but aside from that, Saturday is the day when the Zags must show they are for real.

The moral of this story: Gonzaga is the best in the West!

On the horizon: Zags get a break before taking on Duke

Zach B — Mon, 14 Dec 2009 15:00:55 -0000

More photos » by Ted S. Warren - AP

Elias Harris dominated the Wildcats of Davidson. Is he poised for a breakthrough game on basketball's biggest stage? (AP Photo/Ted S. Warren)

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Davidson gave Gonzaga a run for their money on Saturday evening but the Wildcats did not have enough to take down the Bouldin-less Bulldogs. The Battle in Seattle was set up by Gonzaga to not only bring good college basketball to the city of Seattle but to also attract big name programs to play the Zags in the Pac-NW. While Davidson isn't much these days without Stephen Curry, you really couldn't have picked a better team for Gonzaga to play without their senior leader Matt Bouldin. As we said in our game recap, Gonzaga was able to physically impose their will on Davidson for 40 minutes and put up 100+ points in Seattle. Robert Sacre and Elias Harris fought, scrapped, and dominated the interior against Davidson while Steven Gray and Demetri Goodson ruled the perimeter. The silver lining of the whole Matt Bouldin incident may have been the way these four played. There's no doubt that they will have to consistently "bring it" if Gonzaga is going to finish out Decmeber the way we are all expecting them to. They should all be riding high after playing Davidson and I expect them to have a great week of practice before heading off to New York. With that, here are a few things to get your week off to a good start...

It's Duke week...

For the first time as a blogger I kind of feel like I'm covering a college football team. November's early season tournament madness is well behind us and were at a bit of a lull in the schedule. Gonzaga will only have two games in the next two weeks. Duke on Saturday and then Eastern Washington all the way on December 28th in the comfy confines of the MAC. Ever since the Duke game at Madison Square Garden was confirmed, Gonzaga fans have had their eyes on the 19th. When you combined one of America's most storied athletic programs with America's most fabled sports arena, there is no need for embellishment. Gonzaga will head into the game an 8-2 ball club and assuming Duke takes care of Gardner-Webb on Tuesday, they'll be 8-1. It will undoubtedly be a game most of the nation will have their eyes on. Gonzaga hasn't played in the Garden since the 2006-07 season when they played three games in the basketball mecca. They played Duke in December and lost a tightly contested game to the Blue Devils but the game most Gonzaga fans like to remember is the preseason NIT when Gonzaga upset North Carolina before being upset by Butler. That game was the official coming out party for big man Josh Heytvelt who absolutely shut down Tyler Hansbrough and established himself as a premier player in the country. I'm assuming there are a couple current Gonzaga big men that wouldn't mind having their official coming out part on basketball's biggest stage come Saturday

continue reading after the poll and jump...

Mark Few made the most of his trip to Seattle...

For big-time college basketball coaches, there really is no downtime. Even after you coaching a high-scoring, up-tempo game like the one Gonzaga played in Saturday, it wasn't as though Mark Few could go back to the hotel and relax. Nope, instead the Gonzaga head man went out to the Kentridge-Federal Way game that tipped at 7:30 PM to get another glimpse at Kentridge's Gary Bell Jr. To be quite honest, this is exactly how I was hoping Coach would spend his time in Seattle. Bell Jr. is a smooth scoring guard from the Seattle area that blew up over the summer during the AAU circuit and is poised for an enormous junior season. Gary holds offers from the likes of Gonzaga, Washington, and Cal. He was quoted as saying the two Pac-10 schools were his leaders right now but it is early yet in the 2011 recruiting cycle. The Chargers of Kentridge lost by six points to Federal Way but Gary put up 18 of Kentridge's 52 points in the losing effort.

Projecting this week's rakings...

The five teams ahead of Gonzaga in last week's AP Poll lost this past week meaning that we should be seeing some significant improvement to our position at some point mid-Monday. Wisconsin, Cincy, UNLV, Washington (sweet), and Texas A&M all lost meaning that I would expected Gonzaga to probably fall somewhere between the 16-17 range tomorrow. Gary Parrish of CBSSports recently weighed in and put the Zags at 15 while Jeff Goodman slated Mark Few's club as the 17th best team in the nation at this point. If Gonzaga could have stole a win from Wake Forest, this Duke game coming up could have solidified Gonzaga as a top 10 team (assuming a positive result).

Bol Kong (and SSF) getting some love

The coolest part about the whole ESPN Insider set up is the Rumors section of the website. For every sport, there is a rumors page that is basically news before it really blows up. Smartly, ESPN's editors have made a conscious effort to stalk the blogosphere to get the pulse of a fan base so that they can get the inside dig quickly. We've been linked a couple of times now by this rumors page including today in a little blurb about Bol Kong:

We wrote last Friday that Gonzaga's Matt Bouldin should be able to play against Davidson despite a suspected concussion. Three hours from the Battle of Seattle's tipoff, coach Mark Few learned that Bouldin would not play or even dress for the game.

Even without Bouldin, the 'Zags were able to pull out the win and in the senior guard's absence, Bulldog fans were able to see first extensive action from heralded frosh Bol Kong. Against Augustana, Kong scored 19 points in only 10 minutes. In place of Bouldin against Davidson, Kong scored 9 points in 15 minutes of action, making one of two threes to increase his team-leading 3-point percentage to 60 percent.

While Bouldin should return, Kong's solid play should earn him more minutes and confidence from coach Mark Few. The administrators of The Slipper Still Fits (a Gonzaga men's basketball site) are definitely enthused by the freshman's play: "When Kong has the ball in his hands on offense, I have total confidence that good things will happen ... He's so deceptively fast and strong on the dribble that there aren't many players that match up well with him."

Bol seems to ideally fit ESPN's Rumors section because this kid is about to explode. I'm just waiting for that game where he comes in early in the first half and takes over. All the sudden...you look up and Bol's got twenty. That's exactly how I expect it to go and I've ran it through in my mind a number of times. I'll be curious to see if Bol has gained enough respect where Coach K recognizes when he is on the court and makes the necessary adjustment. For the Blue Devils, I'm not sure who that would be. Singler can take care of his size but I like Kong on the drive in that situation. If he is not accounted for, I would expect Bol to make some big shots against Duke like he has done all season.

With guys like Bol, Elias, Manny, and Kelly I rest at ease because they have yet to be phased by a situation. Their international experience has made them excellent competitors that have yet to show any real sign of getting caught up in the moment. Elias' ejection in the Wake Forest game was more of a hard foul in my book where he just got a bit overzealous. I exepct this solid play to continue from all four of these players as Duke waits in the wings.

Poll

SB Nation - Gonzaga Bulldogs

12/19 Game Links

The Pac 10 is alive! USC routs Tennessee

Kansas handles Michigan; Xavier Henry also a pretty good freshman

Texas scores easy and often, tops UNC in Jerry Jones Dome

West Virginia tests road waters, escapes with win over Cleveland St.

Hoyas stay on campus, lose to Old Dominion

Duke routs Gonzaga at Cameron Indoor North

Richmond gets first true road win, upsets Florida

UMASS shocks Memphis in some sort of John Calipari Invitational

Gonzaga-Duke postgame embarrassment thread

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Gonzaga vaults to 15th in AP and Coaches Poll

On the horizon: Zags get a break before taking on Duke

Three players had career high scoring days on Saturday for Gonzaga. Which Zag impressed you the most?