Bell Pangos and Edi all with a season under their belt, we're going to have one of the toughest frontcourts and backcourts in the country. Dower is gonna get bigger and stronger, and Harris is already a stud. Spangler proved that he can grab rebounds and play tough off the bench. Plus Kelly will be bigger and stronger. Hart and Stockton will still be here.

With our experience, and our abundance of scorers, I really see us being a top 3 seed in the tournament next year. I think that we'll lose no more than 4 games in the regular season. I think we have what it takes to make a national championship run next year. I thought we were good enough this year as well, but we just didn't get the bounces down the stretch. The tournament experience will only help us.

We are going to be scary good next year. I see us being ranked in the preseason top 12. Sacre was a great defender and presence in the paint, he will be missed, but sometimes he would kill the momentum on offense by turning the ball over. We should be one of the top offenses in the country next year. I'm looking forward to see what Kelly and Dower can do for us defensively.

I think we've given plenty of time or adequate time to Sizemore to prove himself at the big league level.  He's been a solid contributor, but after a hot start he has probably regressed to what he is.  A .250 hitting utility infielder with a little bit of power.

        On the other hand we have Harry Potter who has done quite well in the minor leagues and has looked comfortable at the plate so far.  In every full minor league season Sogard has walked more than he has struckout, he's led the league in doubles and gets on base 38 percent of the time.   Sizemore was just as impressive as Sogard in the minor leagues but some people don't make the jump to the big leagues with as much continuity as others do.    I'm all for Sogard getting more at bats at 3rd base, and at SS to give Cliff a rest every once in a while.

This is what a pimp looks like.

I know we're the Gonzaga Bulldogs, but everyone else calls us the Zags.  So I think it's an easy solution to change our name to the Gonzaga Zags.  A little bit redundant but it's not like anyone out there calls us the Dogs or the Bulldogs.  Now you're probably asking, What a Zag is supposed to look like?  First off, It's not a bulldog.  The easy answer is it is a just a very large capitalized Z.  A little bland? Yes, but more fitting than a bulldog.  Just tossing this idiotic suggestion out there to keep things fun out here in Zag land amidst a serious investigation.

I was just gonna throw this out there, I'm sure it has probably already been mentioned before.  But I have grown tired of watching night games at the Coliseum, and frankly it's a bore anywhere on the west coast.  Since the Rockies got their humidor to reduce the distance of batted balls, can we start winding our balls tighter or juicing them somehow to increase distance for night games?  I would greatly appreciate more offense and home runs, I also think it would be good for attendance.  I figured juicing up the baseballs is financially more feasible than paying for a power hitter. I don't want to see home runs being hit at an obscene rate but I want the playing field leveled much like the Rockies did.

then we will have only 3 players on the squad that have more than one year of NCAA experience.  (Sacre Harris and Olynyk)  4 if you count Mike Hart's .347 seconds of playing time his freshmen year.  That is just an incredibly high turnover rate.  I don't even think Kentucky can match that.  With that said, it has been very exciting to see Gonzaga's latest episodes of musical chairs.  It kind of makes me think I'm watching the stock market and we're constantly buying and selling players.

That was a nail biter last night.  We couldn't buy a bucket to start out the game.  But its a good thing Meech started heating up from 3.  I think he hit 4 3's in a row, I was upset that Few put Stockton in so quick.  I know we were only playing against Seattle but still, let the guy get his points.  But still, Stock had a couple nice putback dunks.  I was pleased with Sacre staying out of foul trouble and E looked aggressive early.  I wish that we got him the ball more in the 2nd half.  But I guess thats the way it goes.   And yes at a certain point I start hallucinating games to get me through the offseason.

Do we have to put up with of not making it past the sweet 16 with Mark Few?  He's been to it 12 years now and has failed to make it to the elite 8.  Most great coaches make the elite 8 within the first 5 years of taking over a program.  But Mark Few was handed an elite 8 team.    I know must schools, considering there are 300 + of them would dream of making it to the sweet 16, or even the tournament for that matter.  But we're not like most programs, we've established ourselves as a legitimate program, at what point does not advancing get old??  It's nice getting to the tournament every year and winning our league, but is that enough?  I would rather finish 4th in our league and reach the final four.    Sure, winning the WCC 11 years in a row is no small feat, but Peyton Manning doesn't give a crap if he wins the AFC South 20 years in a row.  

Sometimes I wonder about the competitive nature of Mark Few as well as the philosophy.  I wonder about how he teaches help defense in practice.  We have some of the best big men in the country, yet our guards continually sag off of great shooters to help defend in the post.  After tournament losses, he always talks about the tournament being a crapshoot or the season being a success, or how they defended BYU well, but they scored anyways.  I still don't understand how David Stockton got so many minutes against BYU.  Jimmer went the first 9 minutes without a field goal, but then in the second half Meech was barely even on the floor.  

Maybe Mark Few has done the best with what he's had, or is simply the victim of unfortunate shooting performances by opposing teams?  But after 12 years of blunders and repeated letdowns, I start to doubt it.  I think that if this 2011 recruiting class fails to make it past the Sweet 16, then we have to ask ourselves some serious questions about who should be leading the team.  

Then again there's a chance that if Mark Few steps down that our program goes into shambles,  other WCC teams rise up and  beat us and we fail to win the league or make the tournament.  Do we just accept winning the league and making the tournament?  

Mark Few has helped put Gonzaga on the map, and 4 sweet 16 appearances in 12 years is impressive for a mid-major, heck even a power conference.  It's a remote place in the US, and it certainly must be difficult to get some recruits to travel all the way NorthWest into the icy cold winters .  Maybe as fans we should just be happy that we have a team playing in the tournament every year. 

 Unfortunately we're in a comfort zone.  It's probably better for a coach to make the tournament every year than to make the final 4 in his first year, and follow that up with 10 straight NIT appearances.  Hopefully Mark Few can finally put it together for a deep tourney run.

Stage 1- Huge expectations-   This is going to be the year, we only lost one or two players and we're ranked in the pre-season poll.  Our team is much more athletic this year and we finally have the talent to make a championship run.   We have great recruits and a veteran team.

Stage 2- Frustrating non-conference play-  Usually this involves playing ranked opponents.  This allows us to re-examine the state of our program.  Team predictions go from rosy to doomed.  All hell breaks loose.  

Stage 3-  Blame the coaching staff-  It isn't possible that with all of our talent we lose games that we should have won.  This stage involves calling for Mark Few's head, and blaming his substitution patterns and coaching philosophy for our lousy performance.

Stage 4- Fool's Gold-  This stage involves late season momentum generated through playing against the shitty WCC.  This stage teases the Gonzaga fan into thinking that we're finally peaking and playing our best basketball.

Stage 5- Torched in the NCAA's-  This stage involves the opposing team making a ridiculous amount of 3 point shots.(11 vs Davidson 11 vs North Carolina 12 vs Syracuse 14 vs BYU.)  Usually this occurs in either round 1 or round 2.  A total breakdown of team defense occurs, and the game is over before you can say Uncle.

This is the year.  We have finally been positioned in a weak bracket with a clear run to the championship game.  All we have to do is handle an 11 loss injured St. John's team.  They got handled easily by St. Mary's.  And come on, they lost to St. Bonaventure at home?  Are you shitting me?  We are going to dominate the paint, dominate the boards, and kill it from 3.

  Then we face a very soft Byu team without their best big man, that we are going to destroy in the paint. Mike Hart is going to get the start over Steven and is going to be guarding Fredette the whole entire game, and Elias and Sacre are going to dunk all over Collinsworth and Hartsock, ever seen those guys try to jump?or even run and chew gum at the same time?

Then we get to face an over-seeded Florida team a team that can go hot and cold, a team that has been bounced in the 1st round  many times and has spent some of the past years in the Nit,  there guards are 5'7 and 6'1, pretty sad when David Stockton posts up against you.

then we get to face the perennial overrated Pittsburgh team. Pittsburgh is the classic big east choke job.  They haven't even made a trip to the final 4 since 1941.  And it seems like they get a 1 seed every year, (overrated, overrated).  Pittsburgh is almost as offensively challenged as the Torreros.

And then we get to face Notre Dame in the final four or Kansas.  Are you shitting me?  We were 17 down on the road to Notre Dame and we came within a shot of sending that game into overtime.  They basically play St. Mary's basketball. Non-Athletic and living and dying by the three. 

And Kansas?  come on they got destroyed by Kansas St, and barely managed to beat Nebraska.  They haven't even played any difficult road games all season.  And last season after they were an overwhelming favorite to win the tournament they managed to fall asleep and lose to Norther Iowa?  Are you shitting me?  I'll take Sam Rob and Elias over the Morris twins any day of the week.

And in the championship game we get to face whoever manages to stumple out of those regions.    Ohio St or Duke.  Jared Sullinger?  Are you shitting me?  He is basically Big Baby Davis.  And Diebler?  Come on I've seen guys with more Athleticism playing for CSU Bakersfield. 

And Duke?  Come on, they don't even have Kyrie Irving, and Seth Curry?  That guy isn't even half as good as his brother.  Singler is an overrated player who is at his best when he doesnt try to score (that says a lot about his talent).  Do they even have anyone athletic enough to guard Elias?

Well at the beginning of this season or halfway through, this question would have seemed like a no brainer.  But now this team looks tough and very balanced with a bunch of different contributors on a game to game basis.    It looks like we're going to be an 8-10 seed again, (similar to last year).  Our bench is much deeper and our point guard position has stabilized while I think we play much better defense. I'm looking forward to hearing your feedback on which team you think is better.

This hasn't been the typical Zag season where we cruise through the season and sleepwalk through the WCC. There have been many ups and downs. But on the other hand its fun knowing that each game is going to be a little bit more interesting and not an obvious blowout.  We've also witnessed the emergence of 3 players, (Stockton Dower and Carter) who are developing right in front of our guys.  It's taken a little while to develop cohesion but I think we're improving and playing our best basketball at the end of the season.  I love the intensity that we've been playing with on defense.  I think we went 12 minutes without allowing a field goal to memphis, and we held Pepperdine to 27 percent shooting.  Also encouraging is that Elias was playing with a ferocity and aggression.  I think Carter and Goodson (also Stockton) are going to make things difficult on Dellevadova and McConnell.  With our team becoming healthy and peaking late in the season I think we should take care of St Mary's in the WCC tournament and head back to the NCAA's.

Could it be that Stockton Carter Gray Dower and Sacre are our best 5?  I know Harris hasn't been healthy this year and is a possible future draft pick but it's hard to deny the touch that Dower has around the basket.  I believe the days of Kelly being first off the bench are over.    I like Kelly but Sam has a remarkable feel for the game, he plays the game like a pro.  Also, Carter and Stockton have shown that the more minutes they get the better they play.  Carter took Stohl out of the game and was very active on defense, Stockton did a great job at fighting through screens and getting his hands up on defense, and we all know about Stockton's passing abilities.  I know a lot of you say that it depends on match-ups, but I think continuity goes a long ways.  Carter takes a little bit of time to get settled in but in extended minutes he shows that he can be a solid perimeter shooter.  I know Manny and the Mathis's had their time, but I think it's clear that Marquise has better focus and is more of a threat both on offense and defense.  In all likelihood Elias will remain the Starter but I think Sam David and Marquise should get 20 minutes each per game.

I have a feeling that we're going to be seeing a lot of zone the rest of the season which really scares me.  The inside gets jammed up, Steven pretty much gets doubled on the edge, while Meech is just standing there on the perimeter by himself.  Manny takes a little too long to get his shot off which gives the defense extra time to rotate.  When we get the ball inside to Sacre the zone just collapses on him and he gets the ball stolen or a jump ball.  We desperately need to improve our zone offense skills.

I'm sorry for calling you unathletic and a liability on defense.  I was wrong when I said we would be better this year because we wouldn't have to worry about you on defense.  But after watching this team play this year it is clear that you are a miracle worker.  My bad...  Is there anyway we can trade Duke for Curry?  they don't need him that bad since they have Irving now.  Maybe we can trade Goodson, Carter and Stockton for Seth Curry?

Our team has proved time and time again that it isn't smart quick or savvy enough to play man defense.  The brain lapses are inevitable along with the failed rotations and bad help defense.  Lets just play the "Gonzaga zone" !!! Ironically most teams play zones to tempt teams into 3 point shots and to keep the ball out of the paint, but with our  defenders we need to play zone to defend against the 3 pointers..  I think against the top teams we have proven that we can't win while playing man defense.  We would have lost to Marquette if we continued to play man.    So lets just simplify things and play zone defense all game long...

Why after all these years must you bring the ball down and do 3 pump fakes before every shot.  You have wide open dunks and still you lower the ball and allow the defense to get in position.  Chin the ball Sacre, chin the ball.  Since you're a beast in the weight room you need to catch and squeeze the ball chest high and attack the rim with authority.  With your size and strength Sacre you should be getting to the foul line every time you touch the ball.  Just back your defender down.  Don't hold the ball for 3 hours and let people knock it out of your hands. 

Good luck Rob

we can dissect the team's problems ad infinitum, but the end result is that there are a lot of teams better than us.  Although we were able to hang close for some of the game, it seems like we're always plagued by the same problems.  Poor transition defense, poor help defense, blown assignments, and just giving up way too many easy looks.  It's no coincidence how teams seem to shoot lights out from 3 against us. (Ball goes into the post, defenders crowd in, somebody loses their guy, and somebody ends up with a wide open 3pt shot.)  We shot horrific from 3 again... 3-14? We were manhandled again.  Teams out-hustle us, beat us to loose balls and we've all seen this all too many times.  This was textbook 2nd Round March Madness for us.    Hopefully we can just go back to beating up on the WCC because we never even bother showing up against the elite teams...  

Having said that, David Stockton needs to start, Mathis Keita should play 2, Gray should play 3, Harris 4 Sacre 5.    Keita seems to at least give a damn on defense, and he's also athletic enough to guard the perimeter...

I was just wondering what your guys' thoughts were concerning his playing time this year, or if you think he'll redshirt.  I was really impressed with the little I did see of him.  He seemed to have a pure stroke, reminded me of Steph Curry, I think the kid has a big future here. I know we're pretty deep at the guard position this year but I think we're really going to need somebody with his pure stroke to take pressure off of Rob and Elias.

At first I thought Keita would Redshirt this year, but that really doesn't make much sense since we have Gary Bell coming in next year.  With Carter playing the 2 we need Keita to backup Meech.  Hyland most likely will come off the bench for instant offense, to drain threes and to be a zone-buster, Harris and Sacre should draw many double teams. I have to believe that Carter will play SG.  Few likes to have Arop's energy off the bench. and that there will be a lineup of Goodson Carter Gray Harris and Sacre..    While Carter and Gray could also get a few minutes every game running the point.  Basically I believe that Carter was recruited to take Bouldin's spot in the offense.  Kelly and Dower will both sub in for Harris and Sacre they are both interchangeable.  Arop can play the 2 and 3 most likely being the first to sub for Gray, and Hyland in his first year will see a lot of minutes against the Zone..  Since Hyland seems to have taken Bol's position as the sharp-shooter, Bol will have to work on other areas of his game, mostly dribbling and shooting off the dribble and becoming a physical defender if he expects to get more minutes...  Hyland's play will largely be dependant on matchups and at some times we could see Meech and Keita on the floor at the same time..

Any word on how his visit went??  I'm really hoping we can land this kid, this is the shooter we've been looking for since Stepp left.  I think this is what has been killing us the last two years is the lack of a pure shooter that can stretch defenses, we can put  a crazy offensive lineup out there if we have Hyland, Carter, Grey Harris and Sacre, at least that is my dream lineup..