Yardbarker: Gonzaga Bulldogs

The West in Photos: Chris Farley Homage and More

Fri, 04 Dec 2009 15:55:25 -0500

For your enjoyment, I present some of the interesting sights of West Coast Basketball I've managed to capture over the early weeks of the season. Chris Farley would be proud of this Utah State student, who positioned himself directly behind the basket to distract BYU foul shooters in Utah State's win Wednesday night. I'd say that's pretty distracting. Gonzaga center Robert Sacre's sweet fleur-de-lis is an homage to his father, Greg La Fleur, a star tight end at Louisiana State and later an NFLer. Sacre was raised by his mom (an LSU basktball player) in Vancouver B.C. Dad is currently the athletic director at Southern University. Boise State apparently looking to add some veteran leadership. Vietnam veteran. Ha ha, no, that's presumably coach Greg Graham. But they could use some better captioning leadership. This is the face Trent Johnson makes when his point guard throws the ball out of bounds. TIME FOR HAIR! UCLA frosh forward Reeves Nelson's mohawk. Arizona sophomore guard Brandon Lavender's cornrow braids. That's all for this time. If you get any cool photos or screencaps, send them along!

Gonzaga rallies from 13 down to top Washington State

Wed, 02 Dec 2009 23:21:00 -0500

Matt Bouldin scored a career-high 28 points and No. 17 Gonzaga rallied for a 74-69 victory over Washington State on Wednesday night.

Feast Week Post Mortem: West Virginia Is Your Big Winner

Mon, 30 Nov 2009 12:37:20 -0500

Preseason polls are here to stay; I've made peace with that. But when you have the concentration of significant games you had in the last week, it's safest to just denounce all of your preconceived thoughts on the season and adjust accordingly after the chaos sorts itself out. The list that follows only includes tournament events, so don't feel snubbed, Florida fans. We see your big win over Michigan State. THREE FEAST WEEK WINNERS: West Virginia: They won the loaded 76 Classic...

W. Basketball. No. 2/2 Stanford Closes Holiday Weekend With Battle Against Gonzaga

Sat, 28 Nov 2009 17:18:41 -0500

The month of November comes to a close for the No. 2/2 Stanford women's basketball team Sunday afternoon, as the Cardinal host the Gonzaga Bulldogs for a 2 p.m. tip at Maples Pavilion. Sunday's contest will also be the last before the Cardinal takes its two-week finals break. The Cardinal-Bulldogs tilt will be broadcast on 90.1 KZSU with Wyndam Makowsky on the call and Taylor McAdam handling color commentary.

Gonzaga Scouting Report + A Hypothetical Game against UW

Thu, 26 Nov 2009 03:00:00 -0500

The Gonzaga Bulldogs are the winners of the 2009 Maui Invitational with an exciting come-from-behind vicotry over the Cinncinati Bearcats. Exciting, however, is not a synonym for quality. This young team has a lot of potential, but a lot of work to do as well.

Positives:
Stephen Gray-Pretty self-explanatory, just a clutch player. Hit some bigs threes and showed some real composure late in the game. A great competitor and makes everyone around him better.

Post Play- Harris and Sacre played very well especially in the second half, making some timely baskets and coming up big on defense, notably Sacre's play on the last play in regulation that would have won the game for the Bearcats.

Negatives:
Matt Boldin- I didn't get a chance to watch him in either of the first two games, but he looked terrible. He was antsy when pressured and shot selection was awful. He hit one key three pointer and had a few good rebounds, but as the leader of this team he needs to step up and be more consistent.

Depth- Only seven players played in the second half. The two non-starters combined got about four minutes. Against Cinncinati they got by, but facing better teams, this will be their achilles heel.

Context- It's Cinncinati. They got away with a pretty obvious foul at the end of regulation and Vaughn missed two free throws near the end of regulation that would have put the game away even if he only made one. This team is getting a lot of attention recently with a close game with Michigan State and now this win. That's not to say the attention isn't deserved, but it has to be taken with a grain of salt.

My MVP(s) of the championship game: Harris and Gray

Hypothetical Matchup
As a local Seattle hoops fan, I cannot resist pairing the Zags up with the Huskies. They do not play this year, but it is always fun to make these kind of comparisons.

At first glance, the Bulldogs create some matchup issues for the Huskies. Bryan-Amaning is the Huskies tallest player at 6'9", where Gonzaga has two players over seven feet. That being said, Sacre is very good on defense as said earlier, but very indecisive in the post. He has the size and skill set to be dominant, but I did not see it against a weaker Cinncinati opponent.

In the game I would expect Gonzaga to get an early lead but Washington to prevail because of a combination of UW's athleticism, up-tempo play, and depth. The Huskies will run teams into the ground because they rotate 9-10 guys who can all play, and I do not expect Gonzaga to keep up because of their lack of quality bench players.

In addition, from what I saw, Boldin made some bad decisions, and against a better defender like Overton, I do not trust him with the ball. Finally you have Quincy. The Zags don't have anyone who can matchup with his combination of size and speed. The game comes down to the defense of Amaning and Gant, along with the Zags' answer to Pondexter. I'll take the Huskies in this one, 65-60.

Gonzaga captures first Maui title in three tries

Thu, 26 Nov 2009 01:46:07 -0500

Robert Sacre scored 14 points and Gonzaga won the Maui Invitational for the first time in three tries, beating Cincinnati 61-59 in overtime Wednesday night at the Lahaina Civic Center.

Gonzaga tops Cincinnati in OT for Maui title

Thu, 26 Nov 2009 01:10:55 -0500

Robert Sacre scored 14 points and Gonzaga won the Maui Invitational for the first time in three tries, beating Cincinnati 61-59 in overtime Wednesday night at the Lahaina Civic Center.

Maui Invitational: Championship Game

Wed, 25 Nov 2009 22:00:48 -0500

I’m back courtside once again for the finals of the 2009 EA Sports Maui Invitational. We’re about 15 minutes from tip-off for the game between the Gonzaga Bulldogs and the Cincinnati Bearcats. The game can be seen live on ESPN. I’ll be giving you constant updates on this one as it goes but I’ll also [...]

This year's Gonzaga squad 'built to hit'

Tue, 24 Nov 2009 13:15:19 -0500

When coach Mark Few uses the word "finesse" to describe last year's edition of the Gonzaga Bulldogs, he doesn't quite assign to it all the distasteful connotations a football coach might. It isn't necessarily a four-letter word to him. A little finesse can be a wonderful tool for a basketball player. Robert Sacre is Gonzaga's leading rebounder. But, yeah, you can have too much of a good thing. This is not a problem for the current Zags. They have several skilled...

Xbox360 Players' Party Video Game Tournament at the Maui Invitational

Tue, 24 Nov 2009 09:38:23 -0500

Over on TSB I wrote about the wonder that is "Feast Week" in college hoops. One of the events -- the Maui Invitational -- has a video game title sponsor in EA Sports, so like every other year, there was a video game tournament held. Vanderbilt emerged victorious, led by Darshawn McClellan, who defeated Gonzaga's Grant Gibbs 18-14. (A really high-scoring affair, obviously.) McClellan's luck in the game didn't carry over to the court. Vandy, which made its...

Gonzaga rallies past Colorado

Mon, 23 Nov 2009 16:36:27 -0500

LAHAINA, Hawaii (AP) -Steven Gray scored 27 points and Matt Bouldin added 21 in helping Gonzaga overcome a sluggish first half on its way to a 76-72 win over Colorado in the opening round of the Maui Invitational on Monday at the Lahaina Civic Center.

Deconstructing an Early Season Game

Wed, 18 Nov 2009 14:27:38 -0500

by Cub Buenning College basketball games played in November and December can be a mixed-bag of information. Teams can struggle a bit early while trying to insert new pieces into the rotation, while others can pick up right where they left off the previous spring and come out of the gates in impressive fashion. Just last year, the Michigan State Spartans had an inconsistent first two months to the season and headed into the holidays and their conference schedule as an afterthought to the impen...

Don Draper Designed The Court in St. Louis on Tuesday Night

Wed, 18 Nov 2009 11:44:01 -0500

Let's play count the sponsors. I see eight on the floor last night, if you count the rotating spot at the scorer's table. I tweeted about how hideous the floor was last night, but it really demands a second look. That All-American inside-outside combination of Reese's Peanut Butter Cups and Bud Light is easily the worst juxtaposition of the bunch. (Vomits in own mouth just thinking about the two together.) If anything, given how cash-strapped teams are, I'm wondering if/wh...

2009-10 Gonzaga Bulldogs Basketball Schedule

Wed, 04 Nov 2009 11:51:15 -0500

2009 Gonzaga Bulldogs Basketball Schedule November 14 Mississippi Valley State 8:00 PM ET November 17 at Michigan State 8:00 PM ET November 20 IPFW 9:00 PM ET November 23 Colorado 3:00 PM ET December 2 Washington State 9:00 PM ET December 5 Wake Forest 5:30 PM ET December 9 Augustana ILL 9:00 PM ET December 12 Davidson 7:00 PM ET December 19 at [...]Post from: College Hoops Video2009-10 Gonzaga Bulldogs Basketball Schedule Related posts:2009-10 Butler Bulldogs Basketball Schedule 2009 Butler ...

Gonzaga Bigtimes UW

Thu, 22 Oct 2009 17:26:03 -0500

Fig Jam This month, the University of Washington proposed re-starting their annual basketball game against the Gonzaga Bulldogs. The two teams have not played in recent years, since UW backed out of the home and home series ( no doubt due in large part to UW’s 1-8 record over GU in the previous 9 meetings). UW has apparently [...]

Home opener against Gonzaga results in win for UCLA women's soccer

Mon, 14 Sep 2009 09:14:21 -0500

In its home opener of the season, the No. 6 UCLA women's soccer team (4-1-1) blanked the Gonzaga Bulldogs (3-3-0), 2-0, on Sunday at Drake Stadium.Source: Daily Bruin Submitted By: hiltigger Direct Link

The “Austin Daye is a Piston” post

Thu, 25 Jun 2009 20:05:10 -0500

The Pistons have selected Austin Daye out of Gonzaga with the 15th overall pick. Scouting report from Draft Express: Daye uses the third least possessions amongst college players on our list at 12.6 per game, but his 49% shooting percentage in logged games places him above average on our list. At 6’10, Daye’s 63% shooting as [...]

Alex Schrempf and Aaron Bright Update---Gonzaga?

Mon, 27 Apr 2009 11:34:19 -0500

A source has contacted us with some recruiting news regarding the future of three Bellevue seniors that will be graduating this year. First, Alex Schrempf has a walk-on spot at Gonzaga, he also has visits lined up with Sacred Heart and Cal Poly (the same school former SU coach, Joe Callero coaches at). Schrempf's teammate, Colton Christian will also be visiting Cal Poly. Finally, Matt Olson will be walking on at Pepperdine. The Gonzaga coaches have reportedly been drooling over Aaron Bright who is a junior right now. The GU coaches have been watching him at several open gyms. Our source tells us that he has a high interest in Stanford.

Adam Morrison has broken heart

Fri, 21 Mar 2008 15:40:03 -0500

It made me laugh. I find funny in others pain. Especially if they look like a heroin addict.

Gonzaga Flex Offense

Thu, 20 Sep 2007 18:34:36 -0500

Basic explanation of the Gonzaga Flex Entry and how you can incorporate into your offense.