Gonzaga Basketball: Sizing up Southern

The best time of the year for sports is about to begin as the NCAA Tournament is officially here. Since Pac-12 basketball is a steaming pile of suck, and Eastern Washington University had a down year (their 10th straight down year), the only "dog" in the race that the state of Washington has is the No. 1-ranked Gonzaga Bulldogs.

For the first time in school history, which you know began in 1999, the Zags earned a No. 1 seed in the NCAA Tournament and will be facing No. 16-seed Southern University. Now if you said you've heard of this team before, you're lying, but Gonzaga should be able to get business done against this squad. Hailing from the Southwestern Conference with a 23-9 record, the Jaguars have won 22 of their last 25 games after starting the season 1-5. However...

- They rank statistically 162nd for points scored (67.7), 148th rebounds (35.2), 270th in assists (11.4) and 172nd in field goal percentage (.434). Gonzaga is ranked 12th in scoring (77.6), 54th in rebounding (37.3), 28th in assists (15.2) and third in field goal percentage (.504).

- Southern had an RPI of 182 and have a 1-7 all-time record in the NCAA Tournament. Only two other teams in their conference finished with a record over .500.

- Derick Beltran is the top scorer for the Jags with 15.9 points per game, then there's Malcom Miller with 15.8 points per game. Notice though that assists and field goal percentage aren't specialties for Southern.

The Zags, on the other hand, are No. 1 in the country for a reason. Southern has shown a knack for not being able to score... and you can't do that against the Zags - plain and simple.

(To get your Gonzaga gear, click here.)

Gonzaga Basketball: Zag Shop (Thrift Shop Parody)

Two things have been taking the US by storm lately, Gonzaga basketball and the song Thrift Shop. Well it was only a matter of time until someone would combine them!

(Click here to get on the Gonzaga bandwagon now)

Washington kind of sucks at basketball

The NCAA Tournament has hit full force and the Washington State teams have already left the building with Washington losing to UNC and Gonzaga losing to BYU. So lets take a long look at just what happened to our March Madness hopefuls.

 

Washington lost because...

1. They made stupid mistakes down the stretch. Like OJ Simpson stupid mistakes.
2. Bad inbound pass... the type of pass you haven't seen since middle school AAU.
3. God and the eastern part of Washington hates the Huskies.
4. The movie "Twilight" is from the western part of the state and karma is a bitch.
5. They didn't have Damen Wayans spirit helping them out.

Gonzaga lost because...

1. Jimmer Fredette. Or like any year in the NCAA Tournament, a hot-shooting college star that lights up the Zags and knocks them out of the tournament. Stephen Curry anyone? 
2. Hey you've heard it before... Mark Few can't guard the three, the pope is Catholic and sun is actually a star.
3. Gonzaga got their quota for tournament wins of the year. I mean after all, they are the Duke of the west coast and the Blue Devils lose in the second round all the time right?
4. That rowdy Kennel Club with the four kids that jump up and down weren't at the game.
5. America's Team... which strangley only has fans in the Northwest, just couldn't handle America's player, Jimmer Fredette, who strangely only has fans in Utah.

Few for thought

Alright, I could have broke down the GU loss yesterday and been one of 1,000 media people doing the same. They got blown out by a one seed and that is that. The bigger concern should be whether or not Mark Few is leaving to go to Oregon. The normal reaction would be "no way" but this article from Bud Withers paints a different picture. You'll remember last year that the Ducks were already asking if Few was interested.

Few said no. What could have changed, then, in a year?

Two things: The Ducks have offed Kent, whereas a year ago, it's believable that Few might not have felt comfortable helping to unseat a colleague.

Then there's this: "I don't think he feels quite as appreciated as he did three or four years ago," said somebody familiar with Few. "People start bitching. They've gotten pretty unrealistic."

There are Zags zealots who have forgotten where they were a dozen years ago. They had never won an NCAA tournament game in 1998, and now they've won 15. But the monster has a big appetite in college sports, and the buzz is, there was a good deal of grumbling when Gonzaga got whacked by Saint Mary's in the WCC final.

It's fair to assume those folks were more perturbed with the NCAA loss to Syracuse than they were pleased with the opening-round victory over Florida State.

And that is the kicker, there's been more than a few grumblings about the coaching job of Few after the Duke game and the Syracuse game. Something that if you consider his considerable run with Gonzaga (11-years and 11 appearances in the NCAA Tournament), is pretty unwarranted. Unless you expect a school that was a relative unknown until 1999 when they made their run to the Elite Eight to suddenly become a college basketball elite like the University of Kentucky or UNC, you have to like the job that Few has done.

Remember that he had to weather the Josh Heytvelt drug charge, and this year's rebuilding process. All indications were that this year's squad was going to be down big time due to their youth. Yet they won the WCC.

Then they got blown out by St. Mary's in the WCC Tournament Championship Game. Criticism for Few.

Zags bounce back to win their first-round game against Florida State, and then get crushed by Syracuse. More criticism for Few.

How many other mid-major coach has made it to ten straight NCAA Tournaments, and then get criticized for losing in the second round in the eleventh year of his run?

So for a guy that is looking for a high quality of living, a fanbase that suddenly expects unrealistic expectations from a program that he basically built might be enough to push him to Oregon. Just a thought.

Live Game Blog: Cal State - Bakersfield/Gonzaga

It's Gonzaga! It's Cal State Bakersfield! It's Senior Night! This game has absolutely no bearing on anything and Gonzaga will probably crush Bakersfield.

It has all the makings of a wonderful live game blog. Stay tuned, because I'll probably take 2,378 shots at Gonzaga.

FOR THE FULL GAME BLOG CLICK HERE

Pregnant Zags

As a guy in his mid-twenties, pregnant women scare that crap out of me. However, apparently two assistant coaches for the GU Women's basketball team are expecting. That's got a be a bit distracting right? Nope, they just went 14-0 in conference en route to the regular season championship.

There must be something in the water in the Gonzaga University Athletic Department. Two of the assistant coaches for the GU Women’s Basketball team are pregnant, making for an interesting season on the sidelines. Thursday night, the GU Women won the WCC Conference. When Lisa Mispley Fortier and Jodie Kaczor Berry celebrated the win, they were each celebrating for two. Kaczor Berry is halfway through her pregnancy, with a baby boy due in July. Mispley Fortier is much farther along; her child is due April 1st, two days before the Final Four. “It’s getting a little bit tougher to stand up in practice all day,” Lisa said. “I keep dropping my pen during games and I can’t pick it up!”

On another note, none of the GU women players are pregnant, which probably makes their chances for an NCAA berth much higher.

Your Gonzaga hangover: give the WCC title to the Zags

I'm not going to try and break down these games anymore to try and come up with faults in GU's team. After dismantling Portland and San Diego, it would be a pretty safe bet to say that the Zags will be rolling to the WCC Championship. That earlier loss to San Francisco was a wake up call and now they're pulling off the patented "FU Game" on the rest of the conference.

The Zags got out to a 19-0 lead over San Diego last night. 19-0!! And at one point during the game, head coach Mark Few told one of his players not to dunk on a wide open attempt, possibly to not show up San Diego (the team is coached by former Gonzaga assistant Bill Grier). In other words, it was one of those games that was over before it really started.

So sorry Zag fans, this team is legit and nobody in the WCC should be able to touch them for the rest of the season. I shouldn't have doubted that - although I do think that some of the top tier teams in the conference will play Gonzaga tougher in the WCC tournament than what they've been doing during the regular season.

Now with that said, I now have to figure out if the opposing team is going to cover the double digit spreads for the reason of the season.

Video Bites: Gonzaga Bulldogs

The December 28th edition of the JustSON Video Bites! That's right, bite-sized videos!

View more of our adventures at http://justson.blogspot.com

Contact us at justsouthofnorth@gmail.com

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Sounders FC Blog
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Gonzaga fans don't like to play fair

Today on one of the morning sports talk shows, the host stated that he thought that Gonzaga shouldn't get to play in Spokane for the opening round of this year's NCAA Tournament - saying that it's an unfair advantage. He was flooded with calls from Gonzaga fans saying that he hated Spokane (since he was from Seattle) and that they didn't want to hear his opinion.

Gonzaga fans, come on now. I know that playing in Spokane would be a great thing for the university and the city but you have to admit that having teams play in or near the that they're located in does give them something of an unfair advantage. Look at how it helped when Gonzaga played in Seattle. Nobody is trying to disrespect you or get on your case, they're just saying the system seems to be a bit skewed.

Now that being said, if the Bulldogs do play in Spokane (assuming they even make the post season), this city would be absolutely electric. Great atmosphere.

But don't dog someone for making a valid point.

Gonzaga climbs in the polls, better than the entire Pac-10

Okay so they beat a Div. III school and a scrappy Davidson team with a bad record. Does that warrant a jump up to No. 15 in the country? Sure it does when a bunch of people ahead of you lose.

It was a tough week for teams that were ranked just in front of Gonzaga in the Dec. 7 polls. Texas A&M, Washington, UNLV, Cincinnati and Wisconsin dropped games. No. 24 Washington is the only Pac-10 team ranked.

The WCC might get more bids in the NCAA Tournament than the Pac-10 at this pace. What the heck is wrong with that conference? Did they all decide to invest more resources in their rugby programs or something?

Awww Montana fans, your team sucks

Montana Griz fans take a weird sense of pride in their women's basketball team. Not like "hey! this team is good", more like "hey! check out these photos I took of our starting point guard!" Because they're in Montana, and there's nothing to do and a goat wasn't readily avaliable. Oh, and the 17 school appearances in the NCAA tournament MIGHT have a little something to do about that.

Well seems that the gem in the Montana crown is a little tarnished. The awesome (and I do mean one of the best teams in the country) Gonzaga women's basketball team defeated the Lady Griz 75-48, much to my delight. It was a double digit lead at halftime and it turned into a blowout in the second half.

You have no idea how warm that makes my heart feel right now :D

HUGE win for Gonzaga

Wow! Was that ever a tough one for Gonzaga, playing against NCAA Division III powerhouse Augustana last night. They just squeaked by with a 79-40 win in what could be described as the most boring game ever played in the McCarthey Athletic Center. I'm pretty sure that the student section was...

(A) Studying for finals in the stands
(B) Playing a game of "Lets see who can be quiet the longest
(C) Scrabble

Either way, I think that perhaps the school should think about scheduling this play down games earlier in the season (read: summer scrimmage) instead of a game in December. And did you see Augustana? I'm pretty sure I have more muscle tone than their post players and the extent of my physical activity is walking to the fridge.

Go Zags!

Video Bites: Apple Cup Jokes

More Apple Cup jokes:
http://www.huskyfan.com/wsu.html

Eastern Washington University:
http://www.goeags.com

Gonzaga Basketball:
http://www.gozags.com

JustSON the Numbers: Gonzaga's Defense

While it's nice for Gonzaga fans that the Bulldogs pulled out the 76-72 win over the Colorado Buffaloes, there are still some question marks that arose from the game. Namely the defense of the men's basketball team since the Buffs shot 53 percent from the field and 46 percent from three point land. Factor in that Colorado only went to the line 18 times means that this team isn't exactly as physical as billed.

Now, I don't want to go all "2012: End of the World" on Zag fans because they won the rebound battle while Steven Gray and Matt Bouldin both had nice games. One thing I've been hearing about this team is how "gritty" their play has been and even though today's game was decidedly sloppy, I heard a lot of good things about the teams effort.

And effort, something that last year's team was lacking until the WCC Tournament, is exactly what the Bulldogs need an influx of.

Reasons why you're still single... Mr. Gonzaga Basketball Fan

WHOOAAAH! Good for you Mr. WSU Grad who has decided to become a full-time fan of Gonzaga basketball after moving to Spokane. Not only have you decked out your gas-sucking SUV in Zag decals that make you look like a walking advertisement for Mark Few but you've also decided that your morning business attire should consist of a obnoxious GU hoodie and hat that can be seen from miles around (how many times can an apparel maker put "GU" on a sweatshirt and hat? apparently 158).

Not only this but in all you Zag-ness, you apparently never went to driving school and decided to pull a Bo Jackson-esque fake-out in your Zag SUV while "coming to a stop" near a stop sign. A certian blogger driving on the main street not only had to hit his brakes and then sit there while you made up your decision to go or not in the middle of the road.

How's that Adam Morrison NBA jersey treating you?

What to do now that the Zags are out of the Tournament

Obviously Spokane sports fans must be in a bit of a conundrum now that Zag fans aren't playing anymore. And there aren't a whole lot of alternatives, luckily though we've come up with a few ideas.

Watch Adam Morrison play for the Lakers - wait scratch that, sit on the bench for the Lakers.

Play pick up basketball - And get beat by that crafty Church League old guy that has somehow mastered the hook shot and doing as little work as possible while playing basketball.

Bloomsday - And judging by the physique of those sitting courtside at Zag games... you'd better get running right now.

Find out what Sean Mallon is doing these days - Something tells me he's at an Irish pub somewhere.

Try to analyze who the Seahawks are going to get in the NFL draft - and freak out when they take a Div. III defensive tackle with "plenty of heart and good character."

Turn your gold into cash - Everyone is doing it these days and I'm sure your gold is perfectly safe in the mail. Nobody is going to mess with it, and I'm sure the company is trustworthy enough to send some money back.

Dress up like a Cowboy and challenge people to "Draw!" - Casey keeps doing this. I don't know why.

Use your twitter account to count down the days before college basketball season starts back up - Also make sure you keep track of how many times Mark Few's name gets tossed around for possible jobs.

Practice your Ronny Turiaf voice - For some reason, my impression always sounds like a Russian Astronaut.

This should keep everyone busy, and keep in mind there's always baseball this summer. And also keep in mind that you dont have to watch just the Mariners. Mix it around, I hear the Blue Jays won't lose 100 games this year. Give them some support.

Well this pretty much sums it up about Gonzaga...

Was trolling the Spokesman's blog for fan reactions to the 98-77 drubbing Gonzaga took last night against UNC and somebody pretty much nailed it on the head.

Zags got a great seed in the tourney….beat a 13 and a 12 seed. When all is said an done…the best win was probably their win at Tennessee.

I think this team has become the team that the pre morrison teams loved to play.
-RobH

Couldn't agree more. Last nights loss showed that Gonzaga isn't quite the national powerhouse we thought - despite all the star recruits - and they still haven't matched the level of the 1999 Zag Elite Eight team. My friend Colin told me last night after the game (Colin, by the way is a ravid Maryland fan, you know, a program that has won a national championship) "They're a Top 20 program but not a Top 10 program."

They've become a much-hyped squad that the 1999 team would have loved to face in the Tournament.

Why I will still be the Gonzaga hater today...

Gonzaga matches up today against UNC, as expected all of Spokane is behind their team. Everyone except for me. Why am I still drinking from the haterade? Because it's hard to kick old habits.

However, I will no longer say that Gonzaga is overrated, because they have certainly vindicated themselves as a Sweet Sixteen team and pretty much made me look like an idiot.

But...

(1) I can't stand it when a local Spokane radio show makes excuses for why Mark Few doesn't talk to the local media. It's alright for the Zags to snub Spokane? eh...

(2) I have UNC winning the entire NCAA tournament. Not sure how that happened, but it's either me or Gonzaga, and I'm going with my bracket.

(3) I'd rather have Gonzaga lose a close matchup with UNC than get "Duked" in the Elite Eight with whichever super-physical team they match up with. The finesse team in college basketball is now dead.

Say hello to the Big East.

(4) I'm grouchy. Ask anyone. I should be all green and live in a garbage can.

Zags play UNC, 7 p.m. today on CBS. Don't miss it. I need to find some TarHeels gear.

Epic Photo: Duke sucks, well we hope Duke sucks tonight

Duke tips off tonight again Villanova in the Sweet Sixteen of the NCAA Tournament and we hope they lose (Well just me, I don't know about Casey, his fiancee is a Denver Broncos fan... you never know). Just look at the photo up there? How can you root for a team that looks like a collection of players that should be matching up in chess matches.

By the way, if you watch this game on CBS - look in the stands for Villanova fans because apparently they all look like Paulie from the "Rocky" movies. No joke. Even the women.

And don't forget Gonzaga tomorrow. I certainly won't pass up the opportunity to bash them any way I can. They already proved me wrong like three times this year. Will they continue to make me look like a complete idiot?

The Slipper still fits!

No, Gonzaga didn't fix any of it's defensive weaknesses towards the three point shot but they gutted out a 83-81 victory over Western Kentucky in the second round of the NCAA Tournament. You can thank Demetri Goodson for that, who made the go ahead basket with .9 seconds to go.

But now the Zags are in their first Sweet Sixteen since 2006, and will face up against UNC. A couple of thoughts come to mind.

- I hate to beat a dead horse but when is Mark Few going to learn how to rotate his defense to defend the three?
- Are we going to see Josh Heytvelt shine against Tyler Hansbrough like he did two years ago?
- Pargo has been playing better, is this raising his NBA stock?
- Matt Bouldin is a good player on the stat sheet but it seems as if he disappears in big games against tough competition. His points against WKU were pull up threes, can Bouldin score against the Tarheels?

The Zags are proving me wrong. They're making a run in the tournament.