Gonzaga

[OttoMets]

...Coleman need to have a good manly 22 minutes.

Phrasing, please!

 

[RF2044]

Sabonis is a future NBA player inside, but he's slow and foul prone. Have to prevent them from getting the ball inside to him. Wiltjer is also a half step slow, but versatile. A lot like Lydon. Their guard play is suspect.

This was the matchup that many predicted for us in Atlantis, before Gonazaga got upset. Will be interesting to see how we perform against them. This is one of those games where I wish Gonzaga / Few only had the one day to prepare for the zone instead of basically a week. I'd be a bit more nervous if they had Pangos from last year.

 

[orangefog]

True, but they have size 6'10", 6'11", 7'1", 7'1" and they shoot the three well and have an asst/turnover ration of 4/1 as a team

Aren't two of those guys injured?

 

[MSOrange]

Sabonis is a future NBA player inside, but he's slow and foul prone. Have to prevent them from getting the ball inside to him. Wiltjer is also a half step slow, but versatile. A lot like Lydon. Their guard play is suspect.

This was the matchup that many predicted for us in Atlantis, before Gonazaga got upset. Will be interesting to see how we perform against them. This is one of those games where I wish Gonzaga / Few only had the one day to prepare for the zone instead of basically a week. I'd be a bit more nervous if they had Pangos from last year.

I'd be even more nervous if Karnowski, their 7-1 center, wasn't out hurt for the rest of the year but I'm still a little concerned about the interior matchup. That's not to say there isn't a real good chance we could still win. I would almost say yesterday was the best we have looked since the Bahamas, although the competition wasn't quite up to that level..

 

[Brooky03]

Wiltjer is the former Kentucky kid and pretty much built to be a zone buster. He worries me. Their size and the Sabonis kid also worry me because, as I've said before, rebounding is practically all that matters. We can't beat big teams who rebound well.

Here's hoping Sabonis fouls out and Wiltjer has an off shooting night.

 

[TheCusian]

Better than we do. Their best and most frequent shooter is Wiltjer who is 6'10" which could be a bit of an issue. Nothing that can't be overcome. I agree with you on the inside game. Wiltjer 86-199 43% Perkins 46-122 38% McClellan 34-100 34% Melsen 32-96 33%

Average vs very good 3pt D. I hope they hang their hats on hitting 3's. Worked for Middle Central Tennessee SouthWestern State.

 

[Melancer46]

The Wiltjer-Sabonis combo is one of the best in the country IMO. I think this will be a very difficult game for us, but as has been the case for most of the year, we'll win if we hit our 3's and we'll lose if we don't.

We're currently 4-5 point underdogs.

 

[Brooky03]

The Wiltjer-Sabonis combo is one of the best in the country IMO. I think this will be a very difficult game for us, but as has been the case for most of the year, we'll win if we hit our 3's and we'll lose if we don't.

We're currently 4-5 point underdogs.

The plus about Wiltjer is Roberson should be able to bully him all day long for rebounds. If we can get Sabonis in foul trouble and harass Wiltjer whenever he touches the ball, I like our chances. If Wiltjer drops 20 and Sabonis has 12+ boards, I don't like our chances. Of course there's also a good chance some foreign white kid will score 40 points on 90% shooting from 3 point range, even if they don't currently have a player like this on their roster.

 

[Knicks411]

I would try and put Wiltjer in as many pick and rolls as possible. He's a very good offensive player but he is slow on the defensive end.

Sabonis is really good, not sure we have the guys to get him in foul trouble but that would be huge. (When we sit Coleman and have Lydon at the 5 I'd also put Lydon into a ton of pick and rolls with Sabonis)

 

[benjams77]

Wiltjer is good and bad...He can shoot lights out when on and can carry the Zags, but defensively he is not just bad...but awful...I'm guessing he will have to defend Troberson because of Lydons versatility...So Troberson needs to not force offensively but eat up the offensive glass...I have watched many teams ...Like St. Marys, play the screen game with the guys wiltjers defending and try to force a switch

We might see them play some zone and they will force us to beat them from the outside...I like the fact that like MT the Zags just played their best game of the year possibly and I'm not sure Cuse has played a great game in the tourney yet

 

[orangefog]

I would try and put Wiltjer in as many pick and rolls as possible. He's a very good offensive player but he is slow on the defensive end.

Sabonis is really good, not sure we have the guys to get him in foul trouble but that would be huge. (When we sit Coleman and have Lydon at the 5 I'd also put Lydon into a ton of pick and rolls with Sabonis)

I agree. I watched one Gonzaga game and wiltjer was switching on defense up high and got abused by the opposing guards. If they do the same with G, we can really capitalize on his defense.

 

[MikeSU02]

IMO, regular season, all things being equal, this is a bad match up for us. No doubt Wiltjer's size and ability to shoot coupled with Sabonis inside is a devastating one-two punch.

However, we should have the crowd in Chicago. JB is a better coach than Few, especially post-halftime adjustments. And, if (and it is a huge IF), DJC and Roberson come to play, we can play wildly different styles with our lineups. We can bully, we can drive or, Otto-willing, we can shoot.

For all the guff I've given TC, he's been stepping up. Mal and Lydon are NBA players. And G will be the best player on the floor, book it.

You cannot prepare for our zone in one week unless you've played or coached against it consistently.

IMO, JB's last two games have been two of his best coaching jobs, ever. He's on a different level right now. Remember, his guys this year stuck through the NCAA BS (I'd really like to make a 'Sword of Damocles' reference here with it being Syracuse, Sicily and all), including two fifth year seniors and DJC who went through his surgery and is putting in quite the effort.

I think this year means quite a bit to JB, more than he lets on. I think when our guys step on the floor on Friday, they'll know they are the better team. Better coach, better players, better program.

This team isn't built for the regular season. This team has a high ceiling and low floor. But when they are on, no one, and I mean no one, is better than us.

The most important play I saw last night was the dunk that Lydon tried to put home. He was getting pushed and pulled and he kept it going. And if he had landed that dunk, the roof would have blown off the arena. That was him asserting himself like he hasn't yet this year. Yeah, it didn't go in, but he wasn't going to let MTSU get the best of him. He was going down swinging.

I am so fired up for this game and this tourney. Why not us?

 

[MikeSU02]

I would try and put Wiltjer in as many pick and rolls as possible. He's a very good offensive player but he is slow on the defensive end.

Sabonis is really good, not sure we have the guys to get him in foul trouble but that would be huge. (When we sit Coleman and have Lydon at the 5 I'd also put Lydon into a ton of pick and rolls with Sabonis)

Bingo.

Big guys are good at being big. Make them move, make them defend the perimeter, ball fakes, dribble drives... all of a sudden they are on skates.

Bring back Rico, Lydon, and put Sabonis down.

 

[Brooky03]

I don't think they can defend us at all IMO.

We really can't afford to have a bad shooting night. This one will be decided by offense.

 

[JrodCuse]

I'm pretty sure our defense is ratcheting it up a notch. Look at how all these other "elite" teams had to have major comebacks or were in dogfights against these other 13-14 seed teams. Our defense stifled MTSU to the point they were borderline useless. If we can continue to play D like this, and have our offense flow like it is, we might be in for a magical run!

 

[Cuse House]

Call me crazy, but I love this match up. Gonzaga is big, but they are not that athletic. We seem to struggle with athletic bigs like UNC and Virginia have. I think our athleticism will negate some of their size. On defense, I don't think they are going to be able to stop our guards from penetrating. They can shoot the three, but if they rely on that, we will win this game. Our zone is on a whole new level right now.

 

[Brooky03]

I'm pretty sure our defense is ratcheting it up a notch. Look at how all these other "elite" teams had to have major comebacks or were in dogfights against these other 13-14 seed teams. Our defense stifled MTSU to the point they were borderline useless. If we can continue to play D like this, and have our offense flow like it is, we might be in for a magical run!

Our zone was dominating in 2013* also... until we played a team with a good big man who could score, pass really well, and rebound. I'm not saying we'll see the same result as that Michigan game, but I'm not entirely convinced our defense is going to be the deciding factor in this one. The team needs its shots to fall. Hopefully, Cooney's solid shooting performance from the MTSU game will carry over.

Who's Gonzaga's SF and can he stick with Richardson? This might be the x-factor.



Edit: 2013, not 2012

 

[RF2044]

Our zone was dominating in 2012 also... until we played a team with a good big man who could score, pass really well, and rebound. I'm not saying we'll see the same result as that Michigan game, but I'm not entirely convinced our defense is going to be the deciding factor in this one. The team needs its shots to fall. Hopefully, Cooney's solid shooting performance from the MTSU game will carry over.

Who's Gonzaga's SF and can he stick with Richardson? This might be the x-factor.

Nonsense. Our defense was dominating until the refs put Ohio State at the line 42 times, which enabled them to undeservedly eke out a 5 point win.

42 GD free throws.

I think you are talking about 2013.

 

[TheCusian]

I'm pretty sure our defense is ratcheting it up a notch. Look at how all these other "elite" teams had to have major comebacks or were in dogfights against these other 13-14 seed teams. Our defense stifled MTSU to the point they were borderline useless. If we can continue to play D like this, and have our offense flow like it is, we might be in for a magical run!

Exactly. The question I ask before we play anyone is: how's their zone offense?

Zag's bigs are good, but how about outside of what they are used to? Few has coached vs our zone before, but the players haven't seen it.

Side note: loved when the Middle Tenn player hit that contested 3 from straightaway in the first half. I turned to my wife and said "that's the best thing that can happen to a shooting team vs us. Gets their hopes up. Coach will have them keep shooting"

 

[Dave85]

Our zone was dominating in 2012 also... until we played a team with a good big man who could score, pass really well, and rebound. I'm not saying we'll see the same result as that Michigan game, but I'm not entirely convinced our defense is going to be the deciding factor in this one. The team needs its shots to fall. Hopefully, Cooney's solid shooting performance from the MTSU game will carry over.

Who's Gonzaga's SF and can he stick with Richardson? This might be the x-factor.

I pretty much agree with your post. Lydon is stronger than he looks. It will be very interesting to see how Lydon does against their bigs. He's played pretty good yesterday on defense. My hope is Lydon and Coleman will hopefully compete good enough against Zags bigs for us to win. It's going to be a tough game but we have a chance.

 

[Cusefan0307]

Again, we will be the best Defensive team they have played all year.

 

[Cuse House]

Our zone was dominating in 2012 also... until we played a team with a good big man who could score, pass really well, and rebound. I'm not saying we'll see the same result as that Michigan game, but I'm not entirely convinced our defense is going to be the deciding factor in this one. The team needs its shots to fall. Hopefully, Cooney's solid shooting performance from the MTSU game will carry over.

Who's Gonzaga's SF and can he stick with Richardson? This might be the x-factor.

That is a horrible comparison in my opinion. That Michigan team was 10x more athletic than this Gonzaga team. We will be able to recover much easier this game because their speed and athleticism is lesser than ours. Michigan was more athletic than us.

 

[Brooky03]

Nonsense. Our defense was dominating until the refs put Ohio State at the line 42 times, which enabled them to undeservedly eke out a 5 point win.

42 GD free throws.

I think you are talking about 2013.

Whatever year we played Michigan in the F4. It all blurs together.

 

[CousCuse]

Gonzaga is about equal to Florida State , and definitely not better .

 

[RF2044]

Exactly. The question I ask before we play anyone is: how's their zone offense?

Zag's bigs are good, but how about outside of what they are used to? Few has coached vs our zone before, but the players haven't seen it.

Side note: loved when the Middle Tenn player hit that contested 3 from straightaway in the first half. I turned to my wife and said "that's the best thing that can happen to a shooting team vs us. Gets their hopes up. Coach will have them keep shooting"

I.E., "Fools Gold."