Our rematch with Gonzaga!

Men's Basketball
1

“I don’t think anyone can beat Gonzaga,” veteran Syracuse coach Jim Boeheim said this week, a quote that made its way into a second-half graphic. “I’ve never seen a team (so far ahead) since UCLA when John Wooden was there.”

Obviously Jim Boeheim knows a lot more about basketball than I ever will, but if Syracuse was about to take the court against Gonzaga, I don’t think he’d say what he says above to his team in the locker room before the game. :smiley:

From what I’ve seen of Gonzaga, it’s possible to get the ball inside against their defense, but you have to have players with the ability to score inside. I think Jay Huff could do it, but if you’re also going to be a shot-blocker you run the risk of getting called for fouls, no matter how great a shot-blocker you are.

I don’t know the status of Kadin Shedrick. Or Kody Stattmann. Maybe we won’t see either of them again this season. It’s not up to Tony Bennett to tell future opponents what the health status of each of our players are, of course. Shedrick lost 20 pounds in one month during this school year, and he was already a little thin.

Sam Hauser is not a center, but he’s a great outside shooter. Clark would have to create for him. Clark can be almost impossible to stop one-on-one, as far as creating open shots for teammates. Gonzaga’s point guard is a great NBA prospect, but he’s still just a freshman. :grinning:

Caffaro is still working on his balance when he gets the ball around the hoop.

So, Clark would have to take the ball to the basket, and then get it to an open outside shooter. I think that would be our best bet. He’s been a much-improved player since the Gonzaga game. If we could make it to the Final Eight, we could wind up playing Gonzaga again. :stuck_out_tongue:

We can beat Gonzaga! But it’s going to depend on Clark creating with the ball, getting the ball inside to Jay Huff, and our shooters getting free and hitting outside shots. :grinning:

So, UVa would have to get Jay Huff the ball around the basket, over and over. A lot can happen between now and the NCAA tournament. Players can come down with COVID-19, for one thing. In the NCAA tournament, I don’t think you can ask to have a game postponed until your team is healthy. :smiley:

2

Is a very nice way of saying I dont think the Zags took any time off with the rest of the NCAA during covid. They have some team and great individual players as well

2 Likes
3

Are you just saying they look that good or is there actually a rumor they were practicing when teams weren’t allowed to practice?

4

I dont know know but man they are a fine tuned machine. The intricate stuff they do on offense takes a lotta work and chemistry …

5 Likes
5

I actually think Jim would say something like that to his team. He needs to retire and I see a lot of cuse fans say the same thing.

6

There’s lots of opinions if you should say something like that to your team and the answer IMO comes down to chemistry and culture. Some teams will hear that and think F U I’ll show you what i think about the Zags. Others will hear it knod their head in agreement and slink out to a subpar performance. It’s on a coach and their staff to know what buttons to push some guys need a flick behind the ear others a good coddle.

All that said. I agree with @DFresh11 in believing the Zags maintained a normal off season schedule or close to it. They are also flat out talented. This should be no surprise to anyonw who watches CBB. It’s also not unusual for a dominant team to emerge each season. This time its Gonzagas turn They earned it

1 Like
7

To state the obvious, greatly improved defense would be the key to a successful rematch with Gonzaga in the tournament. I’ll need to wait until mid-February or so before I’ll feel like I’ve seen enough from us to determine if our defense is at a sufficient level to have a good chance against Gonzaga in a rematch. There are plenty of examples of teams turning around a very lopsided defeat into a win in a rematch later in the season. So it’s very possible.

I watched a good deal of Baylor’s game against TTech yesterday, and I think it would a toss up if they were to play Gonzaga right now because of their elite defense. There’s little chance of Baylor going undefeated in their league, but I might favor a battle-hardened Baylor against Gonzaga in the tournament.

3 Likes
8

One example from this weekend, in fact, and it didn’t take until later in the season to turn around the very lopsided defeat. The Fighting Sanchez’ of Charlotte lost to UAB by 24 on Friday and then turned around and beat them by 15 yesterday. College basketball is a highly variable sport, and if we were to play GU tomorrow, I wouldn’t be surprised in the slightest if we won.

3 Likes