re: Gonzaga board in meltdown mode

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I think that one of the worst days of the year is the Day After a bad loss in The NCAA Nationa Basketball Tournament. Fortunately for me it is NOT the worst day of the year because this year I lost two of my very best friends, But after that today is a pretty bad day. I am sure that I will be criticized for this post because some folks will think I like basketball too much. Or that maybe I like Gonzaga basketball too much. Or that I like winning too much. I will admit that I do love Gonzaga basketball teams ALOT. And when they lost it always hurts some, but there is no pain compared to the pain I feel when losing in the NCAA Tournament, and especially in a game like the one last night.

There are different degrees of, and depths of the pain that is felt after a loss. And the worst of them all is the pain that is felt when your team just doesn't seem to have what it takes to win, and for some reason they just don't look like the team that you are accustomed to watching. That was what the Zag team looked like last night. They just didn't look or seem like the Zags I've come to know. For whatever reason our Zags last night just didn't have the intensity, or the focus and in some cases the DESIRE to win, the desire to "leave it all on the court" as they say. There are a couple of really good examples of what I am trying to say. And both of them were in the last 20 second of the first half. The first one is right after Few calls a time out with 20 seconds left in the half to set up a play. I am sure it is going to be a play that is set up for Timme or maybe even Holmgren, and really possibly a play for Nembhard, but Nembhard has been playing really poorly tonight so maybe not him. But anyway as I watch the play unfold it is HIckman who is going to take the last shot. Yes Hickman who hasn't made a big shot in maybe the last five games. And as expected by me, he forces a really bad shot on the drive to the basket and ends up getting a charging foul by the one player on their team who is well known to be very profiscent at taking charges. Was that the very worst play that Mark Few has ever designed to close out a half in one of the most important games of the year? So now there are just six second left in the half. And everyone knows who is going to get the ball and everyone knows what he is going to do. All three announcers know anyway, and they tell us. Notae is going to get the ball and race down court and shoot it no matter what. But unfortunately, it appears that the Zags are the last ones to realize what Arkansas and Notae are going to do. So Notae gets the ball and begins racing as fast as he could towards his basket, and to everyone's surprise in the arena, Gonzaga players on the court all just watch him do it uncontested. No one on Gonzaga's team even makes a slight effort to guard him as he shoots a lay up and makes it. I watch Watson on the replays, as he's the one guy who is down court by Arkansas basket, and you'd expect a Gonzaga player to go over and get in Notae's way and defend him. But no Watson him dribble down court and shoot a lay up.

So you have it. A mixture of poor coaching by Few in drawing up a very important play, and then the lack of effort by the team in a very short 6 seconds of play. Or maybe it was just a matter of focus. Another play really stands out to me in describing the lack of intensity and focus in this game. And it was right after a missed basket by Arkansas and there were two Gonzaga players, I believe Strawther and Watson, who were standing beneath the basket and getting ready to get the rebound. There were no Arkansas players even trying to get the rebound. These two Zag players were the only ones who were there to get the rebound. And Strawther reaches out to get the ball and he can't control it for some reason and the ball slips out of his hands and goes out of bounds. And there were several other missed shots that Arkansas did rebound and after getting it scored. And the ones I remember were ones with Watson in the game and not getting the boards. This is a great example of what happens when Holmgren is on the bench. Having him sitting on the bench for long periods of play is a HUGE factor in determining the outcome of a very tough game like this one was.

Mark Few's teams, and this one for sure, has been criticized for not being tough. And in sports, toughness is described as both physical toughness and mental toughness. And IMO opinion, Gonzaga lacked both last night. And especially mental toughness. For some reason, from the very beginning of this game, the team just was not mentally in the game for some reason. It wasn't really a matter of Arkansas's toughness or their defense. We missed one easy shot after another (especially Nembhard and Strawther), and Nembhard was turning the ball over like I've never ever seen him do all year. I mean his judgement and execution of plays was just horrible and not like him. I will never know or understand how a player like him can have the kind of game he played last night. He in no way resembled the Andrew Nembhard I came to know and love during this season. And in my opinion, the toughest Zag on the team is Holmgren for sure, and the refs did a great job of keeping him out of the game in this one. And yes, in a game as physical as this one that is going to be a huge factor.

I have one last question. Why did the Zags play so horrible in the first halves of all three games? The answer I come up with is they were not mentally ready to play.

Well. I'm sure I'll be criticized for the post. But I wanted to share my true feelings and thoughts. To say I'm disappointed would be an understatement. And like Few says, in a week or so we all will be thinking differently about it all. I know I will feel different in a week or so because I'll realize that it's just a game and that there are more important things in life. But I will not feel differently about the game last night. I've said a number of times after a loss that there are good losses. Last night's loss was not a good loss. It was a bad loss, and possibly the worst loss I've ever seen a Gonzaga team have. Well, actually last years loss to Baylor was very similar.

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