Gonzaga's Head Coach Mark Few

Let me begin by saying Mark Few and his coaching staff have done an incredible job over the past 12 years, bringing Gonzaga’s men’s basketball program to an elite level that competes against the nation’s best competition annually. With that being said, I am about to rant off my frustrations with coaching decisions and game management from Monday’s WCC Championship game.

First of all, David Stockton should not have played for 15 minutes in that game—one third of the time he was on the court.  While the redshirt sophomore did have four assists, he did not score at all. In fact, for the season, he has the second worst shooting percentage of anyone on the team at 39%.

If you watch him play, the generously listed 5’11” point guard cannot keep up in fast paced games—he is always a step behind, and constantly caught in a size mismatch in the paint. He does have a great court sense, but when the game is very transition/fast-break oriented and not a slow it down, run the set offense kind of game, Stockton is not the guy to have at the point. Monday’s championship game was very fast paced and when Stocks was in at crunch time, it was flat out questionable.

On the other hand, why was Marquise Carter not in the game more, and in potentially instead of David? Carter was the WCC Tournament MVP last season, and although he didn’t have superstar year, he is so athletic, and much quicker than Stockton. Quise only saw four minutes on the court, yet in that time he went 2-2 from the free throw line and gathered a steal.

All season long, Carter managed to find his way to the line while he was in the game.  While at the charity strip, he shot 70%, which is significantly better than Stockton’s 60%. David averaged over two and a half minutes more than Quise, yet Carter was at the line 30 more times than Stockton. Not only does that show Marquise was more scoring oriented, but that he made better use out his scoring attempts.

Also, Marquise is a senior with pressure game experience, he knows how to make the key plays and maintain the pace of the game. Yes, Carter is more of a shooting guard, but utilizing three guards, like Coach Few did much of the game with Pangos, Stockton, and Bell, could just has easily been done with Marquise at the two or three spot. He definitely deserved more than four minutes in the title game—poor decision to have him on the bench for 41 minutes.

Other players that should have seen more time are Sam Dower, Ryan Spangler, and Mike Hart. All three bench players were extremely effective in their sparse time on the court, yet clearly the coaching staff didn’t see fit to adjust the line-up in times of need.

Sam Dower produced 14 points in 15 minutes. He nailed two threes that sparked a ton of momentum for Gonzaga, yet he only played a third of the game. That’s right, the backup center, along with power forward Elias Harris were the only Zags to make multiple shots from behind the arc. Dower also contributed with nine points inside. He is a dual threat that should most definitely be on the court more when he is having a great game like he did Monday.

Mike Hart, the one time starter who barely saw the court once Guy Landry Edi became eligible halfway through the season is the best hustle player on the entire Gonzaga roster. While he played for eight minutes in the title game, it was predominately because Edi was in foul trouble.

However, Hart grabs boards, causes jump balls, and outside of Elias Harris nailing the last second three, is the reason for GU heading into overtime. He forced a trap in the corner with his tenacious defense, which resulted in Dellavedova turning over the ball with 10 seconds remaining. That play resulted in a GU ball that led to Harris’ trey.

While Hart and Edi play in the same position most of the time, they have two completely different styles of playing. In certain situations one athlete is better suited for time on the court, but considering in 22 minutes Guy fouled out, only grabbed one rebound, and score four points, it appears that Hart’s eight minutes may have been more valuable to the team. He racked up three boards and a steal with no fouls in his few minutes.

Finally, Ryan Spangler, the most efficient player of the game if you ask me, made use of his one minute on the court in the first half. He made a basket and added a rebound to his stat line in the 1:30 he spent on the court. Oh and that rebound was on the offensive end, something that the Zags struggle with frequently.

While Spangler is typically a late sub for Elias Harris at the four position, and surly the Bulldogs wanted Harris on the court, it still seems like Coach Few should have utilized the 6’8” freshman better. One potential use for him could have been to use Dower, Harris, Spangler, Pangos, and Bell as a rotation when Sacre needed a break.

Spangler might not be as tall as Rob or Sam, but he is a legitimate post player; who, like Mike Hart, has tenacity and works hard every second he is on the court. Considering Dower and Harris were shooting well from outside the paint Monday, it would have made since to move Harris to the wing spot, while Dower and Spangler played down low.

This line up would create pressure on SMC’s defense because there would be four outside threats to guard on the perimeter, and quite frankly Spangler’s inside presence would likely take a back seat to the defense. This would have opened up the court and allowed either Spangler to sneak some interior points, or if nothing else cause a size mismatch with three bigs on the court for Gonzaga. This should not be a rotation that is used all the time, but in a game in which needed some creative coaching, and Spangler showed production in limited time, it seems only right to figure out a way to shake things up as a coach and get the kid some more minutes.

Finally, I would like to understand where the communication breakdown is between timeouts, effective clock management, and whatever is done on the court in between. When Gonzaga lost to USF a few weeks ago by one, it was the final two minutes of the game in which GU failed to score that really hurt the Zags. Two timeouts were called, but neither proved to do anything but stop the clock. Both times the Bulldogs came out of the huddle and were unable to run an effective play or even get a high-percentage shot off before the shot-clock was about to expire. That made the difference in the game, the regular season title, and the WCC tournament seeding.

In the championship game, with 1:18 left in regulation, Few called a 30 second time out. Once the game resumed, GU allowed 28 seconds of the 29 available to tick off the shot clock before Kevin Pangos launched a missed three. Considering he had made one trey all night, it is doubtful that a last second toss up from beyond the arc by Pangos was really the game plan. If it was, Few clearly had not been watching the game I was. If it wasn’t, then why is it that Gonzaga was unable to effectively use a timeout strategy in the critical moments of a game?

There is plenty to criticize when your team loses, especially a very close and emotional game. It is always easy to judge game decisions based on the game, when one doesn’t know the ins and outs of what happens behind closed doors either. However, from merely watching the WCC Championship, I think that there were several coaching decisions that just did not make since, or were not effective. Let’s hope nearly two weeks off gives the team and coaching staff adequate time to prepare for the real championship.

Elias Harris was incredible against the Gaels

Five seconds remained in regulation, Elias Harris stepped back from the top of the key and drained an off balance three pointer. Electrifying. The game was tied with four seconds to go. My classroom filled with the 18 people that showed up for our 6-9pm night class the night of the WCC Championship game went nuts.

Harris is a member of that class, and quite frankly the room was flat and disappointed; filled with little hope. But what he had just done no one thought was going to happen— E hit the tying shot to send the title game into overtime. New life was inspired into the Zag Nation; unfortunately, after five more minutes of play in overtime, Gonzaga was the quietest college campus in America.

It was double bonus, and the WCC player of the year was fouled twice in the final minute of OT. Matthew Dellevadova swished all four free throws, and his freshman teammate Jordan Page knocked down two more with 30 seconds left complete the necessary two possession lead.  Neither player had come off the court all night, and those final seconds showed why. The Gaels beat the Bulldogs 78-74.

It was said best by a friend on Facebook, “Live by the Pangos, die by the Pangos.” After dropping 30 on BYU two nights ago, Kevin Pangos was only another body on the court. He finished the night with seven points, going 1-10 from behind the arc. Pangos’ inability to spark a scoring run was only one of the many mistakes and frustrations that littered Gonzaga Monday night in Las Vegas.

Pangos never even made an attempt at the free throw line, the other place on the court where he racks up points. Kevin was a good freshman basketball player that was not able to fill the role as the general on the court that most of GU was expecting him to, despite being the only Zag to play 45 minutes. It’s not his fault, by any means, that Gonzaga lost; there just happens to be a correlation of his performance and the outcome.

The one commanding player on the Bulldogs’ side was Elias Harris. He was a monster, hero, and by far the best athlete on the court. Harris knocked in 22 points and pulled down 13 boards in the game and hit the biggest shot of the night. He is peaking at the right time.

Rob Sacre had a good game inside, as the seven foot center shot 6-12 from the paint on his way to a 17 point performance. He was pumped for his final conference game of his five year career at Gonzaga, and it showed in his play.

Sam Dower was another spark for the Zag offense as he netted 14 points in 15 minutes of play. His performance was much needed, considering he had not been in double figures for quite a few games.

Dower’s time on the court is one of the many factors that contribute to my questioning of the coaching staff. If you look at the big picture and how the game was managed, along with the stat-line of several other players, so many red flags go up. Of course, it is extremely easy to criticize anyone when they lose, but tomorrow there will be a rant on what could have been done better, or who should have been on the court to win the game.

The season isn’t over, however. While, St. Mary’s did get the automatic bid, the No. 24/25 ranked Bulldogs should have no problem making another trip to the Big Dance. Selection Sunday is less than a week away, so now the anxiety of seeding kicks in, as March Madness has only begun.

It sucked—badly. A 21 point loss in Moraga to St. Mary’s, the arch nemesis, was not a good start to the four day California road trip Gonzaga began Wednesday evening. The Thursday night loss for the Zags was the worst conference loss they have suffered in a decade.

There is not much to highlight from the pounding. Elias Harris played well, scoring 17 points and grabbing 11 boards to earn a double-double. Kevin Pangos went 3-6 behind the arc on his way to 12 points.

The game was all Gaels from the beginning and Matthew Dellavedova’s 26 points for the night was proof. He was supported by fellow starters Brad Waldow’s 17 and Stephen Holt’s 13 points. Also in double figures for SMC was Mitchell Young off the bench with 12.

With all those high scoring Gaels, it’s surprising that St. Mary’s leading scorer for the season, Rob Jones, did not even get a basket until the final two minutes of the game—he started the game and played 33 minutes, yet only had two points at the final buzzer. I guess that could be a testament to Gonzaga’s defense; if you are trying to find a bright spot in the pit of despair called a basketball game.

One other interesting note on the game is that Sam Dower started in Rob Sacre’s place in the second half. It is about time, considering both players’ performances over the past month, but it was definitely a surprise.

Overall, St. Mary’s shot 50% from the field and GU really couldn’t stop their perimeter shooting—something the Gaels are known for. Hopefully this is the only WCC loss the Zags will face this season, as SMC now controls the conference lead with sole possession of first place.