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Following last weekend's loss in The City, and tomorrow's match-up against third place Portland, it seems like a good time to assess the state of this season's team. Expectations seemed lower this year after losing six players from last year and there was talk of rebuilding, having a down year, and being competitive given the difficult schedule. After seeing Elias Harris for the first time, thoughts quickly shifted to an NCAA tournament run. After Rob Sacre essentially exercised his will against Michigan State and in Maui dreams of a potential Final Four flitted through the heads of Gonzaga fanboys. With four legitimate offensive weapons and a point guard that defends, the Zags seemed lined up to make a big run.
2010 has shown that whatever happened in Novemer and December came about from smoke and mirrors. Similar to last season's collapse, 2010 has proven to be difficult for the Zags. Matt Bouldin was forced to play 37 minutes against a bad Pepperdine team AT HOME, who lost to a D-III school this season and has a RPI ranking of 282; followed by putting in 39 minutes against a bad LMU team who is ranked 217 in the RPI. In addition to Bouldin, both Steven Gray and Elias Harris are averaging 32 and 30 minutes per game. This league is not getting better at the bottom, the Zags are failing to pull away at the top. There is no reason that the three best players on this team need to be playing nearly the entire game against teams that are vastly inferior to the talent on the Gonzaga roster. Something needs to change.
In November this post talked about what Gonzaga fans should look for this season offensively. The problem is that Gonzaga is playing 3-on-5 offensive basketball at this point. There are no pick-and-rolls, there are no off-ball screens that actually hit people, there are no back door cuts, you see an offense that consists of what looks like 17 year-old AAU-look at me basketball and Elias Euro-moving it to the rim (with or without traveling). The Bulldogs have become so reliant on Elias and jumpshooting that when the shots are off, Duke game, or the guards are off, 1-10 from three vs. USF, the Zags are going to be unable to compete.
Gonzaga and Mark Few have lost their way offensively and need to get back to having an OFFENSIVE SYSTEM. The Zags look like they're constantly playing in a pick-up game in the fieldhouse. Goodson has terrible court vision and negligible passing skills, shoots the ball like Randy Johnson used to throw fastballs in 1988 (no idea where it is going) and has failed to show that he is even an above average defender. Put him on the bench. Rob Sacre has shown a total lack of desire to rebound the ball, and when you're SEVEN FEET TALL rebounding is really only about desire; an inability to be able to pass the ball out of a double team, and a lack of ability to play without getting into foul trouble. Put him on the bench.
NEW PLAN
Return to the flex offense, or some variant. Mark Few formerly was a huge fan of this offense because it consisted of effective movement and putting people into positions where they can be effective. Look at this if you don't know what the flex is; and at the bottom of the page where Few and Rice hawk books/videos about the flex. Gonzaga's best offense is wasting away because the coaching staff is failing to put its players into situations where they can succeed.
Gonzaga's best players are Matt, Steven, Elias, Bol, Manny, Kelly and Grant. Since Bol is too slow to get a shot off the dribble, maybe we could set some screens for him to get open and take advantage of his 46% three point accuracy. Since Kelly is too weak physically to battle in the low post, maybe we flash him to the high post to knock down 15 foot jumpshots. Flash Matt across the low block so he can post-up his defender, which he does so well. The options from the flex are innumerable and Gonzaga is wasting its talent by standing 25 feet from the rim and pounding the ball into the floor waiting for someone else to do something.
Why is this coaching staff so entirely opposed to playing pressure defense? Given the length and athleticism of nearly everyone on the roster, why is there no press or half-court traps? The best options for winning are not being optimised by Coach Few, with maddening results.
This team needs to find a new direction or else it is going to be another season with an early exit come March.
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