AKZAG Posted December 9, 2004 Share Posted December 9, 2004 Just wanted to stop by and wish you good luck for this weekend's game. Our new arena is still pretty cozy and seats just under 6000, but can still get pretty loud. Our student section is right on top of the court. So far, we are 6-1, with the loss being just crushed by Illinois. Only the way they then dismantled Wake Forest made us feel better - they are simply, that good. Our team is pretty young this year. We lost 5 seniors, and have only two on our roster with only Turiaf seeing significant minutes. Otherwise, we have been starting one freshman (Pierre-Marie Altidor-Cespedes - PMac), and three sophomores (Mallon, Morrison, Raivio). WSU really slowed down the tempo from where we like it. I would expect the same from your team, especially as your coach is an old Bennett assistant. GU tends to lack (from a fan's perspective) an aggressive perimeter defense. We give up a lot of points - but average close to 80. We are big down low - five players 6'8" +, and normally win the rebound battle. Looking forward to a good game .... Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
slufanskip Posted December 9, 2004 Share Posted December 9, 2004 Thanks for the post ... I would say good luck to you also ... but I don't think we can win if you get luck. We need you to have bad luck ... Official Billikens.com sponsor of H. Waldman Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
courtside Posted December 9, 2004 Share Posted December 9, 2004 Yes nice post....sorry no hope for anyhting remotely resembling an up-tempo game on SLU end. You know your team well. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Schasz Posted December 9, 2004 Share Posted December 9, 2004 Thanks for the nice post...I lived in Seattle from '96-'00 and became a Zags fan when I got to see them play a few times in person. I really like your style of play and the Zags have been on a nice run. We are hoping that our Billikens can put together a similar run in the A10. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Billiken Rich Posted December 9, 2004 Share Posted December 9, 2004 By all accounts the Gonzaga program is a class act. There haven't been many Zag fans post here but I believe those that have have been class acts as well. Sadly, you will not need luck to dismantle the Bills this year, though next year may be a very different story..... Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Billiken75 Posted December 9, 2004 Share Posted December 9, 2004 Thanks for the nice synopsis of your team. I think all of us admire the Gonzaga program and hope to follow your lead in playing hard, winning, and getting a solid program going. And it is fun to interact with the opponent's fans in a positive fashion - as opposed to trash talk and vulgarity. I hope we can at least make you earn your victory. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
AKZAG Posted December 9, 2004 Author Share Posted December 9, 2004 Rich - unfortunately, this is our rebuilding year (as well?). We really only (only?!) lose Turiaf after this year. It is tough to win at our place. Off the top of my head, I think we were 150-10 in the old Kennel during the past 12 years. But the new building is living up to expectations. It will be a much more experienced Zag team when we visit you next year - but a road game is a road game. Does anybody know if the '05 game will be on your campus (as I would expect)? Still, I respect your program. Saturday's game is considered in some circles of our fans as a trap game. I would expect your best game, and hopefully that can get your season moving in a more positive direction. If anyone is interested, our main board is gonzaga.theinsiders.com . Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
huzzah Posted December 10, 2004 Share Posted December 10, 2004 Just out of curiosity can you give us some idea about the talent level coming out of Seattle. I think I recall North Carolina picking up a player and UCLA two players from the Seattle area. Romar is achieving greater success, it seems, in your area, than here. For the moment two strong teams are present and Washington State(3-3) may be competitive, not withstanding the OK State blow out. I am curious on how Romar turned Washington around. Any comments. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
AKZAG Posted December 10, 2004 Author Share Posted December 10, 2004 Wow! There's a lot to answer there. I'll give you my best take on things. First, 3 of the 4 Div. I schools in Washington made it to the dance last year. UW, Gonzaga, AND Eastern Washington, which was the Big Sky champion. From that angle, the schools are doing well. WSU made a great hire in Bennett, but he hasn't really had his recruits come in yet. His emphasis is on defense and to their credit, the players have bought into it (the Ok. St. game aside, it is working - last year, Stanford needed a last minute bucket in Pullman to win and stay undefeated, just days before having it snapped in Seattle). He needs some scorers now, and if he can stick around for four or five years, they'll be contenders as well. The talent coming out of Washington, and specifically Seattle, might be the best the state has produced in a long time. I can think of probably six to eight players in the past two years whose "interest" list read something like (in alpha...) : Arizona, Gonzaga, Kansas, North Carolina, Washington. It isn't quite up to Texas standards, but it seems to be a hotbed of talent at the moment. Gonzaga won the recruiting war for the incoming class of 04-05. But our past successes had made us a more attractive name (for now). Of our four newcomers, we got PMac out of Montreal outlasting Pitt among other eastern schools. Batista, from Brazil, is a Juco transfer that Self wanted in Kansas, before settling on Pettway from the same JC league. David Pendergraft was going to redshirt until an early injury to Knight (who transferred from UW in between the Bender and Romar transition). And Josh Heytfelt, still growing and approaching 7', could be our best ever big man, is redshirting. Both Josh and David are Washington products. Josh was the focus of the infractions that UW got penalized for - he had already committed to become a Zag. That being said, with their run last season, UW has a legitimate top ten recruiting class for next year's frosh, much from the state. We both went after many of the same kids. But we are happy with what we have coming in; another juco transfer big from a school in Texas, and then two slasher-types studs, one from San Francisco, and Jeremy Pargo, yes, his brother is on the Bulls, from Chicago. So we are still excited, but UW won this one. Kansas did get one, as did North Carolina, as well. But at least our programs are at the point where we have been able to recruit outside of the region, and are actually on the same list as some of the big boys. Sorry, if this more info than you wanted, but one more bit on Romar. As is to be expected when anybody takes over a BCS program, immediate results are expected. Among those expectations is to beat that little upstart Jesuit school across the state (GU has won the last seven meetings and is something in the neighborhood of on a 57-1 run against our regional rivals ; UW, WSU, EWU, UP, PSU, UI). It hasn't happened yet. But the UW program has obviously made a turn for the better. Some might point to Romar, others point out that once Nate Robinson quit football to concentrate on hoops, then the program made the dramatic change. Whatever. The fact is that the results of the team that Nate plays on, has allowed UW to reenter into the mix, and the future looks very bright for the Huskies. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Schasz Posted December 10, 2004 Share Posted December 10, 2004 Next years game between the Zags and SLU will not be played on SLU's campus...it will be at the Savvis Center. SLU is still working on getting the financing for their on campus arena and ground has not been broken for the building. I hope that SLU gives the Zags a good game on Saturday and I also hope that the Zags have another NCAA run. I was disappointed in their early exit from the Tourney last year. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
huzzah Posted December 10, 2004 Share Posted December 10, 2004 Thanks for the reply. I enjoyed reading it. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
alameda bob Posted December 10, 2004 Share Posted December 10, 2004 I admire the way Coach Few teaches the old school style of team play. He referred to the Zags as the Washington Generals when he came to the Pete Newell Challenge in Oakland several times and always lost there. One of his mentors and a Spokane resident is Jud Heathcote, another old friend of Pete's. What is the name of the slasher type stud from SF you mentioned? Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
AKZAG Posted December 10, 2004 Author Share Posted December 10, 2004 I might butcher his name, but it is Larry Gurganious. He and his parents made an on campus visit a few months ago, and everything just clicked. One of the very interesting things about our recruits, is they often play a few pick-up games with the existing players, and get shown around by the players. The coaches then ask for approval to offer from the team. I.e. - if they click with the team they are in, if they rub someone the wrong way, the team can veto them (or at least have a very strong vote of dissent). Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Recommended Posts
Join the conversation
You can post now and register later. If you have an account, sign in now to post with your account.