Gonzaga (Maui Invitational) Game Thread
 

We have seen gradual improvement from Game 1 to Game 4... Let's continue it in Maui. This could be a potential Game Changer for Archie's program.

Play a full 40 minutes and see what happens.

Starting Lineup:

G 11 David Stockon 5'11" 165 RS SR Spokane, WA
G 4 Kevin Pangos 6'2" 180 JR Holland Landing, Ontario
G 5 Gary Bell, Jr. 6'2" 205 JR Kent, WA
F 35 Sam Dower, Jr. 6'9" 243 RS SR Minneapolis, MN
C 24 Przemek Karnowski 7'1" 296 SO Torun, Poland

Go Flyers! Shock the College BBall World!

Game is on Monday Night at midnight on ESPN2

Couple of thoughts, though I've only seen Gonzaga play a little bit this year:

Seems like we have a size advantage on the perimeter. They are shooting the 3 ball very well, so defensively we'll need to keep a man on them, but offensively, hopefully that means we can get into the lane.

They have a size advantage in the post, however if they're message boards are to be believed, their fans are concerned about their lack of depth in the post. If UD's gaurds can get into the lane and draw fouls on their big men, we might go from being undersized in the post compared to them to having a big advantage down low. They have a 7', 300 lb frosh who hasn't played this season, their next biggest guy after the 2 starters is a 6'8", 200 lb frosh. Considering that their starting C is 7', 300 lbs, I'll assume one key will be getting our bigs out on the break and hopefully wear him down.

One area that has concerned me since I saw the start time, is the start time. A 12:00ish EST start is awfully late for our Flyers. I'll never get the image out of my head of UD playing Tulsa as a 4 seed in Spokan all those years ago, the team coming out sluggish a shot of DJ Stelly sitting on the bench in full yawn. Granted these are college age kids that are probably used to staying up to 2AM or later, and they'll have several days to adjust, but the starting time is definently an advantage for Gonzaga in terms of their natural body clock.

They shoot free throws as a team very well, with the lone exception of their starting C who's a 50% free throw shooter. Considering his size, if he gets on the block in position for an easy bucket, the best defense may be fouling.

Looking forward to this one, Few's team are always well coached, and very effiecient on offense. This should be UD's toughest test defensively. Picking up a win, should give UD two additional shots at a BCS school moving forward in the tournament (unless Chaminade beats Baylor). I'm going to be weary eyed Tuesday morning, I just hope I'm weary eyed and happy, rather than weary eyed and dissapointed.

As a team they are shooting 55% and 48% for 3's. Very good.
Pangos is averaging 19 pts/g and Dower 9 RPG. They like to shoot the 3, as they avg 24 taken each game. Zaga averages 8 steals a game and Stockton has 10 in four games, so we need to take care of the ball.

Pangos is the key for their offense. He scores and he can dish (4per game).

Not turning the ball over and good defense are big keys in this game.

Here is a good breakdown of the game. http://msn.foxsports.com/collegebask...d=201311250233

One key is that we don't come out all hyper and get quick fouls on our scoring studs which has them on the bench early in the game. Play good defense with the feet, not the arms and hands.

Maui Preview
 

Here's a link to a preview on the game;

Maui Invitational 2013 preview: Gonzaga in the mix of a loaded field

And a little more color on the tourney...albeit a sickening shade of orange:

A team-by-team look at this year's Maui Invitational field:

Couple of thoughts on UD and what I'm looking for, win or lose out of the Flyers.

1) Who mans the post? My father and I both agreed during the IPFW game that Scott easily looked the most improved and if Kavs didn't pick it up, he'd be starting in his place. Kavs is still showing rust while Scott has been gaining confidence and looking better each week while providing a ton of athletic ability down in the post (he makes in bounce plays w/ his length and leaping ability very tough on the oppositions, its something small, but has an impact outside of the box score). UD needs both of them if it wants to make a run at the NCAA tournament. UD needs to get Kavs back on track while keeping Scott playing like he has been.

2) passing. During parts of the IPFW, ST(Pa) and ST(Ny) games UD was very stagnant on offense, both with the ball and off the ball. They'd snap out of it for stretches and were close to getting the offense flowing freely most of the ST(Ny) game, then went out and had their best offensive effort vs GTech. The team was truely playing 5 as 1 meaning that no body was forcing shots early in the clock, just so they could "get theirs" but were constantly moving the ball to the next man, passing up a shot to get a better shot. When teams do that, they are very tough to defend. We saw that in the balance of scorers in the Gtech game with Pierre largely sitting on the bench.

3) the development of Scooch. Scooch wasn't ready for the bright lights during the IPFW game, he looked lazy and lost on both ends of the court during the first half. He certainly didn't look like a top 100 recruit. That was 1 game, he's been showing me ever since whey he was rated so high. He uses his long arms well to poke the ball away from the other team, he has a killer cross over, he's a good distributer, etc... "It" wasn't on display game 1, Scooch has been showcasing "It" ever since.

4) The versatility of Devin Oliver. I didn't get to see the game in real time when it was played, but listened to the game on the radio. Aftewords, I read the game thread and having known the results, you would have thought Devin didn't do a thing. I got a chance to watch the game on replay later on, and its amazing how many things Devin does to impact the game. He's a great slasher, completely unselfish distributing the ball, hustles all the way, great on the boards, can get up and block a shot... I know its a huge IF, but IF he ever figures out the 3 ball, the sky's the limit for him.

5) Team defense. This team has made great strides both since the start of the season and since last season. Archie has made several nice adjustments each game and while the results on that end of the floor are not as efficient as the results on the offensive end of the floor, they have the makings of a "solid enough" defensive team. Can they keep on improving? Can they recognize the areas the opposition is attemptingn to exploit and counter back?

At this point in his career, I think DMO needs to figure out that he should stop taking threes. Price, Vee, Pierre and Sibert are much better options from long distance.

swampy I agree, but when your wide open I've got to imagine its tempting, especially if its true about him hitting a ton in practice and Archie encouraging him to take that shot when open. That could just be Bucky being Bucky, I'm not at practice, I have no idea what he looks like in practice. If Archie told him "if you take another 3 pointer your butt will be on the end of the bench" I suspect Oliver wouldn't be taking that shot. He seems like a team guy all the way around, unlike Aric Murry who would hoists 3s while at LaSalle and know that Dr G didn't have many options other than to play him since he was so talented.

Chaminade up by 4 over Baylor with 3 minutes left in the 1st half
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How about he takes 1 step in and makes an 18 footer?

Old friend Lee Bailey, who had agreed to walk-on at UD and then took a scholarship from Chaminade has had a few good plays for the Silverswords
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@FlyerNewsSports on Twitter has on site coverage and pictures right now.

Looks like the game will start around 12:10... 30 min between games

Let's go Flyers! Big game. I've got my lucky Hawaiian shirt on and sending good Flyer vibes out to Maui...:D

Seven minute break to see if that was a flagrant foul....lol. Comical

This freaking Houston and Stanford game is running late

Game will start over on ESPNU

Tipoff!
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Kav looks scared.

Kavenaugh???
 

Whose the brilliant one who started this guy?

Good hands by Pierre forces a GU timeout.
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Gonna get ugly quick if they don't get strong in the paint.

Nothing falling right now. We are rushing the offense.

Paging Devon Scott
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Jay Bilas as color commentator...I think that's a first for a UD game if I remember correctly. Gotta love the sea of red Faithful in the stands...and yeah, Kavs is getting smoked...

Did UD's Coaches See the Georgia Tech Game?
 

How in the world can Kavenaugh start over Scott??? What in the world is up with that?

16-8 Gonzaga... We gotta slow down

Our fans sound loud and proud. Great showing!!

We have got to slow down.

how many calls can we get against us??

Whistles wore out already.
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officials have been awful. Vee was fouled and so was Scoochie

I don't complain about officiating...but this is ridiculous.

Honest truth. The Scoochie Smith offensive foul is the worst. The worst. Foul ever. I've seen

I see the zebras from the Findlay exhibition game made it to Hawaii
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I think setting the alarm clock for 230 AM and getting up to watch the last 3 minutes of the foul shooting contest might be a smart thing to do, gonna be a long night at this rate

5 turnovers and 8 fouls in 8 minutes.

Stockton was moving and they called a foul on Scoochie. Terrible call. These officials are struggling.

We have made 4 lay ups. Some patience and we will be OK on the offensive end.

Siebert can get that lane when ever he wants it

Scoochie glides out there. Very smooth.

.....but he's gotta get used to the college pace on offense. Rushing his shots.

This game is going to last until 0400 at this rate...

I like having aggressive guards on our side for a change. Need to see it in the half court set in addition to transition.
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we've also missed 4 layups.

Gotta make shots boys!

Scoochinator has to finish at the rim
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5 for 19 shooting the ball and 0 for 5 on threes. We have got to turn that around. We are getting good shots, but missing.

If UD hits their easy shots - they'd lead...
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Maybe if we quit playing like a$$ this could be a good game.

We have missed at least 6 shots right at the rim.

UD needs to slow down....going up and down with the Zags isn't a good idea. Our guys looks like that JV team that it going a mile a minute while the Varsity guys are just jogging along.

Kav is the biggest puss on the team. Guy grabs a board two feet from the bucket and fades away on the put back to 10 feet while the guards try to take it strong on that stint of O boards.

Guards need to slow down and quit rushing. We have open looks on the perimeter, yet look like we are rushing them. SLOW DOWN...panic mode is not necessary.

We haven't scored in 5 plus minutes...let's go.

It's going to be a battle of the walk ons at this rate.

Vee can't buy a shot. He doesn't look comfortable shooting the ball.

Great dish by Vee on the drive. Scott was breathed on with offensive breath and gets the and one.

Just can't get any momentum going. Every punch we give, we take two in return.

Back to life. Back to reality.

Choking on the big stage; can't convert on turnovers, giving up easy low post drops. Easily the worst they've looked all year. They need to calm down
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Needless to say the Flyers have gotta make their FTs
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The last two transition baskets by the Zags show why Scott isn't starting.

Poise?
 

Team and coaches have lost their poise. Poor foul shooting, too much fouling, wrong players in the game...

Mid tier A10 team. Check

Giving up this many offensive rebounds is unforgivable, I don't care how much more size they have inside.

This game is over
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Gotta hit the freebies...just goes to show they are playing scared and out of whack.

Figures we get hammered in the paint when our perimeter D has been pretty good.

We might lose by 30

zone has completely stifled Flyers. Afraid to shoot the threes which they will have to take and make if they want to get back in the game.

At least I can go to bed before 2

Time to go to bed, I can review this carnage in the morning.

The zone has really stymied us. Only success is when Pierre has flashed to the middle and attacked the hoop.

Not ready for prime time? I ain't giving up, perhaps too late for this game,nbut there is a lot of season ahead

28% and 0-7 on 3's and only 3-8 on free throws. Between our shooting and the constant fouls this is slipping away.

SS misses 3/4 foul shots, DS misses 3/4. Everyone is playing at too fast. Hopefully they regroup to win next 2 games. At this point, a 10 point loss would be a moral victory. They did not come prepared for this game sadly
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At least Robinson understands the concept of boxing out

Well at least Jay Bilas still loves us even if some of you on here don't!

Play fair Gonzaga! Drop the zone!
Really, noone is driving & dishing. Once someone enters the arc they're driving into the big goofus and hoping for the best...

Just cut the lead to 10 by half. Baby steps.

Robinson is there to play, quick hands on that steal

I like this lineup. Two bigs.

Great job drawing that foul by Scott

Schoochie needs to play for Price. Price is just slowing us down and playing non penetration offense. We attacked really well with Schoochie.

Cut the lead to nine at the half. If they can come out strong to start the second half than maybe this can be a game again.

Nice finish to the half to cut it to single digits.
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That was a nice finish to the half... After all that only down 9... Let's go boys!

Got it back to single digits at the half
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Down to 9 at the half, we are still in it.

Now lets run back the opening kickoff of the second half for a touch down and make it a game. :)

seniors had a rough half.

We all talk about defense, but this game is all about us not shooting well.

Nice heart and run by the guys the last few minutes

Gonzaga's defense is pretty tough. Blue print for every A10 team this year but not many can execute it

Honestly...as bad as we were with Kav in the game with the soft interior, no jumpers, and getting killed in the paint...had we hit some freebies...this game is **** close.

This game could have gotten out of hand real quick. I think we are settling down a bit, which is good. Being down 9 with the way they actually played, means this team still has a really good shot at winning this game.

Scott needs to hit FT's, as his aggressiveness is earning him trips to the line. Need to get some penetration and reversals on the zone for some good perimeter looks. Zags aren't rebounding well out of the zone. Need to crash as they aren't pressing the break on a board.

These guys are clearly good, and we played like jittery crap in the first half. But wait: The scoreboard says we are only down by single digits? So you're saying there's a chance... :)

Do you think we'll see any zones the rest of the year?

We've got them all the way.

We missed three breakaway layups (two of them just vaselined out of hands in route for a dunk), missed 2-3 inside bunnies, missed about 6 FTs, and about 3 treys toilet bowled out.

Not only could this game be close, we could be up 5. But we arent. We just shoot FTs and we overcome the Zag zone issues and this is a 1-2 possession game at the half.

It's going to be real important to keep the perimeter defense up to start the second half. The Zags are known for raining threes and they don't want to get in a dogfight.

So why did JR come out for KP? All he did was get an Offensive RB and bucket, then a steal on the other end and then he comes out? I guess he didn't miss enough layups or freebies to stay in.

Nice last 3 mins to pull they game back within reach. Agree with everyone, we hit our foul shots alone and we'd only be down by 4. I gotta say for as badly as we played, to only be down 9 is almost unbelievable. Need to keep chipping away.
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Bilas called the Flyers out (and rightly so) for passing it around the perimeter. Then, as if on cue, we don't beat the shot clock. That just can NOT happen at this point. They looked ill prepared to face and attack the zone even though - based on Arch's pre-game comments - they knew it was coming.

Did Big Boy pik up #2 or #3 with 2.9 sec to go in he half? Larry called it as #3. Gotta get some more fouls mounting on them. we are deeper.

This just in from Capt. Obvious: the Hack-a-Pangos strategy is NOT a good idea!

I'll take luck