Minutemen count on hard time from GU
SEATTLE – Opposing coaches keep looking at the video of Gonzaga’s lopsided loss to Illinois in last Saturday’s Wooden Tradition in Indianapolis, hoping to scrape together some ideas on how to deal with the Bulldogs.
It just doesn’t work.
Washington’s Lorenzo Romar had barely viewed past the opening credits when he shut down the DVD player, proclaiming, “That’s not the Gonzaga team we’re going to see.”
As it turns out, Romar was right. The Bulldogs that put a 99-87 bump on the collective heads of his 14th-ranked Huskies at the McCarthey Athletic Center on Wednesday in no way resembled the frantic, scattered Zags who were humiliated by the Fightin’ Illini.
Now comes Steve Lappas, who brings his University of Massachusetts Minutemen (2-1) into KeyArena for today’s 1 p.m. showdown against GU (4-1) in the second annual Battle in Seattle.
Lappas, too, took a quick look at the Zags’ loss to Illinois and declared the video worthless – for a much different reason.
“That’s doesn’t help us at all,” he said, “because we’re not Illinois.”
Which gives the Bulldogs reason for optimism heading into today’s intersectional showdown against a Massachusetts team that is coming off an 84-68 loss – at home, no less – to Northeastern.
No, this is not the Marcus Camby-led UMass of the not-so-recent past. Lappas seems comfortable praising the virtues of Gonzaga in his role as coach of the underdog Minutemen.
“They’re so physical, so tough, and they get after the glass as hard as any team in the country,” Lappas said of the Zags, who needed an overtime period to put down Missouri 87-80 in last year’s inaugural Battle in Seattle.
Lappas seemed particularly impressed with GU’s Wooden Award candidate Ronny Turiaf, who is averaging 25.6 points and 10 rebounds a game.
“He’s just tremendous,” Lappas said of the 6-foot-10 forward. “You can’t guard him one-on-one, because he’s able to turn over both shoulders and score on just about anyone. The kid is probably a (NBA) lottery pick.”
Lappas also likes Zags point guard Derek Raivio, who is averaging 12 points and 8.4 assists per game.
“He’s a tremendous shooter and a tough kid who does what he’s supposed to do,” he said of the 6-3 sophomore. “He gets them into their offense, distributes the ball and runs the show for them.”
Lappas has a couple of big-time players in center Rashaun Freeman, a 6-9, 255-pound sophomore, who is averaging 17 points and 7.7 rebounds per game – both team highs. Freeman was named the Atlantic-10 Conference’s freshman of the year last season, and has a capable complement on the perimeter in senior guard Anthony Anderson, who is averaging 12.3 points, 3.7 assists and 3.3 steals.
Lappas, who starts three sophomores, said his team resembles GU only in the fact that it relies on battle-tested underclassmen for much of its production.
“Granted, we both have senior leaders,” he added, “but their guy (Turiaf) is 6-10 and ours (Anderson) is 5-9.”
The two teams’ styles, Lappas added, are as different as the heights of their senior leaders.
“I know they like to run up and down the floor,” he explained, “while we’d rather keep it a half-court game. It should be an interesting test of wills.”
GU should benefit from the return of junior shooting guard Erroll Knight, who missed the Bulldogs’ first five games with a sprained thumb.