Zags haven’t played up to potential

In response to the review of the Zags-Memphis men’s basketball game in Wednesday’s (Dec. 28) Spokesman-Review, I was wondering if anybody dared to mention the fact Gonzaga actually could (and almost should) have won this game? Unfortunately, depending on one player to provide the vast majority of the team’s points game after game is not going to cut it.

Did anybody notice the combined total of four guards was just 15 points? Or that Derek Raivio, our supposed sharpshooter, seems to be going backward on his productivity? Or that P-Mac’s (Pierre Marie Altidor-Cespedes) contribution in most games is to hit one, or at best two, shots and then run around a lot? Or that our big man, J.P. Batista, is not being as aggressive as he should be in following his shots? Or that blocking out seems to be a lost art lately? Or that they still can’t seem to find a guard who knows what to do with the ball once they decide they want to drive the lane? What happened to the in-out game Tuesday night?

Take nothing away from Memphis, it is a very good team. But the Zags have the potential to play much better than they have been and beat teams like Memphis. Coach Mark Few was on the mark a few weeks ago when he got tough with the media and said the players were being given too much credit for being good. In this basketball and Zags fan’s opinion, they had better wake up and play the way they are capable of playing and give Adam Morrison some support, or it will be one or two and out again in March Madness … assuming they get there.

Robert Bierman

Coeur d’ Alene