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The Spokesman-Review Newspaper
Spokane, Washington  Est. May 19, 1883

One Krazy night

Gonzaga true freshman guard Steven Gray had been waiting for this for two years. He hadn’t been to a GU home game or felt the noise generated at the McCarthey Athletic Center during the recruiting process.

That changed Friday when he and the rest of the 2007-08 Bulldogs experienced the Kraziness in the Kennel men’s basketball scrimmage in front of roughly 5,000 fans. The jitters soon followed for Gray.

“This was my first time seeing the place with people – I never made it out here for a game – so I’ve been excited for so long to see the fans come out,” he said. “It was such a nice feeling to see everyone jumping up and down and screaming and yelling. We have quite a few young guys and we were trying to get those jitters out of the way playing in front of a crowd this large. It was a learning experience, so it was nice to get through this.”

Austin Daye, another high-profile recruit, understood just how Gray was feeling.

“It was really nerve-wracking in the beginning,” said Daye, the talented 6-foot-10 freshman from Irvine, Calif. “That first shot I took I had so much adrenaline I thought I air-balled it. When it went in I was kind of surprised.”

Coaches divided up the teams for a 20-minute first half, followed by a 15-minute, running-clock second half. At half, numerous players switched jerseys from red to blue and vice versa, so keeping score was of little importance.

There was also a dunking exhibition that included some creative entries – Ira Brown bouncing the ball of the shot clock above the basket and powering down a dunk; Daye attempting to jam a teammate’s pass from way up in the stands; and Jeremy Pargo borrowing a stool from a cameraman to dunk over seated walk-on Chris Pontarolo-Maag.

Prior to that, Pargo donned sunglasses and led the team through a choreographed dance near midcourt. The coaching staff was invited to participate, but …

“I practiced,” head coach Mark Few insisted. “Pargo had me the first two steps, but I just didn’t feel comfortable. See, I know my limitations.”

That’s something he’s preaching to his players.

“I thought Rob (Sacre) did what he was supposed to do – that’s kind of his role,” Few said of Sacre, the 7-foot freshman from British Columbia who scored 14 points. “That’s what we’re trying to get all these guys to do because there are enough of them if they just bring their strengths and minimize their weaknesses then we can do some things.

“You get four guys on one page and one new guy on another and that can screw up what you’re trying to do offensively and defensively, and that’s what was happening a lot out there.”

Micah Downs showed his shooting touch, hitting four 3-pointers en route to 20 points. Abdullahi Kuso made 7 of 9 interior shots and scored 20 points. Gray wasn’t bashful, launching 10 shots in the first half, and then hitting 3 of 5 attempts in the second half. Matt Bouldin had six assists and David Pendergraft had 10 first-half rebounds.

Both teams seemed to settle down in the second half after a ragged first half. The shooting percentages climbed as both teams took better care of the ball.

“It was pretty sloppy, but that’s the first time all of us have been in the gym with all these people,” Bouldin said. “We need to work on a few things, (limiting) turnovers, shot selection. We need to get into our offense, but it was good to get out here with all the fans. That got me excited.”

Josh Heytvelt (foot) and Larry Gurganious (knee) sat out the scrimmage. Heytvelt said his foot is feeling better. He’ll visit the doctor Monday or Tuesday. If the visit goes well, he hopes to get on the court later in the week.