GU notes: Bulldogs seek return of aggressiveness
On one coaching hand, Mark Few is extremely pleased that the Gonzaga Bulldogs are 29-2 and WCC champions.
“If you would have offered any one of us 29-2, 17-1 in league, any one of us would have taken it,” Few said. “You can’t ever lose sight of that. The guys are still in the midst of a phenomenal season.”
On the other coaching hand, Few said, “but the fact is we lost our last game and that puts a bitter taste in your mouth and gets you fired up a little bit.”
As Few pinpointed after Saturday’s loss, Gonzaga didn’t match BYU’s aggressiveness. There isn’t a long list of what ails the seventh-ranked Zags, but that occupies the top spot.
“It goes from game to game,” Few said. “Energy, how physical we are. I think we were one of the more physical teams in college basketball when we were making a good run in December and January and I think we’ve gotten a little away from that.”
BYU thumped Gonzaga on the offensive glass and in the pursuit of loose balls. GU players didn’t argue the fact that they were outworked and several suggested that something has been missing for a few weeks.
“We just got complacent and we have to play harder,” forward Kyle Wiltjer said. “We definitely weren’t in it like we have been all season. If I knew the answers, we wouldn’t have done that.”
The Zags have been fairly consistent most of the season but they’ve played at extremes as the regular season was winding down. They trailed Saint Mary’s by 17 in the first half before outscoring the Gaels 51-24 the rest of the way. They had sluggish first halves against San Diego and Pepperdine but responded with strong second halves.
They were suspect on defense against Pacific but outstanding against the Toreros. The Zags’ first-shot defense against BYU was good enough to win the game, but they didn’t complete possessions by securing defensive rebounds. The offense has also run hot-and-cold over the last few weeks.
“It wasn’t just the last game,” guard Gary Bell Jr. said, “It was the ones before that where we didn’t come out as aggressive as we did in the past.”
The Zags won the conference by four games and enter the WCC tournament as the top seed and prohibitive favorite. A tournament title would probably allow Gonzaga to hold its projected spot as a two seed in the NCAA tournament and keep alive slim hopes of a top seed.
“You take things for granted when you’re winning and even when you’re not playing well and still winning,” said guard Kevin Pangos, adding that GU’s fire has slipped of late. “I think it’s just human nature to settle for whatever you can get away with, and I think that’s the stage we got into. We weren’t playing as aggressively or as passionately or anywhere near what we had been earlier in the season.
“That (loss) was a wake-up call because BYU played way tougher than us and had way more fire and it showed.”
Pangos, Wiltjer on Naismith list
Pangos and Wiltjer are among 10 semifinalists for the Naismith Trophy, awarded to the player of the year. Gonzaga is the only school with two semifinalists.
Semifinalists include Duke’s Jahlil Okafor, Kentucky’s Willie Cauley-Stein, Wisconsin’s Frank Kaminsky, Utah’s Delon Wright and four players from outside the Power 5 conferences. Four finalists will be announced March 22.
Pangos, named WCC player of the year on Tuesday, averages 11.6 points and 5 assists. Wiltjer, first-team All-WCC, averages 16.5 points and 5.7 rebounds. Both are shooting just less than 45 percent from 3-point range.