Nothing Left Behind Effort Was Never A Problem For Gonzaga This Season; Shooting’s Another Story

This does not compute.

Gonzaga men’s basketball team goes into the season facing perhaps the toughest schedule ever, and a conference that has unprecedented strength.

They do so with a jump-shot offense run by a gang of shaky shooters.

All told, they play only two really good games - maybe - and they have nights when they can’t find the basket with airport landing lights.

And from the free-throw line, well, the last-place GU women’s team shoots much better than the men.

Spells disaster, right?

Oddly, no.

The Bulldogs racked up their fifth straight 19-plus win season (21-8) to earn a third consecutive postseason invitation and a co-championship of the West Coast Conference.

According to coach Dan Fitzgerald, in his penultimate season - Dan Monson will take over after next year - this mysterious season was saved by one constant.

Effort.

“Our emotional consistency was spectacular - absolutely unbelievable,” Fitzgerald said. “This is probably the most blue-collared team I’ve ever had, and that’s saying something. They were just wonderful.”

But, because of the inconsistent shooting, it was technically the most difficult team he’s had to coach, Fitzgerald said. Yet it far surpassed his expectations.

“I really don’t think this team could have done better,” Fitzgerald said. “In September, if somebody would have told me we’d get 21 wins, a conference co-championship and an NIT bid, I’d have said take me to heaven.”

On the upside, almost every game, several Bulldogs stepped up to take control.

Conversely, however, it was rare that the whole team was alert at tipoff.

“I don’t think the whole team clicked all year, we never really put 40 minutes together,” senior center Scott Snider said after GU’s 19-point loss to Washington State in the NIT first-rounder. “It’s weird, everybody gets along great and there’s not a bit of selfishness, but we couldn’t get it together.

“We had a lot of talent, but some nights, two or three guys would show up to carry us, and in other games, somebody else would do it, but not all of us were clicking at the same time.”

Senior forward Jon Kinloch made the same analysis. “We probably only played two really good games, Portland at our place and Cal State Fullerton,” Kinloch said. “But we had guys pick other guys up when they were having a bad game and that’s the sign of a good team.”

Eight of GU’s nine losses came to teams that advanced to the postseason (WSU twice, Santa Clara twice, Portland twice, Washington and Montana State).

And the 10-4 conference mark was good enough to tie Santa Clara atop the league standings.

“This team shocked me to get a championship,” Fitzgerald said. “That probably shouldn’t have happened. Every one of these guys has some chinks in his armor, but this is a team game and as a team, they were super.

“We had five seniors (Kyle Dixon, Kinloch, Snider, Jason Bond and Scott Morgan) and there’s not an ounce of dog in any of them,” Fitzgerald said.

Fitzgerald’s farewell tour next season could be another season where the Bulldogs fortunes are unpredictable.

It’s likely that he will start Matt Santangello at point guard - the first freshman to get such a heavy dose of responsibility.

However, the shooting guard spot looks strong with the late-season surge of junior Lorenzo Rollins. Rollins pumped in a game-high 30 points against WSU. Rollins made 42 percent of his 3-pointers and 91 percent of his free throws in WCC play.

Also, all-league center Paul Rogers will return, having averaged a team-high 15.2 points and nine rebounds a game.

Freshman Mike Leasure, who gave the Bulldogs some strong minutes as a reserve this season, will likely take over Kinloch’s No. 3 spot.

“It’s a team that may struggle a bit, so we’ll have to be patient,” Fitzgerald said. , DataTimes ILLUSTRATION: Color Photo