On the road again

ST. LOUIS – If things had worked out as originally planned, the Gonzaga Bulldogs wouldn’t be facing the hectic, travel-heavy holiday schedule that lies ahead.

According to Jerry Krause, GU’s director of basketball operations and lead schedule-maker, the Zags had hoped to piggyback a second Midwestern road game onto tonight’s 5:30 (PST) matchup against Saint Louis at the Savvis Center.

That second game couldn’t be arranged, however, and when Bulldogs coach Mark Few agreed to play Memphis on the road on Dec. 27 – the only day the game would fit into both schools’ schedules – the travel nightmare was spawned.

Following tonight’s game against the Billikens (5-4), the Zags (8-2) will disperse for an abbreviated holiday break. Some players will fly home directly from St. Louis, while others will return to campus for a couple of days.

Then, on the day after Christmas, the team will regroup and board the three small private jets that brought them here on Wednesday for another long flight back East, this time to Memphis.

“At least we’re on (semester) break,” Krause said, “so it isn’t like the kids have a lot of other things going on. They’re not going to miss any classes.”

But tack the back-to-back Midwestern trips onto the punishing early-season schedule GU has already played – complete with a five-day trip to Maui and a home game against Washington State sandwiched between two games in Seattle that were played just six days apart – and it’s easy to understand why Few is starting to feel like his Zags are “running on fumes.”

In their first 10 games, the Bulldogs have played four teams – No. 2 Connecticut, No. 9 Washington, No. 10 Michigan State and No. 16 Maryland – that are ranked in the latest Associated Press Top 25 poll.

And after tonight’s game against Saint Louis, they will catch a fourth-ranked Memphis team that is 8-1, with its only loss coming to top-ranked Duke. “This schedule has been grueling,” Few admitted following Monday night’s lackluster 75-65 win over Eastern Washington at the Arena. “And by the looks of it, it looks like it’s already worn us out.

“I’m sure nobody has played as hard a schedule as we have in the whole country – gone to the places we’ve been and played the teams we have. But you know, these games are great opportunities to get out and show what you’ve got, play with your buddies, fly around and just play as hard as you can.

“But we’ve got some guys who aren’t doing that.”

Saint Louis coach Brad Soderberg would like to think his Billikens are catching the weary Bulldogs at a good time. But he is convinced this GU team is good enough to give most teams, including his, fits even when it’s not at its best.

“This is the best team we will face this year,” said Soderberg, who is in his fourth season at Saint Louis. “And I don’t think I’m overstating it when I say I think this is the best team we’ve played since I’ve been at Saint Louis – which quite a compliment in light of the fact that we beat Louisville two years ago when they were the No. 2-ranked team in the country.

“I just think their experience, their depth and the system that Mark has implemented are just fantastic.”

But Soderberg is still amazed by the arduous nature of the demanding schedule the Bulldogs have played.

“It’s unbelievable,” he said. “I mean, with Maryland, UConn and Michigan State, it’s like a Who’s Who of who’s been in the Final Four over the last few years. And then they play Oklahoma State, Washington and Virginia on top of that.

“It’s enough to make us feel honored just to be playing them.”

In Saint Louis, the Zags will face a young, perimeter-oriented team that starts two freshmen and a sophomore in the backcourt. But one of those freshmen, Tommy Liddell, is averaging a team-high 13.1 points per game and has been named the Atlantic 10 Conference freshman each of the last three weeks.

Soderberg played for and coached with Washington State’s Dick Bennett, and Few said he expects to see the Billikens’ style of play mirror that of Bennett’s Cougars.

“It’ll be a grinder of a game where every possession will count, and it will be very difficult, probably, to score on them,” Few explained. “We’re going to have to, somehow, get the tempo going and do a much better job with our break than we have these last three games.”