Turiaf trusts pups
TUCSON, Ariz. – As a senior co-captain and the only player on Gonzaga’s roster with any appreciable amount of postseason experience, Ronny Turiaf is constantly tempted to lecture his teammates on the pressures of playing in the NCAA Tournament.
But after watching the rapid development of junior transfers J.P. Batista and Erroll Knight, and sophomores Adam Morrison, Derek Raivio and Sean Mallon, through the course of the 2004-05 season, the 6-foot-10 forward has decided to hold his tongue.
“Actually, I’m not going to say anything to them,” Turiaf said when asked what NCAA wisdom he might impart on his fellow Bulldogs heading into Thursday’s 4:25 p.m. tournament opener against 14th-seeded Winthrop (27-5) in McKale Center. “I don’t want to change anything about the way they have been playing.”
Despite the fact that the third-seeded and 10th-ranked Zags (25-4) have been to seven consecutive NCAAs, there is a remarkable shortage of on-court experience on this year’s team.
Turiaf has played in five NCAA tournament games, logging 124 minutes and 70 points. But no other Bulldog has played in more than the two games the Zags took part in last March when they knocked off Valparaiso 76-49 in the opening round before losing to Nevada 91-72.
Mallon played 44 minutes in those two games – the most of any returnee other than Turiaf. Morrison played 37, followed by Knight with 28 and Raivio with 20. Batista was still in junior college. As a group, they combined for just 45 points.
Still, none of that concerns Turiaf, who is hoping nothing changes about his teammates’ approach heading into this year’s tournament.
“Those guys are all just ballers,” he said. “They’re wild, crazy ballers who aren’t afraid of anyone or anything. They’ve played in big games before, and they give 100 percent all the time they are out on the floor.
“They just go out and play, and I don’t want them to think about anything else.”
Then, after a brief pause, Turiaf added, “This is the NCAA Tournament, so if they want to bring about 25 percent more, we’ll take it.”
A regional site by any other name …
There were undoubtedly a good number of Gonzaga fans – especially those worshippers of the sun – who were elated to learn the Bulldogs were being sent to Tucson instead of Boise for the opening round of this year’s NCAA Tournament.
But the location of the Bulldogs’ Thursday matchup against Winthrop hardly registered on the radar of the players involved.
“Most fans don’t realize that we really don’t see much of the city we’re in, where we’ve got a game to play,” sophomore forward Adam Morrison said. “About all we see is a hotel room and the gym.”
Added sophomore point guard Derek Raivio: “It doesn’t matter to us where we play. We’ll play overseas if we they want us to.”
Lost in translation
Some questions fail to translate, even from English to English.
Last Sunday, with his Gonzaga Bulldogs gathered at his home to watch the NCAA Tournament’s selection show, Zags coach Mark Few noted that his team’s first-round opponent, Winthrop, had a player on its roster from Wellington, New Zealand, the same hometown as his own freshman center Calum MacLeod.
Few asked MacLeod if he knew the Eagles’ Craig Bradshaw, a 6-10 sophomore center. After MacLeod informed him that he had matched up against Bradshaw on several occasions in high school, Few posed another question.
“So, how is he?” Few asked.
“I don’t know,” MacLeod replied. “I haven’t talked to him in quite a while. But he’s a really nice guy.”
Northwest connection
Winthrop coach Gregg Marshall piqued the interest of several sportswriters from the Pacific Northwest during a teleconference held earlier this week when he compared Gonzaga’s recent success on the basketball court to a snowball rolling down the side of Mount Baker.
When asked how he knew about Mount Baker, Marshall explained that his wife, the former Lynn Munday, was from Bellingham, and that he had made several trips to Washington to visit her parents.
“So I’ve already gone out there and stolen one of your state’s finest,” added Marshall, who was married in 1994 and has lived in South Carolina for the past 15 years.