Raivio stalls while Gonzaga streaks
Conference-leading Gonzaga opens the second half of its West Coast Conference men’s basketball schedule tonight against last-place Santa Clara in what appears – on paper, at least – to be a bit of a mismatch.
Tipoff is set for 8 p.m. (TV: KHQ 6) at the McCarthey Athletic Center, where the fifth-ranked Bulldogs (17-3 overall, 7-0 in the WCC) will look to run their winning streak to nine games against a struggling Broncos team (8-11, 1-6) that has lost five straight.
But the Zags, despite their unbeaten run through the first half of conference play, still have some troubling issues to address – a recent lack of scoring balance, inconsistent effort on the defensive end of the court and the absence of a shot blocker inside, for instance.
The most noticeable, however, might be the lack of offensive production from junior guard Derek Raivio in recent weeks.
Raivio, an all-WCC selection as a sophomore when he averaged 13.0 points and a conference-best 4.8 assists per game, was typically productive in the first five games of GU’s winning streak, shooting 61.5 percent (16 of 26) from 3-point range and averaging 18.4 points.
In his last three outings, however, the 6-foot-3, 175-pounder from Vancouver, Wash., has made just 3 of 17 3-point attempts, and is averaging a mere 6.3 points.
He has no simple explanation for the dramatic drop in his numbers.
“Obviously, other teams are trying to check me a little tougher,” Raivio said, “but I don’t think it’s the other people as much as it is me.”
Without going into detail, Raivio admitted he has had “some off-the-court things going on in my life” of late that have drawn some of his focus away from basketball.
In addition, he has been asked to take on a slightly different role in GU’s offense this year. Once a full-time point guard, who had the ball in his hands most of the time, he is now alternating between the point and shooting guard position with sophomore Pierre Marie Altidor-Cespedes.
It has been a difficult change for Raivio to grasp.
“That’s how I’ve grow up, with the ball in my hands,” he said. “And now they’re telling me to come off screens and move more without the ball. It’s tough sometimes.”
Especially with a teammate who has been as dominant as Adam Morrison has been during GU’s winning streak – and Raivio’s recent scoring slump.
Morrison, despite being held to 16 point by San Diego, has averaged 30.5 points in the past eight games. In the last two, he’s taken more than 44 percent of the Zags’ shots (49 of 111) and scored just more than 50 percent (83 of 165) of their points.
“Adam’s rolling right now, and he’s always hitting tough shots out there,” Raivio said. “When he gets the ball, it’s probably not coming back. But that’s just the way it is playing with someone who can score like Adam and gets as hot as he’s been.”
Raivio added that having taken only 23 shots in the last three games makes it difficult to tell whether he’s actually in a shooting slump.
“When you don’t get as many shots as you’re used to getting, it’s hard to get in a rhythm,” he said, “so you can’t really judge on that. If you’re getting 12 to 15 shots a game, you can tell, but it you’re not getting that many, it’s hard to feel if you’re on or off.”
Bulldogs coach Mark Few said Raivio is still adjusting to not having the ball in his hands as much as he has in the past.
“He’s just not moving very good without the ball,” Few explained. “He’s not coming off screens very well, and that’s just something he’s got to keep working on and getting better at. When he’s doing that, he can still be a handful for opposing defenses.”
Raivio hopes to put the “personal stuff” out of his mind and get back to normal, starting tonight against Santa Clara.
“I’ve just got to control what I can control,” he said. “I’ve got to adapt to it, focus on what is really important, clear my head and get back to my roots and what I love to do, which is playing basketball.”