Tru-Dat, do You think Few has what it takes to coach the Zags to a deeper run in the tourney? I would think that all of the talent that Few has he would have atleast went to the sweet 16. any thoughts??
The only thing GU proved was that the media is right and that you dont go out and beat a team on a 22 game win streak, at home with a superstar who showed up. They had the game in the bag until someone threw in the towel.
i agree droopy, and one other thing, they just outplayed us. Bouldin and Daye missed their shots. On the other hand, Stephen Gray had a hell of a game and when he missed his first 3 point attempt, even i was shocked.
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In response to CBBF, no, I don't think Few has what it takes to get the Zags deeper into the tournament. I would have thought that with this much talent, it'd be pretty hard NOT to make the sweet 16...but Few proved me wrong. Just like he proved me wrong when I thought the Zags would get to the Elite Eight or Final Four with Adam Morrison. Few is a good enough coach to keep the Zags on top of the WCC...but that's it. If the Zags want to make a run in the NCAA tournament, we need a coach who lead the team to be the best they can be.
Maybe someone should let Few know that there's a job open @ Indiana....
I feel that Mark Few does have what it takes. In the game against Davidson, Gonzaga blew 11-point leads twice. Then there is Davidson's 2nd Generation NBA star, Stephen Curry, who scores half their points. That is ridiculous!!!!! He went and did the same against Georgetown (the #2 seed), and now Davidson is in the Sweet 16. Coach Few could not control the fact that Austin Daye, David Pendergraft, Matthew Bouldin and Abdullahi Kuso all had sub-par performances. Gonzaga does not get challenged enough in the month before NCAA Tourney time, so their level of tenacity doesn't get elevated until they are in the first round, and as of late, it has meant too little too late. Get Gonzaga 3-4 games w/ Top 40 teams in Feb, and we will go further.
Wow, I guess success has really spoiled us. As far as Few has brought this program and a few of you are implying he should be ousted? Are you nuts? This is Gonzaga, a small Jesuit school in Spokane. All I can say to Zagnificent and CBBF is that you're not in Kansas, Dorothy ... or North Carolina... or UCLA ... and your expectation level is unrealistic. Few has done a tremendous job.
Where exactly has Few brought us? As I recall it was Monson (with Fitzgerald's team & recruits) who went to the elite eight. Since then, yes we've had 3 sweet sixteens...and several disappointments. The point isn't that we should be happy with what we have, the point of sports in general is to push yourself to be your best. I don't think that Gonzaga is playing the best it possibly could under Mark Few. And please recall that at one point Kansas, North Carolina, UCLA, etc were all in the same position. You have to earn respect every single year and get better, not just have a few decent years then rest on your laurels while slowly sliding into mediocrity.
I guess, to clarify, my expectations aren't unrealistic...I think it's perfectly reasonable to ask that our coach get our team to play the best basketball that they're capable of, to get our team to continually improve...
I get it, GU is a small school...I work there, as does my wife, we both know it's quite small...so are many other Div I schools. It's Jesuit...so is Georgetown and many others. I just don't think these are valid excuses for why a coach should be let off the hook, because, frankly they don't have anything to do with how he coaches basketball.
It's pretty unreasonable to call for Few's job. As a matter of fact, thats completely insane. Gonzaga is in the WCC, remember? They have a very very brief tradition of success on the national level. My point, the unprecidented rise as a national contender year in and out continues to dangle by a thread. A few poor seasons and it could be gone. Do you really think its wise to cut the final coaching thread of the coaching staff that build the MAC? (Fitz, Monson, Howland, Grier, Few?). Fire an the coach annually chosen as conference coach of the year, because he ONLY, won the conference and took his mid-major program to the NCAA tournament in the last two years. Your demands are awful high.
Writing on a separate note, I think Few very willfully put forth less than his best coaching effort against San Diego and his best buddy Grier; and if this is true, he should be canned for that.
Further, and more in line with the topic of the thread; why in the hell was Pargo on Curry all game? Why not put a better man on defender on him?
I love Few and everything that he has done for us. Without him, America's team wouldn't exist. Based on his success in the past, however, I would say this season has room to bring forth some criticism.
He never could really understand our team this year, although it is hard to blame him for that because what should a coach have done with our team this year? I would get frustrated however when he would play zone ds against teams that were hot from the 3-point... I don't think he planed very well for most of the games either. We also had terrible team unity and couldn't get any momentum all season long.... I don't know if that is the coach's fault, but that is something that I'm not used to seeing the Zags struggle with.
Based on the success he has brought in the the past, he has risen expectations for himself and from his peers. He has established Gonzaga and Spokane really as a basketball town; we are national contenders, not a shitty team from the WCC, and we need to act like it. Sure, thank Few for the miracles that he has given us, but everything is different now that we are an elite program.
I won't be too harsh on Few because when we dominate next year, this season will just be viewed as a building year. I mean, look at Kansas! Everyone talked about how much talent that had two years back, but they always hung around 20-25 in the AP..... Well look at them now.
Perhaps I was premature in calling for a new coach...but the fact still remains that Few is not doing the best he could be doing. I vehemently believe that Few does little to prepare himself for big matchups, is completely incapable of making in-game adjustments, and doesn't seem capable of actually leading a team. Instead it seems like his gameplan is always "hope that someone on this team plays better than I coach and maybe we'll win."
I agree 100% with souldrinker that GU is a national contender, not just some worthless team from the WCC (although I'm certain that the ease with which GU has won the auto-bid from the WCC has played a major part in the Zag's success). As a national contender GU must play like they want more, and a huge part of that is how they're coached. I'm not going to jump on the "we'll be better next year, so everything is ok" bandwagon, because Few's Zags have proven to be consistent in underperforming their expectations. Maybe next year will erase my doubts...but maybe not.
In regards to Gray guarding Curry, I was a bit confused by that move. Gray has pretty slow feet & is usually fairly easy to beat; whether it be off the dribble or around a screen. I was flabbergasted when Few put Gurganious in the game...but not on Curry. And once again when Downs didn't appear in the second half, after playing effective defense on Curry in the first. Interesting choices...
I agree that this year was not Few's best and I thought for sure Gurganious would see significant minutes on Curry as he is our best 2-3 defender by far. I also felt Few should have shortened the rotation the last week or two of the regular season and gone with Downs instead of Daye and Gurganious instead of Bouldin in the 2nd half vs. Davidson. Daye was clearly tight (WCC Tourny also) and Bouldin certainly didn't help offensively - might as well have had the defensive stopper (Gurganious) in there instead. Still, the defense on Curry was not horrible - he shot the ball unbelievably well.
All of this being said, Few is a fine coach and we need to keep things in perspective.
"Further, and more in line with the topic of the thread; why in the hell was Pargo on Curry all game? Why not put a better man on defender on him? " WSUcougar05
From what I watched, Gray was on Curry the majority of the game. Still, I was asking that same question because I don't think Gray can put the lock down on the ball. I've seen him struggle with this, especially against santa clara where he got called on consecutive possesions for bumping into the PG when he would drive.... Kind of a thing you do once you know hes got you beat..... once Larry was put in the game I thought he would for sure be put on Curry.... that never happened and then he drops 40.
