No. 21 Gonzaga adds grit this season
SPOKANE, Wash. (AP) - The national reputation of No. 21 Gonzaga has been built mostly on a platform of fast breaks, outside shooting and sharp passing: A finesse game.
This year's Zags have another key element, toughness. Grittier Gonzaga has matched up well with bruising teams like No. 12 Michigan State, No. 19 Cincinnati and Wake Forest.
"We are junkyard dogs and need to scratch and claw and fly around and play very hard," coach Mark Few said. "Because of that we're going to be in a lot of grinders and close ones."
Last year's supremely talented Sweet 16 team was often criticized for a perceived lack of toughness in important games.
Already this young season, Gonzaga (6-2) has come back from deep deficits for victories over Colorado and Washington State. They led for all but the closing seconds in a loss at Michigan State. They took everything a rugged Cincinnati threw at them before prevailing 61-59 in overtime. They climbed out of a 14-point hole to barely lose to Wake Forest 77-75 last Saturday.
"This is the grittiest team I have every played on," said leading scorer Matt Bouldin. "We have a lot of tough guys who love to bang. This year that's a staple for us."
What makes this especially interesting is the Zags are a young team, with most of the roster in their first season of college basketball. They host Augustana, Ill., on Wednesday.
The new Zags might be summed up by freshman Elias Harris, who has started all eight games and is averaging 13 points and 7 rebounds per game.
Harris was fighting for rebound position Saturday against Wake Forest's Chas McFarland when he put his forearm up and pushed hard against McFarland's throat, knocking him to the floor. Harris was immediately ejected from the game, and that was a factor in Gonzaga's loss.
But Harris' play illustrated how these Zags have no intention of being pushed around by more physical teams. Few, for one, was not bothered by Harris' actions.
"There were probably 50 or 100 of those block outs in the Michigan State and Cincinnati games," Few said. "There was no malicious intent."
Few was more concerned that the Zags lost the rebound battle and missed numerous free throws down the stretch.
But the Zags also found another tough guy in forward Bol Kong, who came off the bench to sink all four of his 3-point attempts when the game was on the line.
"I had a pretty good game, but the main point of play is to win," was Kong's assessment.
Playing so many close games can he draining, guard Steven Gray said. But it will pay off for the Zags in experience later in the season, he said.
Bouldin said the Zags believe they should have won every game so far.
"I'd rather not be in those type of games." he said. "But as long as we pull out wins it's good."
This year's Zags have another key element, toughness. Grittier Gonzaga has matched up well with bruising teams like No. 12 Michigan State, No. 19 Cincinnati and Wake Forest.
"We are junkyard dogs and need to scratch and claw and fly around and play very hard," coach Mark Few said. "Because of that we're going to be in a lot of grinders and close ones."
Last year's supremely talented Sweet 16 team was often criticized for a perceived lack of toughness in important games.
Already this young season, Gonzaga (6-2) has come back from deep deficits for victories over Colorado and Washington State. They led for all but the closing seconds in a loss at Michigan State. They took everything a rugged Cincinnati threw at them before prevailing 61-59 in overtime. They climbed out of a 14-point hole to barely lose to Wake Forest 77-75 last Saturday.
"This is the grittiest team I have every played on," said leading scorer Matt Bouldin. "We have a lot of tough guys who love to bang. This year that's a staple for us."
What makes this especially interesting is the Zags are a young team, with most of the roster in their first season of college basketball. They host Augustana, Ill., on Wednesday.
The new Zags might be summed up by freshman Elias Harris, who has started all eight games and is averaging 13 points and 7 rebounds per game.
Harris was fighting for rebound position Saturday against Wake Forest's Chas McFarland when he put his forearm up and pushed hard against McFarland's throat, knocking him to the floor. Harris was immediately ejected from the game, and that was a factor in Gonzaga's loss.
But Harris' play illustrated how these Zags have no intention of being pushed around by more physical teams. Few, for one, was not bothered by Harris' actions.
"There were probably 50 or 100 of those block outs in the Michigan State and Cincinnati games," Few said. "There was no malicious intent."
Few was more concerned that the Zags lost the rebound battle and missed numerous free throws down the stretch.
But the Zags also found another tough guy in forward Bol Kong, who came off the bench to sink all four of his 3-point attempts when the game was on the line.
"I had a pretty good game, but the main point of play is to win," was Kong's assessment.
Playing so many close games can he draining, guard Steven Gray said. But it will pay off for the Zags in experience later in the season, he said.
Bouldin said the Zags believe they should have won every game so far.
"I'd rather not be in those type of games." he said. "But as long as we pull out wins it's good."