Gonzaga locked it up last night

[Southpaw]

Zags are in. Looks like the Mushroom incident was just a bump in the road. It actually opened up a spot for Micah Downs, to get some playing time. He definitely added something down the stretch.


Go Zags.

Time to dig out the Zag's hat.

 

[Russ Smith]

I was actually hoping Santa Clara would win since I want to see Dick Davey go out well since he's being dumped by them. But they just couldn't make any shots from the outside.

Downs is an interesting kid he was a total pain in the neck in recruiting, his dad drove Kansas nuts while he was there(meddling parent) but you're right he seems to finally be stepping up with Heytvelt gone.

The thing I really dislike about Gonzaga is the realization that I remember watching Derek Ravio's dad Rick play in college so I'm getting old.

 

[Southpaw]

I was actually hoping Santa Clara would win since I want to see Dick Davey go out well since he's being dumped by them. But they just couldn't make any shots from the outside.

Downs is an interesting kid he was a total pain in the neck in recruiting, his dad drove Kansas nuts while he was there(meddling parent) but you're right he seems to finally be stepping up with Heytvelt gone.

The thing I really dislike about Gonzaga is the realization that I remember watching Derek Ravio's dad Rick play in college so I'm getting old.

Gonzaga is a strange team to watch. They play ten guys, but don't have any go to guys. Raivio is the closest and he is erratic. Pargo is one helluva an athlete but can't shoot a lick. Bouldin is still growing up to NCAA ball. Kuso has absolutely no offense. Pendergraft and Mellon are okay but have never gotten better. Micah Downs intrigues me. He has athleticism the others don't. They need a high seed to advance, IMO. If they get a mid seed they could be out quick. I still think the Mushroom incident is bogus. This may be Few's best coaching effort. They could be real scary next year.

That Kansas thing keeps popping up. Was Downs a Williams recruit? There was another Washington area kid who Williams recruited who was high maintenance and " dirty ". C J something. Williams seemed to leave some baggage behind.

 

[Russ Smith]

Gonzaga is a strange team to watch. They play ten guys, but don't have any go to guys. Raivio is the closest and he is erratic. Pargo is one helluva an athlete but can't shoot a lick. Bouldin is still growing up to NCAA ball. Kuso has absolutely no offense. Pendergraft and Mellon are okay but have never gotten better. Micah Downs intrigues me. He has athleticism the others don't. They need a high seed to advance, IMO. If they get a mid seed they could be out quick. I still think the Mushroom incident is bogus. This may be Few's best coaching effort. They could be real scary next year.

That Kansas thing keeps popping up. Was Downs a Williams recruit? There was another Washington area kid who Williams recruited who was high maintenance and " dirty ". C J something. Williams seemed to leave some baggage behind.

CJ Giles, who transferred to Oregon State. Real punk I think he beat up his girlfriend or something like that.

With Downs all you ever heard was his dad was a major pain in the rear, constantly bugging coaches about PT and that they were hurting his NBA chances. Downs is a big kid with a nice shot and he's athletic but he never played any defense or shared the ball so he didn't play at Kansas.

 

[hafey]

As the shirt says, Buck Gonzaga. They are like the Duke of the WCC. Any questionable call goes their way, at least it feels that. That said, as much as they annoy me, Gonzaga is good for the WCC.

As a Santa Clara alum, I'm really curious if they will go out and get a big name like Montgomery or Lavin after forcing out Davey.

Having read the Heyvelt arrest report, I'm curious how it seems bogus?

 

[Southpaw]

CJ Giles, who transferred to Oregon State. Real punk I think he beat up his girlfriend or something like that.

With Downs all you ever heard was his dad was a major pain in the rear, constantly bugging coaches about PT and that they were hurting his NBA chances. Downs is a big kid with a nice shot and he's athletic but he never played any defense or shared the ball so he didn't play at Kansas.

Yup. C J Giles. He is the one. He was promised to U of Miami and Perry Clark. Perry agreed to give C J's father a coaching ( cough, cough ) job and a house if C J came to Miami. When Donna Shalala , Miami's Prez found out, C J was gone and Perry got fired. Roy Williams/ Kansas had no problem with the same set up.

Hopefully Micah's father has learned to ****.

 

[Southpaw]

As the shirt says, Buck Gonzaga. They are like the Duke of the WCC. Any questionable call goes their way, at least it feels that. That said, as much as they annoy me, Gonzaga is good for the WCC.

As a Santa Clara alum, I'm really curious if they will go out and get a big name like Montgomery or Lavin after forcing out Davey.

Having read the Heyvelt arrest report, I'm curious how it seems bogus?

Guess you have never done shrooms in your lifetime. Stop for tail light infraction search the vehicle and occupants. I know, I know, the odor of " MARIJUANA was present.

 

[Russ Smith]

As the shirt says, Buck Gonzaga. They are like the Duke of the WCC. Any questionable call goes their way, at least it feels that. That said, as much as they annoy me, Gonzaga is good for the WCC.

As a Santa Clara alum, I'm really curious if they will go out and get a big name like Montgomery or Lavin after forcing out Davey.

Having read the Heyvelt arrest report, I'm curious how it seems bogus?

Yep they fired Davey because they want to be like Gonzaga, even if they don't have the same budget, and they have MUCH stricter academic requirements for players.

Not that Gonzaga is USC mind you but half the kids on that team would not be accepted at Santa Clara, it's just unrealistic to expect Santa Clara to reproduce what the Zags have.

 

[Southpaw]

Yep they fired Davey because they want to be like Gonzaga, even if they don't have the same budget, and they have MUCH stricter academic requirements for players.

Not that Gonzaga is USC mind you but half the kids on that team would not be accepted at Santa Clara, it's just unrealistic to expect Santa Clara to reproduce what the Zags have.

Is Gonzaga a Jesuit or Fransiscan College or not religion affiliated?

 

[hafey]

Jesuit.

I agree Russ. Santa Clara's boosters, and realistically it was the money not the administration that wanted Davey canned, want a program like Gonzaga. And unless Santa Clara lowers admissions standards and spends money they won't. Their President will not lower standards and they have been cutting athletic budget not increasing it. That is why I'd be surprised to see them spend the money and make the commitment to hire a big name.

 

[Southpaw]

Just answered my own question. They are Jesuit. After perusing a list of Jesuit affiliated colleges it seems to read like a Who's Who of College BB. Seems they all make GPA exceptions for the benefit of the BB program. That is just a guess on my part.


Georgetown University 1789
Saint Louis University 1818
Spring Hill College 1830
Xavier University 1841
Fordham University 1841
College of the Holy Cross 1843
Saint Joseph's University 1851
Santa Clara University 1851
Loyola College in Maryland 1852
Boston College
University of San Francisco 1855
Canisius College 1870
Loyola University Chicago 1870
Saint Peter's College 1872
Regis University 1877
University of Detroit Mercy 1877
Creighton University 1878
Marquette University 1881
John Carroll University 1886
Gonzaga University 1887
University of Scranton 1888
Seattle University 1891
Rockhurst College 1910
Loyola Marymount University 1911
Loyola University, New Orleans 1912
Fairfield University 1942
Le Moyne College 1946
Wheeling Jesuit College 1954


Looks to be more than a few Conference and NCAA champs in that list.

 

[Russ Smith]

Just answered my own question. They are Jesuit. After perusing a list of Jesuit affiliated colleges it seems to read like a Who's Who of College BB. Seems they all make GPA exceptions for the benefit of the BB program. That is just a guess on my part.

Santa Clara does somewhat make concessions but not like Gonzaga.

Santa Clara is the school that now quite awhile ago dropped it's football program over a combination of money, and concerns that it wasn't possible to field a competitive team, and not lower their standards. Ex 49er Brent Jones was a SCU alum.

So yes I would venture the average SAT and GPA on the basketball team is lower than the general student body(so is Stanford btw) but they have tougher admissions standards than Gonzaga. There has been several long letters and articles in the SJ Merc since they forced Davey to "retire" about how it's unfair to expect Davey to compete with Gonzaga with a fraction of the budget and tougher academic requirements.

 

[Russ Smith]

Jesuit.

I agree Russ. Santa Clara's boosters, and realistically it was the money not the administration that wanted Davey canned, want a program like Gonzaga. And unless Santa Clara lowers admissions standards and spends money they won't. Their President will not lower standards and they have been cutting athletic budget not increasing it. That is why I'd be surprised to see them spend the money and make the commitment to hire a big name.

Yep we agree. I have always kept tabs on Santa Clara because I grew up around the corner from Kurt Rambis and when he was at Cupertino High, I was in grade school watching him play. He went to SCU and I kept tabs on them through him, Scott Lamson(I played against him in HS briefly he was 2 years ahead of me) and on through Steve Nash, Ron Reis to the present.

Davey was a very good coach who got a raw deal IMHO. He took over from Carroll Williams and kept the program going, he never won big but he never had a chance with the situation there.

 

[hafey]

At a school like Santa Clara can you really complain what Davey did? He won 57% of his games or so, graduated players, and didn't create problems. I too beleive he got a raw deal.

Graduating not even a year ago, I think maybe I do not have the unrealistic expectations about Santa Clara athletics that many older alumni have.

 

[Russ Smith]

At a school like Santa Clara can you really complain what Davey did? He won 57% of his games or so, graduated players, and didn't create problems. I too beleive he got a raw deal.

Graduating not even a year ago, I think maybe I do not have the unrealistic expectations about Santa Clara athletics that many older alumni have.

Totally agree when they had a good player like Rambis, Nash or Reis, they won, otherwise they struggled.

 

[Southpaw]

Okay, I finally saw the " hit " ad nauseum on Rome is Burning. WTH was that. That didn't even resemble something resembling a basketball play. Henderson wasn't even looking at the ball. He just blindly clubbed at whoever took the shot. It actually looked dysfunctional ( PC ). Then he seemed to have a " deer in the headlights" expression on his face in the aftermath. Maybe he was sharing some of Josh's shrooms.