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So where are we at...

charcat

Well-Known Member
Apr 11, 2006
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So we have one replacement, probably not at Miller Koop level, but a solid guy, and probably one more coming down the pike? Any rumors of who might be under consideration. Could the two new ones together be an upgrade over Koop/Gains?
 
Should I not still cling to a glimmer of hope that PBJ makes an announcement soon?
 
A story from out of the past: Princeton supposedly did not know for sure Bill Bradley was coming until he showed up on campus. Those were the days. I'm still holding out hope for PBJ, foolish as that seems.
 
A story from out of the past: Princeton supposedly did not know for sure Bill Bradley was coming until he showed up on campus. Those were the days. I'm still holding out hope for PBJ, foolish as that seems.
Don't all students have to accept their admissions offer by May 1st these days whether they are playing sports or not?
 
#1 prospect announces today at 12 EST. And ESPN is covering it


"7'1" NBA lottery pick in a year" is seriously considering Memphis, Ohio State and Minnesota?

Seems like Juwan Howard at Michigan or Patrick Ewing at Georgetown would be the two choices that make sense... unless he really wants to live in Spokane and beat up on Pepperdine.
 
Gonzaga always plays a tough non-conference schedule, which offsets the weakness of their conference. They are also damn good every year.
 
He did choose Gonzaga
I simply don't understand the appeal. Why would you want to stick yourself out in some remote corner of the Western time zone where no one watches any of your games between January and early March because you are in mid-major conference? Whatever... another year of watching Gonzaga cruise through their schedule until they have to play more than a couple hard games in a row.
 
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Well for one thing their outstanding non-conference games will be on national television. For another, Gonzaga has built a great culture, they are THE team in the northwest and attract attention all over the region. They sell out every game and are the media darlings of the Northwest. Mark Few is a great coach who turns out NBA first round draft choices. And this kid is likely a one-and-doner so if he doesn’t like the Spokane, he won’t be there long anyway.
 
I am convinced Gonzaga would have won at least one national title if they were in a power conference.

You can play the toughest non conference schedule every year. But you’ll still go through months of sub par competition. And that does not prepare you as well for hard fought games as the power conference games do.
 
Ah, I think that power conference stuff is over-rated. The BIG was supposedly the best league in the country but their teams crapped out early again this year. (When was the last BIG team to win a national title?). Then you have incidents like Virginia from the mighty ACC losing in the first round to a 16 seed. And little ole Loyola sending top seeded Illinois home. Once you get in the tournament, it’s all a crap shoot. Gonzaga has paid its dues and earned its right to be a perennial power, and top recruits are obviously paying attention.
 
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Gonzaga is an "ok" choice, in my opinion. I just thought he could learn from Ewing or Howard - things like what to expect in the NBA, as well as how to play "center" from the perspective of a man who has done it.
 
I don’t think Ewing or Howard played center the way they play it in the NBA these days. And this young man weighs 190 pounds, so I’m thinking he may not even be playing center. But yes I’m sure both Ewing and Howard could give him some tips on what it takes to prepare for the NBA, both on and off the court.
 
Ah, I think that power conference stuff is over-rated. The BIG was supposedly the best league in the country but their teams crapped out early again this year. (When was the last BIG team to win a national title?). Then you have incidents like Virginia from the mighty ACC losing in the first round to a 16 seed. And little ole Loyola sending top seeded Illinois home. Once you get in the tournament, it’s all a crap shoot. Gonzaga has paid its dues and earned its right to be a perennial power, and top recruits are obviously paying attention.
I also think it’s over rated. But one game is one game. Winning it all the way is a different ball game.
 
Ah, I think that power conference stuff is over-rated. The BIG was supposedly the best league in the country but their teams crapped out early again this year. (When was the last BIG team to win a national title?). Then you have incidents like Virginia from the mighty ACC losing in the first round to a 16 seed. And little ole Loyola sending top seeded Illinois home. Once you get in the tournament, it’s all a crap shoot. Gonzaga has paid its dues and earned its right to be a perennial power, and top recruits are obviously paying attention.
It helps for NCAA seeding however when you're not getting beat up each week in conference play. They are a great program for sure, but as long as they win a couple big games in November or December, their high seed is pretty much assured.
 
I simply don't understand the appeal. Why would you want to stick yourself out in some remote corner of the Western time zone where no one watches any of your games between January and early March because you are in mid-major conference? Whatever... another year of watching Gonzaga cruise through their schedule until they have to play more than a couple hard games in a row.

All of the Gonzaga derision is so tired by now. People act like Spokane is a field of tumbleweeds with a college. It's not some massive metropolis, but it's a nice mid-sized city with a lot of scenery/mountains/lakes nearby. It's chilly in the winter and it snows but it's one of the drier cities in the US (not all of the Pacific NW is in a rainforest). It's a pretty good place to live! As someone from the PNW, I can tell you that a lot of people out here wonder why anyone would rather live in places like Lafayette, Lansing or Lincoln than Spokane or Eugene.

And while Gonzaga plays conference games that are mostly on in the late evening further east of here, the majority of their games are on ESPN/ESPN2, even against the likes of Pepperdine and San Diego. So they're getting more national exposure than a lot of major-conference programs.

A tiny school in a part of the country that doesn't get much attention put a ton of effort into being good at basketball despite the obstacle of playing in a small conference and pulled it off, and somehow that leads to them getting criticized for having the gall to be great and not be from one of the designated "top" conferences.

Now it seems like they're going to continue to get piled on until they win a championship, even though they have the longest active Sweet 16 streak (six years in a row) and have won 25 NCAA tournament games since 2010 (that's tied for 3rd with Kansas, 1 behind Duke and 6 behind Kentucky). Would be interesting to see Michigan State get even 5% the criticism Gonzaga does for not winning a title.
 
Gonzaga is an "ok" choice, in my opinion. I just thought he could learn from Ewing or Howard - things like what to expect in the NBA, as well as how to play "center" from the perspective of a man who has done it.
The kid defies any position. He won't be playing a style either Ewing or Howard have any first hand experience with. You can argue the Gonzaga choice, but the only thing this kid needs is several bucket loads of sand in his pants ... and elsewhere. God gave him everything else he needs to be a unicorn player and top pick in the draft.

GOUNUII
 
All of the Gonzaga derision is so tired by now. People act like Spokane is a field of tumbleweeds with a college. It's not some massive metropolis, but it's a nice mid-sized city with a lot of scenery/mountains/lakes nearby. It's chilly in the winter and it snows but it's one of the drier cities in the US (not all of the Pacific NW is in a rainforest). It's a pretty good place to live! As someone from the PNW, I can tell you that a lot of people out here wonder why anyone would rather live in places like Lafayette, Lansing or Lincoln than Spokane or Eugene.

And while Gonzaga plays conference games that are mostly on in the late evening further east of here, the majority of their games are on ESPN/ESPN2, even against the likes of Pepperdine and San Diego. So they're getting more national exposure than a lot of major-conference programs.

A tiny school in a part of the country that doesn't get much attention put a ton of effort into being good at basketball despite the obstacle of playing in a small conference and pulled it off, and somehow that leads to them getting criticized for having the gall to be great and not be from one of the designated "top" conferences.

Now it seems like they're going to continue to get piled on until they win a championship, even though they have the longest active Sweet 16 streak (six years in a row) and have won 25 NCAA tournament games since 2010 (that's tied for 3rd with Kansas, 1 behind Duke and 6 behind Kentucky). Would be interesting to see Michigan State get even 5% the criticism Gonzaga does for not winning a title.

I didn't see a ton of criticism of Gonzaga and Spokane in this thread!
Its a good/great program with a couple advantages, primarily that they are able to gear up for specific games on the schedule and can coast thru a lot of their conference games.

My guess is they suffer fewer injuries than teams who have to play hard almost every night. At the end of the season, they are relatively fresh.

This year's team also happened to be really good.
 
All of the Gonzaga derision is so tired by now. People act like Spokane is a field of tumbleweeds with a college. It's not some massive metropolis, but it's a nice mid-sized city with a lot of scenery/mountains/lakes nearby. It's chilly in the winter and it snows but it's one of the drier cities in the US (not all of the Pacific NW is in a rainforest). It's a pretty good place to live! As someone from the PNW, I can tell you that a lot of people out here wonder why anyone would rather live in places like Lafayette, Lansing or Lincoln than Spokane or Eugene.

And while Gonzaga plays conference games that are mostly on in the late evening further east of here, the majority of their games are on ESPN/ESPN2, even against the likes of Pepperdine and San Diego. So they're getting more national exposure than a lot of major-conference programs.

A tiny school in a part of the country that doesn't get much attention put a ton of effort into being good at basketball despite the obstacle of playing in a small conference and pulled it off, and somehow that leads to them getting criticized for having the gall to be great and not be from one of the designated "top" conferences.

Now it seems like they're going to continue to get piled on until they win a championship, even though they have the longest active Sweet 16 streak (six years in a row) and have won 25 NCAA tournament games since 2010 (that's tied for 3rd with Kansas, 1 behind Duke and 6 behind Kentucky). Would be interesting to see Michigan State get even 5% the criticism Gonzaga does for not winning a title.
And they goaltend.
 
The thing I like best about Gonzaga is that they give hope that a relatively small, academic school can succeed in big time basketball.
 
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I didn't see a ton of criticism of Gonzaga and Spokane in this thread!
Its a good/great program with a couple advantages, primarily that they are able to gear up for specific games on the schedule and can coast thru a lot of their conference games.

My guess is they suffer fewer injuries than teams who have to play hard almost every night. At the end of the season, they are relatively fresh.

This year's team also happened to be really good.

Yeah, that wasn't really directed at anyone in particular here, just that the narrative that's followed them for years isn't particularly fair. Yeah they don't play great teams in their league (at least BYU and St. Mary's are usually decent) but they also don't squeak by these teams, they drill them like they're supposed to. But you're probably right that they aren't as affected in March by the grind of conference play as some other teams.
 
Ah, I think that power conference stuff is over-rated. The BIG was supposedly the best league in the country but their teams crapped out early again this year. (When was the last BIG team to win a national title?). Then you have incidents like Virginia from the mighty ACC losing in the first round to a 16 seed. And little ole Loyola sending top seeded Illinois home. Once you get in the tournament, it’s all a crap shoot. Gonzaga has paid its dues and earned its right to be a perennial power, and top recruits are obviously paying attention.
Gonzaga was clearly the second best team in the country this season, and that's nothing for them to be upset about. Playing a tougher conference schedule still wouldn't have gotten them past a Baylor team that was dominating everyone they played in the tourney.
 
Gonzaga is an "ok" choice, in my opinion. I just thought he could learn from Ewing or Howard - things like what to expect in the NBA, as well as how to play "center" from the perspective of a man who has done it.

1) He's not a center. At all. He's 7-1 but 190 pounds, basically plays a really tall wing.

2) He's personal friends with Jalen Suggs. The Gonzaga route turned out pretty well for him.
 
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