Honestly if Sampson wasn’t coaching I would argue Few is one of the best coaches in the game currently.
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He still is
The common denominator for both of these teams is that they both had players with strength in the low post that neutralized Roberts.
My concern with Gonzaga is the same. Ike is 6’9” 250 lbs. I’m curious to see how Roberts plays against him and whether our front court can limit their low post players. Ike averages 17 ppg and 7 boards. Their other front court player Huff averages 11 ppg and 3 boards. Huff is a skilled passer and is tall enough to pass out of double teams when we trap. Curious to see how Francis, Tugler, and Roberts handle them.
If we have any difficulty stopping their front court players, it will open up the shots from the outside. That’s where their guards make a living. Again, I’m really hoping our front court players bring their A game tomorrow
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Tugler will be on Ike… and Huff/Gregg on J’wan… both teams will prefer that to avoid getting fouls on ike and J’wan
Ike would give jwan some trouble but i dont think they want the foul risk on ike to risk it (who they are probably hoping to play 32 mins+) … Huff is 250lbs but not physical at all and not a shot blocker…
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the keys to the game as defined by the players
- Slow the game (said by multiple players)… mylik: “they play fast, we play grind it out in defensive games , the one who establishes their style likely wins”
- rebounding is key (said by every player) - fear our of offensive rebounds is key to slowing them down… said it as notable weakness by georgia
- we have to make the pg uncomfortable
- weve played similar teams- mentioned baylor, byu and arizona
gonzga players
- force turnover and stops to get the game at their pace
- the only semi similar team they played is st marys but noted we do it differently
- thinks bigs will be strength for them
- interesting "the wcc get overlookled for its physicality, weve played some physical teams in st clara, st marys
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Baylor and BYU comparisons give me confidence. Arizona played us well. Hoping for the BYU outcome.
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more zags player talks
- Playing St. Mary’s and Georgia prepped them for this game.
- “Our bigs don’t score” — I can tell they only watched recent games (when Jwan was injured).
- Minor tweaks, but we won’t change who we are.
- Thinks their bigs can dominate the offensive side of the ball.
- Lots of reporter questions about 10 straight Sweet 16s, but at the same time, never beating a 1-seed in Few’s history.
- Khalif Battle: “When people open a bag of chips, they need to open it from the bottom. The flavor naturally sinks to the bottom, so you have to open it from there to get the flavors. And when you’re on a date, never go with sour cream and onion chips — even though it’s the best flavor. The plain chip with some dip is the second-best flavor.”
- Says everyone is talking about the Zags’ 10th Sweet 16 — says that’s great and all, but he’s never been there. He’s fighting so he can at least make it once. His brother has a Sweet 16, and he’s going to need those bragging rights to end.
- Says comparing Houston to anyone makes no sense — they are the DNA; everyone is just trying to be them.
Speaking honestly, I feel more confident about the game after watching the pressers. I can tell they haven’t watched much tape on us — super generic comments about how we “play hard,” are “physical,” and “trap.” Sounds very similar to what BYU said “We don’t adjust to them; they adjust to us.” Comparing us to Georgia, St. Mary’s, and Santa Clara lets me know there’s going to be a shock factor when they play us. A 6’11", 250 lb center that constantly fights for position (what those teams do)— is not the same kind of physicality we bring.
The only one who noted the comps didn’t make sense was the sole player on their roster who’s actually played us: Khalif Battle.
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sampson talked about the arizona comp in the presser, says its the same in style on paper but drastically different because of personnel… arizona is way more physically but zags have a drastically better pg…
as far as similar players milos mentioned baylor …edgecomb is similar to battle , roach/nemhard. wright/nun, omier/ike, cestine/huff… not a clean 1 to 1, zags players are taller and nemhard a vastly better playamker than roach … but closest in personnel to what weve seen
Villanova 2022 - didn’t UH lose two key players early in the season and miraculously rebounded with a stellar record? And barely lost to VU anyway
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If you count the injured and out players, that was the deepest Sampson team ever.
Both Sasser and Mark were out for the season.
If everyone was healthy that team would have dominated the championship game.
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Wouldn’t take what they say in interviews seriously. Doesn’t matter. Their plan is simple, penetrate, dish out and hit barrages of threes. Miami style.
Who cares if we are a stout rebounding team. Can’t rebound if they can’t miss.
Mark Few will do everything to get Uzan in foul trouble.
That’s just good advice.
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Need to make it difficult for them to get out and run to score cheap points before our defense gets to setup. This is one way miami blitzed us. One guy was going crazy on the defensive glass and then would quickly throw ball, the rest was history.
All trolling aside, we can win this game if we demoralize them on the glass. I’m talking a 20+ rebounding discrepancy.
Go Coogs
saying it again - we roll, double digits.
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This is a game I can see Jwan dominating because they are definitely not expecting it
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Not sure we were watching the same Miami game. Miami didn’t blitz us with cheap points, they just had one guy who couldn’t miss
I don’t know if it’s too early in the day, and this caught me off guard when compared with all the other quotes, but this had me rolling for a good while. Wtf is even the context or his quote? Hahaha
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These have been my exact sentiments since Nixon was president! Bring it on, Zags! Glad you’re starting to relax more, pesik!
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On ESPN, Seth Greenberg has UH on upset alert. Hannah Storm pushed back. Hannah Storm is one of my favorites.
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