Second half defense

[gumby]

Gonzaga, 25
Fresno State, 26.

Depth, desire.

[Spaceman Spiff]

I mean, I'd prefer if we started 20 minutes earlier, but it is better than nothing.

38 and 46 don't sound as nice.

[eoe]

Gonzaga, 25
Fresno State, 26.

Depth, desire.

Nothing illustrates more how well-coached the players are and how elite the coaching staff is at making adjustments

[rgdeuce]

They made great adjustments at the half in both games. both halves of both games we got a lot more aggressive w getting in guys faces, pushing the perimeter players further out on ball screens, we closed out quicker, switches and help were quicker. I think its largely the coaching staff feeling what the other teams plan of attack is and then letting them know what adjustments need to be made. It felt like this in the Boise state game (first) too. You got to give our guys credit because they are absorbing and executing. Its always at halftime though, id like to see those adjustments at the 8 or at worst 4 minute media timeouts that take five minutes to pass.

[Jefe]

They were 5/5 from deep 1H and 0/5 2H

[Merkin]

The wear down.

Knew it was coming when I saw Comanche and Simon in early.

[Airizona]

Not many teams can match the intensity that SM coached teams bring. Tough to play hard and well against his defensive schemes for a whole game especially when he is making adjustments that force an opponent to go away from what may have been working for them earlier in the game.

[carolinacat]

The wear down.

Knew it was coming when I saw Comanche and Simon in early.

True. I think that's why Gonzaga had trouble finishing at the rim in the second half as well.

Lots of teams look good early against Arizona. Not so much near the finish line. Dunn had a great final few minutes against us in Anaheim partially because he was well rested after sitting in foul trouble. He was probably the freshest player on the court and was the difference in our loss to Providence.

[rgdeuce]

You can credit the wear down for a lot of this, but we certainly didnt defend Fresno St, Gonzaga and Boise State the same in the second as me did in the first, and im not only talking about effort and intensity.

Dunn kills us all game if he isnt in foul trouble, but yea, his rested legs clearly gave a huge edge. The wear down did nothing to Santa Clara and that was with Zeus (for 3/4 of game at least).

I think another part of it too is, teams come out and we are their super bowl. So they pop a viagra and go hard and knock down some ridiculous shots, shots that arent gonna full for a full 40. I do think our D improved dramatically in the second, but fresno state wasnt even missing the well contested shots, let alone the wide open ones.

[Spaceman Spiff]

Josh Scott just used us up in that second half.

That really sucked.

[AZCatGirl]

Guys seemed scared they'd foul so they barely defended. That didn't help matters.

[rgdeuce]

Refs knew exactly what they were doing and they did it. Get Zeus in foul trouble and watch Scott go off

[prh]

First 5 minutes of the game were incredibly physical (great!) and then the whistles came for our big guys. Larry Scott allegedly in attendance

[84Cat]

CU had 17 1st half ft's, 3 in the 2nd half. Game was called differently in the 2nd half. If the whole game is called like the 2nd, we would have been more effective on d. CSM really put a lot of blame on the guards not stopping dribble penetration on the radio presser.