No Excuses...

Funny thing about missing a week writing a column, you may need to make it up as long as those thoughts are rattling around in your head. Yes, those things are rattling.

As the NCAA tournament progresses down to the Final Four it has been interesting how so many games played out. The big upsets of Lehigh over Duke and Norfolk State stopping Missouri on the very first day, 15 seeds have won before but never two on the same day.

I watched the games closely, the one’s that looked like they would become certain blowouts, until the leading team would start to slow things down and burn the clock. By doing this, they took all of their offensive momentum followed by a rushed shot late in the shot clock. The trailing team would often start to shoot the ball better and the defensive pressure would increase.

What was once a secure lead came down to hitting free throws and if the leading team didn’t score any points a loss was often their fate. Case in point, the Florida-Louisville game last Saturday, when the Gators had a double-digit lead, lost it and eventually the game when victory seemed all but secure.

I have never been a fan of stall tactics and never will be. The same goes for running off time from the shot clock then trying to get a good shot in the last five seconds.

I am a proponent of the first shot best shot, which means run the offense and do your best to get an easy lay-in close to the bucket.

Most offenses that work to burn off clock spend most of their time far past the three-point line and usually the only good shot they are able to get is a contested long distance jumper that has little chance of falling. I would hope that coaches would see this strategy and notice how many flaws it contains.

This is just my humble opinion, of course.

I know many people would like to know what I thought of Gonzaga’s two games in the NCAA tournament. No doubt they played very well. They absolutely dominated West Virginia and played well enough to beat Ohio State. The Zags had two three-pointers that rattled the rim and bounced out, one by Elias Harris and the other by Kevin Pangos. These shots were huge at the time the shots were taken late in the game.

Ohio State would follow those misses by making free throws, which made the final score seven. I watched Ohio State play Thursday against Cincinnati and couldn’t believe how many free throws they missed. Why they didn’t miss those a week earlier is beyond me. But they didn’t, and it spelled a 1-1 tourney mark for Gonzaga in 2012.

Of course, the second guessers are out wondering why Sam Dower wasn’t in the game late.

But there weren’t any positive comments about the two-to-three zone that Gonzaga threw at the Buckeyes that took them completely out of their game and the Bulldogs rallied to tie it up.

A victory on this day was not in the cards. But a young freshman by the name of Gary Bell, Jr. stepped up his game and he was the big star for Gonzaga. I see nothing but good things from Bell because he is also a great defender.

The Zags lose Robert Sacre and Marquis Carter but they have a solid nucleus for next year. Coach Mark Few has gotten some really good recruits and two of them were starters this year, which is unheard of.

I know that some players have left the program mostly because their playing time was going to be limited with the youngsters who were coming to Spokane.

If you look at the Final Four teams you most likely have seen a few McDonald’s high school All-Americans.

The chances are slim for Gonzaga to get these high profile athletes but they have gotten some solid talent that have been developed during their time in Spokane, and 15 straight years going to the NCAA tournament is the result.

So there are no excuses when you give it your best shot and come up short against one of the premiere programs in the nation. I’m still a fan and always will be.