That game is an all time great game in the history of the NCAA.

Higher quality:

Jerhawk wrote:

Hawkstorian wrote:UCLA really shouldn't put up much resistance. I know we've been looking for that Gonzaga/Baylor final since November, but I think Houston will win that game. Defense wins championships, right?

Oof.
UCLA upsetting the Zags hurt man

Spoke too soon lol. Great game go Zags!!

Listening to the head coach of UCLA in his post game interview. What a poor sport "we won. "Half court bank shot." How about losing with class and dignity? And the whole CBS crew constantly praising UCLA and showing no love to Gonzaga. What a classless coach UCLA has. Glad they lost.

Mick Cronin has always been classless. If you watched him after the Suggs pass and Timme dunk you could see him say eff that guy. But he has a long history of being a pretty classless guy.

Loved it!! Go Zags! Great finish, close game. As a fan, you couldn’t ask for more. Hell to the YEAH!!

Jerhawk wrote:Listening to the head coach of UCLA in his post game interview. What a poor sport "we won. "Half court bank shot." How about losing with class and dignity? And the whole CBS crew constantly praising UCLA and showing no love to Gonzaga. What a classless coach UCLA has. Glad they lost.

When a blue blood doesn't win everyone cries, it's always been like that. Makes things that much sweeter when they lose

Baylor has several offensive playmakers, and Gonzaga was unable to stop the one that UCLA has. That needs to get cleaned up.

What a game

Having this win and this incredible game against UCLA makes it so much sweeter! With all that was on the line, it being a final four game, its in overtime and both teams have hit big shot after big shot. This wasn't an ugly grinder game it was just a great game
Its an all time great in NCAA history. To have this win over UCLA is just so so so sweet!

Natethegreat wrote:Having this win and this incredible game against UCLA makes it so much sweeter! With all that was on the line, it being a final four game, its in overtime and both teams have hit big shot after big shot. This wasn't an ugly grinder game it was just a great game
Its an all time great in NCAA history. To have this win over UCLA is just so so so sweet!

Big time! And it really puts Spokane on the map in the sports world.

Great game.

Give Cronin a break, his team lost as a huge underdog on a banked three at the buzzer. Most coaches would be upset. He most likely is a jerk, but a great coach. There are stories of Few that I've heard that aren't so great, but doesn't change the fact he is one of the best coaches.

The Zag in Zaghawk. Hell of a game, my wife heard me scream. Nervous as all hell today. If my Zags win it, I can pretty much quit watching sports forever.

ZagHawk wrote:The Zag in Zaghawk. Hell of a game, my wife heard me scream. Nervous as all hell today. If my Zags win it, I can pretty much quit watching sports forever.

I'll be rooting for them. I think I get the game on fubo.tv. If I do, this will be the first College BBall game I've ever watched.

Ugh we look bad tonight

Zags looked scared for the first ten minutes. Surprisin, hopefully they make this game respectable.

I predict a different Team in the 2nd half.

I’m slightly worried for them but my gut says they get this game back, and the finish will be a lot closer than the first half.

GU hasn't been able to handle the ball pressure thus far and anytime Baylor has missed it seems like they've got a offensive rebound. Really GU had to feel pretty good about only being down 10.

1 possession in the second half, 1 offensive rebound and 3 points for Baylor. GU getting out work.

I really think the UCLA game hurt Gonzaga. Baylor cruised to a win two days ago while Gonzaga had to play a game that went to overtime. But even without that, Baylor just looks like the better team.

Another disappointing ending to a Gonzaga season.

Wow, so dissapointing. You could see they came out scared. Just watching Baylor grab rebound after rebound. Such a great team. Such a massively dissapointing performance.

Zags choke again. Sad to see such a quality team play like hot trash. The game was lost on rebounds 38-22 and ice cold 3 point shooting 5-17 throw in 14 T.O. and you get blown out..

Don’t forget sucking at the free throw line.


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Playing in that crap conference doesn’t help the Zags when it comes to the tournament IMHO.
They are obviously superior than the weak sisters they play on a regular basis.

Iron sharpens iron.

This team was capable of playing so much better. You could see how nervous they were. Unforced turnovers. I mean Nembhard could hardly even dribble. Couldn't buy a three, didn't box out or rebound.
It was a complete meltdown. Suggs was the only one not scared but he was trying to do too much.

They looked bad against UCLA. The difference is that Baylor is much better than UCLA.

Baylor might be GOAT status. Only team in 2 years to blow out the Zags. No question fatigue played a role, Baylor looked a full step faster. Boring game. Amazing season.

Baylor was better in every facet, they’re more athletic, aggressive, and could shoot the lights out.

It was never gonna end in Gonzaga’s favor.

Sports Hernia wrote:Playing in that crap conference doesn’t help the Zags when it comes to the tournament IMHO.
They are obviously superior than the weak sisters they play on a regular basis.

Iron sharpens iron.

I try to tell this to my fellow Spokanites for the past 15 years and they come at me with tar and feathers.

But you're exactly right. The WCC is weak. The teams in the tournament are bigger, stronger and faster. They're not ready for it.

Gonzaga did have a great out of conference schedule this year, but their conference stinks

Baylor deserves a ton of credit. I always root against Gonzaga, but Baylor is a very easy team to root for. Drew took over as the coach right after the murder scandal there. That had to be one of the worst coaching jobs in college basketball at the time.

Playing in the WCC definitely hurts Gonzaga. Competition always make you better. While Gonzaga always schedules a tough non conference, they play nobody for a few months who can help them get ready for the tourney.

Zags recruit to their system, but when they run into teams with great athletes, they struggle. Timme and Kispert are good players, but you can definitely see their limitations agianst great competition. Timme and Kispert can get you a #1 seed, but not sure they are the kind of guys to win you a championship. Few needs to go after more athletes, coaching can only take you so far.

Not sure I would call it a great season. If it was, then it was a great season with a disappointing ending. If I'm a zags fan, it was championship or bust, that's how high expectations were.

Hawk-Lock wrote:Baylor deserves a ton of credit. I always root against Gonzaga, but Baylor is a very easy team to root for. Drew took over as the coach right after the murder scandal there. That had to be one of the worst coaching jobs in college basketball at the time.

Playing in the WCC definitely hurts Gonzaga. Competition always make you better. While Gonzaga always schedules a tough non conference, they play nobody for a few months who can help them get ready for the tourney.

Zags recruit to their system, but when they run into teams with great athletes, they struggle. Timme and Kispert are good players, but you can definitely see their limitations agianst great competition. Timme and Kispert can get you a #1 seed, but not sure they are the kind of guys to win you a championship. Few needs to go after more athletes, coaching can only take you so far.

Not sure I would call it a great season. If it was, then it was a great season with a disappointing ending. If I'm a zags fan, it was championship or bust, that's how high expectations were.

Baylor deserving credit is 100% correct. I haven't seen them play enough to know if they always shoot the ball like that but if they do i think they beat GU 8 out of 10 in a 10 game series.

Gonzaga was alethetic enough to win they just didn't excute and once again Baylor deserves a ton of credit for that. They biggest difference to me was rebouning and 50/50 balls which comes down to effort. Don't get me wrong Baylor was far more athletic then GU but so is Kansas, WV, UCLA and numerous other teams GU beat this year.

Hawk lock I often agree with you but a lack of athleticism had little to nothing to do with what happened in that game.
They were afraid to shoot the three and when they did it was off. They were caught standing and watching as Baylor was the aggressor in every aspect. They looked nervous and failed to be the aggressor they had been all year. Heck they could hardly dribble at times.
They played plenty of athletic teams all year and had no issues. It was a stinker performance.

It was a great year and saying it wasn't just smacks of jealousy and poo pooing like all the trolls on twitter. Terrible ending but that was a great team that had a great year.

Edit: I also think they were emotionally drained after that game with UCLA. By the way I think that Baylor team would have been undefeated as well had they not had to shut down and not practice. That was a great team and they played great.

This is one of those deals where anything can happen in a one game make or break situation. IMO Zags were the best team this year and proved it all year...until the last game or two.
Kansas played Baylor twice this year and beat them once, but that once was just as dominating a performance as Baylor put on vs Gonzaga last night. Don't allow one game, even though it was the BIG one, define what this season was for Gonzaga.

Natethegreat wrote:Hawk lock I often agree with you but a lack of athleticism had little to nothing to do with what happened in that game.
They were afraid to shoot the three and when they did it was off. They were caught standing and watching as Baylor was the aggressor in every aspect. They looked nervous and failed to be the aggressor they had been all year. Heck they could hardly dribble at times.
They played plenty of athletic teams all year and had no issues. It was a stinker performance.

It was a great year and saying it wasn't just smacks of jealousy and poo pooing like all the trolls on twitter. Terrible ending but that was a great team that had a great year.

Edit: I also think they were emotionally drained after that game with UCLA. By the way I think that Baylor team would have been undefeated as well had they not had to shut down and not practice. That was a great team and they played great.

After thinking about it a little more, I should have said that the Zags need more athleticism in the front court. Looking back at all of the Zags teams, they rarely have an athletic interior guy. Collins is really the only guy I can think of. Anyone watching that game could see that Thamba and the other back up center were so much more physically and athletically imposing than Kispert and Timme. Obviously the backcourt and wings of Gonzga have some athletes, but Kispert and Timme could not stay in front of their guys, especially when guards got switched onto them.

I think everyone rushed to judgement with this Zags team because they went undefeated, but they were far from perfect. They had no rim protector and weren't very deep. They're still a great team, likely the second best team this season. I think Few will adjust and learn from it. I still think Zags get a championship soon, maybe even next season. But at some point, they need to win it. Pressure is mounting, that's now four, #1 seeds, along with a #2 seed. Few might be the best coach in college basketball, but I think he knows that coaching can only take him so far. He needs more guys like Suggs to play for Gonzaga, and that looks to be the case with the upcoming recruiting class, especially if they get this kid Holmgen who is the top recruit. Zags will be back in this spot again, just a question of if they can win the championship.

Your absolutely right our front court was thin and not as athletic as skilled.
Over all this was an athletic tall long team but front court had a depth problem. No doubt a Brandon Clark would have done wonders in a game like this.
By the way the zags are now 5 and 1 all time against Baylor and they played and beat this team with many of the same players.
They came out as the aggressors and punched us in the moth and we never recovered.
Suggs getting a ridiculous charge call did not help matters but his second was his fault so thems the breaks.
All in all it was a great team and a great year.

Jerhawk wrote:

Sports Hernia wrote:Playing in that crap conference doesn’t help the Zags when it comes to the tournament IMHO.
They are obviously superior than the weak sisters they play on a regular basis.

Iron sharpens iron.

I try to tell this to my fellow Spokanites for the past 15 years and they come at me with tar and feathers.

But you're exactly right. The WCC is weak. The teams in the tournament are bigger, stronger and faster. They're not ready for it.

Gonzaga did have a great out of conference schedule this year, but their conference stinks

The problem with this argument is everyone throws it out there like some sort of HOT TAKE, when in fact it's been the reality they've lived with for the last 20 years, and done everything possible to climb out of. They've looked at other conferences, and nothing else make sense. Few does all he can to pull up the other teams (and they've made progress) but Gonzaga is still miles ahead of the rest.

All they can do is schedule like crazy in November and December (which they've done) and keep blowing out the WCC teams (which they've done). 5 consecutive Sweet 16s and 2 final 4s seems to indicate they're doing something right. They're a top 5 national program recruiting top talent. You can't argue it.

Can't find much fault with being the 2nd best team in the country this year given all that. Sorry, you don't get ace-analyst credentials for calling out the obvious.

Fact:Few is 0-8 against #1 seed teams..
Fact to me..It was 3 point shooting contest and Baylor won it.
Basketball is so putrid thanks to Golden State for bringing that garbage into it.

It took Dean Smith 7 final fours before winning the national championship. It took Mike Krzyzewski 4 trips to final four before winning it all.
Few not winning it all is hardly an indictment. I could go through those losses and point out that half were to the eventual Champs and most were when they were double digit seeds.
Pulling out facts with no context can be very misleading.
Few is a hall of fame coach and with the recruits he is getting now I am very sure that championship is coming.

Natethegreat wrote:It took Dean Smith 7 final fours before winning the national championship. It took Mike Krzyzewski 4 trips to final four before winning it all.
Few not winning it all is hardly an indictment. I could go through those losses and point out that half were to the dvdntual Champs and most were when he was a double digit seeds.
Pulling out facts with no context can be very misleading.
Few is a hall of fame coach and with the recruits he is getting now I am very sure that championship is coming.

I actually think this game was far less disappointing than the last championship game. My expectations were far lower given the obvious quality of Baylor down the stretch. The only real reason why I'm bummed is the perfect season scenario.

Sounds like Tommy Loyd will be leaving Gonzaga for Arizona job. Big loss for the GU program. Not that they can't overcome it but he was in line to take over if Few left and is widely regarded as a stand up guy who is a great recruiter and a knowledgeable capable coach.

Natethegreat wrote:Sounds like Tommy Loyd will be leaving Gonzaga for Arizona job. Big loss for the GU program. Not that they can't overcome it but he was in line to take over if Few left and is widely regarded as a stand up guy who is a great recruiter and a knowledgeable capable coach.

Yeah Loyd will be a huge loss. He's done really well at keeping foreign kids to come to GU.

Zags will stay in the WCC. With no football team, the Pac-12 won’t take them in, and I doubt the Mountain West will either. Their market is also small so they won’t add much money to either conference. In short, Zags would add close to nothing in terms of finances.

I think hiring Lloyd is a little odd. Just feels like a dice roll by Arizona. Just because you are an assistant for a great coach doesn’t mean that makes you a head coach. It probably is a big loss for Gonzaga, but they will be fine. As long as Few is there they will continue to do what they’ve been doing. Winning a lot in the season and then choking in the end. Yeah I couldn’t resist throwing in a jab there.

Haha! Don't forget winning a lot in the tournament as well. GU has the most wins of any program in the tournament in the last 5 years. I don't think losing Tommy will change that too much, but by all accounts he is ready made to step into a head coaching job. Good recruiter and a great X's and O's guy as well.
From what I read a well funded booster had one of his kids as a grad assistant at GU and he is the one pushing for Loyd. Apparently its not a done deal yet though. Some are saying its done and they are just going thrugh the motions and others say its not decided yet.

Edit: I know this though. Few and the AD at GU want him to stay.

As was expected Joel Ayiyi is leaving for the NBA. Already signed an agent so no going back. Obviously Kispert is gone as well, along with Suggs. The only real question is if Timme comes back. It would make sense for him to do so as I'm not sure if he would be drafted and he could use a year to work on shooting and strength that could help his draft stock.

Who knows though, Norvell left for the NBA and I thought it was a mistake and as I expected he was not drafted. He is playing in the G league though so maybe he works his way up some day.

I love Timme, but I just don't think his low-post shenanigans translate to the NBA. Maybe another year... or maybe he's just a really good college player.