Lady Zags in WNBA unis

Gonzaga University head women's basketball coach Kelly Graves tweeted some photos of the Zag players who made the leap to the WNBA, Vivian Frieson and Heather Bowman. Check these out!

Vivian

Heather

Terrence Jones 360 dunk

Toby wanted this photo put on the blog. At least for now, he's heading to the University of Washington. Wow

SI ad reminds everyone how much they hate Duke

Look at that mess covering an entire page of Sports Illustrated. Ugh. Puke. Blah.

Not only did we have to suffer through another Duke Blue Devils championship but now we have to see things like that. The real sticker though is that this ad cost somewhere between $200,000 to $300,000 (according to the SI ratesheet).

And this ladies and gentlemen, is why we hate Duke.

Found this on Deadspin.

Duke-Butler Game Blog

It's National Championship time! The up-and-coming Butler Bulldogs are facing the powerhouse Duke Blue Devils at Lucas Oil Stadium in front of 70,000 fans.

I'm not there, but I do have a high-def TV and a laptop. Click "Read More" to see my live game blog.

Ray Giacoletti turns down Toledo

The Spokesman-Review's Jim Meehan has this little nugget on Gonzaga assistant coach Ray Giacoletti.

The Toledo Blade reported in today’s edition that Gonzaga assistant coach Ray Giacoletti is the frontrunner for the Toledo Rockets’ head coaching job. The short article is incorrect, Giacoletti said Wednesday.

“Print it: No interest, not going to happen,” Giacoletti said in a brief telephone interview. ”I don’t know where it came from or why or how. … It’s not even an option either direction.”

Giacoletti is good friends with Toledo A.D. Mike O’Brien, which might have prompted the speculation. Toledo is replacing Gene Cross, who resigned after two years with an 11-53 record. The Rockets were 4-28, 1-15 in the Mid-American Conference, last season.

Mark Few has said his coaching staff was getting looked at. Zag fans should keep a close eye on what is going on here...

Don't need to stay in skool

Good thing Oklahoma freshman Tommy Mason-Griffen is leaving school, it's not like he needs it or anything, as evident from his tweet announcing that he's going pro.

"its a official dat i am leavin skool....ask me y i aint doin anotha yr yue mite get ignored."

Fantastic! You don't need that skooling eh? According to Deadspin.com, some analysts say that you do.

Besides, how could the 5'11" freshman point guard concentrate on his studies after reading a pro evaluation like this one from ESPN draft guru, Chad Ford: "Given his small stature and uneven performance this season, he'll either go in the second round or undrafted." 

Hell of a career choice Tommy! 

Sweet Sixteen, here come the Zags!

The Gonzaga Bulldogs Women's Basketball team has been dominant all season in the WCC. Tonight, they clinched their first trip to the Sweet Sixteen of the NCAA Tournament in school history.

SEATTLE -- Twenty minutes in December made Gonzaga fearless in March. No one more so than Vivian Frieson.

And because of Frieson, the Bulldogs are headed to the regional semifinals and Texas A&M is going home, ending the Aggies' dream of a Final Four trip three hours from campus.

Gonzaga's do-everything senior scored 23 points, including the go-ahead 12-footer with 17 seconds left, to lead seventh-seeded Gonzaga to a 72-71 upset win over second-seeded Texas A&M on Monday night in the second round of the NCAA women's tournament.

That little Jesuit school from Spokane is making tournament noise again. But move over guys, it's the ladies' turn now.

"It means the world to me. Me and Heather [Bowman] have been a part of a lot of firsts here at this university," said Frieson, who added nine rebounds, five assists and four blocks. "It felt great to go to the NCAA tournament for the first time in 2007. It felt great to win our first game last year against Xavier and it feels even better to go to the Sweet 16."

Better get your season tickets now, I have a feeling seats are going to start becoming VERY tough to find next year. 

Ken Bone reflects on Cougars' last place finish

It didn't seem like it, but the Cougars finished last in Pac-10 for men's basketball. Not something you want to happen when your football team is also a doormat as well. However, despite the supposed disappointing season, the Cougs still finished 16-15. Good sign for the future?

SPOKANE, Wash. -- Coach Ken Bone didn't expect to finish last in his first season at Washington State, but he says a couple of breaks in close games would have lifted the Cougars into the thick of the Pac-10 race.

"It hurts to look at the standings and see we finished 10th," Bone said this week. "That stings me a little bit."

Washington State (16-15, 6-12 Pac-10) could have finished in the middle of the muddled Pac-10 most of the season. Their six conference wins were the most ever for a last-place team in the league.

"It just doesn't seem like we were that far off," Bone said. "We win two more games, and there were at least a couple games we definitely could have won, and now, all of a sudden, we finish in the middle of the pack."

The Cougars were one of the youngest teams in the nation, featuring only one senior in Nik Koprivica, and no juniors.

Two teams that are going to be much improved next year in the Northwest is the Eastern Washington Eagles and WAZZU. You have two super-young squads with legit stars on the team. All it takes is some reps and they'll get their feet under them. 

Will Few duck Spokane for Oregon?

Alright, I could have broke down the GU loss yesterday and been one of 1,000 media people doing the same. They got blown out by a one seed and that is that. The bigger concern should be whether or not Mark Few is leaving to go to Oregon. The normal reaction would be "no way" but this article from Bud Withers paints a different picture. You'll remember last year that the Ducks were already asking if Few was interested.

Few said no. What could have changed, then, in a year?

Two things: The Ducks have offed Kent, whereas a year ago, it's believable that Few might not have felt comfortable helping to unseat a colleague.

Then there's this: "I don't think he feels quite as appreciated as he did three or four years ago," said somebody familiar with Few. "People start bitching. They've gotten pretty unrealistic."

There are Zags zealots who have forgotten where they were a dozen years ago. They had never won an NCAA tournament game in 1998, and now they've won 15. But the monster has a big appetite in college sports, and the buzz is, there was a good deal of grumbling when Gonzaga got whacked by Saint Mary's in the WCC final.

It's fair to assume those folks were more perturbed with the NCAA loss to Syracuse than they were pleased with the opening-round victory over Florida State.

And that is the kicker, there's been more than a few grumblings about the coaching job of Few after the Duke game and the Syracuse game. Something that if you consider his considerable run with Gonzaga (11-years and 11 appearances in the NCAA Tournament), is pretty unwarranted. Unless you expect a school that was a relative unknown until 1999 when they made their run to the Elite Eight to suddenly become a college basketball elite like the University of Kentucky or UNC, you have to like the job that Few has done.

Remember that he had to weather the Josh Heytvelt drug charge, and this year's rebuilding process. All indications were that this year's squad was going to be down big time due to their youth. Yet they won the WCC.

Then they got blown out by St. Mary's in the WCC Tournament Championship Game. Criticism for Few.

Zags bounce back to win their first-round game against Florida State, and then get crushed by Syracuse. More criticism for Few.

How many other mid-major coach has made it to ten straight NCAA Tournaments, and then get criticized for losing in the second round in the eleventh year of his run?

So for a guy that is looking for a high quality of living, a fanbase that suddenly expects unrealistic expectations from a program that he basically built might be enough to push him to Oregon. Just a thought.

How to tell if you're a little too much in March Madness

1. You've had "One Shining Moment" on repeat on your iPod for the last three weeks.

2. The Gus Johnson poster in your room has been there since you were twelve.

3. You've been through five remotes, one broken everytime some upset screws up your bracket.

4. Your ringtone is the Gus Johnson/Gonzaga "THE RUNNER....." call on CBS.

5. When the tournament is on, you don't leave your couch, not even to go to the bathroom.

6. You once got in a fight with your friend for implying that the NBA was a superior form of basketball.

7. You fill out a bracket for the Women's NCAA Tournament, WNIT, NIT, CIT, and the 2012 Presidential Elections.

8. You run the website "whatwouldhappenifasixteenseedbeataoneseed.com"

9. You drink everytime somebody makes a buzzer beater, you are an alcoholic.

10. You're a Murray State fan and you dont go to the school.

Nuff said.

Greivis Vasquez makes half-court shot

Shot this while attending NCAA Practice in the Spokane Arena on Thursday. Pretty Cool Eh?

HUSKIES ARE SWEET

WASHINGTON 82, NEW MEXICO 64

And even though we're a East side show... we have to give props to the Washington Huskies of the "down" Pac-10 this year. They're in the Sweet Sixteen and representing the conference well.

GU vs. the Orange... what is happening?

The line for the GU-Syracuse game has been released and the Zags are 7.5 point underdogs. What does that mean? Well nobody is expecting a miracle at midnight a la Cinderella, but hey...

Many Zag fans think that if GU were to play a 1-seed, than Syracuse would be the easiest draw. Hence there is some optimism that the Bulldogs could pull off the upset. If they were to do it, it would be one of the biggest signature wins in the school's history. Is it possible? Yes, but is it likely?

This team has been up and down all season, evident by their losses in the WCC to lesser teams, and that's a sign of their youth and inexperience. So would it be smart to say that maybe they don't realize how monumental a task it will be to defeat Syracuse? Is that a good thing? So many questions, and I can't say if I expect this to be a competitive game or a blowout. It really could go either way and it wouldn't surprise me at all.

Keep in mind that this is in Buffalo, and Syracuse will have a definite home-court advantage. And did anyone notice that the Zags had no bench points in their win over FSU? That is not exactly a welcoming stat.

Courtside at the Arena

Sorry about the lack of posts yesterday but I spent the day courtside for all four games of the NCAA Tournament in Spokane, being a production assistant for Westwood One radio with Dave Sims and PJ Carlesimo. Here are some things I noticed...

1. NCAA Tournament College Basketball is much more impressive in person than on TV, considering you have the best teams in the country on the floor. While CBS does a great job of covering all the games, you obviously lose a lot in translation. And I have to say that the teams are actually quite evenly matched athletically and competitively. A ten-point win seems like a lot if you're sitting at home, but if you're sitting next to the action, you know there's a possibility that had the other team gotten two-or-three bounces, it's a completely different game. This sounds somewhat cliched but seriously, if you're up close to these guys, it's good basketball. And I thought I'd never say that about college basketball.

2. New Mexico State got completely screwed in their loss to Michigan State.  The head ref had arguably been calling ticky tack fouls and really asserting himself all game. Let the kids play. He also called two technicals that he had no business calling. Just a shame, hopefully he doesn't do another NCAA Tournament. Nobody on Press Row was happy about his calls and they were visible upset by it, like some drunk assistant coach had stumbled on the court and yelling at players (a la Hoosiers). Actually that would have been pretty entertaining. The best part of this screw job? A NMS fan walking over within earshot of the CBS TV crew and yelling "Why don't you talk about how the NCAA SCREWS mid-majors!!!!!" ... I half expected four Arena Ushers to drag him away while he's going "NOOOOOOOOOOO!!!!!! You cant do this to me! I'm A BOOOSTER!!!!"

3. Best part of the day, the Arena PA screwing up the Gonzaga-FSU score and making it sound like the Zags were down by a huge margin. The entire crowd of 11,000 gasped with disappointment (I think one lady behind us may have went into labor), and then went dead silent like somebody had just thrown an infant from the upper deck onto the court. Then the PA guy was like "Whoah, hold on, flip that score" and then the entire crowd cheered. Pure theater. Love it. I think PA guys should have more fun with this and screw with home crowds more often.

4. Best mascot of the night. First, Michigan State's mascot is so iconic it's cool to have him rolling around although it would have been cool just to have some ripped guy dressed like a "300" guy yelling "THIS IS SPARTA!!!" to everyone in the crowd. However, the best mascot of the night was Maryland's Testudo. When you first see him you're like "Holy Crap is that a turtle?!" and then you have flashbacks for your childhood of the Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtles. Seriously, if they could have had Shredder and Splinter show up to the Arena, it would have brought the place down. And whoever played Testudo was great, telling to opposing fans to "call him" and generally being overly pumped about the game. Loved it. Anytime you can have a turtle roaming around the court, you just got to do it.

5. My favorite players of the night was Greivis Vasquez, and I'm going to be rooting for him to do big things in the NBA. For Maryland, he's a 6'6" point guard that can shoot, drive to the hoop, excellent passing skills (his court vision is very impressive), play good defense and rebound. All in one player that just so happens to be the guy running your offense. Holy Cow, so dynamic and even though he didn't light up the scoreboard last night, the way he impacted the game by doing other things bodes very well for him down the road. Having just read Bill Simmons "Book of Basketball", where he talks about guys that know "The Secret" on being a great basketball player, I'd have to say that Vasquez just exudes the talent/will-to-win/selfless/royal badass criteria that is required. He was the most impressive player of the night and he wasn't even the top scorer on his team. That's how good he is.

And with that said, GO MARYLAND!

Montana loses, Eastern fans rejoice

(Since I'm an EWU grad, I hate Montana, hence this very spiteful post)

Hey Montana, a mid-major school beat you in the opening round of the tournament. Does that make you a mini-major?

SAN JOSE, Calif. -- After all of Darington Hobson's big talk about a deep NCAA tournament run for New Mexico, Montana nearly shut up the Lobos right away.

Roman Martinez had 19 points, six rebounds and four assists and third-seeded New Mexico overcame a shaky start to beat 14th-seeded Montana 62-57 in the NCAA tournament's East Regional on Thursday night.

Hobson added 11 points, 11 rebounds and six assists while playing with a sprained left wrist for the Lobos, who used a 17-0 run after halftime to briefly break open the game after trailing by a point at the break.

But now they'll probably raise a banner in their basketball arena.

NCAA Practices in Spokane

The NCAA Tournament will tip-off tomorrow, but today I got to take a trip down to the Spokane Arena for some of the team practices. Here are some of the images I got from the Michigan St. and Maryland session.

By the way, the MSU Superfan? Not me. I promise.

In DAWG Heaven

WASHINGTON 80, MARQUETTE 78

Quincy Pondexter drove for a tiebreaking bank shot with 1.7 seconds left, and 11th-seeded Washington rallied for an 80-78 victory over Marquette in the first round of the East Regional on Thursday night.

The real winner in all of this? The Pac-10.

What the Seattle PI has to say about Gonzaga-FSU

We like to keep you updated on what people are saying about Gonzaga vs. FSU. This comes from Scott Cushing of the Seattle PI...

Here's the thing, if this FSU team plays this hyper-aggressive defensive, that may actually play into Gonzaga's hands, because a player like Bouldin, and an overall intelligent team like Gonzaga can take advantage of that by moving without the ball and cutting toward the basket if FSU overplays. Also, they have the size to deal with 7'1 Solomon Alabi, (7'0 Robert Sacre and 7'5 Will Foster) something most teams don't have. However, in order for Gonzaga to make any kind of sustained run in the tournament, Steven Gray needs to shoot better from distance. With a shot as good-looking as his (and it's like a sopping wet washcloth), it's inexcusable that he's hitting only 33%. They need him to start raining. 

Any thoughts about this?

Congress can't even get along to congratulate the Terps

If you're lucky enough to have a ticket to the NCAA Tournament, consider rooting for the Maryland Terrapins. Why? For starters they beat Duke (which is always a plus) and second, they're one of the more exciting teams in the Tournament. However, Congress didn't think so, struggling to pass a fairly harmless resolution to congratulate the Terrapins - who's campus is near DC.

Are House Republicans rooting against the Terps in the Big Dance?

That's one possible interpretation of an odd saga that has unfolded on the House floor over the last 24 hours, culminating with a vote minutes ago on a resolution "Congratulating the 2009-2010 University of Maryland Men's Basketball Team, Greivis Vasquez, and Coach Gary Williams on an outstanding season." The measure passed, which seems normal enough, but with 132 members -- all but two of them Republicans -- voting against, which is not to normal for such routine symbolic bills.

You've got to be kidding me right? If they can't agree over a pat on the back, forget about healthcare. This country is screwed.

Matt Bouldin makes cover of Sports Illustrated

Congrats to Matt!