The Spokane Word: BYU @ Gonzaga

[Omaha 680]

This conference's officiating is a joke. Both teams were in the bonus with 13 minutes left in the game. 60 combined free throws attempted and 48 fouls called.

It's really bad. Every fan complains about officials from time to time but I've always tried to be fair because I've dabbled in officiating myself and know it's not easy. But this really is some of thr worst college officiating I've ever seen. It's consistently poor.

[higherroad]

I realize most of the people in this forum have never played competitive sports and/or basketball at any point in their lives...and you know what, that's perfectly fine...its just painful to hear the reviews on both teams whom are vying for a NCAA spot. Most don't know squat. These are NCAA teams that played a crappy game.

FWIW, I've watched both teams at least a handful of times this season and NEITHER team played its best, not even close.

I sometimes wonder if posters on this board actually watch their respective team(s)?

Even sans Hartsock(for the most part) they played very hard, especially compared to two of their WCC road games I've personally watched them play, also Gonzaga played way more sloppy than they usually play...both defensive squads deserve credit, b/c they made the opposition look very average at times.

Honestly, you say these are two "average" teams? Yes, both neutralized one another tonight, yet both played pretty terribly compared to their typical performances, esp considering both teams are headed for 25+ wins...

Get a grip people.

Its the worst I've seen the Zags play at home, but BYU was w/o Hartsock this game..world of difference and we understand that...would it have made a difference tonight? Maybe, maybe not.

I thought each team gave their C- effort overall, imo and maybe D+ game.

I hope for a better overall game by both teams next week in Vegas.

We match-up again soon enough. I thought tonight didn't show the best by either program -- Hartsock will be fine. He moved GREAT in warm-ups, he'll be good to go in a couple days at worst.

I can't wait.

Tonight was a weird night for both teams.

Gonzaga was lucky enough to hit their 3pt shots in limited attempts and receive the benefit of foul calls. That's it. That's home court BS for ya'.

I promise, both teams can play better....

And they will next weekend...as we'll face off on Saturday...it should be awesome.

ps. the officiating was a joke once again. just no consistency or relevancy in the WCC crews. Sucks.

[Omaha 680]

That's sort of the stat of the season. For a team of basketball players, we sure don't really know how to shoot a basketball.

How many of our misses were inside 10 feet? It's one thing to go cold casting off from outside but we couldn't make a layup tonight. Like I said earlier, 15 offensive rebounds in the first half but only 27 total points. That's not right.

[Blueintheface]

It's really bad. Every fan complains about officials from time to time but I've always tried to be fair because I've dabbled in officiating myself and know it's not easy. But this really is some of thr worst college officiating I've ever seen. It's consistently poor.

Not that it matters at all but even with the FT disparity tonight I think they made horrible calls on both sides.

[Omaha 680]

Not that it matters at all but even with the FT disparity tonight I think they made horrible calls on both sides.

FT disparity is one of the more irrelevant stats. There's usually a good reasom for it, like one team playing most of the game with 4 offensive players outside the arc like we did. But like you said, it wasn't the disparity but the overall number of fouls that was ridiculous. The game wasn't that physical.

[Surfah]

I realize most of the people in this forum have never played competitive sports and/or basketball at any point in their lives...and you know what, that's perfectly fine...its just painful to hear the reviews on both teams whom are vying for a NCAA spot. Most don't know squat. These are NCAA teams that played a crappy game.

FWIW, I've watched both teams at least a handful of times this season and NEITHER team played its best, not even close.

I sometimes wonder if posters on this board actually watch their respective team(s)?

Even sans Hartsock(for the most part) they played very hard, especially compared to two of their WCC road games I've personally watched them play, also Gonzaga played way more sloppy than they usually play...both defensive squads deserve credit, b/c they made the opposition look very average at times.

Honestly, you say these are two "average" teams? Yes, both neutralized one another tonight, yet both played pretty terribly compared to their typical performances, esp considering both teams are headed for 25+ wins...

Get a grip people.

Its the worst I've seen the Zags play at home, but BYU was w/o Hartsock this game..world of difference and we understand that...would it have made a difference tonight? Maybe, maybe not.

I thought each team gave their C- effort overall, imo and maybe D+ game.

I hope for a better overall game by both teams next week in Vegas.

We match-up again soon enough. I thought tonight didn't show the best by either program -- Hartsock will be fine. He moved GREAT in warm-ups, he'll be good to go in a couple days at worst.

I can't wait.

Tonight was a weird night for both teams.

Gonzaga was lucky enough to hit their 3pt shots in limited attempts and receive the benefit of foul calls. That's it. That's home court BS for ya'.

I promise, both teams can play better....

And they will next weekend...as we'll face off on Saturday...it should be awesome.

I don't know what your basketball bona fides are but I know that I would light your ass up on a basketball court.

Now that is out of the way, these are two decent teams but I don't think either is really good. No way is Gonzaga top 25 and BYU top 30 (AP poll). Both our teams are overrated. In my opinion the WCC is a two team bid. We need to at least get to the final in Vegas to be considered for an at large bid.

[Surfah]

FT disparity is one of the more irrelevant stats. There's usually a good reasom for it, like one team playing most of the game with 4 offensive players outside the arc like we did. But like you said, it wasn't the disparity but the overall number of fouls that was ridiculous. The game wasn't that physical.

The officials in this conference don't know how to officiate BYU. Worse is we haven't adjusted to the way these games have been called. But I don't know what you do when you breathe on someone and it is a foul.

[higherroad]

I don't know what your basketball bona fides are but I know that I would light your ass up on a basketball court.

Now that is out of the way, these are two decent teams but I don't think either is really good. No way is Gonzaga top 25 and BYU top 30 (AP poll). Both our teams are overrated. In my opinion the WCC is a two team bid. We need to at least get to the final in Vegas to be considered for an at large bid.

Well, at least we're in the same boat...

I'll be in Vegas.

This game will be entertaining on a neutral floor, in my opinion.

I hate the WCC refs, respect & impressed by BYU, and disappointed by Gonzaga's sloppy play in both games -- credit to the Cougs.

we're identical in standing/rankings/NCAA hopes/et el/should make for a terrific match-up in Vegas.

Can't wait. This game was....ugh....not well-received by either fan base...pretty sloppy affair by both and that is all I ask for people to recognize and appreciate both teams' successes and failures...each team is ranked in the Top-30 for good reason, no such thing as "overrated" in sports...results are results, rpi is rpi, standing are standings...gotta respect these teams.

Tough to do when they're so damn similar in so many ways...I get it.

[SCcoug]

The officials in this conference don't know how to officiate BYU. Worse is we haven't adjusted to the way these games have been called. But I don't know what you do when you breathe on someone and it is a foul.

No kidding. I realize basketball officiating is much more subjective than other sports by the nature of the game but man, in this conference it seems the way they call the game changes several times in the course of the game. Every game there are several head scratcher calls (not all against BYU either). More so than I remember in the MWC.

[Surfah]

I need to go to bed but I am not too pissed with the result. I would have guessed losing by about ten on the road without Hartsock. I can live with that. But the way we played in that loss is unacceptable. Like Lebowski, I am disappointed that Rose couldn't get the team settled down and run some semblance of an offense. Noah really is our steadying hand and without him we looked lost out there. It makes me worried about next year. Can Davies be that guy?

Anyway, Vegas should be a fun rubber match.

[EuropeanFootballMale]

Can Davies be that guy?

Davies is the biggest head case on the team outside of Chuck. Hopefully Carlino or somebody else can step up.

[DillyBar]

Davies is the biggest head case on the team outside of Chuck. Hopefully Carlino or somebody else can step up.

[nomedia="http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=MEIhhTQ1w10"]A Work in Progress - YouTube[/nomedia]

[Eddie]

The officials in this conference don't know how to officiate BYU. Worse is we haven't adjusted to the way these games have been called. But I don't know what you do when you breathe on someone and it is a foul.

It was hard to watch. At one moment the defender is riding the offensive player pretty hard with a lot of body contact and nothing is being called. Moments later what appears to be the slightest bump occurs and it's a foul. Sometimes body fouls are called while you can slap all you want. Later they call a little slap. One play is a foul while the same play a minute later is a jump ball. It's tough to get into a groove when the officiating is so inconsistent during the same game.

BYU just doesn't seem to have a go to player when Hartsock is out.

Davies is good, but often forces it.

Abuou should never have a play run for him. He is at his best when he just plays hard and cleans up the glass or gets out ahead of everyone.

Carlino tries to do way too much. The "you're not Jimmer" chant seemed right on - because Carlino seems to think that he is ready to take over the game but he ends up making dumb freshman mistakes pressing to hard. He'll get better with time...but he isn't there yet. I did like him playing the 2 a little - he can get open without the ball and hit the shot. He seemed to play well without thinking he had to do all of the creating and shooting every time.

You know you are in trouble when you are into the 2nd half and only 3 players on the team have scored. Abuou got as many rebounds as he did because he kept going after his own missed layups/put-backs.

BYU is really missing a perimeter/mid-distance scorer. Someone like Haws who can hit a shot 10-15 feet out off of a cut or dribble. Hartsock plays that role to a degree - but is still a big and most of his comes on backing the defense down with a turnaround. I think they've really missed Rogers this year - and who knows how long it will take for him to get back into the groove now that he's playing again.

Frustrating game to watch - but they aren't a bad team. Just inconsistent. About as inconsistent as the refs, I suppose.

[Eddie]

A Work in Progress - YouTube

At the 1:48 mark a (very) young Tyler Haws demonstrates for Davies his now patented fake-the-pass-around-the-defender-to-make-them-turn move.

[HuskyFreeNorthwest]

I was really excited for this game last night, I was telling a couple people here at the office that they should watch it too. Then at about 8 PM a deep sleep was caused to come upon me and I didn't wake up until 5:45 this morning. I guess I didn't miss much.