Paul Oberjuerge header image 2

Gonzaga’s First Defeat

February 25th, 2017 · No Comments · Basketball, France, UCLA

The upside to getting an English-language-based TV package, here in the south of France, is that it allows me to look at about 50 sports channels broadcast in a language I more fully comprehend.

The downside is, when sports events are live in the U.S., it is some time after midnight in France. When, in theory, I ought to be sleeping.

So, I woke at 3:30 a.m. and checked online …

And saw UCLA was leading by 10 late at Arizona …

Which led me to finding the game on ESPN and seeing the Bruins close out the victory …

And learned that unbeaten Gonzaga was up next, against conference rival BYU …

Which ended with a shock BYU victory, 77-71.

Which leads me back to a point made previously: Many sports fans (including this one) believe their viewing a game somehow makes a difference in the outcome.

Because Gonzaga is now 0-2 in games I have seen from start to finish.

The first was in the 2006 NCAA Tournament in 2006. UCLA scored the final 11 points in the game to win 73-71 over the third-seeded Bulldogs. The game famously ended with Gonzaga’s Adam Morrison crying while stretched out on the floor.

The second game was tonight. Gonzaga sprinted to an 18-2 lead in the first five-and-a-half minutes only to see BYU close to 41-35 at the half and score the final 10 points of the game to win by eight — as I looked on and dawn began to break.

I have no issues with Gonzaga, certainly not to the point of wishing them ill. I like that they pretty much invented the “competitive mid-major” thing, and this is probably their best team yet. They were the nation’s last unbeaten Division I school and were ranked No. 1 for four weeks. That’s a big deal at the Jesuit-run university in Spokane, Wash.

But they play in a soft league, the West Coast Conference, which has been softer than usual this year. And they have this issue with BYU — the Zags have lost at home to the Utah school for three seasons running, including tonight — when they were 20-plus-points betting favorites.

They almost certainly are not the best team in the country — their seven-footer, Przemek Karnowski, missed last season after back surgery and is slow and overweight; and their perimeter players missed a lot of three throws and had trouble hanging on to the ball.

They probably win this one if they take care of the ball … and if I had not been watching. Just saying.

Coach Mark Few is 495-109 when I am not a witness; 0-2 when I am.

If he is lucky, I won’t tune in Gonzaga in the coming 2017 NCAA tourney. If I’m lucky, I will sleep through the night.

Tags:

0 responses so far ↓

  • There are no comments yet...Kick things off by filling out the form below.

Leave a Comment