Watch the latest episode of The Perimeter with former Gonzaga All-American Adam Morrison.
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00:00 Adam Morrison here. When it comes to top-tier contracting, my go-to choice is McGillivray
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00:55 HDG Architecture is proud to be a sponsor of The Perimeter with Adam Morrison.
01:01 There is another podcast that you all should be listening to, and it's called "If Not Now,
01:07 When?" This podcast, which Josh Hassong of HDG Architecture hosts, has a clear mission to ignite
01:14 positive change within the Spokane community. On the podcast, Josh brings together diverse
01:19 individuals from city officials, business owners, journalists, influencers, and big thinkers to
01:26 have meaningful conversations about what we can do to help transform downtown Spokane into an even
01:32 more vibrant and robust community. By talking to these movers and shakers, the podcast aims to
01:38 inspire and empower its listeners by actively shaping their city's future. You can find the
01:43 "If Not Now, When?" podcast wherever you are listening to The Perimeter at,
01:48 or you can find it in the description of this episode.
01:50 Welcome to The Perimeter, season three, episode nine, presented by McGillivray Environmental
02:06 with producer Brennan. It's not very often we get to talk about a loss, but it's going to be on the
02:13 docket here with a tough break in Seattle against the Washington Huskies, and then we're going to
02:20 talk about the Yukon Huskies coming up on Friday. Obviously, I'm sure you watched the game.
02:26 Kind of a flashback a little bit. I'm going to dive into it, but overall, a little bit of flashback
02:32 of Purdue. A lot of missed shots, especially in that second half. What were your thoughts as a
02:37 fan watching the game?
02:39 - I mean, I thought they, I mean, it's a tale of two halves, really. They played great. I mean,
02:44 they were playing good in the first half, and then they just laid an egg in the second half.
02:49 And I guess on the TV, I guess I didn't see it as well. What was the atmosphere like in there?
02:56 Was the students just pretty crazy?
03:01 - It was decent, and it was a late arriving crowd, but it ended up being close to sellout,
03:08 or a sellout. Students were decent. Just like everything else, everything's not as
03:16 hard or vile anymore. You know what I'm saying? So they were good, but I bet you it was a lot of
03:25 times their first time being to a game. You know what I'm saying? They're playing good,
03:29 so they show up and stuff like that. And I don't think they probably had a lot of home games by
03:34 that point, because they played a lot of neutrals. So anyway, it was good, but it wasn't their best
03:40 effort ever. But it was our first true road game. So I think some of that maybe had a factor into
03:47 it. But starting the game, I thought we were fantastic. First half, we had a good game plan,
03:56 removing the ball, shot it well, 5 of 9 from 3 in the first half. Shoot 56%, 19 of 34.
04:06 I just thought our energy and kind of our game plan was good. The kid,
04:14 Kep Nang, had the game of his life in the first half. He had 12, the big,
04:20 who ended up having a great game. Didn't shoot it great in the second half, but had five block shots.
04:26 It was rebounding, four offensive rebounds. It was all over the place. Kind of a pick and dive
04:31 guy, but it was, you know, he had that spin dunk against Braden. That one was a nice one. He got
04:36 everybody hyped up. And then he had a, I think a lob there in that first half. But just was really
04:42 affecting the game, not just on the defensive. And Glass was what he's known for. I think he's
04:46 only was averaging like seven points. You know, but we had opportunities to kind of extend that
04:53 lead. You know, we go in the halftime up six, but like throughout the course of that first half,
04:58 it felt like Purdue where our game plan was good. We were making shots. The ball was pinging. Guys
05:04 were making plays, but we could never separate and get up 15. It was always 6-7. You know, and so
05:11 in years past, and this, I don't, hopefully a UW fan or somebody doesn't take offense to this, but
05:18 three, four years ago, that team would have quit in the first half. You know what I'm saying? Like
05:22 just the personnel they used to have, they would have just folded and you'd make your big lead.
05:27 And then they would have started playing for themselves instead of trying to come back in
05:30 the basketball game in that first half. But credit to them, they cut that lead down to six and they
05:35 kept, you know, making enough plays. Like I said, Kempang, Wheeler had a decent first half,
05:41 the little point guard, the, what's the kid's name? The Mole, Mulcahy, he's has made a shot
05:49 all year and makes two threes in the first half. You know what I mean? Like he's normally a drive
05:54 first power guard. But I thought Graham looked good in the first half. Nolan looked fantastic.
06:02 I think it was, he was finished one for six. So what's, so I think he was six for nine. Yeah,
06:12 he was six for nine in the first half of the 15. You know, was really rolling. It felt good too
06:19 for him because he's from Seattle. Everybody knows that. And you know, obviously you rarely
06:23 get to play a game at UW. He probably was pressured to go to UW or at least recruited
06:29 heavy by them and didn't, you know, so that, that it looked like he was playing with that in the
06:34 back of his mind, which is cool. But yeah, there was just this kind of feeling that we could have
06:43 played a lot better or not better is we could extend the lead because we only had three first
06:50 half turnovers, which has been an issue for us. I'll get into, there's a crazy stat that Huddy
06:58 said on the air last night. I'll get into it in a second about turnovers. So, you know, going into
07:05 that second half or the, at the end of the first half, I was like, man, I feel like we could be up
07:09 a little bit more, but you're also like, well, we're up six on the road. We knew this UW team
07:14 was talented. I said that on the previous episode and it's not just me trying to hype up the episode
07:19 or the games. Like this was a super talented, better team than they've had in the last three,
07:24 four years. Like a mix of, you know, shot blocker, a good guard that played at Kentucky.
07:30 The Moses Wood kid played at Portland, but he was a good complimentary piece. I talked about
07:36 Mulcahy, like a good power guard. And then they had the Johnson kid off the bench was good.
07:42 You know, they had, they're built better than they've been in a while. And I think you could
07:49 see that they're like, all right, we need to have a mix of, you know, talent. And then obviously
07:54 four-year guys experience, because we've got to win this year. - I was going to say like,
08:01 is our problem in the second half is that we don't have depth and we don't have
08:05 anyone to come in for Nem-Hart. - I'll talk about that in a second.
08:09 - Okay. - No, you're right.
08:10 No, you're right. It's a good, it's good lead in. So, you know, we start the second half.
08:14 - The perimeter will be right back after a word from our sponsor.
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08:48 We start the second half. - Yeah.
08:50 - Obviously up six. - Yeah.
08:52 - And we extended it to, I think it was 11 or 12, right about the 12-minute mark left in the game.
09:01 And then they had two corner threes by Moses Wood. We were up 10. That's what happened. And
09:09 then they cut it to four. So that's where I think the game kind of turned on its head a little bit.
09:15 We obviously started turning the basketball over. We didn't,
09:18 I think our shot selection got a little bit out of whack.
09:23 And kudos to them. They started making more plays.
09:28 You know, a big stat that's kind of rare for this team, and I've talked about it, is
09:35 minus eight on the glass. And that really hurt us as the game wore on. They had 11 offensive
09:41 rebounds. And it felt like it was one of those games that they were first to the floor, first
09:51 to like tip balls. Not that we weren't trying hard, but it felt like it was the home team was
09:57 getting those plays. And the role players for them were making those type of plays, which you expect
10:03 down the road. But we haven't been beaten that department yet this year. That's been kind of
10:09 our calling card, is we're going to play defense and rebound. Obviously we could score, but not as
10:14 a highest clip as we showed in the past. But we're going to play that side of the ball really well,
10:21 and it's going to put us in a position to win a lot. You know, so Nolan Hickman I mentioned was
10:27 six to nine in the first half, goes one for six in the second half. Nem Hard, four for ten for
10:34 the game, has 12 points, four turnovers, seven assists. Not terrible, not great. Anton plays all
10:40 40 minutes, four for 12, 13 points, 13 rebounds. I'm fine with that, five steals. I mentioned Graham,
10:48 eight of 14, eight points, six rebounds. So if you look just straight across the board,
10:56 it's not terrible because you go Graham 18, Watson 13, Nem Hard 12, Hickman 17, Ben Gregg off
11:04 the bench 11. Now the two big ones, if you're talking about, you know, with normal production
11:11 and then in a big game, and this is not the hammer of the kids and they're freshmen, but Dusty has
11:16 zero and then Braden Huff has zero. But Braden only played four minutes. He got in that weird
11:22 foul trouble. And then I think Coach Fugus didn't like the matchup with Ken Pang, so he kept him
11:28 off the floor. You know, so that obviously hurts you. Dusty was great on all the floor game stuff,
11:36 but just couldn't get the ball to go in the basket and he'll turn that around. But we go
11:41 five for nine from three in the first half and I, you know, obviously we have a six-point lead
11:46 and the team energy I just talked about was great. All for nine in the second half.
11:50 - All for nine, yeah.
11:50 - Yeah, it's one of those situations obviously just couldn't get anything to go.
11:54 Another second half stat, one assist, nine turnovers.
12:00 - Jesus.
12:01 - It was 10 and three at halftime and it ended 11 assists, 12 turnovers. So down the stretch,
12:09 it's got to be said that we didn't make great decisions. Some of them were, you know, I try
12:15 not to be a hypocrite, some of them were the downhill turnovers I talked about that are okay.
12:20 But in the context of the game, when the game wore on, like I said, after that 12-minute mark,
12:24 we creep into the under eight. You know, I was always taught to me it's called winning time,
12:32 you know, when the game's close, you got to make, you got to be tightened up, you got to
12:35 come to jump stops and all that, you know, all that little stuff that matters, you got to box out.
12:39 We just didn't make some of those plays. I mean, there was that,
12:42 Nembhard had two charges in the second half. He had that one where it was a kickout to Ben
12:49 Gregg, Ben should have shot it, a three, turned it down for some reason, swung it, and then he
12:54 ripped left-hand side going baseline. Remember, he just pushed off on the guy and it was like
12:59 completely obvious, like you can't even argue that one. And then he had the one where he drove
13:04 baseline and he tried to throw the like hard bounce pass in the paint to Graham, which is a
13:10 catchable ball, but is a four-foot like one hopper, which is the only way he'd get it off, but it's
13:15 like, I don't think Graham can catch that ball. And it showed, right? And he turned it over.
13:22 And then the late one was the, you know, the backbreaker was Nolan tried to feed Graham on
13:28 that long bounce pass from top down and actually it hit his hand. So I'm going to be like, man,
13:34 he kind of have to catch that. But also, you know, to be fair, Graham, you know, he's fighting for
13:42 position. He's got one hand on somebody else. Like that's a harder ball to catch, even though it hits
13:46 your hand. So like it's some of that, sometimes it's KYP, not that he can't catch. And then also
13:52 like situation, like refs aren't calling anything. So if you throw this, it has to be like a hundred
13:58 percenter. So, you know, turnovers, you know, and then 0 for 9 from three just really killed us.
14:07 And then here's the stat of the night. In the last eight minutes, one field goal. And that was the
14:13 Graham and one where he got lucky. The guy fouled him like way after the shot. Remember that one?
14:19 - Yeah.
14:19 - And it got it kind of kept us in the game, like with one minute left. So basically we went eight
14:24 minutes with zero field goals. We had a stretch where we went three for 19 from the floor and we
14:30 just couldn't score. And what, well, it was the frustrating part. It's not the shooting. It's the
14:36 fact, I think we were about 630 into the second half that we were in the bonus and we didn't
14:45 take advantage of it. You know, if you're struggling as a player and as a crew, you know,
14:50 and Phewy always stresses this and all great coaches do is like foul pressure and like rip and
14:57 go and get in that guy's hips and make them foul you. You know, they show hard on ball screens.
15:02 Like as a guard, I teach my daughter's team to do it and it's applies to, you know, any type of
15:08 basketball. Just get into the bigs hips and make them call it. And most of the time they're out of
15:12 position or after you start doing it, they kind of get out of your way so then you could turn the
15:17 corner. So, but it's creates that foul pressure when you get in hard shows on a ball screen.
15:22 And that's what they were doing with campaign most of the time is either one hard show,
15:27 or if they got into a drop, you know, you could go out of my downhill. But anyway,
15:31 so second half obviously killed us just didn't make enough shots, didn't make enough plays,
15:38 costly, costly turnovers. And the frustrating part about that game was you dove tried to give
15:44 it back to us like a few times like they had some really bad empty possessions themselves.
15:49 They threw two isos to campaign. Like I mentioned, he had a great game in the first half, but
15:55 he's not a nice old guy. And it was like, oh, thank you. And he threw up some bad shots. And
16:00 we were like, so, you know, on the broadcast, I'm like, all right, here we go. And we'd come down
16:05 and either couldn't get a shot off or didn't get a quality one off. And it obviously, you know,
16:12 came to bite us. So I think it was 16 straight. Pac 12 wins, which is insane. And it always,
16:22 it always is kind of funny when I've heard that stack. Remember how many years people's like,
16:26 they wouldn't win anything in the Pac 12. I hear that all the time. Like, it's like,
16:31 well, we won 16 in a row. Like, and usually we're playing your top half on Tuesday schedule games.
16:37 We're not scheduling like Cal, right. Just to go play a Pac 12 team or Oregon State or somebody.
16:43 So yeah, let's just calm down there. But, you know, and then it was, I believe it was eight
16:49 straight against U-Dub. So two streaks that went down. But obviously U-Dub was way more talented
16:56 than they have been in the past or not talented, I guess, is team talented as far as like doing
17:03 the right things, trying to win the right way, playing defense, all those things. You know what
17:08 I mean? I know it sounds funny, but like they've had some talent in the past and multiple regimes
17:14 and sometimes they just don't have the makeup where they believe in what the coaching staff
17:20 is saying and they kind of just fly off the handle and kind of do their own thing. And once you like
17:26 box out and do all the little stuff, they just kind of pack it up and move along.
17:31 And that's what was kind of not expected, but you were like, well, they're going to U-Dub it real
17:38 quick. And they tried to. They did. I mean, it's not a knock, man. This is, it used to be like a
17:44 really good program. I think Hopkins is going in the right way. It's just, they've always had
17:48 like really like NBA ready guys. And then you look at their record, they're 16 and 12. You know
17:53 what I mean? So you're always like, what the heck? This year they're like trying to do the right
17:57 stuff. And so in that regard, it's kind of refreshing. You know, obviously I want to,
18:04 we want to win, but I think it's going to be one of those games we look back that we were like,
18:09 man, we could have had that one. You know, Purdue kind of felt like that, but you're like, well,
18:13 you're playing a number of top five team in the country and you know, seven, four guys,
18:17 you know what I'm saying? So that one you're like, ah, it's, yeah.
18:20 - I remember I mentioned earlier about them being tired, but then I also thought of like,
18:27 at the end of the game are in these types of games, are they just, are our guys just kind of
18:32 young and undisciplined? And that's why. - Well, okay. So yeah, no, I'm glad you brought up the
18:37 fatigue factor because I wasn't trying to cut you off when you first asked that. So
18:43 I think it is a real thing that, you know, you look down, Nembhard plays 39-51, so all at nine
18:51 seconds. And then Nolan plays 40 flat. Dusty in that game put 27, but he's been playing in the,
18:57 you know, 32s to 35s. That's a lot for a freshman. And Todd played 40, but I think he could do that.
19:05 And he needs to be on the floor in that type of game. So that doesn't bother me, but I think it
19:10 is a real, not concern, or it's a real logical point to bring up that if they're playing that
19:21 many minutes, maybe down the stretch, that's why they're turnover prone or not making shots.
19:25 I mean, it's got to be said. Now, what's the calendar to that? June, which he could play a
19:33 little bit on the perimeter. He played nine minutes in that game. Had two points, two for three from,
19:39 he got fouled on three point attempt. Or Luka Krenovic. So I think, you know, last night we
19:46 played Mississippi Valley and those guys played a ton. I think it's good. They're going to have to
19:52 be serviceable. Doesn't mean you have to light the world on fire, but I think Luka's the guy,
19:58 in my opinion, just to play, let's say three to four minutes a half. So you get them eight minutes
20:04 a game. I know it doesn't sound like a ton, but then you take Ryan or Nolan off the floor or
20:10 half each during that run. And then they are down to 36, 35 minutes a night. And then you can
20:19 legitimately give them a longer rest. Now, Devil's Advocate, the counter to that is my junior year,
20:26 I played, I was probably 38 and a half. How tired can you be when there's like six TV timeouts?
20:34 You know what I'm saying? So like, that's a legitimate counter. But for the longevity of
20:40 the season, I think that is a logical argument. Like those guys need to get off the floor a
20:46 little bit. Now, another counter to that, if they make those shots down the stretch,
20:52 what a great win. This team has figured it out. -Totally. -Even though we're 72, but like,
20:57 they first rowed, you know what I'm saying? So like, it could go either way. And look how tough
21:01 these guys are playing heavy minutes. So sometimes it's all about if the ball's going in the hoop,
21:05 right? And so we always have to remember that aspect of when you're looking at how the team's
21:14 managed, I guess, or the substitution patterns. If the shots go in, then they're genius. Look how
21:20 tough they are. They play forever. You know what I'm saying? So I don't know. I think it's one of
21:25 those that the question has to be garnered when we start West Coast Conference. How do we look
21:30 like leg-wise then, if that makes sense? But it is a real concern. I think the answer is Luka.
21:39 Not that I don't like June, but he's not a guard. But he can also steal minutes on the perimeter.
21:48 He did okay in that game. He got yanked. He made a dumbass play in the second half. It's dumb.
21:55 They threw it to Kempang on the strong side, and he went to double. You never double from the
22:00 strong side unless you're like doing a full rotation and you know it's coming. That's rare
22:05 that you do that, because usually a good coach won't put the guy entering the ball as a crappy
22:12 shooter unless they're going to full rotate. It's just dumb. Anyway, he got back cut for a layup
22:18 on that play, and then Phuey yanked it for us again. But it was also like you can't make that.
22:24 That's just like basketball one-on-one at this level, man. Graham had Kempang at like 14 feet,
22:31 and they were playing one-on-one. He had them squared up. He wasn't going anywhere, and he
22:35 tried to go dig down, and it was just like, "Boop, layup." You know what I'm saying? And then
22:40 yank. Dusty came right back in. So like, when guys—my point is when guys don't play sometimes,
22:48 they make an egregious mistake that even if you're a freshman, you can't make. So if people
22:56 are watching and wondering, sometimes that's the excuse. Agree with it or not. Like, it doesn't
23:03 matter if you're a freshman. You can't like do that. You shouldn't know that. -I was on the
23:08 hype train for June when he came to Gonzaga, and I watch him closely when he gets in games, and
23:14 I feel like every time he gets in, he is forcing it. Like he— -I think, yeah. I think he's trying
23:21 too much, and now that's easy to, you know, talk about. But I think he's trying to make a play
23:28 every single time. And so I think the game will come to him. He's supremely athletic. I think the
23:36 tools are there. He just has to slow down. But also like it's easier said than done when you
23:40 don't know the language. That's a real barrier. And it's not like Spanish to English where you
23:45 can pick up some of it. You know what I'm saying? Like Korean to English is a whole different
23:50 alphabet and whatever. I mean, seriously. So that part has got to be difficult. And then I think the
23:56 hype of it was kind of unfair to the kid because he had a good tournament and won FIFA 3. Like,
24:03 all right, cool. You know what I'm saying? Like he had a good tournament. So I think he has to,
24:10 you know, I think the expectations need to be tempered a little bit for him. -That's very fair.
24:15 -You know what I'm saying? Just, and then, you know, wait till next year. Or maybe he makes
24:19 an impact. But I just think he's always trying to come in and it's like, I got to make a play.
24:25 And it's not a bad thing, but also sometimes you like, you know, like he's probably like,
24:31 I gotta go steal a ball from this guy. The poop play, now you're sitting the rest of the game.
24:34 You know what I'm saying? Like, no man, just be solid. And then usually good things start to come
24:39 your way. You know, catch the ball and just reverse it. Go get a rebound, you know, and then
24:45 things start happening your way. So yeah, I think fatigue factor in the backcourt could, is a logical
24:55 what if or why for some of the second half, you know, mishaps. The stat I was teasing earlier,
25:02 Huddy said it on, and I forgot the exact number, but the just is good enough. So there's like,
25:10 I think there's like 90 something turnovers, 90 to 100 turnovers this year. And in the first half,
25:20 there's 30 something, in the second half, there's like 60 to 70 something. -Holy cow.
25:24 -Yeah, it's a second half turnover issue. And B Mike actually brought it up in one of the
25:30 interviews. It was either after Pine Bluff, yeah, it was after Pine Bluff or the UW game. So it's
25:39 crazy to even think that. -It is crazy.
25:42 -So it's a glaring issue that obviously the staff knows about, is gonna try to correct.
25:49 But yeah, so it's something to watch as the fans, you know, listening in or watching games is,
25:54 you know, obviously you got to play tighter in the second half, but that's like a,
26:00 like, holy smokes stat, you know what I'm saying? Like, wow. So yeah, I mean, again, I think
26:09 hopefully this is where you become a UW fan and hopefully they have a good rest of the season,
26:15 seriously, so then it looks like a better loss. We didn't really move in the polls,
26:19 which I was kind of shocked. We go 7 to 10, I'm like, I thought we'd be to like 12 or 15,
26:25 but that it matters. But I was just kind of shocked. Weren't you? -I was, yeah. It's been--
26:29 -We barely moved. -The rankings have been,
26:32 well, I think a lot of teams have, well, Arizona hasn't lost, Houston hasn't lost.
26:37 There's this, yeah, honestly, but then there's other teams in the middle that have been losing,
26:43 like Colorado State lost to, who, I mean, St. Mary's beat Colorado State.
26:49 -St. Mary's, yeah. -So like, and that was good. I mean,
26:50 that's good for us, like, because we need St. Mary's to be good this year.
26:53 -Yeah, bad. -Yeah. So--
26:56 -Yeah, the league's not very good. This is what I'm trying to get to.
27:00 -Yeah, I mean, that's the thing about the WCC this year. Like, I thought the loss was
27:05 unfortunate, but like, at the same time, like, WCC doesn't look very strong this year, and
27:10 in the games where we are favored, like, we're killing teams, but like, we're playing, you know,
27:15 Mississippi Valley State, Arkansas Pine Bluffs, I think all these teams would be like, bottom in
27:21 the WCC. -Yeah, they're in the 300s RPI camp,
27:25 but that's a different discussion. -Yeah.
27:27 -So yeah, I mean, all in all, it was one of those games where you didn't play good and had chances
27:34 to win, so you can look at that as a positive, but if, you know, if we make a few shots and don't
27:39 turn the ball over, you know, we win that game. So it was unfortunate, but, you know, hats off to
27:45 U-Dub, and I've said it on the radio, and I've probably said it on one of those episodes, it's
27:49 good for the state that that rivalry is still going, and the fact that they play home and homes,
27:57 which I like, instead of just a dumbass neutral for these two schools, you know what I'm saying?
28:02 Because you'd usually be like, play us in the arena, and we'll play you at climbing the pledge.
28:05 Like, it's just, you miss out on the, kind of the home court deal and the students and stuff like
28:10 that. So I respect Coach Hopkins and that program for doing that, because they don't have to.
28:14 And I think a lot of rivalries now are kind of not as good because of that, and you're missing
28:22 out on the, you know, the aura of what college basketball can be is, you know, playing tough
28:27 road games and good student sections instead of just, let's go to a neutral and play each other,
28:32 where it's half empty, even though we sold 10,000 tickets, you know what I'm saying? It's still like,
28:37 cool, you know what I mean? So anyway, moving on to the other Huskies.
28:42 - No kidding.
28:43 - Coming up. You know, if you're just listening, we beat Mississippi Valley State by 35 or something,
28:50 so I'm not even going to talk about that game, it's stupid. So, you know, we get a weird game.
28:56 We played U-Dub Saturday, then we played Mississippi Valley this Monday, so yesterday.
29:02 - Yeah.
29:03 - Kind of, I always call them a get-right game, and it was nice that most people scored
29:08 who played and things like that. But this UConn team, I think is five right now?
29:14 - Five, yeah, they're number five.
29:15 - Absolutely tough as nails, everything you'd expect.
29:20 - Mm-hmm.
29:22 - Just played a decent schedule, beat Indiana by 20, beat Texas by 10,
29:29 only losses at Kansas by four, had a chance to win that game, then just beat North Carolina by 11,
29:37 and they played Pine Bluff and Mississippi Valley, so I guess we can't laugh at ourselves as much.
29:44 - Yeah.
29:44 - Playing those games. But yeah, extremely, extremely physical. Coach Hurley's got a great
29:52 deal going on there. They got three guys averaging over 15, another guy almost averaging 14,
29:59 so they're top-heavy on the scoring, but well-balanced, 17, 15, 8, 15, 6, 13, 2. Their
30:06 leading scorer, Tristan Newton's fantastic, having a great season, shooting 48 percent,
30:11 35 from three, 83 from the line, seven rebounds a game. So they're well-balanced.
30:20 Cam Spencer is shooting almost 50 percent, 45 from three on volume, 90 from three,
30:29 or excuse me, 90 from free throw, 15.8 points a game. So they got well-balanced scoring.
30:36 The weird part about this game is it's "a rematch," and I get that's why they wrote it,
30:44 but there's so much turnover on both rosters. It's going to be like looking at two different teams.
30:49 You know what I'm saying? Played for last year.
30:51 - I mean, I forgot to print off the stats for you last year, but if everyone remembers last
30:58 year's matchup in the lead eight, Drew Timmy got fouled. He got in trouble in the very beginning
31:05 of the second half, and it had four fouls, and it was kind of over then.
31:09 - Yeah, the game, yeah. And they were obviously—they won the national championship,
31:13 and they were a buzzsaw, and they were rolling. But it looks like Coach Hurley's got the same
31:18 type of style. They play really good defense. They peel switch a lot. Peel switch is kind of
31:25 a new term where you just, based off the action—I don't know how to explain it besides showing it,
31:32 but based off the actions of what they run, you just kind of just switch right away, and then you
31:38 teach downhill switching, too, and it makes it really difficult to run a lot of your
31:45 base actions offensively. We were good at it probably the years with like BC and Rui.
31:53 We were like a lead at it. Remember those teams? Like we just switched fucking everything,
31:58 and nobody could run nothing. That's what they kind of—they try to do. We can't do that as
32:04 much anymore because we have Graham, Braden. They're just more traditional bigs. So our
32:15 wave action, our pressure releases are going to be highly important. Our counters to switching
32:24 are going to be important. You have them in the offense, Beaker, to have to be able to get through
32:27 those. The glass is going to be a big thing. Like I mentioned, UW, we lose by eight on the glass,
32:35 which hasn't happened all year. We haven't lost a rebounding battle, so that's going to be
32:40 massive for us. They are plus 13 on the glass, 42 to 28, 41.9. So yeah, it's going to be a
32:55 rock fight. The last time we played at Climate Pledge, we got killed. It was against Alabama.
33:06 Remember that game? We got beat by like 20 early. Yeah, it was just like a dead—I felt bad too
33:18 because there's a big atmosphere and we just got cooked. So hopefully the gym is more kind to us
33:27 or the arena. It's a fantastic arena if you've never been to it. I've never been to it for
33:32 anything but that, but I need to go to a cracking game or something, but really up to date and all
33:37 that Seattle Tech stuff. I would say if anyone's going over there, it's such a cool place. I went
33:43 to a cracking game and then a Wu-Tang concert the next day. Got to have two different experiences
33:48 there and the atmosphere is like—for the hockey games at least—is unreal. It's just like everything's
33:55 kind of right on top of each other because it's a pretty small arena, so there's not a bad seat
33:59 in the house. Yeah, I think that's what most arenas are going for now is smallest footprint,
34:07 obviously. I'm a pledge, but just even like—I don't know how you describe it—landmass or
34:14 whatever, footprint, and then if you're in the top level, you still should feel like you're at
34:21 a good game. I mean, I have nosebleeds. I had that same feeling when I was just walking around. I was
34:26 like, "Man, this looks really super nice," and they did a good job of keeping it smaller. I think
34:31 smaller venues are better at all levels for sports. When there's more atmosphere, it's more fun.
34:36 So this is going to be a fantastic game. We're going to have to get up and down and play
34:42 at our pace. It's going to be one of the biggest things. They're holding the opponents to 63
34:47 a night. They're scoring 87. They're shooting 50, almost 51 percent, and holding opponents to under
34:59 40, which is fantastic. They're not a great three-point shooting team, shooting 33 percent,
35:06 but they shoot a ton of them. They shot 265 in 10 games, so that's obviously, what, 26 a game?
35:12 -Yeah. -So they shoot a ton of them,
35:14 and that's a great equalizer. So we're going to have to guard the line and be able to rebound the
35:23 basketball, but like I said, plus 14 on the glass, 18 assists per game. That's good. Turnovers under
35:30 10, that's really good. Seven steals a game, that's really good. Six blocks a game, that's
35:37 really good. I mean, this is going to be their biggest test. And besides Kentucky, and in theory,
35:44 San Diego State, obviously we just mentioned St. Mary's, but they've got to really turn it around.
35:49 This is one of the only ones remaining that can be a quad one booster for you for your
35:58 NCAA tournament resume, but it's nothing new for Gonzaga having to have a big tournament game in
36:03 December. It's been us for 20 years. -Totally.
36:06 -You know what I mean? But it's crazy basically coming off a loss. Mississippi State obviously
36:12 won, but like coming off a loss, I'm interested to see how our guys, you know, respond from that.
36:23 -Yeah. -Especially going back to Seattle. So
36:26 I'm really looking forward to the game, but it's going to be a really tough challenge for us.
36:30 You know, all of our guys are going to have to play well. And just because they're so disciplined,
36:36 and they play like really hard. He's a yeller, but he's like, you can tell those kids like him,
36:43 you know what I'm saying? And they play like stupid hard for him, and they're like another
36:47 Final Four contender for sure. -100%, yeah. No, I—what do you think is like the—I mean,
36:54 is the biggest key is this, you know, if we're not having a terrible—I mean, it's obviously not
36:59 having a terrible second half. That's an easy key to the game, but like— -No, you can't have long
37:03 droughts against this team. -Right. -So I get what you're saying. Like you can't go, obviously,
37:08 you know, 3-for-19, but you can't have long stretches where you're not even scoring.
37:12 And then I think pace is going to be huge for us. They play quick too, but they also bog you down
37:19 defensively. So we're going to have to, you know, hopefully create turnovers and get out and run
37:23 and score easy ones. They're a great, you know, half-court defensive—excuse me, half-court
37:32 defensive team. So if you can get out and run, it'll definitely help you, but it'll be a tough
37:37 challenge, man. It's going to be a fun game. I'm excited. I like when we do—basically, I call it
37:42 the Battle in Seattle. It's not that anymore, but it's the same idea. -Totally. -We have a great
37:47 fan base in Seattle, a lot of alum, you know, and then obviously for people in Spokane, that's
37:53 a five-hour drive, knock on wood, and then you make it through the pass, or a short flight,
37:57 45-minute flight. So, you know, it's great for both the university and, you know, whoever's
38:05 playing us, and then I think we're probably going to play in Madison Square next year. I imagine
38:08 that's what we do for a neutral. So yeah, it's going to be a fun challenge and a fun one to play,
38:17 and I'm looking forward to calling it, but I'm curious to see how we respond, like I said,
38:23 onto the UW loss. -It seems like if they shoot a lot of like three throws,
38:30 not getting in the foul trouble will be key as well. -Yeah. I think—yeah, I mean, obviously
38:42 our backcourt can get in foul trouble, you know, talking about how many minutes they're playing,
38:47 but how much they're relied on, you know, to be able to handle the ball and stuff. So yeah,
38:54 it's just a really good passable team. I mean, like I mentioned, all these numbers I just ran
38:59 off, it's just crazy. Like, under 10 turnovers, plus 14 on the glass, 50 percent. Sounds like
39:07 that's what we strive, you know, a lot of ours look like that all the time. That's why you're
39:12 so successful, but it's easier said than done. That's why if you have the right culture and the
39:17 right teaching habits and stuff like that, defensively and offensively, you can have those
39:22 type of things. But if the formula works to, you know, where you're winning probably 80 percent
39:26 of your games just off that alone. So yeah, super excited for it. Looking forward to calling it,
39:35 but it's gonna be a tough challenge for us. You got any listener questions?
39:38 The Perimeter will be right back after a word from our sponsor.
39:43 Hey, Hunter Green. Did you know that card control from ICCU lets you turn off your
39:47 cards with just the tap of a button? Off, on. Trying to pay our bills.
39:52 On.
39:54 You got any listener questions?
39:59 I got one right here that comes from Scott Langhans. I think he was kind of
40:06 giving us a little bit of, giving us a little dig at us talking about why is St. Mary's a good
40:12 rivalry and why are we tired of the Zags versus UCLA matchup? Why can't that be like a rivalry?
40:19 Because we're not in the same conference?
40:20 And that's the only thing that I would say to it. Yeah, like, I mean, and we're not, I mean,
40:26 I guess geographically we're not rivals.
40:29 Yeah, not rivals. It's just how it's worked out. But I think, I mean, if you go ask their,
40:34 I said on previous episodes, if they're, go ask their people, they're like,
40:39 "I'm tired of playing you guys." You know, St. Mary's has, yeah, St. Mary's has a,
40:46 you know, a history with us and there's been a lot of good games and yeah.
40:53 Totally. I wanted to ask about, we made a comment last week about who is going to be the
41:00 difference maker on the team. Who has the ability to be like the top, like the leading scorer on the
41:05 team? And I think it's Anton, but like, I think the one thing that's been kind of coming up
41:09 throughout the season is like, there isn't that one guy.
41:12 Yeah, that came up in the UW.
41:15 In the UW game. And like, is that going to be the, kind of the Achilles heel of this team?
41:22 No, maybe, maybe it happens again. But I think, you know, if you go back and look at that game,
41:28 they try to get a shot for, or opportunities for Nemhard. Nolan had a couple floaters that he
41:35 missed. They tried to throw in a Graham. So like, they kind of tried to spread it around. I think
41:40 next time in that situation, I think you get Anton at like 14 to 18 feet and let him bounce
41:47 down and do that spin stuff that he does, but he'll pass if it's not there. So I think it probably
41:54 is Anton. You're right. Achilles heel, who knows? But it is different that we don't have,
42:02 you know, for four years we had Drew. And then before that, you could throw it to Rui or BC
42:11 and they would go at least attack the rim and get a bucket. And then before that you throw it to
42:15 Domus or Wiltshire. And then before that, you know, Pargo, I guess, you know what I'm saying?
42:23 And then it was me, then Dan Dickow, you know what I'm saying? Like, it's a real thing to have
42:28 at least, it's not just a guy that you score. It's this guy that gets, you know, thrust towards the
42:33 rim basically is going to get you a good shot, a good action. So yeah, that's a real concern.
42:40 I don't know if concern or thought or question, I guess, is what I'm trying to get at.
42:45 So I think maybe if you go, like I said, if you go back in time or redo that game,
42:51 you probably just throw it to Anton and let him go to work and then everybody's spaced off of that.
42:55 But again, if like, you know, Graham catches a couple of those and lays it up, whoa, what a pass,
43:01 there's our guy, you know what I'm saying? Down the stretch. And then Andrew makes, or Ryan,
43:07 sorry, excuse me, Ryan makes more plays. See, you know what I mean? Like it's make or miss.
43:14 Totally.
43:14 But that's a very good point because it's a real thing and it popped up,
43:19 it was a real question going into the season and it popped up in that game. And
43:23 so my answer would be throw it to Anton. He's your leader and,
43:27 you know, he's going to at least get something going towards the rim.
43:33 And I guess the other thing I was thinking about is, Steel Venters, when the injury happened,
43:38 I didn't think too much about it. And I feel like it's a real, it's real obvious in the lineup that
43:45 he would have made an impact on this team.
43:48 100%. The three-point, it showed up in Maui when we went, you know, I think we were
43:53 6-26 or something, we had an 8-32 or something, whatever we were, it's just like, oh my god.
44:01 And when they were doubling Graham and we had no kick out, you know, three.
44:04 So yeah, not having Steel, but I think Stromer will turn it around, shooting the basketball.
44:11 I think when Nemhard gets his feet set, he's a lot better. Nolan shot the ball really well
44:15 this year. We have to give him credit. He's had a double-figure game all but last night's game
44:20 against Mississippi Valley, but he got pulled early, but he's had a great season. We just have
44:25 these stretches, that's the problem. It's not like we have to light the world on fire and shoot 42%.
44:30 Like 38, 37 is okay with volume, but we can't go 0 for 9, 0 for 16.
44:36 You know, and like I said, we had 6-26 against somebody in Maui that was bad too.
44:42 And though we won, it was like, geez man.
44:44 But yeah, again, this team's going to be fine.
44:49 7-2 is great.
44:53 Or 8-2 now, is it 8-2? I don't even know.
44:57 One of the two.
44:59 Anyway.
45:00 Yeah, we're 8-2 now.
45:02 So big game Friday against UConn.
45:07 Yeah, it's one of those games that if we win, everyone will forget about UW.
45:11 UW, I don't know. And if we lose, then what the heck's wrong?
45:13 World's on fire.
45:14 Yeah, what's going on?
45:15 But to be fair, with how the schedule's playing out and with like no
45:21 BYU and then St. Mary's not having a great year, it has a little more juice to it.
45:26 Yeah.
45:26 As far as tournament resume.
45:28 I was going to ask about BYU.
45:29 It's funny the year that they leave the WCC.
45:33 They're like number three in the Ken Palm.
45:35 Yeah.
45:36 You're like, what the heck?
45:37 Good for them.
45:38 Then they figured it out and had to kind of get themselves realigned going into the Big 12.
45:44 Yeah, so it is funny.
45:47 It's like, man, they could have been in our league.
45:49 It would have helped if you split with them.
45:51 It's still a good win and not a terrible loss and vice versa for them.
45:55 You know what I mean?
45:56 So yeah, it is funny.
45:58 I always joke with Huddy, we got to eat crow a little bit because we used to always make
46:02 fun of them in a good way.
46:04 Now they're really good.
46:05 You're like, oh, darn.
46:07 Yeah.
46:07 Well, maybe we'll be playing with them next year or in the next couple seasons.
46:13 Who knows?
46:14 We'll see.
46:14 Who knows?
46:15 That is another episode that if it comes up again, I'll go over the particulars.
46:22 That all kind of died.
46:23 I feel like that whole thing's kind of died down.
46:26 Yeah, I think they meet every month or so.
46:29 I don't know how that works.
46:30 But it always re-pops up and you always have to wonder when stuff comes out, it's because
46:34 somebody wants to come out.
46:35 Who's doing it?
46:37 Is it us or is it them or is it somebody's agent?
46:40 Like, hey, or advertisers.
46:44 You know, somebody.
46:46 I mean, seriously.
46:47 Stuff just doesn't happen to come out at that level just because somebody told them to do it
46:54 or, hey, I got a story for you.
46:55 You know what I mean?
46:56 So anyway, thanks for listening.
46:59 Thank you to McGilvary Environmental, Idaho Central Credit Union, and HDG Architecture.
47:05 Excuse me.
47:06 We'll see you next week.
47:08 [Music]