Gonzaga assistant coach Brian Michaelson breaks down the Bulldogs' quick turnaround from Washington loss and looks ahead to matchup with UConn in Seattle.
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00:00 Gonzaga Nation here, your host, Dan Dickow, part of the Coaches Show with assistant Brian
00:06 Michaelson.
00:07 B. Mike, let's just jump right into it.
00:09 It's been an interesting last couple weeks.
00:13 You got the Maui Invitational, some great matchups.
00:16 You guys went two and one.
00:18 You played a really good game against USC in Vegas, against the Huskies.
00:23 The first true road game for you guys as a collective unit didn't come out the way that
00:29 you guys had hoped.
00:31 Was the atmosphere maybe something that was a shock to the system for some guys?
00:36 I mean, any time you have your first road game, it's going to be different.
00:40 And obviously with this group, like you said, it was our first one and they had a good atmosphere
00:43 over there.
00:44 They did a great job and the crowd was really good.
00:46 And obviously those last 15 minutes didn't go how we wanted.
00:50 The first 25 minutes, I thought we played pretty decent and then obviously built a 10
00:55 point lead there.
00:56 And then just some offensive struggles and then kind of allowed them to make some shots
01:01 to get back into it and get the crowd going, got them feeling good.
01:05 And it was just something we didn't close how we need to and how we're used to closing
01:09 here.
01:10 After that game was a quick turnaround to play Mississippi Valley State.
01:14 But when you talk about kind of the last 15 minutes of trying to improve upon those for
01:21 other opportunities down the stretch of the season, how do you teach or how do you correct
01:26 stuff quickly during the midst of a season?
01:31 Is it film work?
01:32 Is it talking with guys?
01:33 Is it a combination of the two as well as court drill work to hit specific philosophies
01:40 within the game?
01:41 Yeah, that each one's a little bit different because it depends upon obviously what your
01:45 lead time is the next game.
01:46 And like you mentioned, I mean, that Mississippi Valley game was less than 48 hours later after
01:52 traveling back.
01:53 So that one, we really kind of had to address the UW stuff via film because it was such
01:58 a quick turnaround, really only one day between games.
02:01 And then that was something that hopefully you could have seen Monday, some of the stuff
02:07 that we talked about and watched on film carrying over.
02:10 And then we got out there and Mississippi Valley State sat in the zone for 40 minutes.
02:14 So some of that stuff we had watched on film and talked about from the UW game, we didn't
02:20 get to carry out onto the floor or even get a look at where we would have been at after
02:25 Mississippi Valley sat in the zone the whole game.
02:28 That was a unique game in regards to the fact that, and I don't say this to slight them
02:32 in any way, shape or form or the scheduling, is they were last in Ken Palm and they weren't
02:39 great at either end of the floor, but they seem to have played with a lot of pride.
02:45 Sometimes it can be difficult to go up against a team where if you just human nature, look
02:48 at the numbers, we should win this game by 25 or so or more.
02:52 What was the message to the guys to prepare them that, no, we need a good effort from
02:57 start to finish?
02:58 Yeah, talked about the mature approach we need.
03:02 Obviously talked about responding to how Saturday night had ended, to needing to continue to
03:07 build to where we needed to go.
03:10 But then it was also, we knew it'd be a good opportunity to get a bunch of guys heavy minutes.
03:16 And then again, I touched on already, but we had had some hopes that we could have looked
03:19 at some things, especially offensively, that we had talked about wanting to improve.
03:22 Instead, we kind of had to view it as a chance to work on our zone offense, because that's
03:28 really all we got to see.
03:31 Credit to them.
03:32 They really ended up wanting to slow the game down.
03:35 And I think they controlled the ball pretty well offensively and then defensively sitting
03:39 in the zone and taking away our transition or quick hitters.
03:44 It did limit the amount of possessions in that game.
03:46 So it kind of had a weird feel to it with so few possessions and us playing so many
03:51 guys heavy minutes.
03:52 It was a little bit of a unique feel.
03:55 Well, looking forward now, UConn, that's a heavyweight battle right there on Friday.
04:02 Should be a fun one, the fact that they're willing to travel cross country to play you
04:06 guys in Seattle.
04:07 UConn and Gonzaga have had a number of good games over the years.
04:11 You go all the way back to that Elite Eight team in '99.
04:14 But in particular, people are going to remember last year, because you guys met them in the
04:18 final, or excuse me, in the Elite Eight.
04:20 They obviously went on to win the national title.
04:23 Different team for them, because they lost a number of great pieces.
04:27 Different team for you guys.
04:28 But certain things don't change for you guys and them.
04:31 What would those be for UConn?
04:33 Boy, for UConn, it's their toughness.
04:37 It's their competitiveness.
04:39 And then just the complexity of their offense and the pace that they play with is truly
04:44 remarkable.
04:46 And the guys they returned got better.
04:48 Newton's playing at an all-American level.
04:50 Carabin's playing really, really well.
04:51 Obviously, Klingin's the guy that's going to end up in the NBA that's a real paint protector.
04:56 But Spencer and the freshmen, especially Spencer, has been such an incredible addition for them.
05:02 So I don't think they've missed a beat.
05:05 I think there's only a handful, two handfuls of teams that can legitimately say they're
05:11 going to compete for a national title this year.
05:12 And there's no doubt that UConn's on a very, very small list of teams that can do that.
05:19 They're really impressive.
05:21 One game after that, before Christmas break for the guys, how much time do you typically
05:26 give the guys to go home, be with their family?
05:28 I always felt for myself it was a chance to get in the gym on my own without a coach in
05:34 my ear.
05:35 Not saying that coaches shouldn't be in your ear, but it was a chance to kind of revitalize
05:38 and re-energize for the stretch run of the season.
05:41 How much time do guys get for their break with their friends and family?
05:46 Yeah, obviously that's a little bit schedule dependent, but we try really hard to give
05:51 guys a significant break.
05:53 Some of these teams, and some of it's league based, so they don't have choices, but some
05:56 of these teams that are scheduling games, the 23rd, 24th, 25th, that's really hard.
06:02 We think it's really important to get the guys home, get them refreshed like you talked
06:05 about, get to be with family.
06:07 I would say on the short end, it's been anywhere from four days, depending upon how things
06:13 break, it's probably been up to close to six, but usually four or five days, get them home,
06:18 get them relaxed, like you said, and find that balance of having time off, but not completely
06:24 losing their wind or where we're at as a team to get ready for the league play, but especially
06:31 specifically this year, a huge game with San Diego State right after break.
06:35 Yeah, that will be a big game as well.
06:37 I look forward to chatting a little bit more in depth on that one the next time we connect,
06:42 but Brian, appreciate the time.