<div class='quotetop'>QUOTE </div><div class='quotemain'>OKLAHOMA CITY (AP) -- Longar Longar scored 16 points, including the go-ahead basket, and Oklahoma overcame a scintillating performance by Gonzaga's Jeremy Pargo to upset the Bulldogs (No. 20 ESPN/USA Today, No. 18 AP) 72-68 Thursday night. For a time, it appeared Pargo would will Gonzaga (9-3) to victory with the most impressive performance of his career but he ran dry with just enough time for Oklahoma (9-3) to rally. Pargo hit five straight shots and scored all of the Zags' points during a 12-5 surge that propelled Gonzaga into the lead late in the second half but then couldn't connect in crunch time to finish the game. After Pargo's airball on a 3-pointer from the right wing, Oklahoma took a 67-66 lead on Longar's right-handed hook shot in the lane with 1:38 remaining and then hit enough free throws down the stretch to hang on. Pargo, who scored a career-high 28 points, had two final chances to tie it. After Blake Griffin hit one of two free throws to give Oklahoma a 70-68 lead, Pargo charged under the basket and missed a layup underneath with 12 seconds left.</div> http://scores.espn.go.com/ncb/recap?gameId=273540201 This Zags team has a hell of a lot of talent, but they've underachieved all season long. I'm beginning to wonder if they should still be on that "more than a mid-major" pedestal. I mean, after losses to Texas Tech, Wazzou, and Oklahoma this early in the season, they shouldn't even be considered for the top 25, yet you know some voters are still going to give them consideration when next week's rankings come out. And what do they have to say for their season so far? Just a last-minute victory over a very mediocre UConn squad? They might have won tonight too if Pargo didn't start forcing it so much late in the game.
At least they are playing quality non conf games, unlike those Duke pansies who play ZERO out of conference TRUE ROAD GAMES! Ridiculous. I love Pargo though, he's a beast.
<div class='quotetop'>QUOTE (Kid Chocolate @ Dec 21 2007, 12:57 AM) <{POST_SNAPBACK}></div><div class='quotemain'>At least they are playing quality non conf games, unlike those Duke pansies who play ZERO out of conference TRUE ROAD GAMES! Ridiculous. I love Pargo though, he's a beast.</div> True, but out of all the teams to pick on, I wouldn't pick on Duke. They beat Illinois on the road (no small feat), and while Davidson has fallen apart, at least they had them pencilled in for a road game at the start of the season when they were considered by some a preseason top 25. Not to mention they beat Marquette and blew out Wisconsin at home. Their schedule has been one of the more legitimate ones thus far.
They beat Illinois in Maui. They still do not play a true road game non-conference game. That is crap.
<div class='quotetop'>QUOTE (Kid Chocolate @ Dec 21 2007, 01:50 AM) <{POST_SNAPBACK}></div><div class='quotemain'>They beat Illinois in Maui. They still do not play a true road game non-conference game. That is crap.</div> Road is road; granted it wasn't in Illinois, there were about equal amounts of fans for both teams in that game --- Maui's usually pretty good with its ticket distribution. Home court advantage does mean a lot, but still, they went out of their way to schedule Maui (which they won), a game against Wisconsin (which they won), a game at Davidson (which they won), and a game in New York against Pitt (which they took to OT). All I'm saying is that there are plenty of other teams to pick on for their scheduling before turning to Duke. They catch too much flack from the average fan just because they're under that Duke microscope.
<div class='quotetop'>QUOTE (Voodoo Child @ Dec 21 2007, 02:04 AM) <{POST_SNAPBACK}></div><div class='quotemain'><div class='quotetop'>QUOTE (Kid Chocolate @ Dec 21 2007, 01:50 AM) <{POST_SNAPBACK}></div><div class='quotemain'>They beat Illinois in Maui. They still do not play a true road game non-conference game. That is crap.</div> Road is road; granted it wasn't in Illinois, there were about equal amounts of fans for both teams in that game --- Maui's usually pretty good with its ticket distribution. Home court advantage does mean a lot, but still, they went out of their way to schedule Maui (which they won), a game against Wisconsin (which they won), a game at Davidson (which they won), and a game in New York against Pitt (which they took to OT). All I'm saying is that there are plenty of other teams to pick on for their scheduling before turning to Duke. They catch too much flack from the average fan just because they're under that Duke microscope. </div> But every other team goes on the road for true road games. Neutral games aren't true road games. They aren't home games, but they aren't road games, they are exactly what they are called: neutral. I'm not even trying to pick on Duke, particularly, but I find it ridiculous that they have 0 true road games in the non-conference portion of hte schedule. They played Davidson at Cameron, not @ Davidson.
Why is everyone hating on the Zags? Texas Tech isn't all that bad of a team, Wazzou aren't making much noise but they're playing good ball right now, and Oklahoma is a pretty decent team. The most notable thing about the Zags is that they don't have Josh Heytvelt right now. When he gets back and into the groove, this team is going to be top 10 quality IMO. If you remember about Heytvelt, he was having a coming out season last year before the incident he had, he even had a game where he manhandled Tyler Hansbrough! He won't be as great right away coming off foot surgery, but he'll be ready be in the flow by March. Gonzaga is a completely different team when they have post scoring ala Ronny Turiaf or J.P. Bautista. Another factor is their frosh, Daye, is getting some good experience now. If Daye can become more consistent by March, this team could possibly be Elite 8 caliber with Heytvelt & a consistent Daye.
