Yale's James Jones joins the Gonzaga Nation podcast to break down the matchup against the Gonzaga Bulldogs with former All-American Dan Dickau.
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00:00 Welcome to another episode of Gonzaga Nation. We're here, the Gonzaga home
00:05 opener against Yale. Got a special guest today with head coach of Yale, James
00:11 Jones, heading into his 25th season. He and Coach Mark Few are two of the longest
00:17 tenured coaches at their respective schools, so it's awesome to see that
00:21 consistency within these two programs. Coach, thank you for joining. Happy to be
00:27 here with you, Dan. Well, I've seen your team play a number of times over the
00:31 years, primarily during conference tournament week, and I've been really
00:36 impressed, especially over the last couple years. You guys have been
00:40 qualified for the NCAA tournament four times in the last, I believe, five years.
00:45 You guys have a tremendous amount of high-level players. Give us a little bit
00:50 of feel about what the Yale program is all about and what kind of the pillars
00:55 of your program may be. Well, that's a great question. That's easy to answer.
00:59 There are three things that we try to do every time we go out. We want to rebound,
01:03 we want to defend, and we want to share the ball. And we feel that we do those
01:07 three things at a very high level, we have a great chance of being successful.
01:11 So, you know, that's what we try to preach to our guys on a daily basis, you know,
01:15 trying to get stops on the defensive end, making sure we out-rebound our
01:19 opponents, and then probably the most important to me is the sharing of the
01:22 ball, which brings everybody together and helps everybody feel vested.
01:28 Well, you guys were 21-9 a season ago, unfortunately lost to Princeton in the
01:33 finals of the Ivy League tournament. You returned basically everybody on your
01:37 roster except for two players. This isn't an ideal game for Gonzaga as a
01:42 hope opener. You guys are tested, you're skilled, you're experienced, you've got
01:46 good size. Give us a little bit of insight on your team and the returners.
01:51 Well, we have four double-figure scorers from last year returning.
01:56 Bez Mbang was a defensive player of the year, so he returns. August Mahoney is the
02:02 best three-point shooter in the league, he returns. John Pulikides is the best
02:06 shot-maker in the league, he returns. And Matt Nolling was our most valuable player.
02:12 So we have those four guys returning. We have Danny Wolfe, who's a seven-footer,
02:17 who played for Israel in the 20-and-under European games this summer
02:24 and this past summer. And he led the tournament in rebounding with second in
02:28 scoring, so we think a lot of him. And you know, we got a lot of young guys in the
02:32 program that haven't had a chance to play yet, and some of them will have a
02:36 opportunity going forward this year. When you look at the schedule, you guys
02:42 don't mind going on the road, which isn't normal for an Ivy League team. I talked
02:48 to Mitch Henderson last year and he said a lot of your games have to be in the
02:52 East Coast, traditionally for programs in that league, because of not missing
02:56 classes. But you guys will get creative and schedule as tough as you can. A
03:01 season ago you played at Colorado, Butler, and Kentucky, and they were all close
03:05 games. This year you play at Gonzaga. Where does that quiet confidence come
03:11 from, and how much do you learn about your team early in the season to get
03:14 ready for league play? Well, that's what the preseason is all about, trying to
03:20 learn about your team, trying to find some warts that are going to help you
03:24 get better. You know, you're going to get exposed when you go. You play at Kentucky,
03:28 you play at Gonzaga, and you play these teams that are, you know, quote-unquote,
03:32 at a higher level. So it gives us an opportunity to see what it is that we
03:36 need to work on and try to improve and get better. So by the time we get in our
03:40 league, things will be a little easier. And if you think about this, you know,
03:43 I've watched Gonzaga a lot here on film, and it's got to be one of the craziest
03:48 environments I've ever seen. You know, you played in it, you know all about it.
03:51 You know, I'm watching the Blue-White game, and it's like everybody in Spokane
03:57 is in the gym. Like, I mean, I don't know how many people in the city of
04:01 Spokane, but it seemed like everybody in the city was in the gym, and the
04:05 students are going crazy. So it's a really loud environment. So after we
04:08 play in that environment, I find it hard to believe that we'll be in an
04:13 environment in our league that will, well, any environment in our league is
04:17 going to dwindle in comparison. So our guys will be ready to play on the road
04:21 in those tough environments when we get there.
04:23 You're right in the fact that Spokane is one of the best environments for a
04:29 college basketball game, the McCarthy Athletic Center. You should enjoy it as
04:32 an opposing coach. If by chance you guys can come out with a victory, you will
04:37 really enjoy it. But that, Kentucky, Kansas, Arizona are some of the best
04:43 environments that I've been to. When you go on the road and prepare for a team
04:48 like Gonzaga, you mentioned defense, rebounding, and sharing the ball are
04:52 keys, but you watch film, you break down things. What are some of the things that
04:57 you are, that are absolute musts to go on the road and get a big win?
05:02 Well, you know, the rebounding stint, like you gotta try to out-rebound your
05:06 opponent. If they're going to get more opportunities, I'm watching Gonzaga
05:09 play. And let's look at specifically with this team. You know, they do a
05:12 great job at transition offense. They want to get the ball in early to the
05:16 post. And, you know, the big fella down there, Ike, is really good at the
05:19 basket. The transfer from Wyoming is really good at scoring. So we need to
05:23 make sure we're doing a good job where they can't get it deep and he can go and
05:27 catch and score at the basket, which is going to put us in foul trouble and
05:30 give them some easy opportunities. That's first and foremost that we
05:34 want to make sure we do. Then, you know, we got to make sure we handle the ball.
05:37 You know, Gonzaga is like, you know, one, two, two a lot and, you know, try
05:41 to slow you down and, you know, turn you over and then give you less time to run
05:45 your offense in the half court. So we want to make sure that we take care of
05:48 the ball and we're able to get on the other side of half court and run good
05:52 offense and make them work. Everything they do is to try to speed you up. You
05:56 know, they're going to hardhead some ball screens. They want to try to speed
05:58 you up and have you make decisions on a run. And we need to make sure that
06:03 we're making good decisions and taking care of the ball and getting a good
06:06 shot every time we get down the floor. You guys opened your season with a 1
06:10 0 2 53 win at home against Vassar. You guys shot over 60% from the field, over
06:15 40% from three. Um, so you got those first game jitters out of the way.
06:20 Gonzaga, this is their season opener. Does that give you guys a little bit
06:24 more of a comfort level going into the second game of the year? It would if
06:28 they were playing at Yale. I mean, they're, I mean, they're going to sleep
06:32 in their own beds. They're going to eat meals. They're gonna be comfortable
06:35 in terms of what they're doing. And I don't suspect that, you know, mark few
06:39 has been around the block a little here a little bit. And I don't suspect
06:42 there'll be many jitters out of these guys and they won't last long if they
06:46 have any. Um, when you have that home environment and a crowd cheering for
06:50 you, the energy that you derive from that is nothing short of amazing. So,
06:54 um, you know, we're gonna have to be on our game. And, you know, I always say
06:58 when you go on a road, you gotta win by 10 to win by two. Um, so, you know,
07:01 we're gonna have to play really well to try to do something special. Last
07:06 question for our viewers, uh, who will probably also be watching the game come
07:11 friday night. I'll be on the call with our local regional crew. But, uh, you
07:15 mentioned defense rebounding, sharing the ball. What type of actions do you
07:19 like to get into offensively? Are you a continuity motion, ball screen team or
07:25 are you sets oriented play through the post? What's the style that you guys
07:30 have on that end of the floor? Well, we're a continuity ball screen team
07:33 and, um, you know, we have a lot of really good parts so that that feeds
07:37 into it. Um, we have, like I said, we had five guys average double figures
07:41 last year and I suspect that we'll have five guys average double figures this
07:44 year because we're just that deep and and that good at each particular spot.
07:48 So, um, but you know, we certainly can try to isolate individuals when
07:53 necessary. Um, I think that we have tried to take advantage of some
07:56 matchups here and there and we'll do that and we'll certainly run some sets
08:00 to try to get shots for certain guys. But more often than not, we're a ball
08:04 screen motion. You know, we do some five out as well to try to space the floor
08:08 and make it easier, especially for a team that's gonna, you know, pressure
08:11 you. Um, as I feel that Gonzaga is going to try to pressure us. So we need
08:15 to free up some space and have some opportunities to move without the ball
08:18 freely. Awesome. Well, I really appreciate the time coach. Best of luck
08:22 at the McCarthy Athletic Center Center. Have a good experience in that
08:27 building and best of luck the rest of the season.