Gonzaga men's basketball assistant coach Brian Michelson breaks down the Bulldogs' run at the Maui Invitational and looks ahead to the matchup with USC in Las Vegas
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00:00 Gonzaga Nation, the coaches show with Brian Michelson. He is going to break it down,
00:06 give us a little bit of insight of what they learned in Maui and what is focal points moving
00:13 forward. So first off, Brian, appreciate you joining again. Thanks for having me, Dan.
00:17 Well, it's that time of year where you're about six, seven games in, you've learned some of your
00:23 strengths, you've learned some of your weaknesses, you're addressing, you know, how to refine the
00:28 strengths, how to improve upon the weaknesses. And I think it was accentuated for you guys
00:34 because you played such good competition over at the Maui Invitational. Give us a little bit of
00:40 what you and the staff saw after kind of taking a step back and looking at those three games.
00:46 Yeah, I think the biggest positive was that we competed. You know, you mentioned it and to play
00:51 three games in that short a time frame, especially that first turnaround was way less than 24 hours.
00:57 We were really, really happy with how the guys competed. Everybody that hit the floor
01:01 gave great effort. You know, I was really happy with how we stuck together. Obviously,
01:06 there were some really, really good stretches there. There were some tough stretches,
01:09 but the way the team stuck together and fought, I think was a really, really good sign moving
01:15 forward. You know, there are things to clean up on both ends execution wise. We had plenty of
01:20 mistakes to learn from and the teams over there were good enough to make you pay. You know, some
01:25 of the turnover issues I think are things that we can solve and that we need to solve quickly. But
01:32 overall, it was a great trip. It was fun. The guys did a great job to come away with two wins. It was
01:38 really, really important. Yeah, I thought the Purdue game, you guys played really well in the
01:42 first half. There was that stretch where there was a few turnovers that led to buckets for them
01:47 in transition. You also didn't shoot the ball great, but those were looks I would imagine
01:53 as the staff, you were like, we're going to live with those because balancing those out over the
01:57 course of the year, we're going to make more of those than we miss. Am I correct? Yeah. Yeah. And
02:01 the shooting thing, I totally agree. I thought they were good looks that we can make. We did
02:05 make early. We will make moving forward. I was actually really happy with the quality of looks
02:10 we got. Unfortunately, you know, a couple more go in and it would have totally changed the
02:14 complexion of the game. I think the issue you touched on quickly was the turnovers. Those
02:20 are the ones we can't have. And we had multiple there in a very short time frame. And you're
02:25 playing a really good Purdue team. They made us pay, whether they scored initially right away,
02:29 a couple breakaways that killed us, or they scored later on in that possession. So,
02:34 you know, the quality of the shots, I was really happy with the turnovers were more of a concern.
02:39 Well, I think if you look at Syracuse, I think that's a dangerous team that will improve over
02:45 the course of the year. They play a certain style that I think you're going to have to have success
02:49 against at some point during the season. They space you, they attack you off the bounce,
02:53 they have decent size. And then UCLA, it always tends to be a fight between Gonzaga and UCLA.
02:59 It wasn't the prettiest of games to watch, at least on my television screen with a lot of fouls
03:04 called. But that's a team that I think is going to be ranked by the end of the year. They're going
03:09 to be, they got a chance to be ranked fairly highly. Their best basketball is ahead of them.
03:13 So I think that was a great win as well. Yeah, I was really happy with both those wins. Obviously,
03:17 Syracuse came back and beat LSU really badly the other night. And you know, they have a lot of
03:22 individual talent. They have a 7'4" guy in the middle, like you said, and then UCLA for how
03:27 much youth they have and how many new bodies has done a great job with finding an identity,
03:33 playing to that identity. They have incredible size, you know, and I agree. I think that that
03:38 was a good win that will continue to get better as the year goes on and they win some big games.
03:44 So we touched on UCLA. You guys are about to play their crosstown rival USC in Vegas
03:50 here in the near term. Unbelievably talented backcourt, Isaiah Collier,
03:56 Boogie Ellis, Kobe Johnson gets overlooked at times, but they also have a solid interior
04:00 that can provide some rim protection. When you're looking at the challenges that USC poses,
04:08 what jumps out at you first? Oh, those things right there. I mean, you
04:13 touched on the backcourt and I have a hard time believing we'll face a better backcourt this year.
04:18 You know, I think all three of those guys end up playing in the NBA. Collier is going to be a top
04:23 five pick, if not the number one pick. His pace and power for a young guy, his vision is unbelievable.
04:33 He's one of the best players in all of college basketball and obviously that's, you know,
04:37 showing on the NBA draft boards. But Boogie Ellis is their leading scorer by far. I mean,
04:42 he hit eight threes the other day. He's shooting almost 50% from three and he's done it for a long
04:47 time. He's a proven Pac-12 player of the year type guy. I would think he's the front runner for that
04:52 right now. And his ability to score at all three levels is really, really impressive. He shoots it
05:00 off the catch. He shoots it off the bounce. He can get to the rack. You know, so those two,
05:05 I think, get a lot of attention and deservedly so because they're great players. But you touched
05:09 on the other guy that I think is an NBA wing and that's Kobe Johnson. You know, he's got great size.
05:16 He can really shoot. He's a good driver. But the thing with him is he can really guard on the
05:24 perimeter. I don't think we've faced a perimeter defender of his ability yet. He can get in a
05:28 stance. He's got incredibly active hands. He can guard multiple positions because of his size. So
05:35 that backcourt on both ends of the floor is a lot to deal with. You know, I think getting Rodman
05:40 from WSU is huge for them because he really, really shoots it and can play off of those three.
05:46 Those three are so dynamic that he plays off of those guys well. And I think he adds an edge.
05:51 And then, you know, you mentioned it. They kind of have an unlimited supply of rim protectors. A lot
05:56 of teams might have one or two. They're rolling five of them out there that can, you know, that
06:03 can protect the rim at a high, high level, make it tough to score inside. Obviously, they pound
06:07 off into the glass with those guys. And then again, those guards are so dynamic that they have
06:12 some rim finishing ability. So from a talent standpoint, they're up there with anybody that
06:17 I've seen early in the year, you know, especially in the backcourt. Well, you guys have never shied
06:25 away from tough opponents traveling. You went from Hawaii home for a few days, then on to Vegas to
06:33 play USC. At any point in time, do you guys sense that guys get tired in the early season? And then
06:42 if they do, how do you tailor down practices or kind of get over those initial hurdles? Because
06:49 I'll be honest, a lot of those are probably mental, I would imagine for young players. I
06:55 went through it. And then once you realize in the NBA how much you travel, it's just basketball.
06:59 You just got to get yourself ready to play a game that you've loved playing since you were young.
07:03 Yeah, you know, we do try and balance practices based on what the travel's been like, how far
07:08 we're out on games. You touched on the mental side of it, you know, kind of trying to power
07:13 through some of that. The other night, you know, after our game, it came out, you know, talking
07:18 about that we have had a handful of guys sick, which, you know, you get a little bit during the
07:22 year, but I can't remember kind of this many guys. And that trip back from Hawaii, I think,
07:28 hit us pretty hard. So hopefully we're trying to battle through that and get over that. But
07:32 it's really not that big an issue. Because like you said, it's the game the guys have all loved
07:38 playing their whole lives. They want to play. The competition is why they're here. These are
07:42 the types of games that they want to be in. So they're excited and they're ready, you know,
07:48 to continue to play this gauntlet that we have coming up this month.
07:51 Awesome. Well, appreciate it, Brian. I'm sure we will connect again real soon because after USC,
07:57 you've got a home game, then you got at UW home game, and then you got another top five
08:04 opponent in UConn in Seattle. So things don't get easier. I think you guys are going to learn
08:09 a lot about your team in the next coming weeks. And fans are going to continue to enjoy just how
08:14 much you guys are willing to challenge yourself. So thanks again for joining.
08:19 Thanks, Dan.