NCAA 2007 Blog: Spokesmanreview.com

Texas' post game interview

A few minutes with Texas coach Rick Barnes, Kevin Durant and A.J. Abrams after their loss to Southern Cal at the Spokane Arena Sunday, March 18, 2007. ( Full post )

Southern Cal's post game intervikew

A few minutes with Tim Floyd, Nick Young, Lodrick Stewart and Daniel Hackett after Southern Cal's victory over Texas at the Spokane Arena Sunday, March 18, 2007. ( Full post )

Trojans conquer Texas

Led by Nick Young's 22 points, unranked Southern California downed No. 15 Texas 87-68 on Sunday in NCAA subregional play at the Arena. ( Full post )

Southern Cal vs. Texas

Game action from the Southern Cal vs. Texas game at the Spokane Arena Sunday, March 18, 2007. ( Full post )

Winthrop post game interview

A few minutes with Winthrop's Gregg Marshall, Craig Bradshaw and Torrell Martin after losing to Oregon at the Spokane Arena Sunday, March 18, 2007. ( Full post )

Oregon post game interview

This is a few questions with Oregon's Ernie Kent, Tajuan Porter, Aaron Brooks and Adam Zahn after their win over Winthrop at the Spokane Arena Sunday, March 18, 2007. ( Full post )

Oregon win as Kent envisioned it Saturday

During Saturday's press conference Oregon coach Ernie Kent spoke about how he allows his players the green light to shoot at any time and that they don't have to worry about looking at the bench wondering if it was a bad decision. He prefers putting his emphasis on defense. ( Full post )

Oregon vs. Winthrop

Game action from the Oregon vs. Winthrop Sunday, March 18, 2007. ( Full post )

Ducks ground Eagles

The No. 16 Oregon Ducks used a barrage of 3-pointers from guards Tajuan Porter and Aaron Brooks early in the second half to defeat No. 24 Winthrop 75-61 in the opening NCAA subregional game on Sunday at the Arena. ( Full post )

Friday action

The real fun in college basketball for me are the sounds. The bands and the athletes putting it all out there for the fans and some glory...good times. This is a collection of images and sound from the first round at the Spokane Arena Friday, March 16, 2007. ( Full post )

Women: news and notes

Gonzaga coach Kelly Graves has his name in the Final Four record book, as coach for St. Mary�s in the 1999 tournament. The record book lists all appearances. St. Mary�s went back two years later, the year Graves started at Gonzaga, and won a game under Michelle Jacoby. That was the last win for a WCC team in the tournament.
Graves� team was a 12 seed and lost to Notre Dame, 61-57. Jacoby�s team, a nine seed, beat Texas 68-64 and lost to Tennessee 92-75.
The Zags went 0-14 in the WCC in Graves� first season and his losses to the team he recruited at St. Mary�s were 62-36 and 63-50, plus 84-59 in the league tournament.
Graves also went to the tournament four straight years as an assistant at Portland.
Gonzaga had never played at Stanford before Saturday but Graves has coached at Maples Pavilion. In the 1999-00 season St. Mary�s lost 77-65.
Local ties
The Bulldogs are the last area team to make the dance. Idaho went in 1985, Eastern Washington went in 1987 and Washington State in 1991. The Vandals, under Pat Dobratz, lost to USC, lost 74-51; the Eagles, under Bill Smithpeters, lost to Oregon 77-56; and the Cougars, under Harold Rhodes, lost to Northwestern, 82-62. All the games were at the winners� school.
A regional tournament � that�s the Sweet 16 and Elite Eight � is scheduled for Spokane next year. The dates are March 29-31 or March 30-April 1. The other three regionals are Greensboro, N.C., New Orleans and Oklahoma City.
Spokane, with the seating capacity listed at 12,000, is ranked seventh in all-time attendance for a regional with 22,092 attending the West Regional in 2001. That regional included a championship game of Washington against Missouri State, which included All-American Jackie Stiles. The Huskies lost 104-87. The other two teams were Duke and Oklahoma.
The six sites with higher attendance, with only two coming after 2001, are Nashville, Hartford, Albuquerque, Greensboro, Knoxville and Austin.
Tip ins
Boise State, with former GU assistants J.R. Payne and Toriano Towns on the staff,
reached the tournament for the second time in school history. The Broncos are coached by Graves� good friend Gordy Presnell. Their first appearance came in 1994 under current Husky coach June Daugherty. BSU lost that game 89-61 � to the Huskies in Seattle. BSU lost 76-67 to 14th-ranked George Washington in Greensboro, N.C., on Saturday. � Big Sky Conference champion Idaho State had the difficult task of facing home-standing Stanford, losing 96-58. Pullman grad Christa Brossman, a former Bengal player, is an assistant for ISU. � That puts two PHS grads here with GU assistant ticket manager Alison Keck accompanying the Bulldogs. � Former Brewster and North Idaho College player Jeni Boesel ended her career at ISU with nine points. � Another connection is Stanford senior Clare Bodensteiner from Ruppert, Idaho. She played a tournament with the Spokane Stars and was reported to be headed to Gonzaga before the Cardinal grabbed her late in the recruiting process.
( Full post )

Young Zags expect to return

STANFORD, Calif. � In their first appearance in the NCAA tournament the Gonzaga Bulldogs played like it was their first appearance in the NCAA tournament.
They were tentative in an 85-46 loss to Middle Tennessee State and shellshocked afterwards.
About the only good thing to come out of the game was the way the younger Bulldogs talked about what the experience they gained for their next appearance.
�Where do I start?� freshman Heather Bowman said. �I learned you have to come out intense from the beginning. They�re definitely very good (but) we�ve played teams like this before. Next time we�ll remember this game, prepare better and come out more intense.�
Sophomore Sasha Polischuck added, �It was so amazing, I realize experience does matter. When we come back next year, we�re going to know what it takes, we going to know details really do matter. � We learned you can�t play scared, you have to be confident. When you�re scared they can see it in your eyes.�
At halftime, when the 17th-ranked and fifth-seeded Blue Raiders were leading 44-20, Gonzaga had more turnovers, 21, that shots attempted, 17. By the end of the game the Zags had 37 turnovers and 39 shots.
�They are a great basketball team that we made look a lot better,� GU coach Kelly Graves said.
He, too, expects this game is the first of many.
�This has been coming,� he said. �We�ve been building it. We�ve put ourselves in a position now to dictate our success year-in and year-out. People forget that experience matters. This is our first time here and we played like it.
�Our recruiting has certainly been excellent. � I anticipate that this isn�t going to be the last people see of Gonzaga. I�m proud of us, this is just a stepping stone.�
( Full post )

Zags wilt under pressure

STANFORD, Calif. � Gonzaga women�s basketball team finally made it to the Big Dance � and forgot their shoes.
Hounded by relentless pressure and buried under an avalanche of turnovers, the 12th-seeded Bulldogs were steamrolled 85-46 by fifth-seeded and 17th-ranked Middle Tennessee Saturday night in the first-round of the NCAA tournament at Stanford�s Maples Pavilion.
�That�s a bad matchup for us,� GU coach Kelly Graves said. �We�ve always struggled against pressure. I�m surprised we didn�t have more teams this year pressure us. It�s been one of our deficiencies and it showed tonight.�
The Blue Raiders (30-3) tied up Gonzaga (24-10) on the first possession and proceeded to force 37 turnovers, which they turned into 43 points.
( Full post )

GU women fall hard

The Gonzaga women's team fell and fell hard in their maiden run in the NCAA Tournament. ( Full post )

The story of the Cougars' loss can be found here

SACRAMENTO ( Full post )

Kent, Marshall have individual styles

Ernie Kent speaks quickly as if his mouth is a machine gun that never runs out of ammunition. ( Full post )

Oregon guards force action

Oregon's Bryce Taylor drove the lane and challenged his opponent with a right-handed floater. ( Full post )

Expect the Cougs to win and move on

SACRAMENTO ( Full post )

Lady Zags ready to go

The Gonzaga women face a tough game in their first appearance in the NCAA tournament. ( Full post )

Survival tactics

Good morning, everyone. ( Full post )