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Gonzaga Brings Back The Battle In Seattle Vs Alabama (Dec 4)...Why Not The UW?
ChillyDawg
Member Posts: 1,469
The UW is located in Seattle yet Gonzaga seemingly runs Seattle college basketball all the way from Spokane...wouldn't it make more sense for the UW to host the Battle In Seattle at Climate Pledge Arena? This is a bad look for Husky men's basketball all the way around in my mind. Gonzaga is claiming Seattle...
Gonzaga MBB https://gozags.com/sports/mens-basketball
Alabama MBB https://rolltide.com/sports/mens-basketball
Go Zags (click for full article) https://gozags.com/news/2021/12/1/mens-basketball-no-3-3-mbb-faces-no-16-16-alabama-in-battle-in-seattle.aspx
THE TIP OFF
- Following four games over an eight-day stretch, No. 3 Gonzaga had a brief break and now hosts No. 16 Alabama in the 2021 Battle in Seattle in the new Climate Pledge Arena Saturday.
- The first-ever meeting between the Zags and Alabama comes in the 14th edition of the Battle in Seattle, but the first since 2015 when GU held off Tennessee, 86-79.
- The Bulldogs are coming off a 64-55 win at home over Tarleton State Monday. Gonzaga's Rasir Bolton scored 17 points and Chet Holmgren added 15. Julian Strawther pulled down a career-high 12 rebounds for the Zags.
- GU currently leads the nation in field goal percentage (54.5), and in total assists (148), fifth in total rebounds (329), sixth in rebound margin (13.0), eighth in total blocks (46) and ninth in scoring margin (24.2).
- Chet Holmgren is second in the country with 32 blocks and fifth averaging 3.9 per game. He is also sixth in the nation shooting 70.1 percent from the field. Andrew Nembhard's 43 assists are ninth in the country.
- The Zags top KenPom's rankings with the nation's most efficient offense and eighth-best defense.
- Gonzaga leads the country with 99 consecutive appearances in the AP Top 25, with Villanova second at 44.
- The Bulldogs own a 12-point win over then-No. 5 Texas and a 20-point victory over then-ranked No. 2 UCLA. GU is just the fifth team in the AP Poll era with multiple wins over Top-5 opponents in November.
- From ESPN Stats and Info, Gonzaga was the first AP No. 1 team to play two Top-5, non-conference opponents in the same week of the regular season since Kentucky did it in the 1954 UKIT (Kentucky Invitational).
- The Zags were named the 2021 Empire Classic champions after cruising to wins over Central Michigan and then-ranked No. 2 UCLA in Las Vegas on Nov. 22 and 23. Andrew Nembhard was named the event's MVP.
SCOUTING THE CRIMSON TIDE
- Alabama opened the season at No. 14 in the AP Poll, and have won six of its first seven games of the season. The Crimson Tide's lone loss was to Iona, 72-68, in the quarterfinals of the ESPN Events Invitational in Orlando.
- Alabama rebounded from the loss with back-to-back wins over Drake and Miami.
- Alabama is coming off a 96-64 victory over Miami on Sunday in Orlando. Alabama was led by Keon Ellis' 22 points. Jaden Shackelford finished with 15 points, all on 3-pointers, while JD Davison had his first career double-double with 13 points, 10 assists & 6 rebounds.
- Shackelford leads Alabama averaging 18 points per game. Jahvon Quinerly adds 14.6 points per outing, and Ellis is scoring 13.3 points per game.
- Ellis grabs a team-best 7.3 rebounds per game, while Shackelford chips in 6.4 boards. Davison has dished out a team-high 34 assists.
- Alabama currently leads the SEC averaging 85.7 points per game and tops the league making 9.9 three-pointers per outing. Shackelford is eighth in the nation with 25 triples.
- The Crimson Tide were picked second in the SEC Preseason Poll, and Shackelford and Quinerly were preseason All-SEC First Team.
Gonzaga MBB https://gozags.com/sports/mens-basketball
Alabama MBB https://rolltide.com/sports/mens-basketball
Go Zags (click for full article) https://gozags.com/news/2021/12/1/mens-basketball-no-3-3-mbb-faces-no-16-16-alabama-in-battle-in-seattle.aspx
THE TIP OFF
- Following four games over an eight-day stretch, No. 3 Gonzaga had a brief break and now hosts No. 16 Alabama in the 2021 Battle in Seattle in the new Climate Pledge Arena Saturday.
- The first-ever meeting between the Zags and Alabama comes in the 14th edition of the Battle in Seattle, but the first since 2015 when GU held off Tennessee, 86-79.
- The Bulldogs are coming off a 64-55 win at home over Tarleton State Monday. Gonzaga's Rasir Bolton scored 17 points and Chet Holmgren added 15. Julian Strawther pulled down a career-high 12 rebounds for the Zags.
- GU currently leads the nation in field goal percentage (54.5), and in total assists (148), fifth in total rebounds (329), sixth in rebound margin (13.0), eighth in total blocks (46) and ninth in scoring margin (24.2).
- Chet Holmgren is second in the country with 32 blocks and fifth averaging 3.9 per game. He is also sixth in the nation shooting 70.1 percent from the field. Andrew Nembhard's 43 assists are ninth in the country.
- The Zags top KenPom's rankings with the nation's most efficient offense and eighth-best defense.
- Gonzaga leads the country with 99 consecutive appearances in the AP Top 25, with Villanova second at 44.
- The Bulldogs own a 12-point win over then-No. 5 Texas and a 20-point victory over then-ranked No. 2 UCLA. GU is just the fifth team in the AP Poll era with multiple wins over Top-5 opponents in November.
- From ESPN Stats and Info, Gonzaga was the first AP No. 1 team to play two Top-5, non-conference opponents in the same week of the regular season since Kentucky did it in the 1954 UKIT (Kentucky Invitational).
- The Zags were named the 2021 Empire Classic champions after cruising to wins over Central Michigan and then-ranked No. 2 UCLA in Las Vegas on Nov. 22 and 23. Andrew Nembhard was named the event's MVP.
SCOUTING THE CRIMSON TIDE
- Alabama opened the season at No. 14 in the AP Poll, and have won six of its first seven games of the season. The Crimson Tide's lone loss was to Iona, 72-68, in the quarterfinals of the ESPN Events Invitational in Orlando.
- Alabama rebounded from the loss with back-to-back wins over Drake and Miami.
- Alabama is coming off a 96-64 victory over Miami on Sunday in Orlando. Alabama was led by Keon Ellis' 22 points. Jaden Shackelford finished with 15 points, all on 3-pointers, while JD Davison had his first career double-double with 13 points, 10 assists & 6 rebounds.
- Shackelford leads Alabama averaging 18 points per game. Jahvon Quinerly adds 14.6 points per outing, and Ellis is scoring 13.3 points per game.
- Ellis grabs a team-best 7.3 rebounds per game, while Shackelford chips in 6.4 boards. Davison has dished out a team-high 34 assists.
- Alabama currently leads the SEC averaging 85.7 points per game and tops the league making 9.9 three-pointers per outing. Shackelford is eighth in the nation with 25 triples.
- The Crimson Tide were picked second in the SEC Preseason Poll, and Shackelford and Quinerly were preseason All-SEC First Team.
Comments
Even then, there was always mutual interest in bringing the game back. Seattle’s large alumni base savored the annual opportunity to see the Bulldogs in person without the hassle of a road trip over the snowy Cascades, and the Puget Sound had always been a key hub for Gonzaga in terms of recruiting and corporate sponsorships.
So, why did the game spend five years on the back burner?
Initially, it was a matter of lining up the right opponent. For all the success Gonzaga had luring quality teams to the Battle in Seattle — No. 3 Missouri came for the inaugural game in 2003 and No. 2 UConn made the trip five years later — the game didn’t seem as enticing from an opponent’s standpoint in the latter years as the Bulldogs brought in five consecutive unranked teams, including South Alabama and Cal Poly in 2013 and ’14, to play neutral-site games at KeyArena.
Another obstacle: The West Coast Conference’s expansion from a 16- to 18-game schedule in 2014 meant the Bulldogs had to be more selective when crafting their nonconference schedule.
Even if Gonzaga had interest in bringing the game back after a two- or three-year pause, facility issues would’ve added another obstacle. A billion-dollar renovation of KeyArena began in 2019, but project add-ons, a switch in contractors, COVID-19 delays and inflated shipping costs prolonged the project’s completion until earlier this year.
While the Battle in Seattle went on a five-year hiatus, the appetite to see high-level men’s college basketball in the Puget Sound area — and the Zags, specifically — only escalated.
That was apparent when CBS Sports’ Jon Rothstein reported in late May the Bulldogs were nearing an agreement to resume the Battle in Seattle, generating more than 100 retweets on Twitter, then again on July 16 when general-admission tickets went on sale for Saturday’s 5 p.m. game with No. 16 Alabama at Climate Pledge Arena.
“It sold out in something like 15 minutes,” first-year Gonzaga Athletic Director Chris Standiford said. “It went really, really fast.”
Seattle Times https://www.seattletimes.com/sports/gonzaga-bulldogs/no-16-alabama-takes-down-no-3-gonzaga-91-82-in-battle-of-seattle/
Seattle Times https://www.seattletimes.com/sports/gonzaga-bulldogs/gonzagas-recent-struggles-arent-reason-to-panic-but-they-do-show-what-needs-fixing/
Gonzaga vs Alabama Highlights
ATBS, don't want UW trying to import big names until they have a program that doesn't suck. Plus, basketball isn't real life like football.