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Feb. 4—If Gonzaga coach Mark Few had his druthers, the schedule for the Zags’ and every other West Coast Conference team in action this week — and most weeks — would look different.
Same for Saint Mary’s coach Randy Bennett.
The WCC’s two most successful coaches are competitors on the court, but they agree that the conference should move away from its predominantly Thursday/Saturday game schedule as much as possible.
Gonzaga has four Thursday/Saturday weeks in conference play, including this week with Loyola Marymount up first at the Kennel, followed by a road game against Pacific, and next week when San Francisco and Pepperdine visit the McCarthey Athletic Center.
Of GU’s four Thursday/Saturday weeks, three are split weeks with one home game and one away or vice versa. Few said that doesn’t leave much time to prepare for the Saturday game, particularly when travel is required between games. It’s also tougher on players’ bodies compared to having an extra day between contests.
“The coaches in the league asked to play on Tuesdays and Wednesdays (instead of Thursdays) and not do the Thursday/Saturday, but sometimes it falls on deaf ears,” Few said last week. “But it makes for much better games and the players are rested. To have a Thursday/Saturday where you’re traveling after an 8 o’clock game is idiotic, basically.
“We don’t even have travel partners anymore, so I have no idea why we continue to do it. That’s what happens when administrators are making the call and not coaches who actually know what’s going on.”
The Zags are coming off one of their two Tuesday/Saturday weeks. They handled Oregon State 98-60 at home before falling to Saint Mary’s 62-58 in Moraga, California. GU closes the regular season at Santa Clara on a Tuesday (Feb. 25) prior to facing San Francisco at the Chase Center on a Saturday (March…
Source link : https://sports.yahoo.com/gonzagas-mark-few-saint-marys-045900409.html
Author : The Spokesman-Review, Spokane, Wash.
Publish date : 2025-02-05 04:59:00
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