It’s About Company You Keep

Last Saturday, Gonzaga beat Stanford in a game that was nationally televised and celebrated on campus all day because ESPN brought its “GameDay” program to Spokane, Wash.

This Saturday, Gonzaga will play at Loyola Marymount. The game won’t be nationally televised, but it will be a regional game, which is something unusual for the West Coast Conference.

And, Bulldog Coach Mark Few says, in its way Gonzaga’s game against Loyola Marymount will be just as tough as playing Stanford, the fourth-place team in the Pacific 10 Conference.

“In our conference the teams play defense, they play offense, they give us their best shot every night,” Few said. “I would argue that the WCC is giving us all the preparation we need for the NCAAs.”

That’s a tough argument to buy. And it’s why Few had Stanford come to town in the middle of conference play. Because Gonzaga needs the tougher competition, the attendant pressure and publicity.

Few shooed a pushy reporter away from the spot where “Gonzaga Bulldogs” in dark blue lettering was printed on the white cinder block wall. “I’ve got to stand here for the TV,” Few said.

The Bulldogs may be ranked No. 5 in the country, but Few still needs to make sure anyone who watches him speak will see “Gonzaga” glowing over his head.

As the NCAA tournament approaches, as the ‘Zags roll through the WCC season unbeaten, Few vehemently fights the idea that Connecticut or Duke or Villanova or Texas is gaining toughness and hardiness by playing games in January and February against consistently better teams from glamour conferences.

“Absolutely not,” Few said. “I’d suggest that we’re getting the absolute best shots from every team in our conference every night. We’ve got the Superman logo on our chests. The teams in our conference know us, they know what we do. It’s not easy.”

Having the hoopla of “GameDay” also was used as a coaching tool.

“That was extra pressure,” Few said. “It’s the kind of thing you face in the tournament. The lights were on all day for our guys.”

Yet Monday night Villanova played Connecticut in a fierce battle played in front of 16,000 people and an ESPN audience in noisy Philadelphia, and Gonzaga was at sedate Portland playing in front of a couple of thousand mildly interested fans in Oregon.

It isn’t the same, and it isn’t Gonzaga’s fault.

Few has done his best to make the Bulldogs NCAA-ready. Gonzaga has played Maryland, Michigan State, Connecticut, Washington, Washington State, Oklahoma State, Virginia, St. Louis, Memphis and St. Joseph’s. And still its strength of schedule is rated only 79th in the country. That’s how far the West Coast Conference brings it down.

Loyola Marymount (11-13, 8-2) is second in the conference. Rodney Tention, the Lions’ rookie coach, who was an assistant at Arizona last season, has the Lions playing their best basketball of the season. But beating Loyola Marymount can’t be compared to beating Connecticut or Pittsburgh, West Virginia or Michigan State.

Adam Morrison, Gonzaga’s star, said it was “really great for us to step out of our comfort zone against Stanford.” But there’s not much more Few can do.

And this season his team is not the only top-10 team where it’s hard to judge the legitimacy of the ranking.

Memphis, from Conference USA, is ranked No. 3 and George Washington, from the Atlantic 10, is No. 7. Among them, Gonzaga, Memphis and George Washington have six losses and they’ve beaten Michigan State, Maryland twice, Tennessee, Alabama and UCLA.

Tention said the differences between playing in a Big East or Atlantic Coast Conference or Big Ten shouldn’t be overstated.

“Look at the teams, look at the talent on the team, look at the way they’ve played,” he said. “We’ve seen what Gonzaga has done this year, what Memphis has done. They’ve played the best and that sticks with you. Look at George Washington. They came from, what, 18 down at Xavier and won? That’s not easy.”

Critics of Gonzaga see weakness on defense and think they see a one-note offense. Against Stanford the ‘Zags let Stanford shoot 58.6% from the field in the first half but then got tough and held the Cardinal to 31% in the second half.

Though Morrison did score 34 points, prompting Few to say, “It’s almost sad that we just expect that of him,” the Bulldogs have a huge inside presence in forward J.P. Batista. The 6-foot-9, 270-pound senior had 24 points and eight rebounds against Stanford.

“You don’t think he’d be best at his position in the Pac-10?” Few asked. “Morrison, how’d he do in the Pac-10?”

That’s the great talk show argument. But it will take a Gonzaga (or Memphis or George Washington) to make it to the Final Four before it’s believable that your conference pedigree doesn’t matter.

Sad Exit

Oklahoma State Coach Eddie Sutton said Monday he was taking a leave of absence from coaching for the rest of this season. On Friday, Sutton was involved in a one-car crash in his sport utility vehicle. Monday the 69-year-old was cited on a charge of driving under the influence. He had been driving to a Stillwater airport to join his team on a flight to College Station, Texas, for a game against Texas A&M.;

Sutton ranks No. 5 all time with 794 wins; is tied for fifth with 25 seasons of 20 wins or more; and tied for third with 26 NCAA appearances. He was the first of only three men -- Jim Harrick and Lefty Driesell are the others -- to have taken four teams (Creighton, Arkansas, Kentucky and Oklahoma State) to the NCAA tournament.

His teams are a pleasure to watch because Sutton has always demanded fundamentally sound basketball and made his players appreciate the past.

“I will always idolize Coach Iba,” Sutton said three years ago. “I am proud to be a link to Henry Iba.”

But Sutton’s legacy also will include ugly scandal. Despite the statistical evidence of his coaching brilliance, Sutton is not in the Basketball Hall of Fame and most believe it is because of two things -- Kentucky and alcohol.

He left Kentucky in disgrace after an express mail letter full of cash sent to Kentucky signee Chris Mills in Los Angeles came open. Sutton left Kentucky to face probation and a program that needed to be rebuilt by Rick Pitino.

At his first news conference at Oklahoma State, Sutton revealed he had a drinking problem. Stories in Oklahoma newspapers this weekend quoted witnesses as saying Sutton had stumbled and fallen on his head before he got into his SUV on Friday. The police report said Sutton’s breath smelled “fruity,” and that there was also a bottle of prescription painkillers on the front seat.

Sutton cited an increasingly painful back condition and stress as reasons for his taking the leave of absence. His son, Sean, already had been given the job upon his father’s retirement.

For his basketball coaching accomplishments, for the way he taught the game and won at every place he has been, Sutton deserves the Hall of Fame honor. The cash culture at Kentucky was not started by him. His fault was in not stopping it and now his career may end with another dark mark. But Sutton knows basketball and loves it and he deserves to be honored.

Sad Exit, Part 2

When Indiana played Iowa on Saturday, part of the Hoosier fan base wore black shirts. The much-publicized idea was to simulate a “blackout” against the employment of Indiana Coach Mike Davis, an African American. Davis wasn’t at the arena to see it. He missed the game because of “flu” and “exhaustion.” Rumors were rampant that Davis had quit. The beleaguered coach told ESPN he was not quitting but with Indiana’s falling out of the top 25 and into the bottom half of the Big Ten, there seems no way Davis will be back next season.

Davis has blasted the fans who wore black shirts, saying it hurt his players. But staying away from Saturday’s loss did his image no good either. Davis let his players face the fans who are hounding him. The coach, from home, wasn’t too sick to talk to an ESPN reporter though.