John Blanchette: Maui Madness Offers Gonzaga His First Test of His Season Against Illinois

LAHAINA, Hawaii – Giorgi Bezhanishvili is a freshman from Georgia, originally from Illinois, located between Turkey and Russia, and not between Florida and Bubba, via Austria and a high school in New Jersey. Somewhere in the pronunciation of his name, you can extract the word "shy", which he is definitely not.

At the start of the Maui Invitational's Monday night, the six-by-nine station made a theatrical fake at the top of the key that sent his compatriot in freshman, Filip Petrusev of Gonzaga, to raise under the Duke banner in chevrons of the Civic Center of Lahaina. Bezhanishvili then summoned an Uber for a trip to the basket.

However, any embarrassment was short-lived. A few minutes later, Petrusev was working on the offensive glass over the Illini.

"You come out here," said Gonzaga coach Mark Few on the eve of the tournament, "and you're exposed – and we'll all do it. Even duke.

Well, that remains to be seen.

The Blue Devils are 16-0 in this cozy and cacophonous bunker, and even though they were not all as easy as their defeat against the San Diego State on Monday, 16- 0 pretty much conceals the old emperor against an honest child's eyes.

And the zags?

They are the ones who roam Front Street with barrels supported by braces.

But they will be satisfied with their 84-78 victory over the Illini and will try to better prepare for the semi-final parade with Arizona on Tuesday night.

The Maui rendezvous, the most popular of the exotic 3-day basketball-free exotic basketball carnivals, is well deserved with teams ranked No. 1, 2 and 8, as well as various other gnarlies.

We are however in November.

Sometimes the ball goes over the clock – think of the Zags and Michigan State here in 2005, that they should consider replaying loops in the Concessions Hall. But most often, no.

More often, as Few noted, you are exposed.

That night, which particularly exposed the Zags, is an extreme dysfunction with, well, a safety of the ball. It was not for nothing that the combative pressure of the Illini was felt: Evansville and Georgetown have returned 46 times in total in two previous matches. But among the Bulldogs' 22 tournaments – including 12 playmakers Josh Perkins and Geno Crandall – there were many bad decisions or overcrowding.

"When you're strong with and you're going through this wave, you're shooting a high percentage at the end," Few said. "It's a high-risk defense and they put it to you sometimes and put you in very uncomfortable positions. And they played two 1-3-1 possessions this year and they jumped into this situation and we made some very bad decisions. "

But then, the course of the November tournament is filled with these fist fights with big stakes with some deserving moments – and some pearls too.

For Zags, pearls mainly occurred after halftime. Although they also found a big diamond in Jeremy Jones.

The Bulldogs' unpretentious technician responded to his team's troubles, both forward and in the air, reaching the top of his career with 12 points in the first period only. Plus seven rebounds. Plus his usual solid defense.

Yes, Jeremy Jones. Jeremy Jones, eleven points in three games.

Of course, you can assume that some exposure also existed here, namely the Illini screening report. On most points of Jones, all the defenders of Illinois were at a Lanai ferry. Except that, with all the means to be burned by the Bulldogs, do not you risk to try your luck with a player with a modest CV?

In any case, Jones gave the Zags a seven-point lead at half-time and the Bulldogs helped themselves to do more – the margin reaching 13 points. But then they did not make enough free throws, then they did not play enough defense and then all went down.

Fade, rather.

Beyond the terrible problems of rotation, the Bulldogs have little success in defense of the 3 – indeed, a game of 4 points of Trent Frazier on a fault of Perkins, to 61 seconds of the end, made much more interesting the return to play, even with the return of Illinois. before.

But then they also forced a Frazier 3 ball and Brandon Clarke blocked another if necessary. And they shot 53%. And they had Jeremy Jones, who was not only spectacular in the first half, but who got the rebound and made the two shots on goal that saved their soul – it's all part of a double-double catchy .

"That's the story you're investing in," Few said.

And if you see yourself exposed, especially with the approach of the end of the game, all you can really look for is survival.

"As Chaminade is not present this year, there is potentially a team starting from there 0-3 which is an NCAA tournament team," Few said. "You have to take the positives and the lessons from that and not let him beat you too hard."

Call it Maui Madness. Who needs March?