A Grip on Sports: Gonzaga comes up short once more, but this year what bugged the Zags was shared by others

A GRIP ON SPORTS • There is a term that surfaces occasionally in college hoops. It appears on the NCAA’s points of emphasis before the occasional season, changes how the game is played for a couple minutes and then disappears again. In some ways, it’s the cicada of college basketball.

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• The term? Freedom of movement.

You knew that, didn’t you? Most college basketball fans do. It is supposed to ensure, as Stanford coach Tara VanDerveer likes to call it, “the ballet of basketball” is part of The Big Dance.

But this isn’t one of the years it isn’t chirping. And that bugs us a bit.

Basketball, at its best, is a game of movement. It is something the powers that be running the NBA realized years ago. They wanted it back in their game and the made sure it returned, empowering and rewarding their officials to enforce its appearance. That the pas de deux between offensive player and defender isn’t tilted the wrong way.

It’s why a player with the skill set of Steph Curry can dance around the court these days and, in the process, revolutionize the game.

But it takes constant vigilance to ensure its survival. Freedom of movement is the antithesis of what most college coaches want, especially coaches who don’t have the ability to recruit and retain high-level offensive players. And that’s most of them, as the cream of the crop usually only end up at a handful of programs.

Thursday night we watched as Gonzaga and Arizona, two schools that share DNA – this year at least – on the offensive end. The Bulldogs and the Wildcats, who earned No. 1 seeds in the NCAA tournament on the backs of their high-powered and free-flowing offenses, were dismissed from the tournament by two physical defensive teams, Arkansas and Houston, respectively.

And, respectively, we are somewhat appalled by it. Oh, sure. We understand. The idea is to win. Always has been – even at the Springfield Y back in the day. The game, however, suffers a bit when the way to achieve that goal is to restrict freedom of movement in ways that aren’t supposed to be allowed.

Sure, the defense has a right to occupy a spot. And if the defender beats his man to it, so be it. It is theirs. But the rules are clear. The defender has to do it with his or her feet, not their hands. Grabbing, holding, clutching. Not allowed.

And yet it is. If you had a chance to watch Baylor’s almost-comeback against North Carolina last week you saw a rulebook example. The Bears clawed their way back in a lost cause by putting their paws all over the Tar Heels. Still, at one stretch in the second half, 12 of 13 whistles were assessed on UNC. Huh.

We have a prediction. If Arkansas grabs a win against Duke on Saturday in front of Grant Hill – not only a Duke grad but also the managing director of USA Basketball’s national team – and Jim Nantz, thus ending Mike Krzyzewski’s career in a storm of uncalled grabs and holds, we will hear the term a lot in the offseason.

And next year, like cicadas, freedom of movement will arise again. But, also like the insects, the term will flourish only for a short while. There will be a lot of noise. People will get annoyed. And freedom of movement will disappear once more.

• Want to watch Duke and Arkansas play Saturday? The game will be in prime time in the East, with a 5:49 p.m. PDT start on CBS. Yes, it will be Nantz, Hill and Bill Raftery on the call.

The game will be part of a college basketball takeover of your television set this weekend. Besides the countdown to the Final Four – the eight participants between the men’s and women’s Division I tournaments will be decided by Monday evening – there is little else on of consequence.

The PGA is playing it match-play tournament. The NBA and NHL have games. There is some auto racing. Spring training and college baseball. A U.S. World Cup qualifier against Panama. But nothing that will push the ratings numbers through the roof. It’s college basketball’s stage.

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Gonzaga: The 74-68 Sweet Sixteen loss to the Razorbacks can be traced to many elements. We covered one above. (So does Dave Boling in his column, though we didn’t know that when we wrote. We read opinion pieces on subjects we are covering after we’re done.) Theo Lawson has even more in this game story. … Jim Meehan, who has witnessed many of the Zags’ tournament runs, has this notebook. … Justin Reed sat in the interview room as Drew Timme poured his heart out. He also has the difference makers. … Colton Clark handled the Arkansas point of view. … Tyler Tjomsland has photos galore in this gallery. … The folks in the office took care of the recap with highlights. … We had our TV Take. … If you are interested in Chet Holmgren’s five fouls last night, this video covers them all. … As one would expect, the Gonzaga loss to Arkansas is big news throughout the country. … Despite evidence to the contrary, BYU coach Mark Pope is excited by next year’s roster.

WSU: The NIT run means more than just a few games and some national interest. As Jon Wilner writes, it can be a springboard to future success. It has been such in the past. … Elsewhere in the Pac-12 and college basketball, as we mentioned above, Arizona’s free-flowing offense was anything but against the Cougars, as Houston knocked the top-seeded Wildcats out of the South region. … Kelvin Sampson’s team will face Villanova on Saturday. … UCLA will carry the West Coast banner – where have we heard that before, besides throughout our childhood? – in today’s matchup with UNC. It seems Jaime Jaquez Jr. is healthy enough to play, but how well? … Oregon State rallied past New Mexico to keep its WNIT run alive. The Beavers will host UCLA next. … On the men’s side, the Beavers are losing their top assist man. … In football news, Washington’s Kalen DeBoer begin winning in Sioux Falls, SD. … Wilner’s column in the Mercury News has some thoughts on USC. … Arizona State is solid up front on defense.

Idaho: The women’s regional starts this afternoon at the Arena. Jim Allen previews the most-anticipated game, the one pitting Stanford – including the Hull sisters from the Valley – and Maryland. … Dave Nichols has a preview of the first game, which matches up Ohio State and Texas. … There is other coverage of the Cardinal to pass along. … Around the Big Sky, Weber State is revamping its football coaching staff a little. … Northern Colorado believes its basketball success will continue. … Idaho State women’s basketball is losing at least four players in the portal.

Preps: Dave also has a roundup of Thursday’s action in baseball, softball, soccer and tennis.

Mariners: Logan Gilbert has made some changes in hopes of enhancing his presence throughout the season. … The bullpen added a veteran presence yesterday. Sergio Romo has been on a lot of winning teams. … Seattle rallied to get past Cleveland.

Seahawks: Justin Coleman is returning to Seattle. … That’s just part of the roster additions. … Who will the Hawks take with their No. 9 pick? Our guess? They trade down.

Sounders: The U.S. National Team earned a draw in Mexico, though it had a couple big chances to make it something even more. … Seattle has somewhat of a youth movement going on.

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• We had mixed feelings going into the game last night. If the Zags won, we had the opportunity to make a little more money. But a loss meant we have our spring evenings back without any work. Which would I prefer? Arkansas made the question moot before we could make a decision. Until later …