The Butler game was a great lesson for this team. To this point in the season the Zags have been able to impose their style of play upon their opponents, pushing the ball up the floor quickly and playing high scoring, high possession games; however Friday night Butler was able to slow the Zags and make Gonzaga play a slower paced game. This game came at a perfect time to show Gonzaga that despite their great start they still have a lot of room to improve and develop the ability to play all styles of basketball, which will be necessary for this team to make a postseason run. Hopefully the team will realize the need for them to improve their execution and cut down on turnovers in order to play well against good teams that the limit the number of possessions in a game.

By no means is this loss a need to panic or lose any faith in this year’s team. Gonzaga simply ran into one of the best and hottest teams in college basketball. Butler is reminiscent of the Gonzaga teams from the late 1990’s and early part of this decade, in that they have incredibly skilled, experienced players who play very well together and do not get enough credit for their ability. At this point in the season Butler is better than Gonzaga, because of their ability to limit turnovers, take great shots and play hard nosed defense every possession. If Butler continues to play this way throughout the year they are a team nobody will want to face in the early rounds of the NCAA Tournament.

Gonzaga has a very short porch before playing the University of Idaho on Sunday afternoon in Spokane, and with a win Gonzaga could close out the month of November 6-1. After Idaho the Zags embark on a killer month of December which will reveal a great deal about this team and hopefully be a month in which they establish themselves as one of the nation’s premier teams. In order to succeed in December Gonzaga needs to learn from the Butler game and reach a point where they consistently play at their highest level, and once this team reaches that level they have a chance to be one of the most fun and best teams in the program’s history.