Not to brag, but my prediction was pretty close in last week’s post:  “My bold prediction is that Gonzaga surpasses the century mark on Valentine’s Day Eve, and holds San Francisco under 70.”  I went a little overboard and ventured a score of 105-68.  On Saturday afternoon, Gonzaga Men’s Basketball came close to my prediction and pummeled the Dons in San Francisco, winning by an even larger margin than I’d ventured:  100-61.  It was 40 of the best minutes of basketball the team has put together all season as the Bulldogs dominated on both sides of the floor, showing an intensity on the defensive end that bodes extremely well for Gonzaga’s already great chances in the NCAA tournament.

Drew Timme led the Bulldogs in both scoring and rebounding, managing a double-double with 28 points and 10 rebounds in just 22 minutes.  He was a very-nearly-perfect 11 for 12 shooting from the field, 2 for 2 from beyond the arc (!), and added an assist, a steal and 2 sweet blocks to his stat line.  Mark Few knew that San Francisco couldn’t match up against the 6’10” native of Texas whose footwork in the post is nothing short of brilliant, drawing comparisons to the likes of Kevin McHale.  In his pregame talk, Few must have told his backcourt:  Just feed the post.  Just feed the post.  When the Zags went on a 17-2 run to open the game, Timme had 15 of those points off post moves down low and a (why the heck not?) 3-ball from deep to cap Gonzaga’s evisceration of the Dons early.  He would hit another 3 at the 7-minute mark in the first half and would miss his first and only basket in the game with 1:54 left in that half after scoring 21 points.  Keith Ybanez of The Slipper Still Fits put it well in his 10 observations about the game:  “Few was the only one in the gym who was able to slow Timme down.”  That is, by putting him on the bench.  Timme and the Zags were up 48-26 by halftime.

That pummeling continued in the second half, even when Timme wasn’t on the court—even when Mark Few cleared the bench.  One great sign for upcoming success in Gonzaga’s postseason is great play from the bench.  The Zags, in fact, went from some hot shooting in first half to some lava-hot shooting in the second half where they shot 75% from the field, a mark they haven’t hit in another half of play in nearly 20 years.  And it wasn’t just from close range as the Bulldogs saw nearly 50% of their attempts from deep fall in a 10 for 21 effort for the whole game, highlighted by Timme’s 2 for 2 and Andrew Nembhard’s 2 for 4.   Four players off the bench hit from beyond the arc, including Gonzaga’s newest member, Ben Gregg (who hit the late 3 that put Gonzaga into triple digits at 100), as well as Dominic Harris, Julian Strawther and Aaron Cook.  Cook, who has been cooking with some serious spice lately, went 4 for 5 from the field, scoring 12 points, adding 4 assists and 3 steals in just 14 minutes.  Particularly impressive in the second half were quick transition baskets like the alley-oop, fast-break dunk Harris stuffed home off the assist from Cook, and deep 3’s from Suggs’ “tricky-trio” cohorts Strawther and Harris. 

The ball was dropping relentlessly through the net for the Zags while the exact opposite was happening on the other end, as San Francisco couldn’t seem to buy a basket, especially from deep.  The Dons, who rely heavily on shots from beyond the arc, finished a dismal 7 for 33 from deep.  Needless to say, Gonzaga’s defense was spot-on everywhere, even making it repeatedly difficult for San Francisco to in-bound the ball.  On one in-bound along the baseline, the Zags smothered the cutting San Francisco players and forced the Dons to call a time out before a five-second violation was called.  On another, a Dons player was forced to jump out of bounds to receive the in-bounds pass and the Bulldogs forced a turnover.  That sort of defensive effort is going to get them wins in any game they play, even if their shooting cools off.       

Besides Timme with his game-high 28 points, 4 other Zags scored in double figures including the aforementioned Cook (12), as well as starters Corey Kispert (12), Jalen Suggs (11) and Joel Ayayi (12).  Andrew Nembhard was just short of that mark with 8 points, shooting 2 of 4 from beyond the arc and adding 5 assists.  Suggs also had 5 assists along with 5 rebounds and was particularly effective at pressuring the Dons defense off his dribble-drive, often getting fouled on the way to the hoop.  Suggs (6-6) and Kispert (3-3) shot a perfect 9 for 9 from the charity stripe.  In fact, the team had one of its best nights of the season at the foul line, hitting just under 86%.

On Thursday, the Saint Mary’s Gaels are going to come to Spokane and look to cool down Gonzaga’s hot-hands.  I suspect that is going to be too difficult a task for this Gaels team.  Saint Mary’s is often able to tough themselves into at least a respectable loss to the Bulldogs, but Gonzaga is just too good right now and I think they’re going to be looking to keep the defensive momentum going.  I say Gonzaga gets another big win, lots of chances at the free throw line, and puts emphasis on stopping Tommy Kuhse on the defensive end.  I’ll venture 97-66.  Have a great week.  GO ZAGS!!!   

~ Clark Karoses

Gonzaga Men’s Basketball put another notch in the win column this week and avenged last season’s only WCC conference loss with a road victory over BYU in Provo, Utah on Monday night.  Now 19-0 overall and 10-0 in WCC play, the Bulldogs beat the Cougars by a double-digit margin for the second time this season thanks to some last-second free throws from Corey Kispert to make the final score 82-71.  While an 11-point victory on BYU’s home floor is something the Bulldogs should celebrate, their play in the game and over the last few weeks hasn’t been stellar.  There have been stretches of brilliance, but Gonzaga seems to have equally long stretches highlighted by poor defense and some questionable decision-making on the offensive end as well.  I suspect higher-level competition will bring out the best in the Zags when March Madness rolls around, but inconsistency can spell disaster and I hope to see the brilliance this team is capable of (the victory against Virginia, for example) soon and for a full 40 minutes no matter who they’re playing.       

We did see flashes of that brilliance early in the game against the Cougars on Monday night.  The Bulldogs came out with guns a-blazing to open the game when Corey Kispert hit the first basket of the game—a 3-pointer, assisted by Jalen Suggs.  Then, after Kispert missed his second attempt from long range, he collected his own rebound and sent a bullet pass to Joel Ayayi cutting under the basket for an easy lay-up.  Andrew Nembhard stole the ball on BYU’s next possession, and it was Ayayi’s turn to serve it up to Nembhard who hit a shot from beyond the arc to put Gonzaga up 8-0.  The pummeling continued from there as Ayayi got another assist when he sent the ball to Drew Timme at the top of the key for a rare 3-pointer from the big man.  That was followed up by another steal and a break-away lay-up for Suggs, followed by a jumper from Suggs—those 4 points putting Gonzaga up 15-2 with just 3 minutes and 12 seconds gone from the clock.  At that pace, the Zags could have scored well over 100 points easily—and when the Bulldogs are passing well and getting transition baskets off steals on the defensive end they’re rarely far from the century mark. 

However, the blistering pace they started the game with wouldn’t continue as the Bulldogs seemed to let up on the gas and invite BYU back into the game.  BYU’s leading scorer, Alex Barcello, hit some excellent shots throughout the game and finished with 20 points and 5 assists.  Apart from some of the Cougars’ well-defended shots that fell, it seemed like Gonzaga got lazy on defense, missed assignments and rotations, and allowed some lay-ins that must have had Mark Few slapping his forehead repeatedly.  The game seemed like the sort of Cat and Mouse scenario you may have witnessed at some time in your life where a Cat (Gonzaga) has an injured mouse (BYU) and toys with it, allowing the mouse to very nearly get away (Gonzaga lets BYU score a bunch of baskets and get within 10 points) before it swats it back into its clutches (Gonzaga scores and widens the lead).  And some frustration develops in the observer/fan at not seeing the cat simply put the mouse out of its misery.  That inability to put BYU away led to a 41-31 score at halftime and a consistently less-than-out-of-reach lead for the Bulldogs.

Part of the reason BYU was still in the game throughout was a really poor performance at the charity stripe from many Zags players, especially Drew Timme.  It was Kispert’s 2 free-throws at the end of the game that helped Gonzaga raise their free throw percentage over 50%, finishing 12 for 21 as a team, including Timme’s 3 for 9.  One is inclined to forgive the second-leading scorer for Gonzaga for a bad night at the line as he was brilliant everywhere else.  Timme managed a double-double with 20 points and 13 rebounds, shooting 8 for 12 from the field, adding 2 steals and 1 block.

Timme, however, wouldn’t end up leading the game in scoring as Jalen Suggs simply took a whole lot of Cougar defenders to school.  He was deadly from deep, shooting 2 for 4 from beyond the arc—and he went 10 for 18 from the field overall.  It was Suggs’ 4 field goals in a row in the second half between the 11 and 8-minute marks that brought the Bulldogs’ lead to its largest margin at 72-50.  It would remain a  comfortable margin that the Cougars could never muster the firepower to make uncomfortable again even as that lead dwindled in the last few minutes.

Suggs had a game-high 24 points, adding 5 rebounds, 3 assists and 2 steals to his stat-line.  His propensity to foul too often has been the only thing keeping a cap on his statistics lately in WCC play.  Nothing short of brilliant in his ability to drive by defenders on his way to the basket and finish from all angles, we saw him hit mid-range jumpers and score on a few floaters from 8 to 10 feet in the BYU game as well.  His ability to pass and defend are elite and with his shooting stroke from deep becoming more and more consistent, there will be no stopping Jalen Suggs short of a superhuman effort in the NCAA tournament.  Foul trouble could become a difficulty, but even if Suggs continues to have trouble in that area, Andrew Nembhard is always there to fill any gaps in play at point guard—and to play along-side him on the wing as well.  Nembhard, a transfer from Florida who has proven to be an absolute blessing for Gonzaga this season, got a rare start against BYU in place of power forward Anton Watson.  Nembhard finished his night with 15 points on 6 for 10 shooting.  Off the bench, Watson continued to be a force on the defensive end and remained highly efficient on offense, going 3 for 3 from the field for 6 points.   

Though Corey Kispert struggled most of the night in a 4 for 10 effort shooting, he was the fourth Zag player with double digits scoring, earning 13 points and hooking up twice from beyond the arc in four attempts.  Joel Ayayi’s struggles were even more severe as he couldn’t hit from deep on three attempts and went just 1 for 6 from the field.  Ayayi remained productive, however, by adding 7 rebounds and 4 assists to his 4 points.  Kispert is bound to be hounded by opposing defenses as the Zags leading scorer, but look to both Kispert and Ayayi to redeem themselves in the next couple of games.

After Thursday’s game against Santa Clara was postponed and/or cancelled, Gonzaga’s next game is another road contest against San Francisco on Saturday.  After some lackluster performances lately in WCC play, I think the Bulldogs are going to use this afternoon (3 pm Pacific) game on ESPN 2 to show just how brilliant they can shine.  My bold prediction is that Gonzaga surpasses the century mark on Valentine’s Day Eve, and holds San Francisco under 70.  105-68, the Bulldogs bark loud!  GO ZAGS!!!

~ Clark Karoses

Gonzaga Men’s Basketball travelled to Malibu and picked up another win against the Pepperdine Waves this last Saturday evening, 97-75, staying a perfect 17-0 overall this season and 8-0 in WCC play.  Despite dominance in both their non-conference schedule before the New Year (perhaps the most difficult non-conference schedule of any D-1 team this season) as well as their 2021 slate so far in the WCC—a dominance that has had the Bulldogs winning by double-digits over every opponent this season except West Virginia (87-82)—naysayers still persist in Tweeting trash talk about the unanimous #1 team in the nation.  One such tweet, posted in the middle of Gonzaga’s game on Saturday, said something to the effect of:  Gonzaga should be stripped of their #1 ranking as they don’t deserve it because they play cupcake games in the WCC and they need to be in a power conference or at least in the PAC-12 to deserve being called #1.  The tweet went on to accuse the Zags of “dodging” the Gonzaga-Baylor game earlier this year on 12/5 when Covid protocols demanded the game be either postponed or cancelled.

The imbecility of such tweets always irks me.  Based on the assumption that a team like Gonzaga can simply choose to be in a power conference or in the PAC-12, the authors of such drivel must have been told at one time or another that there are eligibility requirements for universities to be members of particular conferences, and conferences with some of the larger universities often require 1. a certain enrollment (Gonzaga’s student population is much lower than many of the larger universities and likely wouldn’t exceed the threshold set to be part of a conference like the PAC-12), 2. a football team (Gonzaga doesn’t have a football team and wouldn’t likely be a welcome member of the PAC-12, the Big 10, the Big 12 or the SEC, all of which likely make more money on football than basketball), and 3. proximity to the other universities in the conference (Gonzaga isn’t in the ACC because Florida and Wahington State are quite a ways away from one another, plus 1 and 2).  This tweeter seemed to think that Gonzaga could just be a part of any old conference it chooses, but it continues to choose to be in the WCC because the Zags want a bunch of gimmie games in conference play instead of a challenge.  Everything is wrong about that assumption.  Challenging the team in every possible way and getting as many games with ranked opponents on the schedule has been a trademark of Gonzaga basketball for years—and it is especially true this season.

The idea that Gonzaga should be stripped of its #1 ranking is also ridiculous.  The Bulldogs have earned their #1 ranking by going 17-0 so far this season and by beating a number of very good, ranked teams in their non-conference schedule.  And who has decided they are #1?  Coaches and experts who know college basketball well.  If you don’t believe in the judgement of some of the best coaches of college basketball teams in the country, or you don’t like the decisions made by the AP pollsters, then go ahead and throw the numbers out the door.  Ignore them.  If you’re willing to listen to those folks, they seem to think pretty highly of Gonzaga.

If, as I suspect, what this guy was actually saying in his tweet was that Baylor should be #1 in the country, he might have a decent argument (especially after getting the win against Texas on Tuesday) and a few of the coaches and experts who vote for those rankings agree—but don’t knock Gonzaga while you’re making that argument.  Both the Bears and the Bulldogs are undefeated so far, both have records of 17-0, and both teams have faced quality opponents on their way to being undefeated.  That Baylor is in a conference with consistently more highly ranked opposition is true, but you can’t fault Gonzaga for not trying to schedule high-quality opponents.  If the Bulldogs were trying to dodge the Baylor game on December 5th, why would they schedule the game in the first place and travel to the venue to play?  They didn’t have to schedule games with Baylor, West Virginia, Iowa, Virginia, Kansas etc.  They scheduled them, often on very short notice, because Mark Few and the program wants to compete against the best teams in the country.  The cancellation of the game against Baylor was just the bad luck that comes with (perhaps the tweeter has heard of it) the Covid-19 pandemic.            

The funny thing is, when this guy tweeted about Gonzaga not deserving it’s #1 status because it plays “cupcake” games, Baylor had just played a conference game against Auburn.  Auburn, a member of the Big-12 conference with Baylor, is by no means a cupcake, but who else played Auburn this year?  Gonzaga did, in the second game of their non-conference slate, the day after the Bulldogs beat Kansas (another Big-12 team) on Thanksgiving, 102-90.  The Zags prevailed 90-67 in that Black Friday game against Auburn.  Last Saturday, Baylor beat Auburn 84-72.  If this guy is trying to say that Gonzaga is trying to avoid playing games against the teams in the Big 12, he’s definitely wrong.  Not only did the Zags have that game against Baylor scheduled with every intention to play, but the Bullodgs played West Virginia, Kansas and Auburn in the non-conference schedule this season and beat them all.  Before early scheduling went awry this season, Gonzaga had scheduled games or potential games in a tournament against Texas and Texas Tech (both in the Big 12) in the non-conference, and they filled the slots when cancellations happened with teams like Kansas and West Virginia. To say that the Bulldogs are dodging any challenge is not only wrong, it’s insulting, because Mark Few and his staff are putting every effort into playing as many challenging teams as possible.

If one wanted to argue that Baylor, Villanova, Michigan, Houston or any other deserving team should be #1, one might say that though Gonzaga’s record is perfect, their quality of play hasn’t been exceptional at times.  Lately, one might have a good point in saying so.  Having played a few WCC games recently that saw the Zags struggle in the first half of play, often falling behind for some minutes at the outset, the Bulldogs have shown some weakness early in each contest.  Last Saturday, Gonzaga was down 16-7 against Pepperdine with 15:41 to go in the first half before they turned things around.  Last Thursday, against San Diego, the Bulldogs didn’t pull ahead with a comfortable lead until there was 8:09 left in the first half, when Jalen Suggs hit his second three-pointer.  On January 16th, Gonzaga found themselves down by double digits to Saint Mary’s, 12-22 with 9:03 left in the 1st half and the Bulldogs were only able to turn that into a lead they would maintain after Joel Ayayi made a layup with 1:53 left before halftime.  Gonzaga did end up winning those games by 22, 28, and 14 points respectively, but there’s no doubt about the fact that the Bulldogs have had some trouble bringing the energy they need to coming right out of the gate. 

In upcoming games we’ll look for Gonzaga to bring some fire early.  Now, if you’re doing the opposite of nit-picking for weakness, and are instead looking for good reasons to argue that Gonzaga deserves their #1 ranking, I think the best sign (besides continuing to win) for the Bulldogs lately has come from some excellent play from Anton Watson and many players off the bench.  Of course, Gonzaga’s starters are extremely talented and solid.  Kispert, Timme, Suggs and Ayayi all average double-digits in scoring per game, with Kispert at the top with 20.2 points per game, just in front of Timme who is averaging 18.7.  Ayayi and Suggs are both phenomenal in all categories—Ayayi in scoring (11.9 ppg) and rebounding (7.2 rpg) in particular, Suggs in scoring 13.5 ppg), dishing assists (4.5 apg) and stealing the ball (2.3 spg) on the defensive end.  Anton Watson, the fifth starter for Gonzaga, who shares big man responsibilities down low with Drew Timme, hasn’t had the stellar scoring numbers of the other 4, but seems to be progressively becoming more of a dangerous offensive threat with each game.  With a steadily increasing average of 8.1 points and 4.5 rebounds in 22 minutes per game, it’s Watson’s efficiency that is so impressive lately. In the last two games the Zags played, Watson has a combined total of 22 points on 11 for 14 shooting from the field (including a 5 for 5 effort against San Diego) and has gathered 10 rebounds.  Watson continues to struggle shooting from deep, but his near-perfection from everywhere else—including on the defensive end where he is a tenacious disrupter of opposing offenses—makes him an ideal 5th man.

The first man off the bench for Gonzaga is almost always Andrew Nembhard, a veteran transfer from Florida.  Though he comes off the bench for the Bulldogs, Nembhard averages the 4th highest minutes per game of any player on the roster, and he’s just below the double-digit mark with 9.4 points per game while leading the team with 4.6 assists per contest.  His contributions all over the court, but especially as a back-up for Jalen Suggs, have been monumental since the beginning of the season.  With a combined total of 22 points and 18 assists in the last two games for the Zags (both games found Suggs sitting for long stretches due to foul trouble) the Zags never lost a beat even when their freshman phenom had to take a seat.  Shooting better from 3-point range as the season progresses, Nembhard’s ability to execute the offense without turning the ball over makes him an ideal sub in the point guard position.  He averages only 1.1 turnovers per game while Suggs, who can sometimes get overly creative with some of his passes, averages 2.9 turnovers a contest.  That is not to say that Nembhard is a better choice, as Suggs brings a vast array of excellence to the court that no other player on the roster can—it is only to say that Nembhard is ideal in his absence.   

Though Aaron Cook, another veteran transfer, lingers in the shadows of the talented Gonzaga backcourt this season, he is proving his worth as a steadying force when things go awry. It seems that every time the Bulldogs seem to be going in the wrong direction, Mark Few sends Cook in to right the ship.  That was definitely the case on Saturday against Pepperdine.  When Gonzaga was down 16-7 to the Waves early, it was Cook who cooked up some hard-nosed defense as well as some steady shooting on his way to 15 points, 3 steals and 1 block on 6 for 8 shooting from the field and 2 for 3 from beyond the arc in 21 minutes on the court.       

Oumar Ballo, the biggest force off the bench down low for Gonzaga this season has unfortunately been out with a thumb injury—and will likely miss a few weeks.  His presence down low is going to be missed against any opponents with big frontcourt players.  Hopefully he’ll be back quickly, but in the meantime his absence may provide more minutes for up and comers Dominic Harris and Julian Strawther.  Both freshman for the Zags have had up and down moments this season, but their hard work seems to be paying off with some consistent excellence on the court.  Strawther had a big night against San Diego last Thursday, where he scored 11 points in just 10 minutes of play, going 4 for 5 from the field and 2 for 3 from deep.  Harris had a similar night the week before against Pacific, scoring 11 points on a perfect shooting night where he went 3 for 3 from the field, 2 for 2 from downtown and 3 for 3 from the charity stripe. 

To me, it is a good sign for Gonzaga that their starters and consistent subs continue to shine and develop while the deeper bench gains confidence.  This coming week, it looks like Gonzaga has run into some bad luck as both WCC opponents they had scheduled, Loyola Marymount and Santa Clara seem to be unable to play due to Covid issues.  It was rumored that Gonzaga might be able to turn that bad luck into good luck by scheduling one or more ranked foes in their place.  Karthik Venkataraman of KREM 2 news considered the possibilities for potential high-profile Gonzaga opponents should a program step up to the challenge.  Zags fans everywhere were licking their chops, waiting to see if the Bulldogs would get to play Houston, Villanova, Saint Louis, or perhaps UCLA—all of whom had openings.  It wasn’t to be despite the Zags reaching out, especially to Houston and Villanova.  Instead, the WCC has rearranged things and is going to give Gonzaga a game against Pacific on Thursday in California and against BYU in Provo on Saturday.  A bit of a let-down when everyone was hoping for Houston or Villanova—but a bit less of a let-down ever since both of those teams lost on Wednesday night.  Villanova fell to Saint John’s, 70-59, and East Carolina got the upset over Houston, 82-73.  So it goes in the crazy world of College Basketball.  I doubt the Zags will take either of these WCC games lightly on the road, especially the trip to Provo where they lost their only WCC game last year.  Have a great week!  GO ZAGS!!!    

~ Clark Karoses