Gonzaga’s been at the top of the mid-major mountain for so long that considering them a mid-major is an injustice to their success. They are above the label, but not above the criticism.
They’ve faced it before and will continue to face it.
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Much like Wichita State, which is in a different but similar situation, Gonzaga hears the whispers every year.
“Who have they played?”
“Their schedule is inflated with sub-par competition.”
“They always choke in the NCAA tournament.”
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None of that really matters, though. What matters is that the Bulldogs are year in and year out one of the top teams in the country regardless of their conference, proving last year that their status among smaller conferences resembles that of their standing among the rest of the country: right at the top.
The Bulldogs are good. Very good. Sometimes things work in their favor come NCAA tournament time, sometimes it doesn’t. None of it resembles their roster’s talent, Mark Few’s coaching ability or their standing among the best college basketball has to offer.
And they’re ready to prove it again in 2015-16.
Some mid-majors have trouble getting quality opponents to play them on their home floor, but Gonzaga has been able to nab two top-tier programs to venture to Spokane for games this year. Keep in mind: the Bulldogs are 64-3 at home since the beginning of the 2011-12 season.
Gonzaga’s schedule is impressive this season and their home schedule is highlighted by Arizona (Dec. 2) and UCLA (Dec. 12). And those are just the home games. The Bulldogs are also in the incredibly loaded Battle 4 Atlantis field, which will be played from Nov. 25-27.
They open up play against Washington and its eight-man, top-10 recruiting class. From there they’ll play either Texas A&M or Texas. The other side of the bracket features Connecticut, Michigan, Syracuse and Charlotte.
In this tournament alone, they’re getting three quality opponents. Should they win this tournament, that should be enough to put them in the top five of the rankings, depending upon how everything else goes, obviously.
Part of the reason why the Zags should feel confident in this loaded is their returning frontcourt, which features three players all capable of taking over a game.
Leading the charge is National Player of the Year candidate Kyle Wiltjer, who has transformed himself since beginning his college career at Kentucky to this point. His 16.8 points per game average last year the second-highest average for a Gonzaga player since the 2007-08 season.
He also contributed 6.2 rebounds per contest last year as well. Wiltjer will be looking to expand that a bit more in his senior campaign.
Joining him are senior 7-footer Przemek Karnowski and sophomore sensation Domantas Sabonis. Karnowski is the steady workhorse and has been for the majority of his career. He’s a force in the paint, a big body that’s hard for other teams to defend against. His low post ability really opened up the floor for Wiltjer last season.
Sabonis may be the most exciting of the trio, especially from an outside perspective. The son of NBA great Arvydas, Sabonis came on strong last season and deminstrated a willingness to bang in the post and ability to finish at the rim. He also spent some time with Lithuania’s Eurobasket team this summer.
His presence allows Wiltjer to play more 3, should Few decide to do that. That would, in turn, make Gonzaga one of the biggest teams in the country and dominate the boards.
One thing that could hold the Bulldogs back a bit, especially early in the season, is replacing three starters in their backcourt, including two four-year Zags in Kevin Pangos and Gary Bell Jr. Those two combined for almost 20 points per game and each shot better than 35 percent from three.
Add in the loss of Byron Wesley, who spent just last season with Gonzaga after spending his first three years at USC, and that’s three key players no longer around.
However, one thing Few has been fantastic at is finding role players who can step up and erupt for breakout campaigns. There’s a few candidates here.
Kyle Dranginis, a 6-foot-5 senior, looks to take some of the burden of replacing those three players. Dranginis saw action in every game and was a key component to the bench, averaging over four points and two rebounds a game last season. However, his role should be expanded this year. Senior leadership has been one of the staples for Gonzaga’s success and Dranginis fits that mold here.
Another potential starter is Eric McClellan, who transferred from Vanderbilt but missed the first half of the season due to NCAA rules. He played just eight minutes per game last season, but showed with Vandy that he’s capable of being an electric scorer and on-court leader. He could be a key for this team.
After that, though, is a bit of a question. Expect to see Josh Perkins, a 6-foot-3 freshman who redshirted last season, in the rotation and get extensive playing time. There is, however, one way to help figure out who can be the key players for the Zags backcourt, and it has nothing to do with those who will get the minutes.
Nigel Williams-Goss, transfer from Washington, won’t be able to play this year. He’ll have to sit out due to transfer rules. He can’t help them win games during the game, but he can help them win games in practice.
An underrated aspect of college sports is getting great practices in and going against some top talent at practice better prepares teams for game competition. Williams-Goss has flown under the radar a bit due to Washington’s lack of success recently, but he’s a great talent. Gonzaga’s guards will be going against NWG at practice while he’s on the scout team.
He’ll be able to get the most out of those players at practice and will help Few and his staff determine who should be the guys to start.
Jonathan Williams, a transfer from Missouri, also won’t play this year, but he, too, will be on the scout teams in practice. He and Williams-Goss will better the starters for Gonzaga, which will help the Bulldogs play those tough games against Arizona and UCLA, as well as their West Coast Conference opponents.
Speaking of the WCC, Gonzaga is the easy favorite and has been for the last decade. Nobody comes close to matching what they’ve done since Few first took over before the 1999-2000 season.
BYU should be their top challenger, but most of that relies on triple-double machine Kyle Collinsworth and his always on-point hair. No, seriously, look at his hair. It’s magnificent. Feathered and lethal.
Gonzaga has the frontcourt to make NBA teams weep with Wiltjer, Karnowski and Sabonis (and his dunks: see below) leading the charge. They showed last year that they’re capable of doing great things, but if those things don’t transpire, they’ll once again hear the whispers.
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They won’t concern themselves with that, though, and they shouldn’t. Gonzaga made it to the Elite Eight last season and played a much closer game with the eventual national champion Duke Blue Devils than the final score indicates. They’re well coached, have a non-conference schedule to challenge themselves and a number of players who can destroy souls on the court.
Everybody on their schedule will be gunning for them. That’s the price of success, but that success has been undermined at every corner whenever somebody has the chance.
Forget about all of that. Gonzaga is for real. This is a very good team with a sneaky chance to make the Final Four. They can grind it out in the post early in the season and let the guards join them when they figure out who they are.
Look out for the Bulldogs, who will be looking to keep things is perspective for themselves and drown out the noise that surrounds them. They can’t control that, after all, but they can control their play, which is all that really matters.
They’re not a mid-major. They’re one of the big boys.
Next: College Basketball 2015-16: Virginia Cavaliers
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