Super Scintillating Selections Top 30 Countdown: #12 Gonzaga Bulldogs

Mark Few wishes he had the same number of national championships as he does DUI’s. Then he wouldn’t be hearing all this noise about how he will never pull it off. That will be my one and only shot against Mark Few and the Zags for this blog and I apologize if you thought that was too far 🙂.

The narrative for years and years has been how Mark Few and his Bulldogs are good, but not good enough, that they don’t play any good teams throughout the year and will just lose once they play a high level team in the tournament. Well, I'd be willing to argue against that because they have made a couple final fours under Mark Few, and have beaten some damn good teams in the tournament. They just haven't been able to be the final team standing.

I think the narrative behind Gonzaga is quite lazy actually. They have been one of the nations top teams for the past 7 years, and have made some serious noise in the tournament every year. Yes, they do play in a less competitive conference than most of the top teams in the nation, but if you think they wouldn't compete for a conference championship in any Power Five conference you are dead wrong.

This year alone they have wins over Michigan State, Kentucky, Xavier, Saint Mary’s, and Alabama (by 10 points on a neutral site).

We are looking at a national championship contender again this year whether you like it or not, and here's why:

1. Drew. Timme. Does he have the most punchable face in college basketball? No that would be Hunter Dickinson, but Mr. Timme gets the silver medal here. The guy can play basketball though. 21.2 PPG, 7.5 RPG, and just a menace to society. I can see how people can’t stand him, it's because more than likely he is the reason their team lost to Gonzaga…and there is also that mustache celebration he does. He is also a senior with plenty of experience in the tournament and is one of those players that can take over a game and put the team on his back.

1. They shoot. They Score. After 18 days we have finally landed on the #1 team in the nation in adjusted offensive efficiency at 123.4 (points per 100 possessions). They average 74 possessions per game and 86 points per game. As a UVA fan, I can't even comprehend those numbers. Listen closely, there are a lot of teams that score a lot of points, there are not a lot of teams that score a lot and shoot as high of a percentage from the field as Gonzaga. In fact, there are no teams that shoot as high of a percentage as Gonzaga. 52.6% is insane, and is a whole two points higher than any other team in D1 basketball.

What's holding them back?

1. Iowa. That's who this team reminds me of. Or better yet, Iowa is like the food lion brand of Gonzaga. Gonzaga is without a doubt the better team, but they are wayyyy too similar for my liking. The bulldogs are not a good defensive team to say the least, #286 in points allowed per game and #264 in field goal percentage allowed. The bright side of this is that they can rebound the ball well, only allowing seven offensive rebounds per game. The reason the lack of defense for this Zags team is such a red flag is because since 2017 they have ranked #27,#1,#18,#12,#11,and #10 in defensive efficiency. This year they are #88. I'd be a fool to pick them to win their first national championship during their worst defensive year in 10 years.

I don't see it happening this year, but they may prove me wrong. Mark Few usually coaches an incredible team on the defensive side of the ball, maybe they will step it up in March?

My Prediction: Sweet 16

Next Game: 3/1 vs. Chicago State