🏀 Gonzaga Seeded 8
Gonzaga got a really tough seed this year at the 8 spot despite having a Ken Pom rank of like 9 (as in the top-10) in the analytics measurements. That seems to reflect a variety of bad luck or missing "it factor" I'm not even quite sure. The ramifications of this seed is that even if they get by Georgia which I could easily see not happening if they revert to form then they'll get number 1 Houston instead. I can't imagine Kelvin Samson is too thrilled about getting that potential matchup in the second round. I still think Houston is completely favored and I don't have high expectations for this GU team, but who knows what can happen once the players hit the court?
One other wild thing I should mention is that Ryan Nembhard is leading the country in assists, but was snubbed from the Bob Cousy award final 5. This seems like either a complete travesty or actual recognition of the feeling that I've had about him for a long time. Namely, he's missing something as a player that I can't quite put my finger on. I've seen a lot of great Gonzaga guards over the years and despite all the assists I've felt like he doesn't quite measure up to the level that they set at times. This seems like a baffling contradiction because he's an amazing passer, but he's kind of limited offensively as a shooter. He'll hit the occasional three or pull-up runners and midrange shots, but he's lacking a reliably threatening outside shot. On top of that, he's not a great defender in my mind, adequate, but not exceptional. And maybe most damning he lacks consistent leadership. He makes questionable decisions at times like the technical he got at the end of the half against SMC.
All that said I do hope Nemhard plays with a fire in the tournament and takes his game and the team to a completely new level. But time will tell and I'm pretty ambivalent about this team. If they flame out it will just be regressing to the form they've shown throughout and if they win it will be a pleasant surprise.