🏀 State of the Zags - Dec 2024
I caught the second half of Gonzaga's 71-77 loss against UConn in Madison Square Garden tonight and it was intense and entertaining. UConn refers to MSG as Storrs South and the crowd noise and general vibe on the broadcast absolutely backed that up tonight. Gonzaga was always coming from behind and could never fully turn the tide and take the lead. UConn would always make another run after the Zags knotted things up to give themselves a cushion. Like much of last year, I still feel like this team is missing something that past Gonzaga teams had, but I can't quite put my finger on it.
The talent level on this team is as high as any GU team I've seen before. Battle is an absolute pro caliber talent guard and Nebhard is an amazing point guard racking up assists like a maniac, with phenomenal endurance. But I don't fully trust his outside shooting and I don't love how much he dominates the ball at times even though the outcome is generally positive.
Looking at the box score Ike and Hickman were downright awful tonight. When two of your senior starters combine for 3 points and have an average +/- of -17 and only 12 minutes of action you're in serious trouble. Huff and Stromer completely outplayed them and luckily Few had no problem going with those guys and they helped keep us in the game. I'll be shocked if Few doesn't shake up the starting lineup after this game, but he knows his players best and is generally pretty loyal to established players. I'm intrigued to see how he manages his underperforming players this season and if we'll regular rotation in the starting lineup or he'll have much patience for underperformers.