Gonzaga men’s basketball: Do Zags deserve to be No. 1 seed?
There’s some company to the on-going debate of whether this is Gonzaga coach Mark Few’s best team.
Is third-ranked Gonzaga ranked too high or too low? Are the Zags a contender or pretender? Is Gonzaga worthy of a No. 1 seed in the NCAA tournament?
Should Kevin Pangos cut his unruly hair?
OK, the last one not so much, but there’s something about Gonzaga that sparks discussion in national circles, shortly after the buzz around top-ranked Kentucky’s run at perfection.
“Over the past few years, Gonzaga has to be one of the most debated teams,” NBCsports.com’s Raphielle Johnson said.
In the coming weeks, much of that conversation will concern the possibility of Gonzaga earning a No. 1 seed. Most bracket gurus currently have GU on the one line, although USA Today lists the Zags as a two seed. Fox Sports’ Stewart Mandel and 19 other media members participated in a mock selection that selected Kentucky, Virginia, Duke and Wisconsin as No. 1s. The hot debate focused on Gonzaga or Wisconsin for the last top seed.
“I believe the Zags … are worthy of the top line,” Mandel wrote. “But I got outvoted.”
The success of No. 1 seeds vs. No. 2s is notable. Ones are 120-0 in the first round and 104-16 (87%) in the second. Twos are 113-7 in openers and 73-36 (68%) in the second. No. 1 seeds have won 11 of the last 16 NCAA titles.
“One of the reasons they’re debated is they’ve been hit-and-miss in the tournament,” said Corey Williams, game analyst for ESPN and Fox who also does studio work for Pac-12 Networks.
“People are always looking for that ‘Gotcha, aha moment’ where they can say, ‘See, I told you they weren’t that good.’
“They are a great program, their conference is their conference and Mark (Few) has done a great job scheduling his nonconference games.”
Williams played at Arizona. The year before he arrived, UA lost to East Tennessee State in the first round. In his freshman season, the Wildcats dropped their 1993 NCAA opener to Santa Clara.
“So the rap was Arizona was a good team in the regular season but soft in the tournament,” he said. “That was a ghost that tormented Lute Olson at that time. Same thing with Gonzaga. People don’t want to extend credit to Gonzaga and they point to the tournament to validate their criticism.”
Williams relies on what he sees more than polls. “They’re easily a Sweet 16, if not a Final Four team,” he said.
The Zags probably need to win their last four regular-season games and the WCC tournament to stay in the hunt for a top seed. Many pundits point to the lightly regarded WCC when analyzing Gonzaga’s ranking and seeding.
“That (WCC) argument tends to be lazy,” Johnson said. “You can’t just change that at a drop of the hat, even with the changes in conferences in the last few years. You look at their nonconference schedule and last I checked they were 12th. They go out and play teams.
“If you’re just going to look at strength of schedule overall and take that, that’s kind of missing the point. You have to break it down. Obviously the WCC isn’t going to be the ACC or Big 12.”
Nunez wins appeal
Angel Nunez is a junior again.
He’s been listed as a senior after the WCC denied his appeal to restore a year of eligibility from the 2013 season when he participated in a few exhibition games for Louisville before suffering a concussion. He didn’t play in any regular-season games and transferred to Gonzaga midseason in Jan. 2013.
Gonzaga’s appeal to the NCAA was approved, Few said. “He has another year, which is fair.”
Wiltjer shooting video, part III
First came Kyle Wiltjer draining 70 3-pointers in 75 attempts in 5 minutes. Next was Wiltjer making two behind-the-back half-court shots. Wiltjer’s latest: Hitting a full-court, one-handed toss in one take, filmed by a GU manager.
“It just randomly happened,’ ” he said. “That one was my favorite because it was genuinely the last shot before we left and I was like, ‘Watch this.’ ”
So, what’s next? “They’ll just have to happen,” Wiltjer said. “I usually just work out and mess around after.”