Gonzaga tries to rest up, stay sharp during break from games
Gonzaga won’t know its West Coast Conference Tournament semifinal opponent until Saturday night.
The top-ranked Zags (29-2) will go nine days between last Saturday’s win over Saint Mary’s in the regular-season finale and their WCC Tournament opener Monday at the Orleans Arena in Las Vegas.
Gonzaga awaits the winner of Saturday’s game between No. 4 San Francisco and No. 8 Pepperdine, which upset No. 5 Loyola Marymount 68-65 on Friday.
There will be another nine- to 10-day stretch between the WCC Tournament and the first round of the NCAA Tournament.
These lengthy postseason breaks are nothing new for the Zags, who have an unmatched track record of handling them successfully. They’ve survived some bumpy first-round WCC Tournament games recently en route to 21 consecutive title-game appearances. They’ve won 10 straight NCAA Tournament openers, tied with Kansas for the nation’s longest active streak.
The Zags will finalize their game plan and practice Sunday in Spokane before flying to Las Vegas. Until then, Gonzaga is working on Gonzaga.
“Especially since we don’t know who we’re going to play on Monday, it’s all about ourselves,” sophomore wing Corey Kispert said. “The things we have to work on, defensive rotations and coverages, offensively just working on everything in the book.”
One of the benefits of being the top seed with a bye into the semifinal round is having time to rest and recharge after a four-month, 31-game regular season. They’ve been on a Thursday-Saturday game schedule the last five weeks and seven of the last eight.
“Try to get some guys physically rested, get their legs fresh,” coach Mark Few said. “There’s a mental fatigue that happens with long seasons like this, especially when you’ve been under so much scrutiny and every game matters so much. There’s a big mental part of it.
“Mix in those days and try to mix in days like (Thursday) where you’re trying to get after it. Tinker with some offensive things, tinker with some defensive things, see if they can help us a little bit.”
The Zags don’t have one specific area that demands urgent attention, although defense and rebounding have been an emphasis after several high-scoring nonconference games.
Gonzaga’s nonconference stats (93.7 points, 71.1 allowed, 53.3 percent shooting, 39.5 percent FG defense) are in the same ballpark as its WCC stats (86.2 points, 59.2 allowed, 53.5 percent shooting, 37.5 percent FG defense).
A week of practice allows for fine-tuning and high-level competition.
“We’re just competing against each other,” Kispert said. “We’re the best team in the country, ranked No. 1, and we have to have No. 1-ranked practices. So going against guys who are the best of the best and great at what they do kind of keeps us sharp for games coming up.”
The break also provides additional time for a tight-knit team to hang out together. The players caught the new “Captain Marvel” movie Thursday night.
“I’m starting to feel it a little bit as time winds down,” senior point guard Josh Perkins said. “We love each other; we hang out all the time. Just live for moments like that and cherish them. They run out. It’s cool to hang out with each other, but we’re ready to get back to games and get to Vegas.”
