The Gonzaga Bulldogs traveled to Hawaii for the Maui Invitational for the sixth time, and although they did not add to the championship mantle, a solid 2-1 trip provided some more concrete insights into what to expect and watch for in this 2023-24 season.
The defense is much better than last year’s
With all of the new pieces working together, it is no surprise sometimes to see the offense fall into a few slumps. Luckily, so far this season, the defense, for the most part, has shown it has enough teeth to not make that an issue.
Gonzaga held Purdue to 1.00 points per possession, Syracuse to 0.80, and UCLA to 1.00. Purdue, the current holders of the No. 4 ranked KenPom offense, only fell below that mark six times last season. The Zags held Syracuse to a lower eFG% than Tennessee did by a couple of points and forced UCLA into its worst offensive output of the young season.
Gonzaga has shown it is pretty good at denying open looks from three and gumming up the passing lanes enough to make it much harder for opponents to find a good shot.
And the weirdly most impressive thing about this all? So far, Gonzaga opponents are shooting 81.7 percent from the free-throw line, the sixth-highest mark in college. There is nothing the Zags can do about that, and eventually, that number should settle back down to Earth, meaning the defensive efficiency is going to pick up some free points.
Anton Watson is the dude
We shouldn’t expect that UCLA game every night but boy howdy what a showing by Anton Watson. I’d easily argue it was the best offensive performance of any player in the tournament as Watson went 14-of-15 from the floor (3-for-3 from three), grabbed seven rebounds, and rounded it out with two assists, a block, and a steal. He did all of this with only one turnover and in a game that featured an absurd 51 foul calls.
The Gonzaga way is to essentially wait your turn in line until it is your time to shine. The Spokane-bred Watson has done that, and it was done in the shadow of one of the greatest college basketball players ever in Drew Timme. Watson turned in two great games in UCLA and Syracuse, and he has demonstrated he is a legitimate top option for the offense. We should’ve all seen this coming. As the offense figures out its footing, every established bucket-getter is going to be handy to have.
Dusty Stromer will be getting the freshman year trial by fire
The top-40 recruit was always going to get some minutes this year, but he probably wasn’t even expecting it to be like this.
With an already limited roster, the Steele Venters injury did not do Mark Few and company any favors, and so far, the first “beneficiary” seems to be Stromer. He is showing some smarts in easing into that role at the same time. Despite having logged the third-highest minutes total, he is only attempting 4.8 field goals per game.
He is making up for that with a knack for rebounding and some hard-nosed defense. His minutes are still very productive, which Gonzaga needs from him. The offense will come along eventually for the young man, and that should help lighten the load somewhat for the rest of the roster.
This is not a good three-point shooting team
The Zags are currently shooting 29.9 from beyond the arc, good for No. 259. Nolan Hickman is hitting just 29.2 percent and Ryan Nembhard is an atrocious 2-for-17. Still early, yes, but Nembhard was never a lights-out shooter at Creighton.
It is an issue when three of your four most makes in three-pointers on the squad are forwards (Braden Huff, Watson, and Graham Ike). We should not expect Huff to hit 46 percent, Watson at 50 percent, or Ike at 44 percent, for the rest of the season.
We all know that Ben Gregg can hit a three, so far that hasn’t materialized yet. Stromer’s shot hasn’t come around quite just yet. Hickman, to a certain extent, is the best option at the moment.
In short, this squad doesn’t have a real three-point threat as most Gonzaga teams traditionally do. I’d expect that to level out as the season progresses, but right now, it just isn’t there for the Zags.
There is still plenty of time to notch some season-defining wins
The Zags always had it difficult with their Maui Invitational Bracket. A Purdue win would mean an immediate follow-up against a ranked Tennessee, and then a third game against another Quad 1 opponent no matter the result.
The Zags still took home a quality win against UCLA, and the loss to Purdue should not affect the seeding line too much, but the Syracuse game isn’t going to move the needle at all. As we are all too well aware, Gonzaga needs to make its mark in the non-conference each year, and that is even more important considering how bad Saint Mary’s has looked to start the season.
The schedule this year is a beauty, however. Recovery games between the likes of USC, Washington, UConn, and San Diego State will allow for the reset if a loss happens. But otherwise, four quality opponents are still on the schedule, and plenty of time to notch a big win or two.
I sure wish the Zag podcasters would address free throw shooting. For a perennial top ten program we should be better, much better. Every year for the past several, they struggle from the line.