When Anton Watson announced he was returning for his fifth (and final) year of college hoops, it was the most important piece of the puzzle to land for the Gonzaga Bulldogs in the 2023-24 season.
An all-around glue guy, Watson’s basic stat line on offense hasn’t truly jumped out in any huge way. That is also what happens when you spend the entirety of your college career playing behind a guy named Drew Timme, the all-time leading scorer at Gonzaga.
Now that Timme has departed for a professional career, the Gonzaga frontcourt has a massive amount of production that needs to be filled. Despite the additions of Graham Ike from Wyoming and Braden Huff from his redshirt season, this frontcourt is Watson’s to lead, and if you’ve been paying attention the past four years, you’ll know he is ready for the cause.
Last season, while averaging 29.1 minutes per game, Watson posted totals of 11.1 points, 6.2 rebounds, 2.4 assists, 1.8 steals, 0.7 blocks, and just 1.2 turnovers per game. His overall box plus/minus was 8.8, the second-highest on the squad behind Timme.
Watson shot 33 percent from long range (not great, but he also only averaged 1.3 attempts per game) and just 55 percent from the charity stripe. Those two shooting stats were largely the only blemishes on an otherwise standout senior year campaign, and he did all of this behind Timme.
Part of Watson’s success last season was deeply linked to being on the court at the same time as Timme. Timme, as one of college basketball’s best big men, commanded double/triple teams and a whole lot of attention. Watson, an incredibly high-IQ basketball player, consistently made the most of that with his overall court awareness.
Here is why Zags fans should be excited about Anton Watson for the coming season.
In the first three years of his Gonzaga career, one of the criticisms about Watson was the inconsistency of his play, specifically on the offensive end. Watson would display the all-around talent that makes him such a dangerous player during one game and would sometimes completely disappear in the next game.
Last season, that was hardly the case. Watson was aggressive and assertive and it consistently shined with highlight reel-level plays landing on YouTube, such as this dunk against Kentucky.
When he wasn’t dunking on fools, Watson quietly put together good game after good game. His eFG% of 63.2 was the 29th-highest mark in college hoops. His ORtg of 125.6 was higher than Timme’s. Watson made his mark with just a 16.4 shot percentage, the second-lowest mark on the squad’s major contributors, only better than Hunter Sallis.
It was a solid growth of output after an up and down 2021-22 year. That season, Watson was an option behind Timme, Chet Holmgren, and others. In 2021-22, he only attempted more than seven field goals in a game four times. Last season, that was upped to 18 times.
He will blend nicely with Ben Gregg and Graham Ike (and hopefully Braden Huff)
It is an incredibly small sample size on evanmiya.com, but in 185 offensive possessions and 203 defensive possessions, the Zags had a slightly higher team ORtg and a much better team DRtg when Watson and Gregg were on the floor than when Watson was paired with Timme.
Little Ben Gregg’s style of play in stretching the floor and just being an all-around bulldog when on the court compliments Watson pretty nicely. There should not be too many issues with floor spacing to work around.
If I still had the “Why Graham Ike will succeed” post on this stupid website, I could link to that and showcase why there shouldn’t be too many concerns about Ike and Watson paired on the court. But I don’t, so in short, at Wyoming, the offensive scheme was to feed Ike the ball no matter where he stood on the court and let him back his opponent down into the low post until he scores.
It is somewhat Timme-like and a thought for why it shouldn’t be troublesome for Watson to adapt to playing with a new teammate.
As for Braden Huff? Let’s just assume his really good. Additionally, as a redshirt, he practiced with the squad so the extra year of familiarity can only have its benefits.
If you wanted one mantra that sums up the Gonzaga Bulldogs men’s basketball program philosophy, I offer up: Wait your turn. Watson, the homegrown Spokane product, has done that for four years. This season, it is time for him to take the keys to the ride and run.