What is wrong with Gonzaga? That is going to be the question that will be typed out by national writers around the globe over and over until they are blue in the face.
It is a fair question. Gonzaga has three losses after all, which out of 10 games is quite a few. You know who else has three losses? UConn, Houston, Purdue, Illinois, and Baylor. They, like Gonzaga, are all top 25 KenPom teams.
The problem with the 24 hour news cycle and the internet in general is that content just HAS to exist. Without content, we are in a black hole of college basketball, a scary space in which time and reason have no meaning.
So yeah, it is frustrating that the Zags have three losses, especially because all three games felt, and arguably should have been, winnable. The Zags squandered a 300 point halftime lead to Kentucky and missed every good shot known to man. Graham Ike and Nolan Hickman sent in body doubles to start the game against UConn. I’m not a religious man but God only knows what happened against West Virginia.
Gonzaga has flaws, yes. The offense does not appear to be at its finest when Graham Ike, theoretically their top post option, is on the court. If the defense actually realized the UConn game was starting instead of letting the Huskies open on a 13-2 run, Gonzaga might win that game instead of spending 35 minutes clawing back. Again, only God knows what happened against West Virginia.
It is annoying to point at the metrics and say, “Look here meatheads. The analytics say we are good,” because regardless of what the analytics say, Gonzaga still has three losses.
It is also important to take those three losses for what they are–an overtime loss against a meh West Virginia team that has a 50/50 chance of aging like fine wine, an overtime loss to a Kentucky team that might compete for a title, and a close loss to another borderline top 10 team in UConn.
All losses in the non-conference are amplified for Gonzaga because they are required for the NCAA Tournament seeding resume. Currently, Gonzaga has enough missed opportunities that a No. 1 seed is completely out of the question and a No. 2 seed is hanging by a thread.
We are literally ONE season removed from the same level of handwringing and despair that plagued this fanbase last season, in which a Gonzaga team looked on the brink before turning it around and entering the NCAA Tournament as one of the best playing teams. It is December, Gonzaga has good wins this time around, and plenty of time to fine tune the offense and defense. They’ve done it before and they will do it again.
So what is wrong with Gonzaga? I’d argue nothing too concerning at the moment. Teams don’t have to look like champions in December. Teams need to look like champions in March. So until the calendar turns to the month of February or so, I’m not going to panic.