Sports are dumb. Sports fans are even dumber. Considering the binary nature of most sports, a win = good and a loss = bad, and often times, the conversation is not allowed to evolve much past that.
Which is more than problematic, because good storylines can get lost in bad results. Gonzaga fans, like probably most other fans, tend to get stuck on that binary.
Josh Perkins, the school’s career assists record holder, is one of the most under-appreciated players within the fanbase because he had the audacity to get haircuts and was “plagued” by poor decision making.
Drew Timme’s final season in which he set the all-time team scoring record seemed to fall on a lot of blind eyes because the Zags’ defensive struggles throughout the year made it clear that preseason title expectations were a bit too lofty.
This year, we’ve largely seen it again, only this time with Ryan Nembhard. Nembhard casually doled out 30 (!!!) assists last week to land on a total of 310 for the season…so far. He annihilated his own school single-season record and set the WCC single-season record. There are only 20 other instances of players dishing out more than 300 assists in a season since 1970-71. His 310 assists are currently ranked No. 13 since 1971, and if the Zags play three more games at his assist pace, he will finish with the fifth-highest total.
I will be the first to admit, I’ve turned games off this season. The brilliance of Nembhard has often times been overshadowed by the incompetence of the team in crunch time. However, now that February has turned to March, we are segueing from winter into spring. The daffodils are starting to bloom, and as such, it is time to take stock of this miserable ass world and stop to smell the flowers.
With Gonzaga going into this NCAA Tournament with a rather unfavorable seed line, whatever it is, let’s pause a second during the few remaining games he has left in a Gonzaga uniform and appreciate what we are seeing–because we are unlikely to see such a strong campaign from a point guard in many many years.
That in itself is saying something, because the Zags have been particularly blessed in stability and skill at the PG position for almost a decade now. We’ve had a Nembhard at the helm for four of the past five years.
Next season, a redshirting Braeden Smith, who doled out 5.6 assists per game at Colgate his sophomore year, will take over as the head honcho in charge. He will have some rather enormous shoes to fill and we probably shouldn’t expect him to do so completely.
This season might be leaving a bitter taste in some people’s mouths, and rightfully so. It has been one of the more frustrating seasons from the Gonzaga Bulldogs in nearly 20 years. However, good things still happen in hard seasons. Ryan Nembhard is proof.