Some more thoughts about Gonzaga’s win over Texas Southern

For the first 10 minutes of Gonzaga’s season opening win over Texas Southerm, they looked like a team that only returned 26.1 percent of their minutes played last season.

Then the defense kicked in, and boy did it ever. It was one of the best defensive performance’s in a season-opening game in recent memory. Granted, Texas Southern is hardly the team of champions, but the defensive effort in the 98-43 win was exactly what we wanted to see to open the season.

1. Texas Southern finished with just 0.597 PPP. They had more turnovers (21) than they did field goals (15). Jalen Warley made good on his promise as a defensive wizard in the transfer portal, finishing with four steals. We’ve long known of Gonzaga as an offensive powerhouse, but the real potential of this squad lies in its perimeter defense. Tonight was a good showing.
2. Tyon Grant-Foster led the Zags with 15 points, one of five to finish in double-figures. The offense was a bit sloppy at times–13 turnovers is a few too many–but considering how many new faces are on this team, it wasn’t a bad showing. Graham Ike and Braden Huff are still going to be options number one and/or two, but there are plenty of talented and experienced scorers on the wing to help pour in points.
3. Mario Saint-Supery finished with more minutes than Braeden Smith and that is about as far as I am going to read into it. Saint-Supery is talented and probably has more potential down the road, but Smith has the experience, and although he hardly looked fantastic, has a bit more polish to his game at the moment.
4. Adam Miller thankfully went 3-for-5 from long range, but the Zags as a team still finished just 7-for-22. The Zags need to hit their threes to make things easier in the interior. Between the likes of Miller, Davis Fogle, and Grant-Foster, this is a team of dudes who like to drive the ball. If no one is hitting the outside shot, it makes it a lot easier for the defense to pack it in.
5. Eleven guys played at least 10 minutes and that is probably the biggest conundrum facing the coaching staff right now. The Zags have some absolutely serious depth, but that depth is only useful if the coaching staff can unlock the right combinations. As the season progresses, it will be interesting to see if the bench minutes stay light or if the rotation screws get tightened a tad bit.
6. Texas Southern is a sub-300 KenPom team. They are definitely more impressive than an exhibition foe, but not by a whole lot. Oklahoma is a top 50-ish team so we will get a much better look at the mettle of this team sooner than later.