The Gonzaga Bulldogs kick off the beginning of the 2024-25 season with as big of a bang as possible, hosting the Baylor Bears at Spokane Arena.
Gonzaga owns the all-time record between the two programs at 5-2, but those two losses for the Zags sting more than enough: One is the 2021 Championship game and the second is a last minute loss, 64-63, in the 2022-23 season.
It may not have the luster of the 2021 game, but it is still a marquee contest. No. 6 Gonzaga vs. No. 8 Baylor, hard to beat those numbers on opening night.
Here are a few of the things I’ll be looking at on Monday night.
Returning Squad vs. New Look Squad
If you want to try and identify the biggest difference between Baylor and Gonzaga, look no more than how long each player has been on their respective squads. Baylor is essentially only returning guards Langston Love and Jayden Nunn and forward Josh Ojianquna from last year’s squad. All other meaningful contributors are either freshmen or transfers.
With that in mind, Baylor’s preseason ranking feels very much like Gonzaga’s preseason ranking from last season: The team is very good, but are they there yet to start it out?
Gonzaga, on the complete other side of the coin, is an Anton Watson-less version of last year’s squad. The Zags brought in Khalif Battle and Michael Ajayi to shore things up–and the expectations of the two programs should be very different on Day One. Baylor has a lot to prove by the end of the season. Gonzaga needs to prove it right out of the gates.
A Great Test for Gonzaga’s Team Defense
Baylor might have a lot of new faces and might look a little disjointed at first, but they have a couple of things going in their favor: 1) Scott Drew is obviously a very good coach, and 2) This team can shoot the hell out of the ball.
Of the players expected to be contributors, the Zags will have to body up at least on these proven players:
- Jayden Nunn – 43.9%
- Langston Love – 48.0%
- Jalen Celestine – 44.0%
- Jeremy Roach – 42.0%
That doesn’t include five-star freshman VJ Edgecomb, who most likely is more than capable of hitting a three or two.
The Bears have one of the best backcourts in the country. Granted, they haven’t played much together, but all signs point to them gelling and succeeding. For Gonzaga, you can’t really ask for a better test of the defense. Gonzaga’s offense is national championship level worthy–the big question for the season is if the defense is up to the challenge as well.
The Starting Five and the Main Rotation
Against USC, the Zags ran out a starting rotation of Ryan Nembhard, Khalif Battle, Michael Ajayi, Ben Gregg, and Graham Ike. Against Warner Pacific, Nembhard, Nolan Hickman, Battle, Braden Huff, and Ike got the starting call. As exhibition games, extrapolating any meaning out of these decisions outside of “let’s see how they play together” is pointless.
Now that we are in the first game of the season, the starting five and the rotations we see do mean something. To a certain extent, Gonzaga has the good problem of six guys for five starting spots. I had long thought that the starting five rotation would settle in as Nembhard, Hickman, Battle, Ajayi, and Ike.
However, if Few is running an eight-man rotation, like I expect he probably would, that gives you a bench of Dusty Stromer (guard), Ben Gregg (big), and Braden Huff (big). It is a little bit lopsided, and having either Hickman or Battle alongside Stromer on the bench gives a bit more depth.
Go Zags!