Last season, a roster-limited Gonzaga Bulldogs team had to rely on transfer point guard Ryan Nembhard basically endlessly. Nembhard averaged 35.8 minutes per game, accounting for 90.4% of total minutes throughout the season–the 21st highest mark in the nation.
Interestingly enough, it was the first time a Gonzaga player had averaged more than 35 minutes per game in well over a decade, and Nembhard was just one of two. His backcourt counterpart Nolan Hickman chipped in 35.3 minutes per game. The last player Gonzaga relied on that much on the court? Matt Bouldin in 2009-10.
Ultimately, the Zags really had no issues last season with such a limited backcourt rotation. Nembhard started slow from three-point land, but he picked it up throughout the season and finished in line with his career mark (a still not good 32.1 percent).
Most importantly, for the guy playing point guard for 90 percent of minutes played, he finished with a assist-to-turnover ratio of 3:1. That mark is borderline historic for Gonzaga. In the modern era, the Zags have only had nine players (Nembhard included) average at least six assists per game. Of those nine, Nembhard has the second best assist-to-turnover ratio, only trumped by the criminally underrated Josh Perkins in 2018-19 at 3.15:1.
Essentially, last year, the Zags rode Nembhard HARD throughout the season. From a top-level view, he responded completely fine, and there is no reason to be worried about how the same situation will transpire this season.
Of course, Gonzaga fans are some of the best at worrying about anything and everything under the sun. Last season, Nembhard was on the court because there was just no one else that was truly ready to spell meaningful minutes. Luka Krajnovic showed some flashes, but not in a way that warranted consistent minutes.
This coming season, to a certain extent, it is a little bit of the same. Transfer Braeden Smith is red shirting, and although that is granted at the end of the season, we should assume that unless Nembhard’s legs fall off, the coaching staff will keep that redshirt in place.
The Zags are loaded on the front end of the court, but with the injury to Steele Venters once again, the backcourt is a little bit more thin. We should not be surprised to see Nembhard average as many minutes per game as he did last season, if not a few more.
This isn’t a bad thing either. Remember how we talked about his assist-to-turnover ratio of 3:1? What makes that number even more staggering is that one has to take into account the start of the season, when the Zags had numerous brand new pieces and by all accounts were understandably flat.
Through November and December, Nembhard’s ratio was 2:25:1. Once conference play began in January, he closed out the season at 3.75:1. Of course, something can be said for the difference between competition in non-conference play vs. conference play. For what it is worth, according to KenPom, Nembhard’s assist rate on the season was 29.9 percent. Against Tier A competition, it was 34.7.
There is this innate fear in a lot of Gonzaga fans to just flat out worry. When it comes to running the offense, Nembhard basically gave us an entire season’s worth of statistics not to worry. Of course, if he goes down with an injury, the Zags are screwed (sort of). But that can be said for any team if they lost their senior point guard to injury.
With what should be a more potent offense around him, it is going to be exciting to see how Nembhard runs the ship. Hopefully, his legs are up for the challenge.