Gonzaga/Creighton

[gsmooth]

I really hope Gonzaga wins it all.

Gonzaga is the best team in the field, no doubt about it. USC/Oregon could pose some problems with their athleticism and defense, especially USC, but I expect the Zags to be in the FF.

 

[Drew]

Creighton is going to get rocked

Jays looking every bit like the Missouri Valley program they are

 

[XLCenterFan]

Zags are too good to root for this year. Let’s go anyone else.

 

[CTBasketball]

Zaga-1000? Where is the value in that?

It’s a parlay, +310 for all three.

 

[Travelman6]

Wow.
Just wow.
I hope Hurely is watching (like he said he was). Because Gonzaga is REALLY demonstrating the mountain UConn still needs to climb to get back to being one of the best. This is a team that beat UConn three times and Gonzaga is absolutely destroying them right now. If UConn wants to get back to being the best, they can take some very good notes of this game, mostly on Gonzaga, and watch Baylor play tomorrow too.
It got up to 27 but I suppose Creighton could get it down to 15 in garbage time, halfway there.

 

[UncleSpliff]

This post aged poorly.

Did you watch the game? Creighton missed bunny after bunny after bunny. I would estimate they missed 10 point blank layups. This would be a single digit game right now if Creighton converted even half of those.

 

[Vuce]

Wow.
Just wow.
I hope Hurely is watching (like he said he was). Because Gonzaga is REALLY demonstarting the mountain UConn still needs to climb to get back to being one of the best. This is a team that beat UConn three times and Gonzaga is absolutely destroying them right now. If UConn wants to get back to being the best, they can take some very good notes of this game, mostly on Gonzaga and watch Baylor play tomorrow too.

Pretty much every coach in the country should watch this offense to learn. Not just Dan Hurley

 

[gsmooth]

Jesus. Gonzaga's gonna be in the conversation of greatest teams in the 64-team era if they play like this for another week.

No question. When I think of top teams in the 64-team era with pristine banner seasons with no bad losses (to inferior out of conference mid majors etc) or close victories in the first 2 rounds of the Big Dance against vastly interior opposition, numerous double digit victories, dominant wins in the tourney, and even conference tournament championships or regular season championship, off the top of my head I think of
UNLV 1990
Duke 1992
Arkansas 1994
Kentucky 1996
UConn 1999
Mich St 2000 (although they had a bad loss to Wright St in season)
UConn 2004
Florida 2007
North Carolina 2009
Kentucky 2012
Villanova 2016 and 2018

I think Gonzaga 2021 will join this list

 

[superjohn]

Does our big east fellow have a shot at the upset verse the undefeated Gonzaga?

I think this Creighton team plays better defense than people think- my major concern is Creighton’s depth- really only play 6 impact players. With that said, I do believe Gonzaga is beatable- although their guards are tough & grind- their bigs look soft- I actually think they should be playing the big Watson more- he brings toughness & a physicality that the other bigs don’t.

I saw way too many straight line penetrations to the basket by a short handed Oklahoma team last week that gives me concern about Gonzaga.
I think this game might be closer than what the public thinks- especially if Creighton can stay out of foul trouble.

You really nailed it, this was a tight one.

 

[UncleSpliff]

No question. When I think of top teams in the 64-team era with pristine banner seasons with no bad losses (to inferior out of conference mid majors etc) or close victories in the first 2 rounds of the Big Dance , numerous double digit victories, and dominant wins in the tourney, off the top of my head I think of
UNLV 1990
Duke 1992
Arkansas 1994
Kentucky 1996
UConn 1999
Mich St 2000 (although they had a bad loss to Wright St in season)
UConn 2004
Florida 2007
North Carolina 2009
Kentucky 2012
Villanova 2016 and 2018

I think Gonzaga 2021 will join this list

That 2015 Kentucky team that lost in the final 4 that was undefeated was legit. Prob Squid’s best team ever.

 

[Improviser]

Wow.
Just wow.
I hope Hurely is watching (like he said he was). Because Gonzaga is REALLY demonstrating the mountain UConn still needs to climb to get back to being one of the best. This is a team that beat UConn three times and Gonzaga is absolutely destroying them right now. If UConn wants to get back to being the best, they can take some very good notes of this game, mostly on Gonzaga, and watch Baylor play tomorrow too.
It got up to 27 but I suppose Creighton could get it down to 15 in garbage time, halfway there.

Would help to get mobile, scoring bigs who can run the floor, pass, put it on the floor and finish. Smooth shooting guards too who can score off the dribble.

Few did not get to this point in year one, two, or three, but now he is there.

Continued good recruiting, better offensive sets, and better players will do it. Mountain climbing is good exercise. Not done in one day.

 

[Tenspro2002]

No question. When I think of top teams in the 64-team era with pristine banner seasons with no bad losses (to inferior out of conference mid majors etc) or close victories in the first 2 rounds of the Big Dance against vastly interior opposition, numerous double digit victories, dominant wins in the tourney, and even conference tournament championships or regular season championship, off the top of my head I think of
UNLV 1990
Duke 1992
Arkansas 1994
Kentucky 1996
UConn 1999
Mich St 2000 (although they had a bad loss to Wright St in season)
UConn 2004
Florida 2007
North Carolina 2009
Kentucky 2012
Villanova 2016 and 2018

I think Gonzaga 2021 will join this list

We lost 6 games in 2004, and there are a few other generous inclusions, but otherwise this list is pretty good.

Gonzaga would be in the top 5 if they run the table.

 

[gsmooth]

That 2015 Kentucky team that lost in the final 4 that was undefeated was legit. Prob Squid’s best team ever.

yeah that's team was really good, but no hardware to show for it. I guess I really place a premium on winning the championship.

 

[kobe]

Gonzaga is the highest rated KenPom team in his entire dataset (back to 2002). The second closest is 2008 Kansas which is full 2 points in adjusted efficiency behind Gonzaga.

for reference, the second best team this year...Baylor... is SEVEN points below Gonzaga in adjusted efficiency.

It's been their tournament to lose since the start of the season pretty much

 

[scotty0330]

Did you watch the game? Creighton missed bunny after bunny after bunny. I would estimate they missed 10 point blank layups. This would be a single digit game right now if Creighton converted even half of those.

Funny all the post game talk was how good defense was by folks that know basketball. Not sure what game you watched

 

[gsmooth]

We lost 6 games in 2004, and there are a few other generous inclusions, but otherwise this list is pretty good.

Gonzaga would be in the top 5 if they run the table.

Yeah in 2004 they lost 6 games, but I also think that had to do with OK4s back issues and Gordon's broken nose making him tentative. Without those health issues I think they probably lose 2-4 games. I just like the dominance they played with when they were healthy. I mean, shoot, they were up by 25 at one point the championship game against a really good GTech team (and look at the Elite 8 against Alabama). Also, they handled Vanderbilt in the Sweet 16 who played that 5-out style that UConn had trouble with this year (Gonzaga in 1999 did, too).

 

[UncleSpliff]

Gonzaga is the highest rated KenPom team in his entire dataset (back to 2002). The second closest is 2008 Kansas which is full 2 points in adjusted efficiency behind Gonzaga.

for reference, the second best team this year...Baylor... is SEVEN points below Gonzaga in adjusted efficiency.

It's been their tournament to lose since the start of the season pretty much

How much of that is based on whooping on the Pepperdine’s and Loyola Marymount's of the world? The WCC is a terrible conference. Gonzaga is a great team no doubt but to call them the best team of the past 20 years is a bit much. How many legit pros are on this team? Suggs? Timmie maybe. Who else?

 

[BigErnMcCracken]

Pretty much every coach in the country should watch this offense to learn. Not just Dan Hurley

They run the same weave that Hurley runs when they're getting into their sets that all the coaches on here go nuts about.

Is the lesson for other coaches "have 4 NBA players including two lottery picks in your rotation"?

 

[gsmooth]

Gonzaga is the highest rated KenPom team in his entire dataset (back to 2002). The second closest is 2008 Kansas which is full 2 points in adjusted efficiency behind Gonzaga.

for reference, the second best team this year...Baylor... is SEVEN points below Gonzaga in adjusted efficiency.

It's been their tournament to lose since the start of the season pretty much

Good to see you back, Kobe. Just for curiosity and kicks, I would like to know, are you going to be rooting at full blast for Alabama vs UCLA? Ya know, cause Cronin is coaching UCLA.

 

[BigErnMcCracken]

How much of that is based on whooping on the Pepperdine’s and Loyola Marymount's of the world? The WCC is a terrible conference. Gonzaga is a great team no doubt but to call them the best team of the past 20 years is a bit much. How many legit pros are on this team? Suggs? Who else?

You're a bad take machine out of the gate. Suggs is the only pro they have on their roster?

 

[Jaker]

Zags are winning this entire thing.

 

[gsmooth]

How much of that is based on whooping on the Pepperdine’s and Loyola Marymount's of the world? The WCC is a terrible conference. Gonzaga is a great team no doubt but to call them the best team of the past 20 years is a bit much. How many legit pros are on this team? Suggs? Who else?

Kispert is projected to be in the lottery and Drew Timme is projected to be in the 2nd round. All of this is according to NBADraft.net.. There might be more legitimate projections sites and even a composite site.

As for Gonzaga being in the WCC, sure, if they were in the Pac 12, Big Ten, or even the Old Big East conference or some of the old ACC conferences in years past, they wouldn't be undefeated, but they definitely would be in the top 2-3 of the conference standings if not #1. This Zags team is really good. To beat them you have to play hard-nosed grind it out pace game-that's just not what Creighton does they prefer to play fast. Teams from years past might be able to beat them in a fast paced run and gun type game, but I don't think anyone in 2021 can.

 

[superjohn]

Gonzaga is the highest rated KenPom team in his entire dataset (back to 2002). The second closest is 2008 Kansas which is full 2 points in adjusted efficiency behind Gonzaga.

for reference, the second best team this year...Baylor... is SEVEN points below Gonzaga in adjusted efficiency.

It's been their tournament to lose since the start of the season pretty much

It's amazing anyone is still sleeping on them, it was their tournament to lose since day 1 of the season and they've shown it every step of the way. They have three of the top 10 players in the country and everyone plays their roles unselfishly. They shoot 55% from the field as a team, it's just unheard of.

 

[UncleSpliff]

You're a bad take machine out of the gate. Suggs is the only pro they have on their roster?

Nope I don’t see Kispert or Timmie being impact players in the NBA. Lots of guys get drafted. Let’s see if they stick around 3+ years.

 

[gsmooth]

Gonzaga really exploited the weaknesses of Bishop in this game and didn't allow him to play to his strengths at all-he was a complete non factor.

 

[gsmooth]

Nope I don’t see Kispert or Timmie being impact players in the NBA. Lots of guys get drafted. Let’s see if they stick around 3+ years.

They might not be, you might be right, time will tell. But just getting drafted to the NBA speaks of a good level of talent and Gonzaga has it in spades.

 

[Jay-Bone]

It's amazing anyone is still sleeping on them, it was their tournament to lose since day 1 of the season and they've shown it every step of the way. They have three of the top 10 players in the country and everyone plays their roles unselfishly. They shoot 55% from the field as a team, it's just unheard of.

Yes, its been well known by most since December at least:

12-19-20 Saturday Viewing Guide

Saturday Viewing Guide for 12-19-20 11:30 AM on FS1: Butler vs Indiana in Indianapolis: Another benefit of joining the new Big East is enjoying the in-state rivalries of our conference mates. Major props to senior Aaron Thompson's major offensive jump this year for Butler (17.5 ppg). However...

the-boneyard.com

 

[UncleSpliff]

Kispert is projected to be in the lottery and Drew Timme is projected to be in the 2nd round. All of this is according to NBADraft.net.. There might be more legitimate projections sites and even a composite site.

As for Gonzaga being in the WCC, sure, if they were in the Pac 12, Big Ten, or even the Old Big East conference or some of the old ACC conferences in years past, they wouldn't be undefeated, but they definitely would be in the top 2-3 of the conference standings if not #1. This Zags team is really good. To beat them you have to play hard-nosed grind it out pace game-that's just not what Creighton does they prefer to play fast.

They might not be, you might be right, time will tell. But just getting drafted to the NBA speaks of a good level of talent and Gonzaga has it in spades.

They’re clearly good players and Gonzaga has a great team no doubt but my original point was countering that they’re the best team of the past 20 years based on kenpom metrics. And I stand by what I said... I think Suggs is their only legit pro. He’s going to be a stud in the nba but I don’t think any of the other guys will do much. Kispert is backup 3 and D guy and Timmie will have a tough time sticking around.

 

[FriarJ]

Gonzaga is a Catholic school. Invite them to the big East.

Gonzaga is a client of mine for many years including a sponsorship with athletics. They seriously considered it a few years back and simply could not find a home for all their other Olympic sports besides men’s and women’s basketball. They wanted to come but it’s over now. Feel good about that, trust me.

 

[BigErnMcCracken]

They might not be, you might be right, time will tell. But just getting drafted to the NBA speaks of a good level of talent and Gonzaga has it in spades.

Suggs, Kispert, Timme, Ayayi will all play in the NBA. And if the African kid Ballo develops at even close the rate that they expect him to he will too. I don't even particularly like Gonzaga but they have a hell of a lot of talent. It's amazing how easy it is for all five kids to play on offense when every single one of them is a threat to score.