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Message: [QUOTE="ConnZag3, post: 4263652, member: 5078"] As a fan of both UConn and Gonzaga (hence my handle) I appreciate most of the comments in this thread that respect the Gonzaga program. They can't really do much about their conference because they won't get a football team so will never be a Pac-12 member. The Mt. West wanted them, but is the Mt. West really any better than the WCC at this point? At least St. Mary's won a game in the tournament this year unlike the 4 Mt. West teams that qualified. They do their damnedest to schedule tough in non-conference to get ready for what happens in March, but there's still a lot of coaches unwilling to play them home and home so they end up with a bunch of neutral site games instead. It would also be helpful to get a couple tough non-con games in Jan/Feb but when all the P6 conference are 20+ games in conference now, who can they realistically play that would even challenge them at that point in the season. Houston maybe but how long will Kelvin even stay now before retirement? The tournament is so much about guard play now compared to decades ago where having a big guy like Holmgren could have been a difference maker then, but having a guy like Suggs for them last year was huge. Guard play is why UConn has their 2 most recent titles. Oriahki played a large role in 2011, but without Kemba they aren't winning that title; just like without Shabazz and Boatright they aren't winning in 2014. Gonzaga's guard play hasn't been the greatest recently over full seasons outside of Suggs and it was inconsistent heading into the tournament this year. It was especially subpar in the Sweet 16, which is why they failed against Arkansas. Being one of the final 16, 8, or 4 teams almost annually should never be an indictment on a program, even one with expectations as high as Gonzaga has now. UNC doesn't make the final four without Davis being blazing hot against Baylor or Love being blazing hot against UCLA. Kansas escaped Creighton because Remy Martin is finally playing like an All-American. Duke has basically a giant guard in Banchero, plus, grudingly, Roach has been stellar in the tournament too and we all know Villanova is just guards upon guards basically. March Madness is simply guard dominated now. [/QUOTE]

Verification: First name of men's bb coach

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