Gonzaga Basketball: Review of Bulldogs impressive 2018-19 campaign

Gonzaga Basketball could not repeat the success of their 2016-17 season when they went to the National Title game as the Zags were defeated by Texas Tech 75-69 in the West Regional Final. Despite the exit, this season was certainly a success for Mark Few’s squad.

This season offered lots of accomplishments for the Zags. Gonzaga Basketball finished the season 33-4, went undefeated in West Coast Conference play and earned a No. 1 seed in the NCAA Tournament where they advanced to the second weekend of the NCAA Tournament for the fifth straight season.

The Bulldogs led the nation in points per game with 88.8 ppg, field goal percentage with 53.2% shooting from the field and finished ranked No. 1 in offensive efficiency according to Kenpom. Gonzaga won the Maui Invitational for the first time in program history back in November, where they notched wins over Illinois, Arizona and then No. 1 Duke, which was also its first ever win over a No. 1 ranked team.

While there was tremendous success for the Zags as a whole, they also excelled individually as well. Rui Hachimura, their star forward, was a second team All-American selection and won WCC Player of the Year as he averaged 19.7 ppg on 59.1% shooting from the field. Josh Perkins, a fifth-year senior, set the career-record for assists at Gonzaga with 712 in total. Perkins recorded 234 this season for an average of 6.3 apg and is one of five finalists for the Bob Cousy Award.

While the Bulldogs’ high-powered offense highlighted their season, their defense was also a huge factor in their third-straight 30 win season. According to Kenpom, Gonzaga had the 12th best defense in the nation, due in large part to Brandon Clarke. In his first season under Few, Clarke destroyed the Gonzaga record for blocks in a season, finishing with 117, for an average of 3.2 bpg. Clarke blocked as many shots on the defensive end as he missed on the offensive end, earning him a spot on the third team All-America. Both he and Hachimura are finalists for the Wooden Award. Few earned his 13th WCC Coach of the Year award as well.

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The Bulldogs finished the season, including post-season play, with a solid 8-3 record against major conference teams. Along with its victories in Maui, Gonzaga defeated Texas A&M, Creighton, Washington, Baylor and Florida State. Its three losses came against Tennessee, North Carolina and Texas Tech.

Texas Tech defeat

Gonzaga’s season came to an end at the hands of Kenpom’s best defensive team in Texas Tech in Anaheim, Calif. Saturday evening. The Bulldogs held the lead at halftime 37-35 despite struggling with a copious amount of turnovers. With 14:09 remaining in the game, Gonzaga led a 48-44 lead and had a 78.8% chance of winning, but Texas Tech’s stifling defense kicked up to another level and the Bulldogs’ lead slipped away.

Gonzaga made only seven field goals in the final ten minutes of the game. While they shot more than 50% in the first half, the Bulldogs were unable to muster even 40% in the second, finishing the game with 42.4% from the field and just 26.9% from three. Few’s team coughed the ball up 16 times against the Red Raiders while only assisting on 15 baskets.

Look ahead to 2019-20

The Bulldogs will likely look a lot different when they take the court again in November. Seniors Perkins, back-up point guard Geno Crandall and defensive facilitator Jeremy Jones will all be gone to graduation. However, with their high-profile seasons, it’s very likely both Clarke and Hachimura will forego their senior seasons and enter the NBA Draft. In the most recent Mock Draft, Hachimura is a lottery pick going as the fourth overall, while Clarke is projected to go late-first round or early-second, as he currently is the No. 32 pick.

But don’t count the Bulldogs out of a sixth straight Sweet 16 in 2020. Gonzaga is welcoming its best ever recruiting class with its Class of 2019 recruits. According to 247 Sports, the Bulldogs boast the No. 5 recruiting class in the nation, only the second time they have had a class ranked in the top-20. Four four-star recruits will be headed to Spokane, Wash. come this fall in six-foot-ten-inch Drew Timme (No. 40 in the nation), 6’10” home-grown Anton Watson (No. 44), 6’10” Pavel Zakharov from Monteverde Academy (No. 51) and 6’10” Oumar “Baby Shaq” Ballo (No. 62). Martynas Arlauskas and Brock Ravet, two three-star recruits, will also be joining the Zags in the fall.

With a load of highly-skilled bigs joining the program soon, plus the likely return of Killian Tillie for his senior year, and Filip Petrusev being only a freshman, the Bulldogs should be well prepared for success in the post. But the biggest concern will be filling Perkins’ shoes at the point guard position. Zach Norvell Jr. will most likely return for his junior season, but as a primary shooting guard, its doubtful he will take over this position.

The two likely candidates to lead Gonzaga through the 2019-20 season are Joel Ayayi, a six-foot-five guard who will be a sophomore next season, and Greg Foster Jr., also 6’5″ and will be a sophomore for the Zags next season. Ayayi scored on 17 of his 32 shots in 2018-19. Foster Jr., son of former NBA player Greg Foster Sr., found the bottom of the net on seven of 25 attempts. Both guards assisted on 12 shots this season for the Bulldogs.

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With Few, the highest active winning percentage coach in division one, guiding the Bulldogs, they will always be a force to be reckon with. Experience from Tillie and Norvell, mixed with youthful skill from the guards waiting their turns like so many Bulldogs before them and the load of post-skill inbound, expect Gonzaga to be as relevant as they have been in the past decade.