Gonzaga Basketball: Early predictions for games against top 2021-22 opponents
Duke Blue Devils
November 26th in Las Vegas, Nevada
When these two teams last met, Gonzaga defeated Duke in the Maui Invitational Finals in one of the games of the decade. That was with Zion Williamson, RJ Barrett, Cameron Reddish, along with Rui Hachimura and Brandon Clarke.
This upcoming game has even more individual starpower, with the top two freshmen prospects (Holmgren and Paolo Banchero), along with fellow top-10 recruits, Hunter Sallis and AJ Griffin. That doesn’t even include the battle down low between Mark Williams and Drew Timme.
With this being head coach Mike Krzyzewski’s final season, every game for Duke will be one of importance. In a neutral site game in Vegas, Duke will need the frontcourt to show out in a big way, including Marquette transfer Theo John having an impact off the bench.
In the backcourt, it’ll be very important for sophomore Jeremy Roach to prove to be capable of facilitating the offense, which is fairly young overall. Five-star shooting guard Trevor Keels will need to provide shooting, while wing Wendell Moore will have to be more consistent, whether as a starter or off the bench.
How will this game play out?
Gonzaga has more depth overall but Duke has more top-end talent. The matchup between Banchero and Holmgren will be one to watch, as neither team has another answer for them. I doubt Timme can guard Bancerho and Williams will be too big and physical. However, Timme’s skillset could easily get him into foul trouble as well. For the Blue Devils to win this game, they have to at least win the battle of the bigs.
That’s because the Bulldogs will have the edge in the backcourt. While there are questions concerning Roach being a true point, there are none regarding Nembhard. And with Sallis, Bolton, and even Hickman capable of running the backcourt, there are just too many guards for the young Blue Devils to deal with in a massive game.