Gonzaga Basketball: 2021-22 keys for Bulldogs to beat Texas Longhorns

1. Reinvest in the frontcourt identity

While Holmgren dominated multiple segments of their opener, by far the most surprising facet of Tuesday’s game was Preseason All-American Drew Timme’s difficulty in getting things going against the Trailblazers. He was saddled with two fouls in the first 10 minutes of the game and shot an unusual 1-4 in the half. For Gonzaga to disrupt the defensive looks Beard is going to show them, they’ll need the 2020-2021 Timme efficiency that made him the KenPom player of the year, shooting 65% from the field.

The Longhorns have a solid experienced frontcourt of transfers, led by Tre Mitchell, Christian Bishop, and Timmy Allen. While the Longhorns lack prototypical frontcourt size, they fit within Beard’s system of interchangeable length at every position.

It will be interesting to see how Few utilizes Holmgren’s playmaking and if he can force those bigs to come outside to guard him and abandon the post. The Zags have yet to un-tap their perimeter shooting, hitting a lackluster 28% against Dixie State, which prompted the Trailblazers to break into a zone defense part of the game. Holmgren was able to dice up those looks by causing mismatches and positioning for his frontcourt partner and wing.

Gonzaga has the weapons with Timme, Holmgren, Watson, and the reserves of Kaden Perry and Ben Gregg to enforce a lot of their will in most matchups. How they react to an uptick in competitive defense will likely decide this game.