There has been much anticipation in Zag Nation for the upcoming season. A general sense of well-being has seemed to set in. We have a stellar, and highly touted group of freshmen coming in, as well as the return of one of the best front lines in the nation. Add in a highflying wing juco transfer in Edi Landry, and a more experienced backcourt, so what’s not to like? Unfortunately, lots of things come to mind. Let’s roll up our sleeves, dig in, and get down and dirty.

Losses:

1. We lose our lone senior and leader, Steven Gray. He won the 2011 All W.C.C Conference Team Award. Sure, he was not always consistent, but he led the team in several categories: ppg 13.9, apg 4.0, fgm 159, steals 1.7, and also led in made 3 pointers at 71. We all know that he was very close with Robert Sacre. My concern is, how will his departure affect the team, as well as, how will it affect his roommate and best buddy, Robert Sacre?

2. Our most experienced point guard, Demetri Goodsen, has skipped town to pursue his calling on the gridiron at Baylor. And sure, he was not the best at feeding our Bigs and his three point shooting was non-existent, but there was something steadying about him. He was tough as nails and could stand up to athletic frontcourts when we had nowhere else to turn. He was pivotal in our huge win against St. Johns and who can ever forget his last second runner that won the game vs Western Kentucky?

Competition: This is the main concern.

1. BYU, our newest W.C.C. Conference foe is added to the mix this year. They are without the Jimmer, but have a lot of weapons returning off of a team that contended for the national title this past season {they made it to the sweet 16}. Noah Hartsock is back, along with reinstated Brandon Davies, who is a handful. BYU finished first in the Mountain West. They have an excellent coach in Dave Rose. It will be loud and raucous playing at the Marriott Center, where you can bet there will be 22,700 screaming fans. They rarely lose at home.

2. San Francisco has given us all we can handle two years in a row. They beat us in OT 96-91 at SFU. We barely won in our last match up in the WCC Tourney, 71-67. They have practically their whole team coming back. Returning are their top three leading scorers: Williams, Green, and Blackwell. They also return their leading rebounder, Caloiaro. Williams is their deadly shooter from the three and he hit more threes than our own Steven Gray did last season.

3. St. Mary's will be back, and possibly even stronger than last year. They tied with us for first place in the W.C.C Conference last season. They do lose McConnell, but return 3 double figure scorers in: Dellavedova, Jones, and Young. They have a very good coach in Randy Bennett, who is the reigning W.C.C. Coach of the Year. We lost to St. Mary's at home, 73-71, and won in O.T at their house, 89-85. Dellavedova, Jones, and Steindl are all precision bombers from deep. We know how much we enjoy playing teams with deadly perimeter shooters.

What I have written above is worrisome to say the least. I had to take off my rose-colored Zag sunglasses and stay off the Kool-Aid for this write up. If Gonzaga is going to keep, and add to their record 13 W.C.C. Title winning streak, and also keep our N.C.A.A. Tournament steak alive, it is not going to be easy.

Before anyone gets out the whipping stick, this is not a prediction. All I am attempting to do is bring out some of the reasons for concern, and I do believe many are justified. If you have a different take, great! Let’s hear it. Remember, there are no right or wrong answers. Nobody is going to get beat up. The season is almost here, so let's hear what's on your minds!

And besides, if things get out of hand Zach will come to our rescue...lol!

GO ZAGS!! ~