Weekly Zag Briefing

Things are good in Gonzaga land. Joel Ayayi is Mr. Triple Double, both the men’s and women’s teams are dominating WCC competition and are healthy with the tournament approaching quickly. Hopefully things stay this way!

• Ken Pomeroy examines whether the ethos of “defense wins championships” in the context of this season’s Gonzaga squad which is an offensive juggernaut. His conclusion? Gonzaga is in a good place as a great offense has been the driving force for recent champions.
• In a recent mailbag, Dana O’Neil touches on whether Baylor can overtake Gonzaga in the polls during conference play. O’Neil says if Gonzaga stays undefeated, there’s no chance of that happening. I agree.
• ESPN’s John Gasaway ranks the Top 25 players in college basketball, which sees FOUR Zags in his list. Gasaway confirms this is the first time one team has had four different players in his list in the time that he’s done this exercise.
• The shortened Wooden Award watch list also features three Zags—Kispert, Timme, and Suggs—which is not surprising but a testament to the strength and balance of the squad.
• Matt Norlander takes a stab at planning how the NCAA Tournament will be scheduled inside the Indy Bubble. If you haven’t yet, make sure to give this a look to get a feel for how the logistics of the bubble and schedule could be handled.
• Joel Ayayi was the flavor of the week (and rightfully so) in highlighting just how good Gonzaga is in the little blurbs written about this team in both Norlander and Jeff Borzello’s respective power rankings. The Zags, of course, remain at No. 1.
• Sam Vecenie’s latest NBA mock draft has both Jalen Suggs (#2) and Corey Kispert (#9) projected to be taken in the Top 10. Suggs’s draft prospects have been well known, but Kispert’s ascent this season is remarkable and a testament to his work ethic. Ayayi remains just off the board for Vecenie, which is surprising to me as the conductor of the Ayayi express.