Dan Dickau on why Anton Watson is Gonzaga's most valuable player
Former Gonzaga All-American Dan Dickau breaks down how Anton Watson's team-first mentality makes him the Bulldogs' most valuable player thus far.
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00:00 Hey everybody, Christian Pedersen joined by Dan Dickow.
00:02 You're catching us on a mailbag edition
00:03 of the Gonzaga Nation podcast.
00:05 That's where we take viewer and fan submitted.
00:07 I guess we assume that you are fans
00:09 if you were taking time to be viewers.
00:11 So appreciate you for being both.
00:12 We take fan submitted questions,
00:14 serve them up for Dan to answer,
00:16 give his genuine insight and intake on.
00:19 Dan, we got three questions for you this week.
00:21 You ready to go?
00:22 - Absolutely, let's bring it.
00:24 - First one coming in on our Instagram.
00:26 Somebody following up on the USC game,
00:28 wanted to know if that is Gonzaga's biggest win of the year.
00:31 - Well, I mean, you know,
00:35 I think you look at the Syracuse win and that's a big one.
00:38 I think the UCLA one is going to be a big one
00:42 at the end of the season.
00:44 But as of now, up till this point,
00:46 that USC one I think is the biggest win.
00:49 And I think the reason being is, you know,
00:51 the net rankings just came out
00:52 and they were the highest ranked win Gonzaga has
00:55 at this moment in time.
00:57 But I think USC is a team that is going to get better
01:01 as is UCLA over the course of the year.
01:04 You know, they've got experience with Boogie Ellis the two,
01:08 you've got a really good wing in Kobe Johnson.
01:11 You've got a terrific young point guard
01:13 in freshman Isaiah Collier,
01:15 but you know, he's still learning the college game
01:17 and the numbers he's putting up
01:20 while he's just learning are mind boggling.
01:23 I think Gonzaga did a terrific job of him,
01:26 of containing him.
01:28 He's one of those guys
01:29 that's just going to get their numbers.
01:30 Once he learns how to get his numbers
01:32 in an impactful to win scenario,
01:35 I think he's going to really blossom.
01:37 And I think USC is really going to take off.
01:40 Not to mention the fact that they've got good rim protection,
01:42 they've got good size.
01:43 It seemed like, you know, between Morgan and Uchuwu,
01:49 they just kept bringing bigs in
01:51 that can guard around the rim.
01:53 But, you know, the question mark
01:55 that a lot of people nationally
01:56 are going to be excited about is when Bronny James returns
01:59 and what kind of impact that he's going to have.
02:02 There was a little bit of rumors going around
02:05 kind of in media circles
02:06 that he might play against Gonzaga,
02:08 but obviously he was cleared just,
02:11 I think the day before the Gonzaga game.
02:13 So he's got to get practice time.
02:16 He's got to get up to speed in regards to that.
02:18 I would imagine he's still another week or two
02:21 at least away from being cleared to play,
02:25 but I think he's going to give him a boost
02:26 because, you know, I don't think he's a 12,
02:28 15 point per game guy,
02:30 but he can handle it and he can shoot it.
02:33 And when I saw him play in high school a couple of times,
02:36 he understands how to play and he's a team guy.
02:39 So, you know, he's going to blend
02:41 with what they need at this time.
02:43 - Next question we got coming in is,
02:45 who do you think is so far the MVP for Gonzaga this season?
02:50 - Well, you could go in a number of different directions.
02:53 You know, you put me on the spot.
02:56 So I'm going to say Anton Watson.
02:57 You know, he's kind of been that guy
02:59 that's always done the dirty work,
03:01 kind of been in the shadows and rightfully so,
03:04 to be honest, because there's been Drew Timmy,
03:06 there's been Chet Holmgren, Jalen Suggs,
03:08 Andrew Neymar, on down the list.
03:09 Anton has always accepted his role
03:13 and he's been willing to star in his role.
03:15 I think his role this year
03:17 is having a little bit more scoring punch.
03:21 You know, you saw that against UCLA
03:23 where he had 32 and went 14 of 15 from the field.
03:27 You saw him be opportunistic against USC.
03:30 He only scored nine points, but he didn't force the issue.
03:32 But the fact is now that he's proven that he can do it,
03:36 teams are going to have to guard him a little bit differently
03:38 than they have in years past.
03:39 So, you know, I think numbers wise,
03:43 he's definitely got a case for being MVP,
03:45 but also, you know, putting the team first wise,
03:49 he absolutely can be considered the MVP.
03:52 - Yeah, I think that you could merge those into one.
03:55 I think putting the team first wise MVP
03:58 can take form of assists
03:59 and of just general acknowledgement of leadership.
04:02 And that's where in sometimes totality,
04:04 you do give out just that MVP award,
04:06 not just singularly for scoring or anything like that.
04:09 One of the people that you mentioned
04:10 when you were listing off in the shadows
04:11 was Chet Holmgren.
04:12 Couple of weeks, maybe even months ago,
04:14 time doesn't make sense.
04:15 Once college basketball hits,
04:17 that's really all I focus about in the world.
04:19 But you made a take that,
04:20 you said Chet Holmgren could become the NBA
04:24 rookie of the year over even Wim Ben-Yama this year.
04:28 It seems like so far your crystal ball
04:30 was spot on on this prediction.
04:32 Give the people the latest on Chet balling out.
04:34 - Well, here's the deal is Wim Ben-Yama is terrific
04:38 and he is going to be, you know, a multi-time all-star.
04:43 You know, I think Chet and he are gonna battle for MVPs
04:46 and battle for team supremacy
04:48 if the Spurs can get their roster right in due time.
04:52 You know, that's always a big if in the NBA.
04:54 Oklahoma City's roster is right.
04:57 And what I mean by that is they've got a lot of talent,
05:00 they've got young talent, they've got draft picks,
05:02 they've got, you know, positions covered
05:05 that are necessary to be successful at the NBA level.
05:08 But for the reason us talking about Chet,
05:12 it's important is he had a chance last year
05:14 to learn the NBA game from an insider's perspective.
05:17 Yeah, it sucked that he got hurt and he didn't get to play,
05:20 but there is nothing takes away the ability
05:23 to be around an NBA team and learn the NBA game,
05:26 the NBA philosophy of how to approach the game,
05:31 learn the game, talk the game, be around the game.
05:34 Then there's no replacing that.
05:39 And he had that last year while he was recovering
05:41 from his injury.
05:42 Now, when you look at the roster pieces that they have
05:45 and him coming in, they were good last year.
05:48 They didn't need him to be all everything.
05:50 They just needed him to come in, be solid,
05:53 and when opportunities arise, make the most of it.
05:56 And that's exactly what he's done this year.
05:58 Because Chet is gonna be able, he's a rim protector one.
06:02 Defensively, he can switch on the perimeter
06:04 'cause he's got great length
06:05 and good enough lateral quickness.
06:07 So, you know, he allows you to do different things
06:09 defensively that are shown in the box score
06:13 and that aren't shown in the box score.
06:15 On the offensive end, you know, you saw at Gonzaga
06:18 that he blended in extremely well with what they had,
06:21 but then you also saw there were times
06:23 that he showed the skill that he possessed
06:26 and kind of imparted his will on the game.
06:30 Now, I wish he would have done that a little bit more
06:31 at Gonzaga, but they didn't need it.
06:33 But in the NBA, you have to do that a little bit more
06:37 if you're truly gonna be a guy,
06:39 which I think he's going to become in time.
06:40 But, you know, the roster makeup is such
06:43 where he's got opportunities to post.
06:46 He's got opportunities to catch it at the elbow
06:48 with the actions that they run.
06:49 He's got an opportunity to rebound it and push it himself
06:53 with the style of the NBA and the Thunder play.
06:55 He's got an opportunity to shoot trail threes
06:57 when he's not the ball handler
06:58 bringing the ball down the floor.
06:59 He's got a chance to set the screen
07:01 and pick and rolls and pop.
07:03 You know, if they switch, take the small down into a post up.
07:07 He even gets put in pick and roll situations
07:10 where he's the ball handler.
07:11 So because of his versatility,
07:14 he has so many possessions
07:16 where he can make an impact on the game.
07:19 And I think because of his skillset
07:21 and being able to be good in so many of those situations,
07:24 you know, you're seeing it come to fruition in the stat sheet.
07:28 You're seeing it come to fruition in big moments.
07:30 And, you know, I think it's fun for any former Zag
07:34 to see a guy having such success.
07:37 So early in his career that as of now, you know,
07:41 I think you're starting to see the national people
07:44 come around and say he might be the front runner for the MVP.
07:47 And, you know, when Benyama is going to have to pick it up
07:51 if he's going to kind of stay in that conversation with Chet.
07:54 - It seems also kind of like, you know,
07:58 for everything you say, oh, we benefited from this year.
08:01 There's still something to be said about
08:02 you have to have the mental focus
08:03 to absorb everything for that year.
08:05 There's plenty of guys I think dotted throughout NBA history
08:08 who have done the come in, get hurt,
08:10 or score to have something where the team's like,
08:12 hey, like come to our doctors, come to our guys.
08:14 We're gonna take care of you.
08:14 We're gonna get you back.
08:15 You're gonna get right.
08:16 But then you see that they don't always take advantage
08:18 of that year the way that you described Chet
08:20 having sort of seemingly soaked up
08:22 the competitive level of the NBA.
08:24 And it's a testament to everything that he is off the court
08:28 as much as he is on the court.
08:29 And you'd like to think the part of that
08:30 it was instilled by coach few
08:32 and, you know, the time spent at Gonzaga.
08:34 - Yeah, and it's different for a rookie,
08:36 your first go through it,
08:38 your first go through training camp,
08:40 your first go through traveling to all the arenas,
08:43 the first go through of shoot arounds against every team.
08:48 That's why it was so important, you know,
08:50 for a guy who maybe has been in the league
08:52 a couple of years,
08:53 it wouldn't have been as important to be around it as much
08:57 'cause you've already been it, you've already seen it,
08:58 you've already done it, you've already been immersed in it.
09:01 But I think for him to be around the Thunder
09:03 as much as he was reportedly around last year
09:06 was very beneficial.
09:09 - Love to hear it.
09:10 Thank you everyone for tuning in.
09:11 That's it for this mailbag edition.
09:13 Make sure you check out
09:14 all the other amazing Gonzaga Nation podcasts
09:16 that are coming out seemingly constantly.
09:18 Now, Dan has been a mad man.
09:20 I don't know how he gets it done.
09:21 He's always in the, I call it in the gym.
09:23 He's in the studio, he's in the lab,
09:25 whatever you wanna call it.
09:26 He's cooking up some great shows
09:28 with Adam Morrison and company.
09:29 You gotta go check out everything that they are doing.
09:31 You can check out the WCC Weekly
09:32 that we got all sorts of great written articles
09:34 at Gonzaga Nation.
09:35 Dan, anything that we missed this week?
09:37 - No, a couple of great guests coming up.
09:41 David Pendergraf, one of the all-time favorite Zags.
09:45 Who else we got coming up?
09:46 Jeff Brown, who was one of the initial Zags
09:51 of the first NCAA tournament type caliber teams
09:55 in the mid-90s.
09:56 He'll have some great stories about Coach Pheu
09:59 when Coach Pheu was cutting his teeth
10:01 as an assistant coach.
10:02 Jeff Condell, he's the owner of Jack and Dan's.
10:05 He was John Stockton's backcourt mate.
10:07 He's gonna be joining us soon.
10:09 Corey Violette, Zach Gord, Tony Skinner,
10:13 I believe is coming in soon.
10:14 We got so many guys that have said they wanna join
10:18 in the studio.
10:19 Killian Tilly, Alex Hernandez.
10:21 We've got a number of guys that are gonna be joining us
10:23 here in the next few weeks.
10:25 The only problem right now is making sure
10:28 that we have enough weeks left in the season
10:31 to get all these guys and their stories shared.
10:34 - Well, and that's just the coming up.
10:35 There's already so many amazing ones
10:37 that have been coming out.
10:38 Make sure you check out all the ones
10:39 with Anton Watson and company on the court.
10:41 There's a couple of great throwbacks
10:43 with some other analysts pre-season
10:45 that Dan was talking about that you're seeing.
10:47 Some of what they were saying about Gonzaga,
10:49 "Hey, we wanna see this," is coming exactly true.
10:51 So fun to go back and read the receipts
10:53 that Gonzaga's proving national analysts right
10:55 and/or correctly wrong.
10:57 But yeah, go check all that out.
10:59 Make sure you search and subscribe to Gonzaga Nation
11:01 wherever you get your podcasts.
11:02 We'll talk to you guys soon.