Former Gonzaga All-American and Washington Huskies guard Dan Dickau breaks down the Bulldogs' keys to victory against their in-state rival.
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00:00 Gonzaga Nation, I'm your host Dan Dickow.
00:03 As we preview Saturday's big game against the Washington Huskies, well,
00:08 Gonzaga has won 16 straight games against Pac-12 opponents.
00:14 This will be the last opponent from the Pac-12 as we know it,
00:20 unless they see somebody in the NCAA tournament.
00:23 But Gonzaga has been dominant against that league.
00:27 Just recently this year, they beat USC in Las Vegas,
00:31 they beat UCLA in Honolulu for the Maui Invitational.
00:35 But talking about the task at hand, that's the University of Washington Huskies.
00:38 They sit at five and three on the season.
00:41 Coach Mike Hopkins, obviously, has been there for
00:46 a number of years now after coming over from Syracuse, was known for
00:51 the zone defense.
00:53 And that's what a lot of fans are gonna think that, hey,
00:55 Gonzaga's gotta be good executing against the zone.
00:57 They gotta make perimeter shots.
00:59 They've gotta do this, that, and the other against the zone.
01:01 Well, that's not the case because the Huskies sit at five and three.
01:06 They have only played zone in two of those eight games through
01:11 this early portion of the season.
01:13 They've gone to more of a man to man attack.
01:15 And I think that's simply because they have a lot of experience.
01:19 They've got a lot of length.
01:20 They've got a lot of athleticism.
01:23 And they're trying to get back to maybe playing a style
01:28 that their roster is probably more accustomed to.
01:32 They've got a lot of newcomers, a lot of newcomers that are playing big roles.
01:36 And to learn the intricacies of that Syracuse matchup zone can be
01:40 difficult at times, and it can take a while.
01:43 But again, five and three on the season.
01:46 Keon Brooks Jr.
01:47 is their leading scorer, averages around 21 a game.
01:51 He's become much more efficient than he has been in years past.
01:56 Led them in scoring last year after transferring from Kentucky, but
02:00 he is very efficient this year.
02:01 He's shooting a much better percentage from the field.
02:04 When you watch him play, he's more decisive.
02:08 He's more impactful with what he does with the ball, quicker decisions.
02:13 He's gonna be a difficult matchup for Gonzaga.
02:16 I would imagine that Anton Watson gets the majority of the matchup on him.
02:21 But I wouldn't be surprised to see Ben Gregg on him at various stretches
02:26 during the game as well.
02:27 In regards to U-Dub and how they're structured,
02:32 they are much more experienced and old this year as compared to years past.
02:39 They do have some returning pieces.
02:41 Keon Brooks, I mentioned.
02:42 Braxton Mia, a big that comes off the bench at seven foot one,
02:47 is a returner Frank Kepnong coming back from an ACL injury a season ago.
02:52 Is back even though he played limited minutes in games a season ago.
02:56 Corrin Johnson is back, typically their first guard off the bench.
02:59 But when you look at the other parts of the roster, tons of newcomers, but
03:04 newcomers with experience, as I mentioned, names to kind of really focus in on.
03:10 The first one is a name that you will know if you follow the WCC closely,
03:14 which I'm sure you do, is Moses Wood played at University of Portland in
03:18 the last two years.
03:19 He is their three point outside threat.
03:22 Played really well in the game against Colorado State and Las Vegas.
03:25 But other than that, he struggled to shoot the ball with consistency this year.
03:30 But you gotta know and you gotta expect and
03:33 imagine that he wants to play well against Gonzaga.
03:35 Being that it's a former WCC rival of his.
03:39 But he's got potential to shoot it, good player.
03:42 Savir Wheeler is probably the biggest newcomer to know on the Husky roster as
03:47 far as name recognition and impact on the game, not necessarily size.
03:52 Only stands about five foot nine, but he has done a tremendous job of taking
03:57 the reins of the U-Dub offense, pushing the pace when necessary.
04:02 He's always in attack mode, averages around six assists per game.
04:07 Has done a nice job of not turning it over.
04:11 But what I think Gonzaga needs to do is try to make him be a scorer.
04:16 Doesn't shoot it great from the perimeter, doesn't finish particularly well.
04:22 There are possessions and stretches of games where he really dictates things with
04:27 his passing and controlling the pace.
04:29 But sometimes you'll see a player that's like, hey, I haven't had a shot in a while.
04:34 And they go take a bad one or two in a row.
04:36 And many times that is Savir Wheeler in his approach to the game.
04:40 But that being said, he's been really good for U-Dub early in the season,
04:46 really controlling things, setting teammates up.
04:50 And I think he's been dynamic for them.
04:52 The other backcourt player that comes with a lot of experience,
04:57 some Gonzaga fans may know this name because they were very involved with him
05:01 in the transfer portal.
05:02 And that would be Paul Mulcahy, a transfer from Rutgers.
05:06 Played there for four years, played in two NCAA tournaments.
05:09 But now he's an integral part of what U-Dub does on both ends of the floor.
05:15 He's got a lot of point guard in him, but he's got a lot of wing in him as well as
05:19 far as how he plays the game and attacks the game.
05:22 But if you've listened to podcasts or
05:25 myself on broadcast with Greg Heist and Richard Fox.
05:30 I am big on college teams having two playmaker,
05:33 decision makers on the floor at all times.
05:35 And that's where U-Dub can be dangerous at times this year is because Paul Mulcahy
05:41 fits that role.
05:42 Not a tremendously great ball handler as far as breaking you down,
05:47 like a severe Wheeler does.
05:49 But tremendous passer, really good passer, reads situations extremely well.
05:54 Draws double teams when he backs down smaller guys in the post,
05:57 finds guys, kicks guys.
05:59 Good enough shooter on the perimeter where you gotta close out to him.
06:02 He attacks that close out, gets into the paint, gets rotations, and
06:06 then starts spraying it out to shooters and or bigs in the dunker spot.
06:11 So really good player in Paul Mulcahy who's had an impact so far as well.
06:17 I think some of the things that are important for
06:20 Gonzaga in this game is push the pace.
06:24 I think if you push the pace against U-Dub,
06:28 a severe Wheeler as good as he can be in pushing in transition,
06:33 I think he can get sped up and make decisions too quickly.
06:38 So I think that's gonna be a key point for Gonzaga.
06:41 I think the other thing that's gonna be key,
06:43 which hasn't been a problem throughout much of this season at all is rebounding.
06:47 U-Dub can be really good on the glass when they want to.
06:52 Frank Kepnong, 6'11", athletic, good size.
06:57 He can really rebound on the offensive end of the floor.
06:59 Same with Braxton Mia.
07:01 He can really rebound when he comes in, although Braxton Mia is foul prone.
07:05 And then Keon Brooks has good length and
07:08 athleticism at that four.
07:10 Moses Wood can really help impact it at the three with his length.
07:15 But I think if Gonzaga can rebound and dominate the glass,
07:18 that will be an advantage.
07:19 And I think for Gonzaga, they've started to show the ability to shoot the ball
07:24 better from the three-point line over the last couple games.
07:27 And I think that's gonna be another key
07:30 facet of the game to see how Gonzaga continues to improve in that area.
07:38 But that being said, it's a quote unquote rivalry game being in the Northwest.
07:44 This game is at Hec Ed.
07:46 I would expect and imagine the game is sold out.
07:50 I checked just the other day and it was not quite a sold out, sell out.
07:54 It was almost there.
07:55 I would expect it to be sold out by tip off time.
07:58 So I would imagine a fair amount of Gonzaga fans are heading over or
08:03 west side of the state of Washington.
08:05 Gonzaga fans will be at the arena as well.
08:07 But that is a great arena.
08:09 This should be a tremendous environment.
08:11 And UW sitting at five and three, the losses that they have,
08:17 you never wanna call them good losses, but they're against good teams.
08:20 They lost to Nevada, who I think can challenge for
08:23 a Mountain West title this year.
08:25 They lost to Colorado State, who probably as of now is the favorite to win
08:30 the Mountain West simply because they're ranked at 12th in one poll, 13 in another,
08:34 undefeated.
08:35 And then they also lost to another Mountain West team, San Diego State,
08:40 who we all know well, played in the title game a season ago.
08:44 Gonzaga will play them at the end of this month.
08:46 So a good talented Husky team is gonna be up for
08:50 the challenge against Gonzaga.
08:53 So appreciate you listening.
08:55 Our team will have tons of coverage pregame as well as postgame.
09:01 So for Gonzaga Nation, I'm Dan DeCow.
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