'Gonzaga is still in a good spot, they just got to play with a little more consistency': Dan Dickau previews WCC action
Former Gonzaga All-American Dan Dickau isn't ready to hit the panic button on the Bulldogs heading into WCC action
Transcript
00:00 Hey, everybody, it's Christian Pedersen joined as always by Dan Dekau back for
00:03 another episode of Gonzaga Nation starting off 2024.
00:06 Dan, happy New Year.
00:07 Yeah, happy New Year to you as well.
00:10 It's been a little bit of time since we recorded one of these.
00:14 I know just with the way that Christmas fell and then New Year's fell,
00:20 we're a little bit behind.
00:21 But, you know, usually typically we record on Mondays and both those holidays
00:27 fell on Mondays.
00:28 So that being said, it's been slow work weeks.
00:32 Gonzaga has had some interesting news, some somewhat interesting news
00:39 and some disappointing news as well.
00:43 So I'm sure we'll get into a little bit of all of them and I can kind of expand
00:47 on what I think is good news, what's disappointing news, what's interesting
00:50 news. Absolutely.
00:51 And fans, we have missed bringing the tag of coverage to you guys on the podcast
00:54 for the website itself has been cranking out stuff nonstop.
00:57 Great coverage with all these games, good and or bad.
01:00 And Dan, I feel like I mean, I don't know how much pro wrestling you've ever
01:05 consumed in your life, but I'm sure you know the concept of someone turning heel
01:09 and becoming the villain.
01:11 And. I have made I've made it very publicly known that traditionally Gonzaga
01:17 beats up on the schools that I have been associated with prior to working here,
01:21 and so now I have turned villain because my school is one one and also all these
01:25 questions that are wonderful, fabulous producer has asked me to ask you all
01:30 paint me is very much a negative doom and gloom guy.
01:32 I know there was a loss to San Diego State, but largely I still feel like.
01:37 Gonzaga falls into that very blessed category of basketball fans
01:42 where you're still like the fundamental pieces of the team are there.
01:44 So my apologies, fans, for our first episode of twenty twenty four being me
01:48 doing nothing but asking Dan doom and gloom bad news questions.
01:52 We promise that what we are doing is setting the bar here
01:55 so it only gets better for the rest of the season.
01:57 Dan, let's just I guess let's start with the historically bad
02:01 and some of the all time worst three point shooting coming this year
02:05 from Gonzaga's backcourt.
02:06 What's going on there?
02:09 Is it a fundamental like is it a shot like like something you can coach issue?
02:12 Is it a mentality issue?
02:14 Is it a combo of people issue?
02:16 Help us decipher this.
02:18 Just not making shots.
02:20 I mean, bottom line, you know, Nolan Hickman's been up and down
02:24 with with his ability to make threes.
02:27 He Bradenhoff and Ben Gregg to me are the three best shooters on this roster.
02:31 Once you take off steel ventures,
02:34 Dusty Stromer has shown the potential to maybe crack into that mix.
02:39 But he as is has Nolan Hickman, it's just been inconsistent.
02:43 So a couple of things are going on in my eyes.
02:47 The inconsistency of the makes, but I think a lot of it is also
02:52 due to the inconsistency of when guys take threes.
02:55 You know, Ryan Nemart is
03:00 shooting sub 20 percent from three.
03:03 We can look up the numbers real quick.
03:04 I think it's probably 17, 18 percent.
03:07 Historically, he's been a career about 33 percent three point shooter,
03:13 which doesn't, you know, make you say he's a knockdown shooter by any stretch.
03:18 But his are kind of erratic at times and rushed.
03:21 He doesn't always seem unbalanced.
03:23 He seems to be a guy who just needs to take a deep breath and take the open ones.
03:28 You want three three point percentage for who?
03:32 Why don't we just run down three point percentage of all of them?
03:34 Because as I said, I think is Hickman and Greg are the three best shooters
03:40 with Stromer, a close one.
03:42 All right. So at the top, we get an apologies, everybody.
03:44 That was horrible production on my part.
03:45 I'm not able to see Dan when I'm looking at the stats page.
03:49 So I trampled right over him there.
03:51 Just an awful good on my part.
03:54 Historically bad producer shooting here.
03:56 Anton Watson is leading it at forty five point five.
04:00 Ben Gregg is thirty seven nine.
04:02 Braden Huff is thirty seven.
04:03 Graham is thirty six point four.
04:06 Nolan Hickman is thirty five.
04:09 Stromer is thirty two seven.
04:12 Kronovich is twenty five.
04:14 Yo is twenty and then fifteen for Nem hard zero for the rest
04:20 for a total of an average team three point percentage of thirty one five.
04:24 And that's going to fall in the bottom third of Division
04:29 one basketball in Gonzaga's fans have been spoiled by having some of the best
04:32 shooters in college basketball over the last 20 plus years.
04:36 But, you know, you look at those numbers.
04:39 Anton Watson doesn't shoot a high enough volume for that.
04:43 Forty five percent to be impactful.
04:45 Their next shooter on that list,
04:49 you know, are just kind of going down on some of those guys.
04:51 Ben Gregg and Braden Huff, you know, they're both hovering around 38,
04:56 which for bigs is great, but they don't shoot a high volume of threes either.
05:00 And when you look at Braden Huff's, his high volume attempt
05:06 games are against the lower tier opponents where you would expect him to dominate.
05:11 He's struggled against the the power five, the bigger schools.
05:14 And then when you look towards, you know, your three backcourt guys,
05:18 Stromer at 32 percent, I think you said, you know, that I like his mechanics.
05:24 I like his release.
05:25 I like, you know, that he takes good shots.
05:27 He's still a freshman getting used to the college game.
05:29 So he's he's going to show signs of ups and downs.
05:35 Hickman at thirty five.
05:36 I mean, that's about what he's been over the first two years of his career.
05:39 If I if I'm not mistaken, you know, the Nembhard numbers at 15.
05:44 I mean, I was thinking it was 17 or 18, but at 15, you know, there's
05:48 there's bad shots being taken or there's shooting with lack of confidence.
05:55 Either one of those two are part of the case, not necessarily the sole case.
06:00 But, you know, we're about a third of the way into the season.
06:05 And, you know, your numbers at the college level,
06:08 about a third of the way in the season, pretty much hold steady.
06:12 Now, there can be some slight improvements.
06:14 I think there will be.
06:17 But I think, you know, all in all, this is not the shooting team
06:21 that a lot of us expected them to be.
06:24 I'll say this.
06:26 You had me jump
06:30 when I was looking total national three point percentages
06:33 instead of the next page just to like a random number.
06:36 Ended up finding Gonzaga is nationally
06:40 two hundred and sixty fourth in three point field goal percentage
06:44 right between Furman and Texas State.
06:46 So that and that's, you know, bottom third, because out of 366 college teams,
06:51 you know, that that puts you in the bottom third.
06:53 Now, then you also got to look at three point makes per game.
06:57 You know, there's only been one game this season.
07:01 I believe they've made over ten threes.
07:03 There has been years Gonzaga has averaged ten made threes a game.
07:07 And so it kind of shows you.
07:10 Yeah, with the parts of Ike and Ben Gregg and Braden Huff,
07:15 you know, you do want to play inside out maybe a little bit more this year
07:19 than last year,
07:19 because you've got and Watson, you've got potentially four interior players
07:25 you can kind of go to.
07:27 But the difference is, you know, Drew Timmy would create a double team.
07:32 He'd kick it out.
07:33 Guys would make shots in the last few years.
07:35 That necessarily hasn't been the case this season.
07:37 All right. So we saw Dusty Stromer getting benched
07:42 for most of the second half of the San Diego State game.
07:44 Is that a sign of, hey, just take a breather.
07:49 You will get you back to the next game, we will get back at it,
07:54 or is this sign of
07:56 this the start of five needs to get changed and rotated?
07:59 What's what's really going on here?
08:00 You've been big on Ben Gregg.
08:02 I've seen it on social.
08:03 You seen and make sure you guys follow at Zag Nation
08:06 on all of the different social media or Dan and Dan Dick out 21
08:10 and search subscribe for the podcast.
08:12 But you've said you're big on Ben Gregg.
08:13 Is that time for him to be in the rotation?
08:15 Is the just take everybody out, put a new starting five in play,
08:19 pick names out of the hat, like what needs to change next?
08:22 Or what do you think is Mark Hughes next move?
08:24 Now, I don't think anything is going to change starting lineup wise.
08:27 I think if there was going to be one, it would be.
08:30 Move Ben Gregg into the starting lineup at the four slide,
08:34 Watson to the three, bring Stromer off the bench.
08:38 But I don't think that's going to happen.
08:40 You know, matter of fact,
08:43 what I think is going to happen or should happen is
08:47 you got to find ways to get Hickman and Nembhard a little bit of a break.
08:52 There's both those guys in big games, tight games
08:56 are playing 38, 39, 40 minutes a game.
08:59 Find ways to maybe go with that big lineup Stromer at the two at times
09:04 and have Hickman, your primary ball handler for a two minute stretch
09:07 and then rotate it so those guys can get a little bit of a breather
09:12 in at least in that first half, give them each, you know, two,
09:17 three minute rest in that first half where you're still
09:20 kind of searching out, feeling the game,
09:21 you know, with Ben Gregg.
09:25 He's a he's he's starter quality, that's for sure.
09:29 But the question becomes, do you want that energy
09:33 and that that impact of the game off the bench,
09:36 which is a great thing to be able to rely upon as a as a staff
09:41 when you're putting together a game plan?
09:42 What's going on with Brayden Huff?
09:45 You know, I think with Brayden Huff, you're seeing freshman
09:49 growth. I mean, bottom line, he has dominated the games
09:55 that he's supposed to dominate.
09:56 And what I mean by that is, you know, your lower tier teams
10:01 where he has a physical advantage, he has a skill advantage.
10:04 He's dominated those teams.
10:06 You've seen games of 18 points, 20 points, whatever,
10:08 you know, seven of eight from the field, two of two from the line,
10:11 six rebounds, whatnot in in 20 minutes.
10:15 And then what you're seeing when you're going up against big physical
10:20 power five athletes, your Purdue's, your UCLA's, USC.
10:26 Although I thought he played a little bit better against USC,
10:29 against U-Dub, San Diego State, the physicality of those players
10:35 is something that he's still adjusting to.
10:38 And there's nothing wrong with that.
10:39 I mean, look, he is still a freshman.
10:42 Yes, he redshirted a season ago, but he's still a freshman.
10:45 And in the world of college basketball,
10:47 there look across the board, there are not a lot of freshmen
10:51 making enormous impacts.
10:54 There's a reason the transfer portal is so coveted by a lot of schools
10:59 because they can go get those guys that have been in three, four, five,
11:01 three, four years of school
11:04 to be able to go against the young players like a Braden Huff.
11:07 So I'm not overly concerned yet.
11:11 I just think that, you know, the physicality has been something
11:17 that I'm sure opposing coaches are saying,
11:21 take it straight to his chest.
11:23 We're going to go right at him.
11:25 Let's put him in foul trouble.
11:26 Let's put him in. Let's put doubt in his mind.
11:28 Let's see if we can attack this matchup,
11:31 because quite frankly, that's what coaches do.
11:34 They look at where their opportunities may lie
11:37 against the opposing roster and looking at Gonzaga's.
11:42 I'm sure they see when Braden Huff's in the game,
11:45 they want to put him in the pick and rolls.
11:46 They want to be physical with him.
11:48 They want to keep him off the offensive glass.
11:50 They want to pressure him on the on the perimeter,
11:52 try to make him a ball handler, decision maker
11:54 with pressure on him, not backed off.
11:58 And so I think what you're seeing is some struggles at times,
12:02 but I also think you're seeing, you know, some some spots
12:06 where where he's playing well,
12:09 but with foul trouble, you know, with missed shots,
12:12 he hasn't been able to really get in to a long kind of groove
12:16 against any of those big, big power five conference teams
12:19 that they're playing.
12:20 That being said, WCC conference play is right around.
12:24 You're going to have to expect the physical play
12:27 from San Francisco, from St.
12:30 Mary's, from San Diego, Santa Clara on down the line.
12:32 I mean, teams now have had 13 games to look at what Gonzaga has done
12:37 and been successful with and has struggled with.
12:40 Well, you better guarantee that they're looking at the things
12:43 that Gonzaga struggled with,
12:44 and they're going to try to accentuate that in their game plan.
12:47 No different than what Gonzaga does when they look at,
12:49 you know, game film preparing for their opponents.
12:52 Glad you bring up the WCC.
12:55 It is on to that part of the season now.
12:57 Pepperdine and USD are the next two teams up for Gonzaga.
13:00 This is another one where I've got to ask your overall impression of
13:04 is this panic time or not?
13:07 Because right now the top three go USF, Gonzaga, USD.
13:12 You had been big on USF, like nailing it in transfer portal.
13:15 I don't know if I and or a lot of the Gonzaga population took you seriously
13:20 as them, like being the second team in the conference,
13:25 let alone the team that is currently ahead of Gonzaga.
13:27 USD also an interesting one after the last couple of years
13:31 that they've had to be at the point where they're at past USD.
13:34 It goes Santa Clara, St.
13:36 Mary's, LMU, Pepperdine, Portland Pacific to round out the WCC.
13:41 Like I said, damn panic time or not for Gonzaga.
13:43 No, no, not at all.
13:46 I think I think right now there are clearly two teams
13:50 that are probably better than everybody in the league,
13:53 and I include Gonzaga in that it's Gonzaga and it's San Francisco.
13:57 Jonathan Mobo has been a terrific addition in the transfer portal,
14:01 and they've gotten good guard play from Marcus Williams.
14:06 You know, they've
14:10 met a Mongolian Mike, I'm drawing a blank on his last name.
14:13 You know, I think he's been really good for them as well.
14:17 They've got a freshman guard who scored it at a high clip.
14:20 Those dons, I think,
14:24 are going into the WCC play with a lot of confidence.
14:27 And, you know, Gonzaga, for as much as people want to say,
14:30 oh, the sky's falling, they're nine and four, they're they're this,
14:34 they're that, the other.
14:35 Look, this is Gonzaga's league until somebody takes it from them.
14:38 And St. Mary's has challenged that a number of times over the years,
14:42 but they haven't fully been able to wrestle it away from Gonzaga.
14:45 And I don't see that any team on in this league
14:48 is going to have the ability to do that this year.
14:51 You know, Gonzaga.
14:54 Yeah, there are four losses when you look at it.
14:57 Are against some pretty good teams.
15:00 Purdue, UConn are both national title contending teams.
15:04 U-Dub, when they've laid the right way, has looked really good
15:09 for a Pac-12 team, much better than years past.
15:12 I think they've got a chance to be in the tournament.
15:14 If they can continue to win, that's only going to help Gonzaga.
15:18 Even though they lost the game, it's only going to help them.
15:20 San Diego State, look, they're coming off of a national title appearance game.
15:24 They only have two losses on the season.
15:27 They should be in the top 25.
15:28 They're just not.
15:29 Gonzaga's falling all the way to the top, the 24 in the top 25.
15:34 And so if if you would have said 25 years ago when this run started, hey,
15:40 in 25 years from now, you're still going to be ranked 24th in the country.
15:43 You're sitting in nine and four.
15:45 People are going to complain about that
15:47 because you've been in the AP poll longer than anybody else
15:50 currently in college basketball.
15:52 Will you take it?
15:52 Everybody would say yes in a heartbeat.
15:55 It's just so happens that, you know, a couple of their loss, their wins
15:59 USC, UCLA, that you thought were going to be, you know, movement makers
16:05 in regards to your Ken Palm in regards in regards to your net haven't been
16:10 because both those teams are hopping around 500.
16:12 So those those haven't been marquee wins.
16:15 Gonzaga doesn't have that marquee win that they're looking for.
16:18 And so they're going to have to rely on playing great in the league,
16:21 which I fully expect them to.
16:23 And you're going to go to Rupp Arena to play Kentucky on the road in February.
16:27 And that's going to be a massive game.
16:29 But back to the WCC, which is I know what we're talking about.
16:32 While you mentioned that, I just want to jump in and update people on the numbers
16:35 because we had talked a couple of episodes ago about where the WCC stood.
16:41 Still sub 500 in quad one, but now above 500 in quad
16:46 two across the board in aggregate as a total WCC this year.
16:51 And let's see one game under 500 quad three.
16:55 So overall, the trend is getting better.
16:59 But yes, you like you felt like you would check back in and you'd think.
17:03 Oh, that shifted to being, you know, they're only one game under 500 in quad one,
17:08 and there's like starting to compile some of those higher end stats,
17:11 this just they just those games haven't been there and available.
17:14 Yeah. And that happens.
17:16 I mean, again, the league went out and scheduled difficult
17:19 and they just didn't perform across the board to get those quad one wins.
17:23 And even the quad twos, as you mentioned,
17:25 I was expecting that win loss record to be better.
17:28 I mean, Gonzaga is probably last I checked.
17:31 I think they were sitting at 57 in the net.
17:34 I don't ever remember Gonzaga 57 in the net since this became a metric
17:40 a few years back that was important to look at for the NCAA tournament.
17:44 Eating three in San Francisco at 39.
17:46 Well, what was Gonzaga?
17:48 Zagat goes San Francisco, 39, St.
17:51 Mary's, 53, Gonzaga, 57.
17:54 Yeah. And that will change.
17:56 I mean, Gonzaga wins a couple of games on the road in league.
18:00 And all of a sudden that bumps up and now you can start really kind of thinking
18:04 about seeding or hoping to be a top seed somewhere.
18:09 But at the end of the day, it comes down to Gonzaga performing
18:12 the rest of the season.
18:13 If you look at the rest of the league and I know you touched on,
18:16 you know, their first couple of games,
18:18 USD being one of them, you know.
18:23 Well, it's Pepperdine on Thursday and then USD on Saturday.
18:26 San Diego sitting at third in the league at ten and five,
18:28 but they haven't played the quality of opponents
18:31 that maybe everybody else in the league has.
18:34 A lot of that's due to to design because Steve Laven has kind of tried to
18:38 to build a roster where of continuity.
18:42 So instead of being transfer portal heavy, he's been young player
18:45 heavy over the last year and a half.
18:48 Pepperdine, they're sitting at seven and eight, but they've had a number of injuries.
18:52 Maybe their best player, Javon Porter, NBA prospect.
18:55 They're hoping he's back very soon.
18:58 I've heard he's basically, you know.
19:02 Playing the waiting game, doesn't want to come back from injury too soon
19:07 unless he's 100 percent, because obviously he's getting,
19:11 you know, looked at very strongly by NBA front offices.
19:14 And that's a fine line.
19:16 Like you want to prove that you can play through some stuff.
19:19 You want to prove that you can play when you're not at your best,
19:21 but then you also do want to be at your best so that you can show
19:24 exactly what you can do.
19:25 So there's a fine line with with coming back from injury in his case.
19:29 St. Mary's, we've talked about it.
19:31 They they've just struggled this year.
19:33 I think the loss of Logan Johnson
19:35 has been bigger than than expected defensively.
19:38 He was tremendous.
19:40 But I think offensively, he gave him that one guy who kind of,
19:42 you know, create off the dribble, finish in transition,
19:45 take pressure off of Aiden Mahaney and Augustus Marcellonis,
19:50 because those guys have a lot more responsibilities on their shoulders.
19:54 Santa Clara, they got off to a great start, but then they've struggled
19:57 as of late because they've had a couple injuries themselves.
20:00 LMU just hasn't been consistent,
20:02 although former Gonzaga player Dom Harris is leading the league in three point
20:05 percentage.
20:07 That's not going to sit well with some fans, being that Gonzaga
20:10 has struggled from the three point line and then Pacific.
20:13 Just their roster talent on their roster just
20:18 doesn't provide them the ability to really compete
20:21 with the top tier this year in the league in Portland at six nine.
20:25 You know, after last year in the P.K.
20:29 eighty five where Portland had a couple of really good showings,
20:33 including a big upset win, I think it was over Villanova.
20:35 They really struggled.
20:37 They've had injuries, but then they just haven't been able to put it all together
20:41 since that tournament.
20:43 So all in all, I still think it's Gonzaga's league.
20:47 I think San Francisco is a close second with St.
20:51 Mary's once St.
20:52 Mary's gets right.
20:53 And trust me, just like Gonzaga fans are a little bit on edge
20:57 with how the season's gone, going into league, et cetera.
21:00 I'm sure St.
21:01 Mary's fans are the same way.
21:03 But listen, they're unbelievable program.
21:06 They're going to get it turned around.
21:08 And in no time, you're going to see Gonzaga, St.
21:11 Mary's, San Francisco start to separate themselves
21:16 as long as they stay healthy.
21:17 Now, I do think Santa Clara again can creep in there,
21:20 but some of their injuries has not allowed them to play at the level.
21:25 I think that they were hoping to this year.
21:27 How much room for error does Gonzaga have in the WC season?
21:30 Can they lose a game?
21:32 Can they lose three?
21:33 Where do you start to panic then?
21:36 Well, look, I don't think this is a this is a year
21:39 you're going to run through that the league 16 and 0.
21:44 I still think they're 14 and two, 15 and one ish.
21:47 I mean, look, you say you go into San Francisco.
21:50 That's a tough place to play, although I think it's helpful
21:54 to for them this year in the fact that they play that game at the Chase Center,
21:58 not on campus, War Memorial Gym at USF.
22:01 I think that helps Gonzaga.
22:03 But I think going into St.
22:05 Mary's is always a tough place to play.
22:06 Going to Santa Clara is always a tough place to play.
22:09 And you're always going to get everybody's best shot.
22:11 And that's the thing.
22:13 You know, protect home court and then go take care of business on the road.
22:17 And I think you're looking at 14 and one, 14 and two, 15 and one.
22:21 And it's going to ease a lot of people's worries
22:24 about having to win the WCC tournament.
22:27 Obviously, Gonzaga has been in that title game, I think, the last 26 years,
22:31 so you would expect to be there again.
22:33 But, you know, there's a lot of naysayers out there right now
22:37 that are thinking too much on the negative side.
22:40 Gonzaga is still in a good spot.
22:43 They just they just got to play a little bit more consistency.
22:46 And the thing that's really hurt them is they're lacking that signature
22:51 win in the non-conference, especially because it is mentioned
22:54 that USC UCLA games, both of those, you thought those were going to be
22:58 much better looking games impacting your net and chem palm
23:02 at this point of the year than they than they are.
23:06 That is 150 percent out of Gonzaga's control as to what Nick Cronin
23:11 is going to have for UCLA.
23:13 So you can't fault coach few for that.
23:15 And I am not trying to project onto you any degree of doom and gloominess
23:19 about this. And I largely understand what you're saying,
23:21 that this is a good thing.
23:22 Young players growing and developing is following the show.
23:25 So my apologies, fans.
23:27 We've got two more.
23:27 The thing or one bad, one good in the realm of in the realm of recruiting.
23:31 So we're moving away from the the roster to the future roster.
23:36 Zoom Diallo chooses you dub
23:38 your reaction just in general to all of that.
23:42 A surprise, but not not crazy surprise.
23:49 Look, you dub has traditionally gotten the best kids on the West Side,
23:54 West Side being Seattle Tacoma.
23:56 They've typically gotten those kids because there there's kind of like
24:03 there's there's a sense that all the best players from that area
24:08 either go to like a Duke, like a bank, Carol, or they go to you dub
24:13 and they try to do it for their hometown team.
24:15 And it's worked out really well for some guys.
24:17 Brandon Roy, Isaiah Thomas, Matisse, Bible, who all made the league.
24:23 You know, but then.
24:25 What it's also done is it's kind of put Gonzaga in a spot
24:29 where they don't always recruit guys on the West Side.
24:33 Simply because you dub is typically got those guys.
24:36 So Gonzaga has been very selective in going after guys on the West Side
24:41 that they think can really fit their culture, fit their winning philosophy
24:47 and their winning style.
24:49 And Gonzaga looked to me that they went all in on Zoom Diallo early.
24:53 Unfortunately, they didn't get him.
24:55 I honestly thought Zoom Diallo was going to come to Gonzaga.
24:58 I had heard rumors and rumblings quietly behind the scenes
25:03 that he had committed.
25:04 He was ready to to to sign, but then he just wanted a little bit more time.
25:09 And that little bit more time obviously allowed you
25:13 dub to kind of really finish their recruiting pitch with him.
25:17 You know, at the end of the day, a lot of this comes down to
25:23 ever changing landscape of college basketball.
25:27 And, you know, you're beginning to see a little bit of.
25:31 The recruiting wars being played out with NIL,
25:36 and I don't know what he's going to be paid at UW with the NIL.
25:41 I don't know what guys at Gonzaga are getting with the NIL,
25:44 but it is having an impact.
25:45 It is something that to keep an eye on.
25:48 That being said, he would have been a nice player,
25:52 but I don't think by any stretch he's a he's a true game changer
25:56 at the point guard.
25:58 I think, you know, there's going to be other opportunities for Gonzaga
26:01 to find players that fit,
26:04 because at the end of the day, it's all about fit.
26:07 And then it's about development within the time frame
26:11 that you're at Gonzaga.
26:12 Dan, a lot of podcasts in the realm of sports in general
26:17 claim to be experts or insiders on a certain random weird niche thing.
26:20 I think that we as a podcast might be the number one podcast
26:25 in terms of being able to be in the mindset of transferring from UW
26:29 to the basketball at a higher level.
26:33 So I'd be an awful, awful host if I didn't put a huge spotlight
26:37 on the fact that you did that and things worked out really well for you.
26:40 So I just like, do you want to give Zoom a pitch of, hey, buddy,
26:44 like we'll see you in a year?
26:46 Because the transfer portal is much more of a real thing.
26:48 We talk about it all off season, every off season, like it sustains
26:53 college basketball in a way that it didn't back when you did
26:56 or back when you were in college and yet you did this exact path.
27:00 So any thoughts or or pitches or just no? Next question.
27:04 I mean, it's it's real. It's out there.
27:08 I mean, the transfer portal is
27:11 way more active than when I was a player.
27:13 You know, when I was transferring late 90s, it was like something's wrong.
27:18 Was something's wrong with this player?
27:20 Does he not believe in himself?
27:22 Is he injured? Is he hurt?
27:23 Is he just not as good as we maybe thought coming out of high school?
27:26 So there was big black check marks on your resume.
27:30 If you were to transfer back then now, it's business as usual.
27:33 Sometimes, you know, you just want to change the scenery
27:37 or sometimes you have a.
27:41 Backroads and I'll offer that comes your way that you're like, oh, OK,
27:46 well, I'll take the money, I'll go to that school.
27:49 It just is what it is these days in college athletics.
27:52 I think the one thing
27:53 to be mindful and to think about in regards to this is Mike Hopkins,
28:00 two time Pac-12 coach of the year.
28:04 They've struggled in recent years so much so that there was a lot of people
28:09 in UW circles calling on him, calling for him to be fired a season ago.
28:14 He didn't. Many people say it's because of the amount of the buyout.
28:20 Whatever it was, he is coaching still this year.
28:24 He's gone out and he's recruiting as if he's going to be there
28:28 again for the long term.
28:30 So Zumbi, although must be comfortable with making the decision
28:34 going to UW based on the fact that he feels Mike Hopkins is going to be there.
28:38 Now, just. Fast forward.
28:42 Three, four months. What if?
28:46 UW struggles.
28:47 What if Mike Hopkins loses his job?
28:50 Does Zoom Diallo stay committed to UW in that
28:54 in that circumstance?
28:57 Because that's something that honestly has to be considered
29:01 consistently these days in college athletics,
29:04 because for all intents and purposes,
29:09 players commit to the coach in the program, not to the school.
29:14 And that's that's something that that many people kind of forget a lot of times.
29:18 Now, I'm not saying I want Mike Hopkins to get fired
29:21 because I'm truly not saying that.
29:24 I think he's I think he's a tremendous person.
29:27 I've talked to him multiple times on a number of different levels
29:30 with with broadcasting work that I do.
29:33 I think he's a good coach that is just had some bad luck
29:37 with roster makeup and the fact that the Pac-12 has been really good
29:42 in years that his roster was maybe mediocre.
29:46 So I'm just saying that's something to keep an eye out for.
29:50 That is honestly very relevant with college athletics these days and transfers.
29:55 I will on the subject of recruiting.
29:57 Let's end this show on a little bit more of a potentially high note.
30:00 Nolan Traore.
30:01 I'm sure there's a much more French inflection with which to say that name.
30:05 I apologize from the opposite end of the globe.
30:08 The Gonzaga recruit out of France, he's in attendance at the San Diego State game.
30:12 He seems to now be the point guard of the future.
30:15 Yes. No. Your thoughts there.
30:18 Hard to say. I mean, the thing is, is, you know,
30:21 we'll occasionally have an article on our website
30:25 about Gonzaga's potential recruits and fans will get all excited
30:29 about these different players.
30:30 Say there's five or six names that really get floated out there.
30:35 Gonzaga is still probably looking at three, four times that many amount of players.
30:40 But then you whittle it down to really kind of focus in and prioritize
30:44 and bring those smaller number of players on recruit.
30:48 So the fact that, you know, they brought him in from France
30:51 shows that he's a high priority target.
30:54 I don't know much about his game at this moment in time.
30:56 I do know one of the coaches on staff was recently over in France.
31:02 Must have been to see him would
31:06 be my be my best guess.
31:10 So I do think that, you know, if Gonzaga is going to.
31:15 How do I say this?
31:18 Miss out on a couple of their targets here in the States.
31:21 They just got to keep being very proactive and creative
31:24 with their recruiting of overseas guys.
31:26 Look, I like Kronovich, correct?
31:28 Kronovich. He just he
31:31 didn't fully earn the trust of Coach Few early in the season.
31:35 And so his minutes were inconsistent.
31:37 But he's a freshman.
31:39 He's hurt. Hopefully his his healing process is going well.
31:43 As we sit here, recording is January 2nd.
31:45 So I would think that means he's back in about two weeks,
31:48 which will definitely help some of that that that backcourt depth
31:51 that we touched on earlier in the show.
31:54 You know, they've got June from South Korea, I think, has shown flashes again.
31:59 But again, he's a freshman.
32:01 Pavle Stozic, I think, is a player that maybe in another year or two,
32:06 if he sticks around, can definitely have an impact.
32:09 He's he seems to be high motor, skilled, plays hard, understands things.
32:14 So, you know, if if
32:17 basically Gonzaga's just got to do what they've always done
32:21 and be open to thinking outside the box and recruiting.
32:25 And this could be another way they're doing that.
32:28 And we appreciate your time.
32:30 Thank you for talking everybody down from their concerns
32:33 to just be rational basketball fans.
32:35 Happy New Year, everybody.
32:37 As a reminder, you can follow us, Foundation's X and all the social media.
32:39 Make sure you check out the website.
32:41 Make sure you check out the amazing things that Dan is doing in studio.
32:44 What if this is your first time checking this show out?
32:47 It's like somehow your New Year's resolution was I'm going to get more
32:50 into Gonzaga basketball podcasts.
32:51 We appreciate you joining us.
32:52 But we make sure that you should check out like the amazing content
32:56 that him and Adam Morrison are producing out of the studio that they built this year.
32:59 There's so much cool stuff going on there.
33:02 So many cool people rolling through their Cole Forsman's
33:05 got you covered on the articles, the photo.
33:07 It's all amazing. If you just check it out.
33:08 We really appreciate it, Dan. Thank you very much for your time.
33:11 We'll talk to you guys soon.
33:12 Absolutely. Happy New Year.