Former Gonzaga All-American Adam Morrison breaks down the West Coast Conference yearly award winners, why Nolan Hickman should've been All-WCC first team and much more
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01:20 [Music]
01:29 Welcome to the perimeter. Season 3, episode 20 is presented by McGillivray Environmental with Brendan, the producer, coming off a great weekend.
01:37 Two big wins for Gonzaga.
01:40 Clinched that two-seed. We talked about the importance of that.
01:44 Kind of ruined a historic chance for St. Mary's to go undefeated in league.
01:49 Even though they still won the league, congrats to them, but 15-1.
01:53 That Jefferson injury really killed them.
01:56 We'll get into the games. We'll talk about the upcoming WCC tourney.
02:00 Bracketology, where we think this team will fit.
02:03 Scenarios, we've discussed that a little bit in previous episodes, but now there's a clearer picture, obviously.
02:10 And then kind of, you know, discuss
02:15 post-season awards, WCC awards, those came out.
02:21 I think Bram Ekay kind of got screwed over on Player of the Year, but still first team.
02:26 And, you know, cover a lot of topics. You watch the games, obviously, on television.
02:31 What did you think? Just first thoughts. Like, how cool was it, that second half in San Francisco, and then going down to St. Mary's, taking care of business.
02:38 I thought it was great. I mean, I feel like Gonzaga's just hitting their straight at the right time.
02:43 It feels good. I guess in the beginning of the San Francisco game, it was a little bit...
02:47 I mean, they're just breaking away in the second half, and they're just not looking back.
02:53 And I feel like this is the kind of team that we always expect come March.
02:59 It's feeling good, and I think we locked up at least a bit if we don't win the WCC tournament.
03:07 But I don't know. I don't see a team beating us right now.
03:11 I mean, I think it was four quad one wins or three with those two.
03:15 So I think it's three quad one wins, an opportunity against, we're going to assume, San Francisco in the WCC bracket.
03:22 Let's just go over that real quick, how the WCC tourney will look.
03:26 Let's see. Didn't you have that slide right here?
03:29 So, yeah, we'll play the winner of Portland.
03:32 Portland LMU will play the winner. San Francisco will play the winner of that.
03:37 I assume Portland's going to win that game, so we'll probably play the winner of San Francisco-Portland.
03:42 Obviously, we just beat San Francisco handily, but it's hard to beat a team three times.
03:47 And that's still a scary matchup just because they've had a great year.
03:52 That's another quad one win opportunity. We'll play that game Monday night.
03:57 I think it's the 830 game. It's been a while since we've had that late, late one.
04:01 Normally you get the 630 if you're the first seed because then you get, theoretically, the two hours extra rest.
04:08 So that'll be a little bit different. It's a long, makes for a long day.
04:13 But let's just say, theoretically, we win that game. That'll be four, I think four and five in quad one wins.
04:21 Four wins, five losses in quad one wins, or quad one opportunities, excuse me.
04:27 And then it'll be something like, I think it's like eight or something like that versus quad one or quad two because they count quad twos.
04:35 So I think if we do that and then let's just say, hypothetically, we get to the championship and we don't win,
04:43 we are ranked 19th in the AP, 18th in the coaches, but in the net we're 16th.
04:52 So I'm just sitting there going like, there's no way that we couldn't get in.
04:57 Now, do I think that's going to happen? No, I really do think this team is going to win this tournament coming up.
05:02 Obviously San Francisco is good. And then I assume we'll play St. Mary's.
05:07 Who's on the other side of their bracket? They'll play Santa Clara, which is a tough one.
05:13 They've given them trouble this year. So it could be that we play Santa Clara in the championship game as well.
05:20 And I would argue that in theory, Santa Clara is kind of a more balanced matchup,
05:27 if that's the right way to put it, with their big size that they have and bigger guards.
05:32 Not that St. Mary's isn't a tough matchup. It's just, I think if you just looked on paper,
05:37 they got those three, six, 10, six, eight, six, nine, seven footer coming off the bench that if you're looking at just,
05:44 you know, like eyeball tests, like Santa Clara looks like a more difficult matchup for us,
05:50 especially inside guarding EK. But yeah, this conference tournament is going to be fun.
05:56 Really proud of our guys of getting into that two spot. I know you want to win the regular season title,
06:02 but the real one is the automatic bid, right? So getting in that top two seed,
06:10 we talked about it at length, almost ad nauseum on previous episodes,
06:14 it's so important to be able to avoid that third game. I think the WCC does a good job.
06:20 I had a rant episode ago or two episodes ago about how the Big Sky and these smaller conferences don't protect their top seeds.
06:27 There's a reason you should want to play for finishing in the top two or winning the league is this.
06:32 You don't have to play that third game on Saturday and maybe lose and have to beat a team three times.
06:39 In theory, right? So it's interesting to see, you know, who will win that San Francisco,
06:47 I'm assuming Portland matchup. I think San Francisco is obviously a better club,
06:52 but you never know. And then we can maybe, you know, have a game where we, well, here's a good question.
06:58 Would we want San Francisco to win so then we do get a chance at another quad one,
07:03 or would we rather play like LMU or Portland? That's a really good question.
07:07 You're like, well, if you play those teams, it's obviously not a shoo-in,
07:12 but it makes winning percentage of that game significantly higher.
07:16 And I bet you, since it's in Vegas, we would be highly, highly favored, like 10 plus points.
07:22 Either of those matchups, LMU or Portland. So that'll be interesting to see.
07:26 But we played great against San Francisco down there. I was really proud. Obviously, I didn't go to the game.
07:32 I was at my daughter's state basketball tournament. So I watched on television.
07:37 That second half was as good as we played in a long time, especially defensively.
07:41 I mean, we really just clamped down, and then we were just flying around offensively,
07:46 getting transition baskets. Guys were scoring in bunches.
07:51 We finally saw, like, the big knockout punch that we've seen in years past.
07:56 Not that this team didn't have runs, but we've sought more regularly is what I'm trying to say in teams past.
08:05 But this team is hitting their stride at the right time.
08:09 Graham E.K. was fantastic in that game. 26 points, 7 rebounds, 9 of 12 from the field.
08:14 Made all 8 of his free throws. Anton was great, 10 and 5, 50% from the field.
08:20 Ben Gregg, 5 points, 5 rebounds, but just solid. Nemhard was fantastic, 15 points, 6 assists.
08:30 Then Nolan Hickman, 22 points, 3 rebounds, 6 to 6 from the free throw line, 2 to 6 from downtown.
08:36 It's another one of those games, though, where we don't shoot it well from the 3.
08:42 We go 3 for 10, and we blow somebody out. So I think it's kind of a good thing.
08:47 At the start of the year, and I talked about it a lot because it was such a big topic,
08:51 and I got tired of talking about it, but it was something that needed to be said.
08:55 Every time we had a big loss or a struggle, you immediately went to the 3-point line.
09:00 You know what I mean? The 3-ball stats.
09:03 And it was getting kind of annoying to continually talk about it.
09:07 And it wasn't our only flaw. There was other things.
09:11 We were turning the ball over too much. Graham wasn't as effective.
09:15 Not that he wasn't playing, didn't have good non-conference games,
09:18 but he wasn't as effective as he is now, and efficient is the point I'm trying to make,
09:24 and better against double-team, all that stuff. He wasn't playing as good.
09:28 Then our backcourt wasn't playing as good, and Nemhard wasn't shooting the ball
09:31 at the level that he was in conference play, and then Nolan wasn't as good as well.
09:37 So it's nice to be able to point and look at things and not always just talk about 3-point shooting.
09:47 Plus 9 on the glass in this game as well.
09:51 Wow, we got 28 free throws. That's a lot. 23 to 28, so we are obviously the more aggressive team.
09:57 30 for 48, 62% from the field. Absolutely dominated offensively.
10:02 Win by 18. Did an excellent job defensively on their best guys.
10:07 Mogbo, who's a good player, has 14-11, but he only gets 9 field goal attempts,
10:12 and is kind of out of the game. Plays 35 minutes, but a -25 for him.
10:17 So I was just really impressed watching that game, obviously on television,
10:22 how well we played and how fast we played. It's a good sign.
10:27 And I said it before, it sucked for San Francisco because it takes a game away from them
10:34 at that Memorial, which is a really cool venue, hard place to play at.
10:38 Then we play in the gym that we played at, and it just felt bad because it's like,
10:44 there's going to be a lot of Gonzaga fans, not more, but there's going to be more than you think
10:49 will show up to that game, so it'll feel like a true neutral, not a home game,
10:53 but it counts as a home game for them. But also, that puts money in the pockets.
11:00 That's why they have neutrals and stuff like that.
11:03 But really impressed with how our guys played. Excellent job off the bench,
11:07 from Braden and Dusty, just positive minutes, efficient.
11:11 So yeah, that started the weekend.
11:14 The Perimeter will be right back after a word from our sponsor.
11:18 [music]
11:21 Our family is all over the place sometimes, but ICCU helps us keep up with them.
11:26 We use card control to turn on Olive's debit card when she needs to pay for activities.
11:30 And turn it off when she's shopping online.
11:32 We make sure Forrest is depositing his lawn mowing checks into his college fund.
11:36 And we definitely make sure to ask Grandma Ivy where all those Zeld transfers come from.
11:41 Phew, that was a lot of keeping up. Ready for a break?
11:45 [music]
11:48 Efficient. So yeah, that started the weekend.
11:53 And once we got that, that was another quad one.
11:56 And I felt really good going into that Saturday game against St. Mary's.
12:00 We talked about Justin Jefferson being out for the season for St. Mary's
12:05 and how much that helps us in theory.
12:09 You know, you never want to see a kid injured.
12:11 We're not talking in that regards, but just him not being there,
12:14 that presence made it really difficult for St. Mary's just at the start of the game
12:19 from a matchup portion, I guess, is what I'm trying to get at.
12:25 Like, he was a good neutralizer to Anton.
12:29 You know, in theory, similar body type. He could guard that position.
12:33 And he was good on the-- he could switch a lot of things defensively.
12:36 And then up here against us, he had 16-11 and played all 40 minutes,
12:39 which was just really good. Just solid. Just a good basketball player.
12:43 And not having him, especially on a team that historically doesn't play a lot of guys,
12:48 play seven, seven and a half usually, losing that is a big blow for them.
12:55 So going into the game, I really felt like-- I mean, St. Mary's was favored by three.
13:00 And I was like, "Man, if I was a Batman, I would hammer the shit out of this one,"
13:03 just knowing that Jefferson, what he does for them.
13:07 But I was kind of surprised to see in that line.
13:09 I was like, "Wow, I know they're at home and they beat us before, but that's a huge loss."
13:15 But I thought, you know, coming into this game, we were just playing at the right peak.
13:21 We locked up the second seed.
13:24 And so we were playing, obviously, for pride, but another chance for a quad one.
13:27 And then I guarantee-- I mean, obviously, I was in the locker room and wasn't down there,
13:31 but I guarantee the mention of, "Hey, let's not let these guys go 16-0."
13:35 You know, we were the only clubs that have done that, at least in the modern era.
13:41 Let's keep it that way.
13:42 Something that's just ours is an undefeated regular season in WCC.
13:46 So I guarantee that was--
13:48 - That's how it felt watching how they were playing,
13:52 that they weren't going to let St. Mary's even be in the game.
13:57 - No. No. Yeah, I liked how we started out energy-wise, flying around, exciting.
14:04 That's a really hostile place to play.
14:06 I think it's one of the cooler gyms, and the conference is really basic,
14:10 just, you know, no end zone.
14:12 There's end zone seating now, but it's really small.
14:16 They actually have done a good job of putting a nice scoreboard in there,
14:19 or like a video board, which sounds funny, but it was really bland before.
14:24 And they actually have a pretty good production style for how small it is.
14:29 I know that sounds funny as well, but they make it live.
14:32 And then their students are kind of rude in a good way.
14:37 You know what I mean?
14:38 Like it's a good college basketball atmosphere.
14:40 It gets a little bit vile, a little bit obscene.
14:42 So it's a fun place to play.
14:46 And they're all--and I mean this truthfully.
14:51 Like they're all nice people.
14:52 You know what I mean?
14:53 So it's a healthy respect.
14:54 You go there, they don't treat you like shit, but they don't--
14:57 you know they don't like you, but they're not rude.
15:00 You know what I'm saying?
15:01 It's not like when we used to play at BYU, that's when you were like,
15:04 "Some of these people are kind of rude."
15:06 You know what I mean?
15:07 Like just a little bit stuck up.
15:09 Like there's respect there.
15:10 Yeah, exactly.
15:11 There's a healthy respect there.
15:12 Similar size universities understand each other.
15:14 Good programs, all that type of stuff.
15:17 So I thought energy-wise our guys were terrific, especially start the game.
15:21 Graham, again, another great game.
15:23 24 points, 10 rebounds.
15:26 And then Nembhard, who played all 40 minutes, was absolutely terrific.
15:29 20 points, 10 assists.
15:31 So a double-double, only one turnover.
15:34 2-4 from downtown, 9-15 from the field.
15:38 Fuey really shortened his bench.
15:39 He only brought Braden and Dusty off the pine.
15:42 But we go 30-58, which is 51%.
15:45 5-9 from three.
15:48 So that's a good percentage, but it didn't take a ton.
15:50 And Ben Gregg was terrific as well, 12 points, 5 rebounds.
15:54 It was just our energy and defense was just tremendous.
15:57 Flying around, we really took away Mahaney.
15:59 I know he gets the 16, but he goes 6-19.
16:03 I liked our ball screen coverage against him.
16:06 Saxon was effective, but he has 13-5.
16:10 Marcellonis, who ended up being league MVP, we'll talk about that,
16:13 was 4-6, 10 points, 6 rebounds.
16:16 But we hold them to 37%, 22-59, and really just bothered them defensively.
16:26 Minus 11 on the glass, a little bit concerning, but 19 assists,
16:29 only 5 turnovers for us.
16:31 Obviously, that's tremendous.
16:32 9 steals is tremendous as well.
16:36 We outscore them 42-26 in the paint.
16:39 Fast break points, 15-3.
16:42 Points off turnovers, 13-7.
16:44 So dominate the major categories statistically.
16:50 Plus 16.5 really took them out of their game, silenced that crowd.
16:55 Like I said, not having Jefferson really, really hurts their opportunity
16:59 to take away an Anton and maybe guard Graham a little bit
17:04 and switch ball screens.
17:07 He just does so much, just like Anton for us.
17:10 A lot of the stuff, Anton's had a great statistical season,
17:13 but the people that understood his value before knew,
17:17 "Okay, he's going to tip a few balls.
17:19 He's going to be able to switch on ball screens."
17:21 You know what I mean?
17:22 He knows the value of having him on the floor.
17:24 He's going to know when to swing.
17:27 That's the same for Justin Jefferson, for them, especially on a team, like I said,
17:30 that's not historically deep.
17:32 When you lose a major cog in the wheel, it can make it really, really difficult.
17:40 Great job, great weekend for our guys.
17:43 What a better way to end the regular season than two dominant wins
17:48 against the top of the conference.
17:50 It kind of set the standard.
17:52 Obviously, we finished second, but we go, what, 14-2.
17:54 It's a pretty good second place.
17:56 It's not like we were playing bad and moved up for the majority of the season
18:03 or something like that.
18:04 Our guys were terrific.
18:05 I'm proud of them.
18:07 Great way to end.
18:08 Like I said, we knocked them off.
18:09 Gives us another quad one win, a huge quad one win on the road.
18:13 Those matter more.
18:15 Like I said, we get to 16 on the net, which is huge.
18:18 I just feel like we're in a position now, if we get to the championship game
18:23 and let's just say somehow we lose that game, I think we're in.
18:26 I don't see how – the strength of schedule, I understand that.
18:30 I think we're in the 90s.
18:31 That's where the major point two would be.
18:34 But it's like, hey, at that point, say San Francisco's win,
18:38 we would have five quad ones.
18:40 So it's like, well, what else do you –
18:42 and then the two quad one losses are to UConn and Purdue.
18:48 Those matter more.
18:49 Totally.
18:50 Yeah, so it's like, well, they're kicking the shit out of everybody else
18:53 or whatever.
18:54 So I just think our guys have done enough at 24 and 6 right now to be in,
19:02 and most bracketology has us in now.
19:04 It's funny how much it fluctuates, which they have us like at six seeds
19:07 in some of them.
19:08 So I was going to say our Leonardi is not updated.
19:12 They updated it yesterday.
19:13 But for Leonardi now, he has us as a seven seed in the east against Villanova,
19:21 which would be –
19:22 It would be a fun game.
19:23 Two Jesuit schools.
19:24 Yeah, which would be great.
19:26 But, yeah, I mean everyone has us as a pretty low seed.
19:29 Fox has us as a seven.
19:30 CBS has us as an eight in the south versus Michigan State.
19:33 That would be fun.
19:34 That would be fun.
19:36 I mean, I think now I'm looking at it like if we're a seven seed right now
19:40 and we can win the WCC.
19:41 We can go up to a six or a five.
19:43 Six or a five.
19:44 Yeah, I think if we win these two, we probably get five or six,
19:49 which I think is fantastic.
19:51 You never want the 8-9.
19:53 That goes without saying.
19:54 8-9 sucks.
19:56 You go seven and below or 10 and above.
20:00 It's always better.
20:02 I'd be happy with a 10.
20:03 Like who cares?
20:04 I mean, at this point, you just get into that pot in your pot
20:08 and win your two games and then move on and anything can happen.
20:11 But I was just super happy for our guys.
20:16 Lenardy last four in.
20:18 It's crazy.
20:19 That was on Monday.
20:20 That was on Monday.
20:21 So, yeah, okay.
20:22 So, yeah, Fox seven seed, CBS eight seed.
20:25 So at least they have us in, I guess.
20:28 I mean for a while we were next four out.
20:30 Yeah.
20:31 For a while, right?
20:32 Yeah, we weren't even on Lenardy's list for I think a week or two.
20:36 But I think it just shows how much this team's evolved over the last month.
20:42 Like it's typical Gonzaga.
20:46 They're hitting the stride at the right time,
20:48 and this is when you want to do it, right?
20:51 Yeah, I agree.
20:52 I think it's great that, you know, obviously this is not like a crazy take,
20:58 but we're playing the best basketball at the end of the year.
21:01 And it's easy to say, you know, a lot of teams do that.
21:04 I'm like, well, you know, Nemhard is transferred.
21:09 EK transferred and didn't play in 18 months.
21:12 Didn't play all of last year.
21:14 Stromer new.
21:15 Braden obviously new to play, you know, registered year.
21:19 And then Ben Gregg, Nolan moving over.
21:22 Like there was a bunch of guys moving into new, you know,
21:28 new roles that mattered more.
21:30 So sometimes that takes a while.
21:32 It takes a while for a team to gel,
21:34 and sometimes it takes a while for the guys to hit their stride offensively
21:38 and really understand what they need to do as a, you know,
21:42 more looked upon score is what I'm trying to say, I guess.
21:47 Or, you know, somebody that has to score more or like be more --
21:51 their role be magnified.
21:54 So I thought, you know, that would take some time.
22:00 You know, also I'm not going to sit here and say, you know,
22:02 I thought this -- I knew this team would get to this point.
22:04 But there was times when it was like, hey, man, we played pretty good.
22:07 We just kind of fumbled down the stretch on some of these games.
22:10 And if we win those, like the San Francisco -- or the Santa Clara, the first one,
22:14 if we make free throws, Washington, you say the same thing, you know what I mean?
22:18 We'd go 0 for 16 against Purdue, right?
22:21 Right.
22:22 You know, from three.
22:23 So, like, if you -- Huddie says it all the time.
22:27 If you win some of those games, the narrative is completely different.
22:32 And that's obvious.
22:33 But it's not like we were getting blown out by bad teams, right?
22:36 And so it's nice to see, like, obviously square off some of these wins
22:41 but also be like, hey, man, like we were close.
22:44 And then when you look, you know, when we were 20-6
22:48 and I had people in the airport, what's going on this year?
22:51 I'm like -- or 20-6, like, what do you mean what's going on?
22:54 Like, honestly, though, sometimes I'm just like, what do you expect every year?
22:58 Like, 20-6 is pretty good.
23:00 Like a lot of programs would be like, holy -- yeah, man, great year.
23:03 And the two losses are against UConn and Purdue.
23:06 And you lost on the road to -- by one to Santa Clara and then what, by three to UW,
23:13 you know what I mean, like your rival.
23:15 So some of it was just like, jeez, man, like,
23:18 I'm wondering what's going to happen if we ever really have a bad year.
23:21 Like, you guys going to, like, go down and burn the gym down or something?
23:25 It's crazy, man.
23:26 It is.
23:27 Well, and the year -- I mean, the hate's not going to end because, like, if --
23:31 I mean, I feel like even if we don't -- if we don't win the national championship,
23:36 people are still, like, typical Zags.
23:39 I'm like -- and that type of mentality is always kind of weird to me,
23:42 like, instead of AA basketball.
23:44 I've never understood it either.
23:45 It's like we've won -- I think we've gone to eight straight Sweet 16.
23:50 So when they're like, you don't win in March, I'm like, what do you mean?
23:53 Like --
23:54 No other team has done that.
23:55 No other team has done that.
23:56 Like, you got to -- those type of streaks,
23:59 you have to go back to, like, the old UCLAs and Kentuckys, you know,
24:02 when there was 16 teams in the tournament, you know what I mean?
24:05 Like, now I understand, like, you know, winning a ship, I get that argument.
24:10 But when you're like, they don't win in March, it's like, well,
24:12 we've gone to a lot of the Elite Eights.
24:13 We've gone to two Final Fours and the National Championship Games.
24:16 Like, let's -- you got to really look at the history,
24:19 but that's when you get all -- you know, you're fighting in common sections
24:23 or just idiots online that have, you know --
24:25 Keyboard warriors.
24:27 Keyboard warriors that don't know the sport and, you know, like,
24:30 you can have an opinion, absolutely, but, like, at least be educated on it.
24:33 And that's for any topic.
24:36 So, yeah, getting into the -- I talked about a little bit earlier
24:39 about the preseason awards.
24:41 You said it was the first time since 2012 we didn't win a major award
24:46 in the conference.
24:47 Correct, yeah.
24:48 So let's go over the first -- okay, Player of the Year,
24:52 Marcell Nones from St. Mary's.
24:53 I thought that was a little bit surprising.
24:56 Great player, had a great year.
24:57 I thought it was going to be Mogbo from San Francisco,
24:59 but usually the best player on the winning team gets it.
25:02 So he's been statistically good.
25:04 Not saying he didn't deserve it, but I thought Mogbo would maybe win it
25:07 or Graham.
25:10 Coach of the Year, Randy Bennett, no surprise, great year.
25:13 Defensive Player of the Year, Mitchell Saxon from St. Mary's.
25:16 I think Anton could have been in that category as well.
25:20 Newcomer of the Year, Mogbo for San Francisco.
25:23 Sixth Man of the Year, Deuce Turner from San Diego.
25:25 He was starting for a while, so I wonder if they put him -- that role just to
25:30 give him an award.
25:31 I don't know.
25:32 It doesn't matter.
25:33 And then Freshman of the Year, Beasley from San Francisco.
25:35 So obviously no Zags win a major award.
25:38 Usually whenever guys win Player of the Year or Defense Player, whatever.
25:44 First team, Nemhard, Anton, and EK make it for us, so congrats to them.
25:52 Highly deserved.
25:53 Second team, Nolan Hickman from Gonzaga makes it.
25:56 I thought he could have made a case for first team, but that's here nor there.
26:02 He's had a great season.
26:03 He's had a great conference season.
26:04 He shouldn't be ashamed of himself.
26:06 He should use it as fire a little bit of not making it.
26:09 But all in all, I think -- oh, yeah, Braden Huff makes all Freshman team.
26:18 Yeah, they only do five for that, so Braden makes all Freshman team.
26:21 Beasley, N. Sminger -- I can't say that name.
26:26 I think it's M. Sminger.
26:28 Yeah, I don't know how to say it either.
26:29 Tyler Harris and then Patton Jr. for San Diego make that.
26:35 Yeah, I think overall, I think the awards are pretty fair.
26:40 I mean, like I said, Graham EK has a great case.
26:43 What's the stat that came out?
26:45 He's the first player since myself to score 20 points in seven straight games
26:49 or something like that for Gonzaga.
26:50 Oh, wow, I did not know that.
26:53 So he's had a great run.
26:54 I think he's had nine or ten in a row of 19 or more.
26:58 Remember, he had 19, so basically 20 in a row for ten straight games.
27:03 Playing highly productive, and then we move into second.
27:06 But like I said, usually the best player on the best team gets that
27:10 Player of the Year award.
27:13 Mark Few said that he would have voted for Marcelonis.
27:17 I don't have a problem -- I mean, I really don't have an issue with it.
27:20 Again, it's a St. Mary's kid, but I don't think like --
27:24 if you look at his numbers and how successful they were,
27:26 it's like, yeah, that's how it works.
27:29 You know what I mean?
27:31 He's a nice kid, too, and his dad was a good NBA player.
27:34 I think it's cool for him.
27:36 It's cool, man, because he was coming off the bench last year for them
27:39 and kind of didn't play a lot.
27:43 He was playing like ten minutes a game.
27:45 So to have like a breakout year in his junior season,
27:50 that's a cool campaign for him.
27:52 I was surprised.
27:54 I mean, I look at the stats.
27:55 Like the Newcomer of the Year, I get that Jonathan Magbo won it,
28:00 but I feel like that's a -- I mean, EK is a shoe-in for that.
28:04 No, yeah, it's a very good point.
28:07 Yeah, no, you're right about that.
28:09 Statistically, he was better than him.
28:10 All across the board.
28:11 All across the board.
28:12 Except for -- I mean, Magbo was averaging ten rebounds a game.
28:18 Ten rebounds.
28:19 Graham's at seven, but he's averaging 17 points a game.
28:22 He's shooting 62%.
28:24 Very good point, man.
28:26 I didn't even think of that.
28:27 The Newcomer part, I always think of that as freshman year.
28:30 They started putting that in like ten years ago, which makes sense.
28:33 Transfers and Juco guys.
28:35 Yeah.
28:37 But, yeah, that kind of lost on that one right there.
28:42 That should have been Graham's.
28:43 That's the only one that I get that I disagree with.
28:46 Are these -- these are voted on by coaches?
28:48 I think coaches and I think maybe media, I think, maybe.
28:53 Do you vote for it?
28:54 No.
28:55 No.
28:56 No, I think it's -- maybe it's not.
28:58 Maybe it's just coaches.
28:59 But I know coaches for sure, obviously.
29:01 Yeah.
29:03 But then it gets weird because if you just do all coaches,
29:07 you assume they would just always shoe in their own guys.
29:10 Right.
29:11 And, you know, I think it's kind of a -- I understand that,
29:15 but you got to be a little bit honest.
29:16 But you want -- obviously it's good for your program if your guys are winning
29:19 all league awards and first teams and it's easier for recruiting.
29:23 But also it can be biased.
29:26 Obviously, I wonder if media gets to vote.
29:29 Yeah, I would -- I was looking it up.
29:31 I don't know how much media covers the WCC, though,
29:34 and that's not trying to be funny.
29:35 It's just it's not as big now.
29:36 So, like, who would get a vote?
29:38 You know, our guys from the spokesmen, those two guys.
29:42 And then would it be, you know, somebody from like the Maragas Times?
29:47 You know what I mean?
29:48 And then, like, what do you do?
29:50 Maybe they include, like, people who've watched over the big games,
29:55 like ESPN.
29:56 I don't know.
29:57 But like Gonzaga and St. Mary's are the only ones that get a ton of airtime
30:03 outside of when we're playing other teams in the conference.
30:08 I mean, that's typically why it's dominated by Gonzaga and St. Mary's
30:12 over the years.
30:13 Yeah, it's a good -- I'm not sure.
30:16 Like, we'll find that out and tell you on the next episode.
30:20 Not that anybody cares, but it's a good question.
30:23 Does it -- not winning those awards, like, do you think it helps fuel the fire
30:29 for Graham and for Anton?
30:32 I think so.
30:33 I mean, you know, I think those usually come into effect when you go into
30:39 your summer workouts or you go into your, you know, end of the season
30:42 and you evaluate where you're at type of deal.
30:45 But that'd bother me a little bit if I'm Graham, if I didn't win a major award
30:50 and he played so good.
30:51 Yeah.
30:52 I'm not Anton's first team is no issue, maybe defensive player of the year.
30:56 Yeah.
30:57 Because he's leading the conference of steals.
30:59 I think he's second all-time in steals behind John Stockton.
31:05 You know, so that matters.
31:08 But, yeah, I think the Nolan one is the one I'd be upset with if I'm Nolan.
31:13 I think he's played good enough in conference play to be a first teamer.
31:16 But still making second team is not a bad thing, getting recognized.
31:20 But, you know, you look at some of the other players that made it in front of
31:24 them, it's like, I don't know, you know, like, yeah, I mean, Marcus Williams
31:31 for San Francisco is okay.
31:34 Jai for Pepperdine is good, he's okay.
31:36 You know what I mean?
31:37 So, like, there's a lot that you could argue against.
31:41 But, again, three guys on the first team and then one guy on the second team
31:45 and then an all-freshman is a pretty good deal.
31:47 Yeah.
31:48 So congrats to them.
31:50 Talking about getting pissed off, the one that should be upset is Dusty Stromer
31:56 to make all-freshman team.
31:57 Yeah.
31:58 That's something that he needs to put in his back pocket and use it for
32:00 motivation next year if that's the type of thing that motivates him.
32:04 You know what I mean?
32:05 Some guys are motivated by different things.
32:07 But I think if you've had a pretty good campaign and you didn't get recognized,
32:11 it should add fuel to the fire a little bit in the offseason.
32:14 So hopefully that does for him.
32:17 Yeah, man, we're going to be going into the conference tournament,
32:21 like I said, most likely San Francisco in the semifinal.
32:24 Then most likely we'd assume St. Mary's, but St. Mary's and Santa Clara
32:28 beat the piss out of each other usually.
32:30 Yeah, I'm assuming Santa Clara and St. Mary's didn't face each other
32:34 when Jefferson was out.
32:36 Yeah, that's a good point.
32:38 So we might be playing Santa Clara in the championship.
32:41 I mean, it's a legitimate case.
32:43 And like I said, that's a scary matchup because their size,
32:48 ball is really good on the perimeter,
32:51 and they just have a better schematically matchup against us size-wise.
32:59 I think it's just they have Cafero inside.
33:02 They have the other two big guys.
33:04 They have the kid that shot the three really well.
33:08 And then the German national kid that was good.
33:11 You know what I mean?
33:12 They just have like six, ten guys that are better than anybody
33:16 that St. Mary's defensively.
33:20 Saxon's good, but he's got to play us without fouling.
33:23 You know what I mean?
33:24 Because there's nobody that will come off the bench for him
33:26 that they really want to put in the game.
33:28 So who knows?
33:30 But I think if we win that first semifinal game
33:33 and then at least get the championship, hopefully we win.
33:35 But if we don't, I still think we're in.
33:37 It's just, like I said, 16 to the net.
33:39 I don't know how you be that high in the net and not make it.
33:42 If that's the case, then what's the point of the net?
33:45 You know what I'm saying?
33:46 If it gets to that point, then why are we even following this?
33:49 That's what my argument would be.
33:52 It doesn't even make sense.
33:53 If you're a top-16 team and you can't even get in that large,
33:56 then what's the point?
33:58 But, yeah, it's been a great end to the regular season.
34:01 Our guys are playing the right way, hitting our strides,
34:06 playing with confidence, playing with passion.
34:08 It's really exciting.
34:10 I'm looking forward to it.
34:11 We'll probably be back a little bit later next week considering--
34:14 Yeah, we'll probably be Thursday.
34:17 Probably drop the episode maybe Wednesday.
34:19 I don't know what time I get back in.
34:21 But probably Thursday is when the new episode will come out.
34:24 We'll talk about, hopefully, a WCC championship,
34:27 all-tournament team, and then who we think we're going to play
34:30 in the NCAA tournament.
34:31 But it would be nice to have that locked up.
34:34 No sweat Sunday, selection Sunday.
34:36 And then the only sweat for me is--
34:39 Where are you going?
34:40 How far do we got to fly, which is always fun.
34:42 But sometimes it's nice when you--
34:45 it's like--
34:47 [AUDIO OUT]
34:48 The perimeter.
34:49 We'll be right back after a word from our sponsor.
34:51 Hey, Hunter Green.
34:52 Did you know that card control from ICCU
34:54 lets you turn off your cards with just the tap of a button?
34:57 Off, on.
34:58 Trying to pay our bills.
35:01 On.
35:02 [MUSIC PLAYING]
35:06 Where are you going?
35:07 How far do we got to fly, which is always fun.
35:10 But sometimes it's nice when you--
35:13 it's like East Rutherford, and you don't see your name
35:16 come across.
35:17 Yes, thank God.
35:18 Phoenix.
35:19 Boom, got it.
35:20 And you're just like, oh, thank God.
35:22 Those type of things, that's what I look at when I'm going.
35:27 No Albany this year.
35:29 Oh, God, yeah.
35:30 I know.
35:31 Some of that stuff, man.
35:32 I'm telling you.
35:33 And it's not just--
35:36 it's the flight times.
35:37 And then sometimes you get to places that are not
35:39 as fun as other places.
35:40 I'm not saying it has to be world class.
35:42 But you get to places that there's not much--
35:44 literally nothing to do.
35:45 Like, Applebee's is it.
35:47 And you're just like, God, I don't want microwaved cheeseburger
35:50 and fries, man.
35:51 I know the beer is cheap, but can we just
35:54 go to a real restaurant, for God's sake?
35:56 And not saying I'm too snobby, but after a while, it's like,
36:00 I want to eat real food, please.
36:02 You get what I'm saying?
36:03 I get exactly what you're saying.
36:04 I just want to eat real food.
36:05 Like, come on, man.
36:06 I think you might be safe this year.
36:08 I think the--
36:09 Yeah, what is the--
36:10 I don't even know the--
36:11 The first round sites are Indianapolis, Brooklyn, Omaha,
36:15 Salt Lake--
36:16 Spokane.
36:17 Memphis, yeah, and Charlotte.
36:20 Oh, OK.
36:21 So I think-- and they say Pittsburgh in there as well.
36:24 I heard Pittsburgh is actually fun.
36:26 Yeah, so--
36:27 Cool city.
36:28 All those places would be a good place to end up.
36:30 I mean, ideally, it would be amazing to end up in Spokane somehow.
36:34 So that's the real big question, too, that we'll cover after the WCC.
36:41 And obviously, a lot of it depends on if we qualify or not, blah, blah, blah.
36:45 I'll get into, like, what are the parameters that we have to have
36:49 to get into Spokane, and what that would mean.
36:53 Because remember, it was 2020, right?
36:57 It's when we were supposed to--
36:58 2020, yeah.
36:59 And then when we landed, everything got--
37:02 we landed in San Jose, I remember, as we did the flight back.
37:07 And everything got-- it was like, cancel, cancel, cancel.
37:10 And it was when COVID first started.
37:12 So you were just like--
37:13 you really felt like the zombie apocalypse was starting.
37:15 And you're like, I just want to go home.
37:17 Don't touch me.
37:18 You know what I mean?
37:19 Like, everybody was like that.
37:20 It was such a weird feeling, because everything was getting canceled.
37:23 And then you really didn't know what it was.
37:27 So the fear was like 100.
37:30 And so you're just--
37:31 I remember I saw Chris Haynes, who works for TNT in the airport.
37:35 And we were looking at--
37:36 like, standing like 30 feet from each other.
37:38 Yeah, man, you know what I mean?
37:39 And I'm like, this is crazy.
37:41 You know, it felt like the beginning of a horror movie
37:43 or like an apocalyptic movie.
37:45 Anyway, so yeah, that was the last time we were going to have
37:48 a number one seed, most likely.
37:50 That was the Killian Tilly, I think, tournament.
37:52 Remember, he went bonkers, like 14 for 18 from three
37:56 and was stupid.
37:57 And then we were going to be a number one seed in Spokane.
38:00 It was all lined up, and then obviously COVID happened.
38:03 But hopefully we can get into the right, I guess, resume
38:09 to maybe get considered for that.
38:11 But I just don't think the NCAA tournament would give us that.
38:15 That would be such an advantage.
38:16 I think the best we could hope for would be being in Salt Lake.
38:20 Yeah, Salt Lake would be great.
38:23 But yeah, it would be such-- because I remember when the girls team
38:27 got it that one year, and they were like a 12 seed or whatever,
38:30 and that's when they went on their huge run with Vanna Sloot.
38:33 But I think after that-- it's not just them,
38:36 but the NCAA tournament was like, we can't allow a team
38:39 that's like 11 seed or whatever the hell they were
38:41 to play it at home.
38:43 At home, yeah.
38:44 Like it was such-- they made it all the way to lead A.
38:46 They were great that year, but they had such an unfair advantage
38:50 crowd-wise.
38:51 It was just crazy that they get that, and they took it and ran with it.
38:55 But if you're the other teams, you say behind closed doors,
38:58 like, "Come on, guys. This is unfair."
39:01 I could see that happening if they give us a 4 seed.
39:04 That's what I'm saying.
39:06 Could we move into that line where we go, "Okay, we would have
39:09 five quad one wins, and we would be 26-6"?
39:13 Yeah.
39:15 Why can't you be a 4 seed, right?
39:18 So that's where-- if we got into that, I just-- I don't know if they will.
39:23 But like I said, we'll talk about that after we know,
39:27 and we'll really dive into the resume.
39:29 We'll have strength of schedule, all the Ken Palm stuff,
39:32 the metrics for the net.
39:35 Believe it or not, your defensive efficiency ratings or offensive--
39:39 all that stuff matters.
39:41 And there's like quadrants that you have to kind of be in,
39:46 and it kind of usually determines your success level getting in the NCAA tournament
39:51 and then making runs if you're really good rebounding.
39:54 It's not just plus-- you know what I'm saying?
39:56 And a lot of gamblers do that and use that, but a lot of people use it as well
40:00 just to predict what your team's realistic chances are to make it.
40:07 So it's funny, like at the end of games-- and this is not just a gambling thing,
40:11 but it affects your net, like how much you win by against good teams.
40:15 Some of the questions I've seen on television broadcasts
40:21 and asked me, like, "Well, why do you put in-- if that matters,
40:24 why put in your walk-ons with like five minutes to go?"
40:27 And it's kind of a true thing, as f-ed up as it sounds.
40:31 If that matters and I'm up 28 and I put those kids in, no offense,
40:36 and the other team leaves their guys in and then you win by 18,
40:41 that's a big jump.
40:42 That's a 10-point swing. You know what I'm saying?
40:45 Honestly, like in the last game, Gonzaga beat them by 13,
40:50 and I think they kept them in because they kind of were coming back a little bit.
40:54 But yeah, you want to beat that spread.
40:58 100%. Like, well, you know who did it against us when we played Portland
41:02 at their place? We put Joe in and Colby Brooks and Luca and June.
41:11 Did you see that they pressed us for two possessions?
41:13 Oh, really? No.
41:14 Yeah, he went into a press and I was just like, "Oh, my God."
41:17 But you're also like, "Okay, so that's always the curious one for me
41:23 because that stuff does matter."
41:25 I don't think people understand it's not just strength of schedule
41:28 and how much you win by, your defensive efficiency.
41:32 They really dive into the numbers, and we'll get into that next episode
41:35 because we're going to be talking about the NCAA tournament,
41:38 and then we'll talk about some of the other top teams in the country.
41:42 But yeah, I'm looking forward to this West Coast Conference tournament.
41:46 Hopefully it's a good outing on that Monday night game,
41:52 and then hopefully we're playing St. Mary's.
41:57 I'm telling you, Santa Clara's the scary one for me too.
41:59 Good team that's got the talent and whatnot.
42:02 Thanks to our sponsors, McGillvary Environmental,
42:05 Idaho Central Credit Union, and HDG Architecture.
42:08 We'll see you next week.
42:10 [Music]