The views I’m about to express are not necessarily those of anybody else but me, but they ought to be, and as a matter of fact, they probably are. I was hoping to have some kind of report from the second Elite Camp since it began today, but nothing of substance has arrived yet, so a Shoot will have to do. This is actually something I’ve wanted to get off of my chest for about five years, and it pertains to college basketball, so I hope some of you find it relevant. I know this isn’t a cool thing to say, but I’ve never been cool, so I don’t care. I can’t stand the Gonzaga Bulldogs. I think they have the most criminally overrated program in recent college basketball history, and no other program is even close.
Dude, that game wasn’t even over yet. I know the media compared you to Larry Bird because you were a great white college player and were highly competitive, but at least Bird had the decency to wait until the game was over before he started crying. And now, a history lesson.
Back in 1999, Gonzaga was known as the little school in Spokane, WA where John Stockton went to college. Then, in the 1999 NCAA Tournament, Dan Monson led his Bulldogs to a magical Tournament run that captured the hearts of America. Everybody remembers Casey Calvary tipping in a miss in the regional semifinal against Florida and Gus Johnson’s call: “Gonzaga – the slipper still fits!” That was a lovable team. So were the next two teams, both of whom reached the round of 16 and knocked off high seeds on the way to doing that. The problem for me started in 2002, when Gonzaga fielded its best team to date.
Under Mark Few, the Zags have always loaded up with a difficult pre-conference schedule because Few is smart enough to realize that the West Coast Conference is never going to be good enough to adequately prepare his team for March. The 2002 Bulldogs lost to Illinois and Marquette, then only slipped up once for the rest of the year, garnering a 29-3 record. People thought that they would get a 2 or 3 seed in the upcoming Tournament, using their wins over Texas and St. John’s as evidence that they deserved it. The selection committee thought otherwise, however, and gave them a 6 seed. Gonzaga supporters (mainly in the media – we didn’t hear much from Spokane) cried foul that a 29-3 team was such a low seed. The consensus at the time was that Gonzaga was one of the strongest 6 seeds ever in the Dance, and that they stood a decent chance of beating Arizona in the next round as the lovable underdogs, just like in years past. Instead, 11 seed Wyoming rolled over Gonzaga in a 73-66 win that was not as close as the score indicated. Can somebody say “overrated?”
Gonzaga fell back down to Earth in 2003, losing to Indiana and Kentucky in the Maui Invitational and struggling somewhat in the SEC. After winning their first game in the Dance, Gonzaga faced mighty Arizona, the only other team at the time that could have been picked to win it all other than UK. I cheered for Gonzaga in regulation and both overtimes, but they came one point short in the end. The next year, they were back to their 2002 form, earning a 2 seed. They promptly lost in round two to Nevada – overrated. They were a 3 seed in 2005. After winning their first game, Texas Tech beat them in round two – overrated. Somehow, in between 2002 and 2004, somebody decided that Gonzaga, who plays in a mid-major conference, should be held to the same standard as teams from the major conferences. That is very difficult to do when Gonzaga doesn’t play the top competition in the country as frequently as Kentucky or Kansas or North Carolina. I think this has a lot to do with how much the media embraced their Cinderella run from 1999-2001. Other mid-majors like Creighton, Southern Illinois, Winthrop and George Mason have made nice runs in the last decade. They’ve consistently been in the mix, so where’s the love for those guys?
I think it’s time to look at Gonzaga for what they are – a decent team in Washington that would probably be a middle of the road team in the Pac-10. The Zags are the beneficiaries of a weak conference, and other mid-majors don’t enjoy that luxury when they play as well in their conference as Gonzaga does. Winthrop dominated their conference for years, and the highest seed the Eagles ever got was an 11 in 2007. Mark Few does a great job recruiting for such a small school, and I respect that he’ll play anybody anywhere at anytime. I just don’t think he’s a very good coach. Watch this clip.
[youtube=http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Vt0VUSyVIr4&hl=en&fs=1]
How do you give up that lead? When your players panic in crunch time, I consider it a sign of a poor X’s and O’s coach, and I follow the SEC, so I know of which I speak.
I hate the overrated chant, but I’ll chant it every time my team plays Gonzaga, because that’s exactly what they are.
I’m Seth Stogsdill, and Dicky Lyons would say that nobody doesn’t not like this column.
