11 Tennessee vs 2 Gonzaga exhibition 10 - 28 - 2022

[Dav]

[arxpert]

Gonzaga has never been an impressive program to me. They have hid in a weak conference for 2 decades. Only very recently have they consistently been ranked highly and have had any relevance in March Madness.

Contrary to my beliefs about Arizona, Gonzaga has no acceptable goal short of a Final 4 (or National Championship for that matter). They are expected to destroy their conference every season and win their conference tournament every season. Again, only in recent years have they even attempted to have a respectable OOC slate.

When they move to another conference they will experience average results at times. When they do find a special player or two they may have a 2-3 year run before starting over just like all the other Power 5 schools.

[KansasCityCats]

That's an unbelievably lazy assumption. Gonzaga has always scheduled the most difficult OOC schedule that they can manage. Opponents never agreed to play them until recently and regardless of their weak conference, they still have ridiculous accomplishments (like their current 67 game home winning streak).

Go back to 2000 when they played UW, Arizona and Florida. Illinois, Texas, Marquette and UW in the following season. Consistent D-1 opponents that are tougher than most OOC schedules.

Hell...Coach K spent the last 25 years of his career without EVER scheduling a true road game. He played plenty of neutral sites and was forced to go on campus if it was a pre-determined ESPN tournament (SEC/ACC). Otherwise, Mark Few makes other head coaches look weak on paper.

[arxpert]

That's an unbelievably lazy assumption. Gonzaga has always scheduled the most difficult OOC schedule that they can manage. Opponents never agreed to play them until recently and regardless of their weak conference, they still have ridiculous accomplishments (like their current 67 game home winning streak).

Go back to 2000 when they played UW, Arizona and Florida. Illinois, Texas, Marquette and UW in the following season. Consistent D-1 opponents that are tougher than most OOC schedules.

Hell...Coach K spent the last 25 years of his career without EVER scheduling a true road game. He played plenty of neutral sites and was forced to go on campus if it was a pre-determined ESPN tournament (SEC/ACC). Otherwise, Mark Few makes other head coaches look weak on paper.

No one said Coach K did anything Herculean by any stretch of the imagination. He paid tons of recruits whether it will ever be exposed or not. He also was a proponent for bringing in players like Kyrie Irving with some of the lowest character I've ever seen. Using Coach K as part of an argument to compliment Gonzaga doesn't fit.

I don't think Gonzaga deserves to be bowed to and you are more than welcome to kneel to Mark Few as your golden calf. Some members around here kneel to Dana Altman or Mick Cronin. I will never bend the knee.

[wc]

It's a close race between KansasCityCats, and arxpert to see who can reach the 400 karma mark 1st...

[KansasCityCats]

Haha WC...

Coach K is relevant because he proved that elite programs can't schedule as well as Few.

The Zags played high level competition when opponents actually allowed them to play. They accepted road games, tournaments and anything that allowed them to improve as a team.

He and Lloyd built the program from scratch and they deserve serious credit.

[KansasCityCats]

Gonzaga scheduled Sean Miller and Xavier tonight. Let's see how they hold up!