In the not-so-distant past, it would have been hard to imagine a Duke/Gonzaga game being a 1 v. 2 game. Not on the Duke Blue Devils’ end, but Mark Few’s Gonzaga Bulldogs have done incredible things to close the gap between itself and the perennial powers in NCAA basketball. At one time, years ago, Gonzaga was the team hardly anybody followed throughout the regular season, but everyone looked for come the NCAA Tournament and picked them to be the surprise team, in much the same manner Butler or San Diego St. is thought of today.
2015 NCAA Tournament Elite Eight Preview: South Region
Much like Gonzaga shedding the stereotype of being the mid-major surprise team, Mike Krzyzewski and Duke has shed its stereotype of being the team full of upperclassmen who leave you thinking wait, those guys are still in school. In other words, this isn’t your father’s Duke/Gonzaga NCAA Tournament game. Gonzaga is no longer the school that’s “just happy to be there;” they’re a national power, and Duke is led by a trio of freshmen (Jahlil Okafor, Justise Winslow, and Tyus Jones) that could produce two top-five picks come the NBA Draft (Okafor and Winslow), but let’s not get ahead of ourselves.
This particular Gonzaga team is reminiscent of what those stereotypical Duke teams were, as their starting five consists of three seniors (Gary Bell, Jr., Kevin Pangos, and Byron Wesley) and two juniors (Kyle Wiltjer and Przemek Karnowski). Not to diminish the accomplishments of Gonzaga’s group, but this game is being set up as a game pitting the been there, done that experience of the Bulldogs against the not-so-experienced, outright talent of the Duke newcomers.
The battle of the bigs in this game should have any basketball fan going crazy with anticipation. Duke has the highly-touted Okafor, who’s went for 17.7 points and 9 rebounds per game thus far this season, but Gonzaga has the frontcourt depth to come at Okafor in waves, with Karnowski and freshmen Domantas Sabonis, who leads the Bulldogs in rebounds (6.9 per game) despite coming off the bench (if his name rings a bell, he is the son of former-NBA player Arvydas Sabonis).
Not only do the bigs for the Bulldogs offer an interesting match-up for Okafor, but could also be a problem for Duke’s guards (Jones and Quinn Cook) when they drive into the paint. Duke’s a good shooting team – a season field goal percentage of .502 is good for third-best in the nation – but they thrive off getting into the paint in order to set up drive-and-kick opportunities for their shooters. If Gonzaga can lock down the paint, it could make Duke one-dimensional, and thus, a much easier team to defend.
This game should be close throughout, and if one were inclined to pick this based on athleticism, Duke would probably be the obvious pick, but if any team has the experience and moxie to deal with that, it’d be the Bulldogs.
Prediction: Gonzaga Bulldogs
