The Front Row with MARK NELKE March 15, 2012
Here’s a crazy thought.
Consider Butler, a mid-major if there ever was one, has played in the last two NCAA title games.
VCU won a play-in game last year, then followed it up with four more victories to make it to the Final Four.
So when is Gonzaga, which is in the NCAA tournament for the 14th straight year, going to make it to its first Final Four?
OK, that might be a bit of an ambitious thought, considering the Zags have only come within one game of the Final Four once in the previous 13 trips.
And the way the Zags look at it, making it to the NCAAs 14 straight times is a pretty good feat in itself.
“It’s definitely the No. 1 aspect of this program that I’m most proud of, as far as accomplishments on the court,” Gonzaga coach Mark Few said the other day. “It’s really, really hard to make the NCAA tournament and I think a lot of us have lost sight of that up here, because our teams have been so successful. But I’m not one of them, and I make sure our team isn’t one of them.”
OF COURSE, their history suggests that the Zags are always good enough to make the NCAAs, but seldom play well enough to threaten a trip to the Final Four.
Aside from the first of the 14 trips during this run, when Gonzaga pushed eventual champion UConn to the limit in a 67-62 loss in the regional final, the Zags’ best chance at a Final Four was in 2006. That was Adam Morrison’s junior season, when Gonzaga coughed up a big lead and lost to UCLA in the regional semis.
After trips to the regional semis the first three years — 1999, 2000 and 2001 — the Zags have only survived the first weekend twice. The last two years, they were blown out in their second games by Syracuse (2010) and BYU (2011) — both of which teams lost in their next game.
Zag fans equate this year’s trip to Pittsburgh to play West Virginia in its backyard to its 2008 trip to Raleigh, N.C., to play Davidson. However, I think that 82-76 loss was more because the Zags allowed Stephen Curry to score 30 of his 40 points in the second half than because of any home-crowd advantage Davidson might have had.
Yes, West Virginia is a Big East team — which by definition means they’re a very physical team. But the Mountaineers have lost 13 games this year — including 8 of their last 12.
Who knows, maybe this is just what the Zags are — a team that plays an entertaining nonconference schedule, knocking off a big-time team or two along the way, is always good enough to make it to the NCAA tournament, and maybe wins a game or two while they’re there.
And then you read a story by former Press sports writer Dave Boling about all the charitable things Few and his wife, Marcy, do in Spokane, and maybe that scenario every year is not such a bad thing after all.
IN WATCHING Butler lose to UConn in last year’s title game, it looked like Butler only had two players who had a chance to score against a team as quick, strong and athletic as Butler. And one of them — the center — still had a hard time getting his shot off.
So just say Gonzaga catches fire, beats West Virginia today and Ohio State on Saturday in Pittsburgh, then finds a way to win two more at the East Regional in Boston. You look at the way the Zags are constructed, and I think they would have a better chance against the real good teams at the Final Four.
They have a center (Robert Sacre) that can score on his own in the post. Their power forward (Elias Harris) can create his own shot as well. The point guard (Kevin Pangos) can be deadly from 3-point range, and the other two starters (guard Gary Bell Jr. and Guy Landry Edi) are athletic enough to score if needed.
Not saying this year’s Zags are a Final Four team, but given that, it wouldn’t seem so farfetched to see them play for a national title sometime during this run.
Mark Nelke is sports editor of The Press. He can be reached at 664-8176, Ext. 2019, or via email at [email protected]. Follow him on Twitter at CdAPressSports.