End the party; it's time for business

Calm down, Zags fans.

Yep, you’re in the Final Four. That was worth a few cold ones on Saturday night, but...

Now?

No.

Now, the business is all about one of the oldest clichés in sports, or at least in basketball.

South Carolina coach Frank Martin used it on Sunday, supposedly quoting his star, Sindarius Thornwell.

I think I heard this phrase the first time from former Arkansas coach Nolan Richardson, back in the days when the Razorbacks were yearly national contenders.

As his players gathered in the tunnel for their first game of the NCAA tournament, Richardson hollered at them: “Hey, we’re in it. We might as well win it!”

Richardson’s team did not win it that year, nor do I think Martin’s plagiarism will be rewarded this season.

But Gonzaga?

COACH Mark Few hasn’t bothered with that beat-up phase during the Zags’ NCAA run.

He’s been too busy talking about monkeys and dogs and cats and his fishing buddies.

But here’s a fact, aimed especially at you Gonzaga faithful who are waiting for someone to trip and fall with a game on the line.

Sure, you’ve been disappointed at times over the past two decades, but you should know that these Zags truly are — man-for-man, bench-for-bench, team-for-team — the class of college basketball this season.

Yes, any team can be upset.

And there are no locks at the Final Four.

But simply on talent and depth, the Zags will be the best team in Arizona. Only North Carolina’s usual cast of McDonald’s All-Americans and their big-game experience should even compare.

South Carolina is a great story, and homegrown heroes Thornwell and PJ Dozier are prime-time players (Dick Vitale doesn’t mind if I do a bit of my own plagiarizing).

But honestly, I don’t think you can beat the Zags with two superstars and a supporting cast of hard-working defenders.

Gonzaga has weapons everywhere, they are exceptionally tall and gifted at every position and, in fact, they were statistically the best defensive team in college hoops.

All you need to know is that 7-foot freshman Zach Collins would start for just about every team in the nation – but plays behind 7-foot-1, 300-pound passing wizard Prezemek Karnowski.

Even Few admits he has a very special team.

“Everybody was asking me, ‘Is this your best team?’ in November,” Few said. “It’s not fair. It’s not fair in December, it’s not fair in January.

“But now they’re 36-1, going to the Final Four, so ... absolutely, it is.”

WHAT Few could not and would not add, of course, is that he suspects this isn’t just Gonzaga’s best team – but one of the better, most complete groups anywhere in recent years.

Proving that will not be easy, nor should it be.

Look, 347 teams started out the season in Division I, many of them with dreams of playing this weekend.

Zags power forward Johnathan Williams had an interesting take on that, by the way, when asked what it meant for Gonzaga to reach the Final Four at last.

“The Final Four doesn’t validate or discredit a season,” Williams said. “It’s not an end-all, be-all. Gonzaga has been a great program, and we’re just happy to keep carrying the torch.”

Are you listening, Zag fans?

Williams’ perspective is true, obviously, but winning a national championship surely might require a different view.

It’s interesting and encouraging that the Zags have played better and better as this tournament has gone along, and they’ve gotten the feel of it.

But here comes a 70,000-seat football stadium with an elevated court and a situation none of the competing teams – except North Carolina – has ever experienced.

“It’ll be a different atmosphere,” suggested point guard Nigel Williams-Goss, “but as long as the court is the same size and the baskets are still 10 feet, I think we’ll be just fine.”

The Zags aren’t using the same cliché, exactly, but ...

They’re well aware they ARE in it, and they CAN win it.

Steve Cameron is a special assignment reporter for The Press. Reach Steve: [email protected].