Underdog Tag Doesn’t Fit Gonzaga

OAKLAND — They have the leading scorer in the country.

(Even if he did relax after practice Wednesday by chewing tobacco and spitting the brown juice into a clear water bottle.)

They have the coach with the best winning percentage in the country.

(Even if he does look like Dennis the Menace.)

They are on the cover of this week’s Sports Illustrated. They have been the focus of an ESPN documentary.

They play before sellout crowds at home. They have their choice of donor-owned private jets for the road.

They are on television more than “Matlock,” have won more games in the last six years than North Carolina, and currently have more consecutive wins than anyone.

They are Gonzaga, and all this Cinderella stuff?

Stuff a pumpkin in it.

Describing the Zags as this sweet little mid-major basketball team is like describing Aspen as a dusty little western city.

It’s outdated, short-sighted and just plain wrong.

The Gonzaga basketball program is not a boutique, it’s a bulldozer. Its players are more cocky than cute, its style is more Showtime than Spokane, and its inability to advance past the NCAA tournament’s third game even once in the last six years should be considered a failure.

But it’s not, it’s never a failure, their bad tourney losses are always karma or bad luck or unfair beatings from the big kids, even when that bully hails from ... Nevada?

This is because Gonzaga is just so huggable. So charming. So inspirational.

So tiresome.

Face it, your beloved Zags are the most underachieving overachieving team in America.

“They would like everyone to think they’re a Cinderella team, that plays right into their image, people even talking about them like they are America’s team,” said Dan Guerrero, UCLA athletic director, with a chuckle. “But they’re no Cinderella, they are a major player in college basketball, there is no question.”

There is also no question that tonight at the Arena in Oakland in the NCAA regional semifinals, they will be playing the real fairy tale.

Yeah, that’s right, UCLA.

Compared to Gonzaga’s Goliath, UCLA is a bunch of ill-kempt kids with stones in their pockets.

Gonzaga is making its eight consecutive tourney appearance, UCLA is making its second.

Gonzaga was never ranked below the top 10 this season, UCLA was never in the top 10 during the regular season.

With three juniors and a senior in its starting lineup, Gonzaga needs to win now, while freshman and sophomore dominated UCLA is pointed toward next year.

There is a zig in the Zags, and it is this:

They are playing the most storied program in the history of college basketball, yet all the pressure is on them.

Said forward Sean Mallon: “We have had some great seasons around here, but when it comes down to the tournament, we haven’t gotten it done.”

Added guard David Pendergraft: “We need to take that next step. Now.”

Gonzaga struts like a power, and sounds like a power, while UCLA’s kids just shrug.

“We don’t talk!” shouted Coach Ben Howland to a group of his players Wednesday in an arena corridor. “We just play!”

You want Hollywood? Bing Crosby went to Gonzaga.

You want recent NBA legend? John Stockton went to Gonzaga.

You want a throwback team with squeaky shoes and fundamental defense? Well, that’s UCLA.

“We just go along with our business and try to win ballgames,” Cedric Bozeman said.

As expected, Gonzaga made the first move Wednesday by slapping UCLA in the belly.

“We got to attack them ... on the inside first,” guard Erroll Knight said. “I think they’re vulnerable going into the inside.”

That’s what Cal thought. That’s what Alabama thought. That’s what opponents in UCLA’s last nine games have thought, yet none have scored more than 60 points, and all have lost.

“We hear that a lot, that’s what everybody thinks,” Luc Richard Mbah a Moute said. “We’ll just figure something out.”

Adam Morrison, Gonzaga’s leading scorer and resident hippie, then made the first move against a double-teaming Bruin strategy by seemingly warning the referees about various defenses.

“I’ve seen triangle and two, box and one, face guard, beat the ... out of me, I’ve seen everything,” he said.

Howland responded to Morrison by saying, “He gets away with a lot himself. He’s been to the foul line more than my entire front line.... I would say he gets treated very fairly in terms of the officiating based on what’s happened so far.”

By the end of the day, it all sounded like a preamble to a Lakers-Sacramento Kings series.

Only, Gonzaga was the Lakers.

Of all the volumes written about the Zags as a preamble to this game, the only words necessary were two.

“Cinderella?” said Howland. “Ha!”