Gonzaga can shut up the haters forever

SAN JOSE, Calif. - Running on fumes after an exhausting “rock fight,” Mark Few came into Thursday night’s postgame press conference hot.

“First of all, I don’t know that I have a monkey on my back,” the Gonzaga Bulldogs head coach responded, about as curtly as one could without being rude when asked a tired question.

“I certainly don’t wake up with one or walk around with one. I don’t think my wife thinks I have one or anybody in my family, close friends. Fishing buddies never talk about it.”

If you think Few and his team and the entire city of Spokane, Wash. are sick of the overplayed angle about this program being good enough to make 19 straight tournaments but not good enough to break through to the Final Four, that quote is all you need to confirm it.

Clichés aside, breaking through is never easy. Each time you get close, your next attempt gets that much harder. There’s more doubt in your head and speculation from the rest of the world that you might not be capable of reaching the next level.

And even after Thursday’s 61-58 win over West Virginia in the Sweet 16, arguably the most grueling and painstaking tournament victory in the history of the program, the Bulldogs still aren’t there.

It was for everyone who dismissed them as the team with an easy schedule, felt they were a bunch of overseeded frauds, or never bothered to stay up late enough to watch them run through most of their opponents.

Now one win away from the Final Four, with likely their toughest test behind them, you, hater, have no choice but to give the Bulldogs some respect.

Bob Huggins’ squad is about as physically and mentally exhausting a team as college basketball has seen recently. No backcourt is safe from its pressure.

The Mountaineers resemble the 2013 Louisville team, which won a national championship because it was just too much to handle for 40 minutes. Yeah, you can go 10 minutes and hit a few outside shots, maybe even a half and avoid that trap in the corner, but a full game of concerted pressure usually prevails.

Gonzaga fell victim to it too, surely. The Bulldogs were imperfect, playing a style at a pace that did not suit them.

They turned the ball over.

They committed fouls out of exhaustion and mental lapses.

They faced the same barrage that made 28 other West Virginia opponents wilt.

Despite being uncomfortable all night and on the brink of losing yet another second-weekend-of-the-tournament game, the Zags are still standing, in their best-ever position to break through.

It was fitting that they clinched it by preventing WVU from even getting a shot off in the final 10 seconds; they are tops in the country in defensive efficiency, after all.

Gonzaga’s Elite Eight matchup with Xavier won’t be easy, but it will be against a team that can be as disruptive. Przemek Karnowski will probably get more touches down low, Nigel Williams-Goss will probably get cleaner looks at the rim, and Josh Perkins just might get a chance to shoot the ball.

It’s just going to be a basketball game. If the Bulldogs win, they go to Phoenix, and Few can’t be asked about monkeys on backs ever again.