© Photo by Erik Smith, Myk Crawford
Gonzaga's Ben Gregg earns 'Ultimate Zag' title after breakout season
The Bulldogs fired on all cylinders with Gregg in the starting lineup
A player who has earned the title of “Ultimate Zag” impacts winning in ways that go beyond the box score.
Drew Timme, for his charisma and fierce competitive nature, and Anton Watson, for his selflessness and versatility, are recent examples of Gonzaga men's basketball players whose personalities shone through in how they approached the game and competed at the highest level. Talent is important of course, but the most impactful players in the program, the “ultimate” Zags, are all unique yet share a distinctive trait — they’re always true to themselves.
The same can be said about Ben Gregg, who went from not having a solid role as a freshman to one of the most important pieces to Gonzaga’s offensive turnaround this past season. Diving for loose balls, hustling for rebounds and guarding multiple positions in a single possession - while being able to provide deep range on the offensive end - were the sparks that lit the fire under the Bulldogs once Gregg was inserted into the starting lineup a few games into West Coast Conference play. Fueling that energy was a selfless and competitive mindset that just wanted to win.
Taking on the role of the player who excels at all the little things didn’t come naturally to Gregg. But throughout the last two seasons, he realized that for him to earn playing time alongside other talented players, he needed to be willing to get his hands dirty for him to contribute.
That selflessness is what will define Gregg’s time at Gonzaga and why he’ll be an important figure in the program next season.
“I mean, he's Mr. Zag,” said Mark Few of Gregg after the Bulldogs’ second-round NCAA Tournament win over Kansas. “He grew up watching the program and dreamed of playing here, and he plays like it. This group really feeds off [that]. The staff and I have figured that out and that's why we put him in the starting lineup. We loved his bump when he came in as a sixth man. Putting him in the starting lineup made the rotations generate more minutes for him, which has been huge.”
Here’s an analysis of Gregg's junior season at Gonzaga.
WHAT WENT WELL
Gregg was a major reason Gonzaga’s offense was able to reach its full potential in 2023-24. Upon his promotion to the starting lineup on Jan. 18, the Bulldogs won 16 of their final 19 games, had the third-most efficient offense with the best effective field goal percentage in the country and had the third-best turnover rate while shooting above 40.1% on 3-point attempts. In the first 16 games of the season in which Gregg came off the bench, the offense ranked outside the top 30 in all of those mentioned categories.
After the win over Kansas, Gregg said that he doesn’t feel like he does much offensively - but the numbers speak for themselves. As a starter, he averaged 10.1 points, 6.4 rebounds and 1.2 steals while shooting 56.4% from the floor and 40.3% from downtown (3.5 3-point attempts per game). His ability to stretch the floor opened up more driving lanes for his teammates on the perimeter and granted Graham Ike more space to work with in the low post.
Defensively, Gregg’s hustle and grit made him one of the WCC’s most impactful players on that end of the floor. He ranked sixth in the league for defensive rating, which is an estimate of points allowed per 100 possessions, and had the third-best defensive box plus/minus, which is similar to defensive rating but is an estimate compared to an above-average league player. He had some flashes as a solid on-ball defender out on the perimeter and a knack for disrupting the passing lanes as well.
WHAT HE NEEDS TO IMPROVE
Gregg’s efficient 3-point shooting numbers mean he won’t catch opponents off guard from behind the arc like he did as a junior. With teams more locked in on where he’s at on the court, developing a reliable counter to hard closeouts from defenders will elevate Gregg’s game to the next level.
That doesn’t mean he needs to develop a crazy dribble package to blow by defenders all the time - that won’t ever be Gregg’s game. But when looking back at Timme’s career, he became a much more versatile scorer as he developed his ballhandling and footwork to a point where he could get to the rim from a face-up near the free-throw line or 15 feet from the hoop along the baseline.
If Gregg can make similar dribble-drive strides over the offseason, he will become that much more of a scoring threat for the Zags.
OFFSEASON EMPHASIS
Going from 10 minutes per game off the bench for the first three seasons in a career to 29 minutes per game as a starter is a big difference when looking at a player’s stamina. Entering this season, Gregg played 20 or more minutes just three times in his career. As a junior, he played 20 or more minutes 20 times.
That number will increase once again next season as Gregg is expected to be a full-time starter and could take on a larger role in the offense. In that case, conditioning will be a focus for him this offseason. And not that he’ll take on all of Watson’s responsibilities alone, but he’ll certainly need to play a bigger factor on defense as well.
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