Time to get Krazy: What to expect from this year's Kraziness in the Kennel
It’s been almost eight months since the Gonzaga men’s basketball team took to the McCarthey Athletic Center floor, but fans will get a glimpse at the Zags back in action on Saturday for Kraziness in the Kennel. Extravagant player introductions, skills competitions and an intrasquad scrimmage encompass the event’s festivities that’ll kickoff at 4 p.m.
Yet after a long offseason of preparation, the ingredients to the recipe remain largely the same for the Zags heading into the 2022-23 season as they did this time last year. Six of the top eight scorers have returned to run it back as a few second- and third-year players look to take advantage of more opportunities as veterans on the team. With a small incoming freshman class, it’ll be up to the upperclassmen, newcomers and returners alike, to ensure the Zags live up to their expectations as the best program in the country by season’s end.
A part of reaching that goal is to get the kinks out of the way whenever possible before the actual competition begins.
A lot of attention on Saturday will be focused on how far along Efton Reid and Malachi Smith have come since joining the ranks. Again, expectations should be subdued after only a few practices, but their involvement in the scrimmage could speak more on roles each one will have throughout the regular season. If that means both teams run fewer creative sets and focus more on pick-and-rolls like we’ve seen from Kraziness scrimmages before, then so be it.
Reid and Smith will see a lot of action this season regardless. Reid’s defensive impact and hustle make him a viable bench piece at worst that brings a different style of play for when Drew Timme needs a short rest. Smith, fresh off winning the Southern Conference Player of the Year award, is a legitimate candidate to start at guard or on the wing.
Kraziness also provides quality reps for players deep in the rotation that might not see much action otherwise. It’ll be the first glance at freshmen Kellen Mitchell and Braden Huff, as both should get plenty of opportunities to make plays against the presumptive starters. Their impact and roles on the team can go largely unnoticed to most fans throughout the regular season, however the competitiveness that ultimately makes their teammates better will be on full display at Kraziness.
Before the blue-white game, players will treat fans to individual skills competitions. The details are unknown as of now, but it’s fair to say a 3-point shootout is likely with a small chance of a dunk contest.
In the end, it’s not about box scores or which team won the scrimmage. For the Zags, Kraziness is a way to get everyone on the same page while serving the fans an all-star-caliber event.
Getting lost in the hype and fanfare is easy to succumb to while 1,200 students dance in rhythm to “Zombie Nation”, but it’s important to remember that it’s only October — don’t take too much stock into how players perform against one another. Veterans tend to be more reserved, and newcomers typically haven’t found their footing yet, making for somewhat of a sloppy game at times. From a fan’s perspective, Kraziness is the appetizer that gets you excited for when the full course meal is ready.
