Gonzaga has earned the No. 1 ranking in the country thanks to an undefeated record that includes an impressive win over presumptive national title favorite Duke in Maui.
The Zags are a deep and talented team, as they are almost every year under Mark Few, with an extremely talented frontcourt duo of Rui Hachimura, a lottery-level prospect for the 2019 NBA Draft, and Brandon Clarke. Hachimura, understandably, gets the most headlines because of his potential at the next level, but Clarke has been exceptional and is a big part of why the Bulldogs are such a force and a difficult team to deal with, especially on the defensive end.
Clarke is an elite rim protector at the college level, averaging more than three blocks per game, including a season high six in that win over the Blue Devils in Maui. On Sunday, Gonzaga faced another stiff test in the form of Tennessee in Phoenix, and once again Clarke showed up in a big way on the defensive end, giving us the best block of the year at any level of basketball with this emphatic stuff of a two-handed dunk attempt from Yves Pons.
https://twitter.com/ZagMBB/status/1071877263958827009
The dunk is impressive for a number of reasons. First, blocking anyone going up for a two-handed dunk that clean is really difficult. Second, he’s not standing at the rim waiting, he’s also chasing back in transition and is able to time his jump and find the ball without fouling Pons. Finally, he doesn’t just block the ball. He spikes it into the ground.
It’s as good a block as you’ll see and Clarke’s abilities on that end are another reason why watching Gonzaga games is so much fun.
