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Without a Standout, Gonzaga Has Become One
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Which one is best?
"That depends on how you define best," DeMatha Coach Mike Jones said.
Jones believes Kenyi has been Gonzaga's most productive player, while Thornton has the most potential and Hummer is its best prospect. And the 6-foot-4 Johnson, Jones said, "is the 'X' factor. If he wants to be their leading scorer, he'll do that. If he wants to post up and play center, he can do that. If he wants to play small forward, he can do that. He's one of the most versatile players in the league."
"They're talented," said Jones, whose team is the only one to beat Gonzaga this season, 45-42 on Jan. 15. "They just don't have the reputations."
Another rival coach, who asked not to be named because he did not want to provide any extra motivation for Gonzaga's other players this weekend, said he thought Hummer was the Eagles' key player.
"They're extremely balanced and they play well together," O'Connell Coach Joe Wootten said. "I think a lot of their guys are standout guys, but because they're a balanced team, one guy doesn't stand out as much."
Even the Eagles can't agree on a leader. While some players think it is Johnson, others said Kenyi has been the catalyst. Kenyi, like his teammates, attributed Gonzaga's success to experience playing together and a successful summer when the team won 35 of 36 games.
"We were playing great team [ball] and the other teams weren't playing team ball," Thornton said. "Summer league is more like the AAU-style basketball, you're just running up and down the court, everybody trying to get theirs. In summer league, we set a tone that rolled into this season. We decided we want to play hard, play defense, everybody was going to be happy and we would win games."
