SPOKANE, Wash. — As part of KREM 2's Bulldog Madness special before Gonzaga's game against Texas Tech, Brenna Greene sat down with former Gonzaga forward Jeremy Jones. Jones was a member of the 2018-2019 team that fell to Tech in the Elite Eight. Greene and Jones discuss that game along with several other topics in this interview. Bulldog Madness airs at 9:30 a.m. on Saturday on KREM 2 and Gonzaga vs. Texas Tech airs right after at 10 a.m. on KREM.
Brenna Greene: Jeremy, first of all, you're over in Japan right now. How is it over there?
Jeremy Jones: It's been awesome. I'm just extremely blessed for the opportunity to play basketball still in an awesome country, so definitely enjoying it.
BG: Have you been able to watch the Zags at all this year?
JJ: Absolutely, yeah. The time difference here in Asia is a lot different than Europe, so I'm able to watch all the games, typically. They come on at about 10 AM my time, so I'm always tapped in. Maybe on FaceTime with one of my former teammates watching, so we have a lot of fun with with the Zag games.
BG: What have been your takeaways so far for this team this year?
JJ: A really young team. Obviously, you see the talent there, but watching a lot of times, and even talking to some of the guys on the staff, you see the players making up their own rules and that kind of stuff. It's kind of funny to watch, just having been in the program myself, but obviously a super talented team. They'll need more time to grow into their greatness over the next few months, and hopefully peak in March.
BG: You mentioned time. This team has had a very long layoff coming into this Texas Tech game. What do you think Mark Few used that time to do?
JJ: Well, it's tough, right? Because when you look at, like I said, guys that are making up their own rules and that kind of stuff on the floor, that's obviously something that they need a lot of practice with, right? So just defensive rules, defensive principles, staying locked in, but you know, they need games to work on this stuff. I think that's why they actually added that game at the beginning of the season, and I think that's why Few was looking for a game to add before this Texas Tech game. A team that needs a lot of practice, and also a team that that needs to play a lot of games, so they can peak in March.
BG: Turnovers and threes have been the main issues for this team. How do you think they improve in those two categories?
JJ: For sure, yeah, obviously, last game had a ton of turnovers. You could see Few over there all the time telling them to like, calm down, slow down. I think that's something that Andrew Nembhard could grab those young guys and kind of get them in check. Obviously, he's a amazing point guard, maybe the best in the country. I think that's a leadership role that he'll have to basically take on alongside of Coach Few, to make sure that all the other guys are in check.
BG: You have some experience in your past with Texas Tech, unfortunately, to bring up that contest. Just what do you remember about that Elite Eight game against the Red Raiders?
JJ: Man, it was a high level game. They shot the ball tremendously. I believe that Gonzaga's played Texas Tech three times, and we've lost all three matchups. Hopefully the current players are thinking about us a little bit and really want to get this win, because us former Zags would greatly appreciate it.
BG: Do you watch this game with a little bit of extra rooting interest considering what happened?
JJ: Absolutely. It's something that I've got on with in my life, but definitely something that I don't think I'll ever get over. So yeah, I definitely have little extra motivation for the Zags to get this one.
BG: Texas Tech's head coach was an assistant coach in 2019 on that team, and in his media availability, he said that he thought you guys were the toughest team they played in that tournament. No offense to Virginia, but he thought Gonzaga was the toughest team that his squad played. How do you receive that?
JJ: I mean, you know, it's good. Like I said, they played amazing offensively that night and were deservedly the better team. This game I think Few will definitely have the guys ready to go. I think he'll have a lot of drills to help them get to the middle of the floor, because I know that's one of the things that the Texas Tech defense doesn't allow, and they have a lot of traps that they do going baseline. Definitely accepting of the praise him, but I'm really hoping and praying that Gonzaga goes out there and gets it done.
BG: Yeah, you mentioned the defense. What do you remember about that Texas Tech defense because they're renowned for it.
JJ: I mean, like I said, they force you to go baseline. They have some trapping stuff that they do. But as far as that game, I mean, they played well offensively-- as well as we did-- and we had Brandon Clarke and Rui Hachimura, where, I mean, there wasn't much you could do to stop those two. So, the defense is definitely good, but no, I don't think they'll have any problem with that.
BG: You think the Zags are going to get a beat Texas Tech? What's your score prediction here?
JJ: Absolutely. I have a double digit win against Texas Tech.