By admin 
Once again the Nembhard gene is working its magic for the Gonzaga men’s basketball program.
Similar to how the Bulldogs ran with Andrew at the helm, Ryan Nembhard’s ability to see a play develop and run the pick-and-roll has Mark Few’s offense humming to start the 2024-2025 season start. The Zags (2-0) averaged 94.5 points in their two wins over Big 12 opponents and rank first in the nation in adjusted offensive efficiency, according to the numbers. KenPom.com. A lot of that has to do with Nembhard, who pulls all the right strings as the team’s floor general.
“He’s great,” said Gonzaga head coach Mark Few of Nembhard after defeating Arizona State, 88-80, on Sunday. “I mean, we just lean on him so hard and fair enough that he makes (the right play) for the most part, right? I mean, he has 11 assists and no turnovers. I think recently (against Baylor) he had 11 assists, two turnovers, and it’s just an incredible luxury to have. He’s really good. I’m surprised. Hopefully he gets a little more love and attention on the national stage, because he is something.”
To be fair, Nembhard received some attention from the national audience heading into the season, as his name appears on the watch lists for the Naismith Trophy, Wooden Award and Bob Cousy Point Guard of the Year award. But no prognosticator could have anticipated this kind of start to the season from the Ontario, Canada native.
Nembhard’s 22 assists are the most by a Gonzaga player through the first two games of a season since Derek Raivio recorded 24 assists early in his sophomore year in 2004-05. Nembhard also joined Raivio as the only two Zags in the last twenty years to record ten or more assists in consecutive games to start a season. Nationally, Nembhard ranks second in the country with 11.0 assists per game.
Ryan Nembhard | The orchestrator
Gonzaga’s Senior PG has put on a clinic in the first two games, recording 22 assists in just two goals
-Increases the pace
-Elite in operating ball screens
-Great vision, patience and poise
-Thrives under pressure
-Maestro with ball in hands pic.twitter.com/HfBp4RWZ6C— Joe Moussa (@Joe_NPH) November 11, 2024
“I think this year is a better year for him as far as just being a point guard,” former Gonzaga All-American Adam Morrison said of Nembhard on an episode of The Perimeter Podcast. “Not that he can’t score, but I think there was more emphasis on him scoring last year because of our lack of depth. I think he can just play this year and take risks in a good way, make decisions and just play point guard.”
Nembhard has been responsible for just 10.5% of his team’s shots this season (down from 19.4% in 2023-2024), albeit on a very small sample size. His assist percentage is up almost 10% from last season (29.9% in 2023-24 to 39.1% in 2024-25), while his true shooting percentage is up almost eight points (52.8% to 60 .1%).
Nembhard discussed how he worked with assistant coach Stephen Gentry this season on drawing fouls and playing with more control in traffic. So far, these habits are reflected not only in Nembhard’s assist numbers early on, but also in his free throw numbers. He is tied with Khalif Battle and Graham Ike for the most attempts at the charity stripe this season (eight).
Nembhard went 6-for-8 at the foul line against the Sun Devils, all of which came in the second half. But for the most part, he orchestrated Gonzaga down the stretch of its 8-point win through his play and vision. Nembhard assisted on three of the game’s final four field goals, the last of which was an alley-oop to Braden Huff.
Huff had 21 points off the Bulldogs’ bench and formed a nice pick-and-roll partner with Nembhard in crunch time.
“I mean, a lot of those points came from his assists,” Huff said. “He makes it very easy. All guards do that, I mean they put me in positions to score and I put it there and hope it goes in.
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