A WCC preview

"Five-minute season preview: The West Coast Conference" -- Jeff Eisenberg

It includes:

FIRST-TEAM ALL-WCC

G Emmett Naar, Jr., Saint Mary’s
G Nigel Williams-Goss, Jr., Gonzaga
G Nick Emery, So., BYU
G Jared Brownridge, Sr., Santa Clara
C Przemek Karnowski, Sr., Gonzaga

Plus:

Best shooter: Jordan Mathews (Gonzaga). Mathews averaged 13.5 points per game last season, shot 41.6 percent from behind the arc and would have been Cal’s leading returning scorer had he opted to come back. The 6-foot-3 graduate transfer instead could be a perfect fit at Gonzaga, where his outside shooting ability will punish opposing defenses who collapse on Przemek Karnowski on the block or Nigel Williams-Goss and Josh Perkins off the dribble.

(disagree on the Mathews choice as Jared Brownridge shot 39% from three-point range as Santa Clara's sole offensive option plus Emmett Naar shot 42%)

Best playmaker: Emmett Naar (Saint Mary’s). Nobody in the WCC made better decisions with the ball in his hands last season than Naar, who scored 14 points per game and tallied nearly three times as many assists as turnovers. The 6-foot-1 Australia native is also one of the league’s most reliable outside shooters, enabling him to punish defenders who sag too far off him to keep him from beating them off the dribble.

Best defender: Dane Pineau (Saint Mary’s). One of the biggest reasons typically offense-oriented Saint Mary’s cracked the top 100 defensively last year was the presence of Pineau in the paint. The 6-foot-9 Aussie forward finished fourth in the WCC in rebounding, checked in second in blocked shots and played solid post defense. He also was an efficient scorer from inside eight feet at the other end of the floor.