The biggest knock against Chet Holmgren as a 2022 NBA Draft prospect

Chet Holmgren put on a show in Gonzaga’s most recent win against San Francisco.

The versatile center scored 21 points, grabbed 15 rebounds and added six blocks, the 13th time this season Holmgren has swatted at least four shots in a game.

If you look at the numbers, it’s hard to find holes in his game, as Holmgren is averaging just under a double-double with 14.4 points and 9.6 rebounds while shooting 62 percent overall and 45 percent from the 3-point line.

When you factor in his otherworldly rim protection, it’s hard to imagine why this guy wouldn’t be the number one pick, whether the Detroit Pistons or some other team is doing the choosing.

Holmgren may be the prototype for the modern NBA big man, yet many big boards still have him as the second or even third-rated prospect in the 2022 NBA Draft.

Aside from his thin frame, there’s not much to dislike about Holmgren’s game, so why are some scouts and fans dubious of his success?

The knock against Chet Holmgren and Gonzaga

The biggest knock against Chet Holmgren is the same one we hear about Gonzaga every single season: They don’t play elite competition.

The Gonzaga Bulldogs are the number one team in the nation right now, but unlike the teams from the Pac-10, SEC, Big-10, Big-12 and ACC, their conference is not well represented in the top-25, with only one other team (St. Mary’s) making the cut and they are hardly considered a powerhouse.

Gonzaga has played some tough games this season against teams like Duke, UCLA and Alabama, but they have also played a lot of games against the likes of Dixie State, Merrimack and Pepperdine.

They haven’t played the schedule that some of the teams in the power conferences have, which is always a criticism of Gonzaga, the country’s greatest mid-major team.

But how did that work out last season? The Bulldogs played a similarly weak schedule and still made it to the National Championship before sending Jalen Suggs into the NBA as one of the top prospects.

In fact, the Bulldogs have been a mainstay in the later rounds of the NCAA tournament since Mark Few took over, beating a whole lot of teams from power conferences along the way.

In other words, Gonzaga’s schedule shouldn’t be a knock against Holmgren’s chances to be a star in the NBA, so to all of those fans ripping him in the comments under this clip, I’d say, wait until the tournament and see what he does there.

There aren’t many seven-footers who can make these types of plays, so weak schedule or not, Chet Holmgren is going to be one of the top-2 picks in the 2022 NBA Draft and if he ends up on the Detroit Pistons, you won’t hear me complaining about a soft schedule.