This week I’m going to brag unapologetically.  In The Zag Wag 12—Buckets I said if Filip Petrusev plays in the game against Pacific, the Bulldogs will win by a score of 91-58.  The score last Saturday night:  92-59.  Not too shabby.  Better than me nearly predicting the score, however, was the Gonzaga Men’s Basketball team scoring that score—and defending Pacific well enough to keep them under 60 points.  It was an even balance of excellence on both ends of the court for the Zags Saturday.  You just cannot complain about a game where your team goes 33 for 58 shooting from the field (56.9%), shoots 9 of 18 from beyond the arc (50%) has only 7 turnovers (while forcing 15), gets 10 blocks, outrebounds, outhustles, outdefends and scores 92 on the #1 defensive team in the WCC.  There were a few issues that could use some shoring up for the now 21-1 (7-0 in WCC) Bulldogs, but problems were few and far between on a very fun night in the Kennel.  Not too shabby, indeed.

Jahlil Tripp led Pacific in points, rebounds, and assists for the game.  He put up 21 points on 8 of 15 shooting, had 5 rebounds and added 4 assists on the night before fouling out late in the game.  Tripp, who leads the Tigers in average points, rebounds and steals, is an impressive player in all respects and is relied on heavily to carry the team in many ways on both ends of the court.  While allowing a player to get 21 points doesn’t sound like successful defense, Gonzaga did a great job of keeping Tripp from getting too many decent looks at the hoop and forced him to turn the ball over 6 times.  Defensive pressure was particularly effective in the second half, where the elite level, 6’5” guard from Brooklyn scored only 6 points.

Killian Tillie drew the defensive assignment against Tripp to begin the game for the Zags and showed great versatility for a player his size guarding a quick wing.  Tillie handed Tripp-duty off at times to Corey Kispert and Admon Gilder, but it was the coordinated defensive effort of the whole team that kept Tripp and the rest of the Pacific Offense in check.  Besides holding another WCC team under 60 points, the Zags forced 15 turnovers, blocked 10 shots , had 9 steals, and held the Tigers to 35.5% shooting overall and 29.4% from deep.

Killian Tillie was an absolute monster in this game, and he is looking more and more menacing to WCC foes with each contest.  Like some sort of postmodern Godzilla, harnessing the electricity of the crowd in the Kennel, he was wreaking havoc wherever he stepped on Saturday and loving every minute of it.  He’s had 20 or more points in 4 of the 7 games Gonzaga has played in the WCC conference so far in January, including 22 points in both of the last 2.

The week of rest between the BYU game and the game against Pacific seems to have done the French forward very well indeed.  His legs may be getting near 100% again, his shooting stroke seems to have all its smooth grace, his defensive step and leap look quicker and higher than earlier in the season—and it all shown in his stats.  Unstoppable in the first half, Tillie was 7 for 8 shooting from the field and a perfect 3 for 3 from deep on his way to 17 points—2 of those coming with just over 2 minutes before halftime when Tillie drove through the middle of the key and slammed home a thunderous dunk to put the Zags up 43-28.  Overall, in his 29 minutes of play, Tillie went 9 of 11 from the field (82%), 4 for 5 from beyond the arc (80%), pulled down 8 rebounds, and added 2 steals to his 22 points.

Killian Tillie and Drew Timme were the MC’s at a two-hour block party on the Bulldog’s defensive end.  Tillie added 4 blocks to his already impressive stats.  Despite a slender night offensively, Timme one-uped Tillie and added 5 blocked shots to his 3 rebounds and 4 points.  The freshman from Texas is becoming an impressive, integral part of this team. 

Gonzaga’s guards got in on the defensive fun as well, as Kispert added a block and a steal to his stats line.  Pick-pockets Joel Ayayi and Admon Gilder had 2 and 3 steals respectively, and both had at least one break-away basket from the defensive to the offensive end of the court as a result of one of their steals.  After getting a hand in a Pacific passing lane, Gilder swiped the ball forward, drove to the hoop ahead of any defense and elevated for another dunk (like last week, but 2-handed).  Off a similar leap into the passing lane on defense, Ayayi poked the ball away and drove to the other end ahead of everyone for a more subdued lay-in.  As the Bulldogs’ defense and anticipation improves, these break-aways seem to be getting more and more common.

Probably the best thing the Zags fans, players and coaching staff saw on Saturday night was Filip Petrusev taking the court despite having done down a week before in the game against BYU with a painful ankle sprain.   Again, the week between games was just what the doctor ordered for both the team and the Serbian forward who leads Gonzaga in points, rebounds and blocks per game (16.1, 7.6, 1.1).  He logged 20 minutes on Saturday, including a phenomenal 12-point first half that saw him scoring many of the baskets for the team in the opening minutes of play.  The ankle didn’t seem a bother Petrusev as he gathered 15 points and showed some relentless strength down low on both ends of the court.

Corey Kispert topped Petrusev’s point total by 1, getting 16 and 5 rebounds on the night.  He was outstanding as always, utilizing both his right and left hands in a very ambidextrous display of shooting skill off drives to the basket.  He had one 3 his usual way shooting from deep, but added a 3-point play “the hard way” after gathering one of his 3 offensive rebounds and going up strong for the bucket and the foul in the middle of 3 Pacific defenders.  Ayayi and Gilder continued their high-efficiency work on the offensive end as well, with Ayayi shooting 4 of 6 from the field, gathering 3 rebounds and adding 4 assists to his 10 points.  Gilder went 3 of 6 from the field and added 2 assists and 5 rebounds to his 10 points.  Even in these lean times roster-wise for Gonzaga, what a gift it is to have guys like Gilder and Timme off the bench. 

Ryan Woolridge was another of six Bulldogs (all the starters plus Gilder) to finish in double figures for Gonzaga.  He had another outstanding performance at point guard, shooting 4 for 9 from the field, 3 for 7 from deep, and added 2 rebounds and 3 assists to his 11 points.  The highlight of the night for me (though Tillie’s dunk was awesome) came just a minute into the 2nd half when Woolridge sent the ball on a spider thread, through two defenders collapsing on the passing lane, toward a streaking Petrusev.  Woolridge sent it perfectly into Petrusev’s hands, setting up a sweet, two-handed flush for the Serbian.

It’s hard to find fault in a night like the one Gonzaga had on Saturday, but I’m gonna try.  The Bulldogs have been getting bested on the offensive glass by a few teams lately, including Santa Clara (16 to 14) and Pacific (16 to 11).  Against BYU the previous Saturday, the Zags nearly eliminated the Cougars’ ability to get a put-back or a second shot attempt by allowing BYU only 1 offensive board, while gathering 9 on their own offensive end.  That is an outstanding performance by Gonzaga’s defense at blocking out offensive players and crashing the glass on their own end!  Of course, allowing 1 as opposed to the 16 in the other contests is a big difference. 

One thing to keep in mind that should temper any criticism of the offensive rebounding stats for Gonzaga is that in both of the recent games where Gonzaga was beaten on the offensive glass stats, the Bulldogs shot very well as a team.  Against Santa Clara the Zags scored 104 points on 51.5% shooting.  Against Pacific, that percentage was a bit higher at 56.9%.  A team shooting that well doesn’t get that many opportunities to rebound the ball off a miss on their own end, while a team shooting a low percentage (Santa Clara shot 30.4% and Pacific shot 35.5%) has a lot more misses that could lead to potential offensive boards—and sometimes, even if the defense blocks out well, the ball just happens to go in the right/wrong direction off the rim.  So that could explain a bit of why Gonzaga was beaten in that area, though 16 is still a fairly high number.  The overall rebounding numbers against the Tigers, though in favor of the Zags, were close at 37 to 35.  Perhaps offensive rebounding and rebounding in general could be something to work on.

The same old complaint is going to reemerge here—and maybe you’re getting as tired of hearing it as I am of bringing it up.  After enjoying two great performances from the free-throw line at home against Santa Clara and BYU, offering hope that free-throw shooting percentages in future games could continue to be at or above 75%, Gonzaga had a poor performance last Saturday in a game that saw a lot of Zags get to the free-throw line.  The Bulldogs were 17 of 29 for another worrisome 58.6% from the free-throw line.  Compare that to the Zags best effort this season against Santa Clara where the team shot 87.5% on a 28 of 32 effort.  Leaving those 5-10 points off the Gonzaga end of the scoreboard, though it wasn’t problematic last Saturday, could be catastrophic in weeks to come.
Kispert continues to be very reliable from “the charity stripe” (for him that nickname applies).  He had another perfect effort last Saturday, going 7 for 7.  Tillie didn’t get a chance to shoot any, but his fellow MC in the block party, Timme, went a cringe-worthy 0 for 4 shooting free throws.  Petrusev gets a waive on his 3 for 9 effort because I could definitely see a stiff/sore ankle giving a player troubles at the line since so much of the flat-footed free throw shot comes up from the ankles.  Poor free-throw shooting was perhaps the only serious blemish on an otherwise near-perfect night, and Gonzaga will no doubt see improvement in that area in weeks to come. 

Concerning the week to come:  Mark Few continues to give a vast majority of minutes to a slim rotation of the 7 players we’ve mentioned (lets call them the Fab 7).  He has been giving a few more minutes to two players further down the bench who may have the potential to help this team in more problematic contests in the future.  I’m thinking in particular of the two Freshman who hail from a similar region of the earth:  Martynas Arlauskas (the 6’6” and very-athletic Lithuanian freshman wing) and Pavel Zakharov (the 6’11” freshman forward from St. Petersburg, Russia).  Both have seen limited minutes this year, most coming in situations where the game is well beyond decided in the Zags favor.  It’s going to become increasingly important to have extra guys further down the bench who can fill in should injury rear its ugly head again or foul trouble take one or more of the Fab 7 out of the game—especially against any bigger, stronger teams the Zags might face in March.  It would be great, I think, to see more of both freshman in the coming games just to get them better worked into the speed of play, though I’m going to defer any decision to the excellent judgement of my vote for coach of the year, Mark Few.

The option of giving minutes to anyone besides the Fab 7 recently has come only once a game is either firmly in control, or is at least leaning so well in the Bulldogs favor that the coaching staff can afford to play around a bit.  And Mark Few seems to like things to be very firmly in control before he plays around.  This was the case especially in two WCC games recently—the game against Santa Clara, where the Bulldogs prevailed 104-54, and the game at San Diego,, where the Zags won 94-50.  In those two games both freshman saw about 8 minutes of action in each game.  Against Pacific, as the score hovered around 25-30 points in the Zags favor, Arlauskas and Zakharov saw 6 and 4 minutes respectively. 

Neither player has been explosive by any means (neither scored more than 4 in any of the 3 games mentioned), but having options beyond the 7, I think, is going to bode well for Gonzaga.  Considering the fact that the only teams Gonzaga hasn’t played in the WCC so far are San Francisco and Saint Mary’s, and that some of the games have been lopsided in the Zags favor, more opportunities could arise for these two very capable and talented freshman to progress and contribute as Gonzaga begins its run back through some of the WCC teams it has already faced. 

The team leaves Spokane this week for 2 road games in what could prove to be a very hostile California.  The first game will be against Santa Clara on Thursday night.  We faced the Broncos already in Spokane recently for a 104-54 win, and even on the road I think the Zags will take care of business in good order there.  Look for Arlauskas and Zakharov to get minutes after the Fab 7 reassert dominance quickly.  I say the Zags will not only lock down on defense and hold the Broncos under 50, but will also break the century mark again 101-49.

On Saturday night, San Francisco presents, perhaps, one of the more formidable challenges in the WCC.  Both games against the Dons were difficult last year (especially the one in SF)—and San Francisco has shown some serious star power of late.  Saint Mary’s has been SFU’s nemesis this season, and the Gaels have beat SFU twice in low scoring games where neither team reached 70 points.  San Francisco had a wonderful win on the same night the Zags played Pacific, beating BYU 83-82 (despite TJ Haws’ 20 points and Yoeli Childs’ 19 for BYU)—coming from 7 down at halftime to flip the script and best the Cougars.  Khalil Shabazz (coolest name in the WCC?) had 32 points in the contest and Jamaree Bouyea (coolest name in the WCC?) had 23.  Obviously they have some guys who can put up numbers against good competition.  I think San Francisco is going to give Gonzaga one of its tougher challenges on Saturday, keeping the Gonzaga lead within single digits for the first 10 or 15 minutes.  By half, though, Gonzaga is going to stretch the lead and begin to pull away.  The Bulldogs will gather more strength and wisdom from the coaching staff at halftime and prevail big in a hostile environment, 97-76.
​
Rest in Peace Kobe Bryant, along with your daughter and all the others who perished in the tragic helicopter accident last weekend.  If you haven’t already, watch or re-watch the short film that won him an Oscar some years back called, “Dear Basketball.”  It offers some spiritual solace in troubled times, I think, and is beautiful in all respects—inspiring us, as Kobe always did, to put our hearts and hard work into whatever our spirit reaches toward.  
 
~ Clark Karoses         

I hate to brag, but I did fairly well at predicting the outcome of the Gonzaga Men’s Basketball game against BYU last Saturday night.  In the Zag Wag’s last installment, I said if BYU’s Yoeli Childs wasn’t playing, Gonzaga would win by a score of 95-71.  Childs didn’t play and the outcome was 92-69.  Not too shabby if I do say so myself. . . but before I go patting myself on the back too enthusiastically, I should mention that I predicted last Thursday night’s game against Santa Clara as well.  I ventured 88-77 in favor of the Zags.  The Bulldogs went ahead and made a joke of my assumed 11-point margin, prevailing by 50 points in the contest:  104-54.  Though I wasn’t in the ballpark there, I’m the last to complain about a 50 point win—nor about Gonzaga improving their record to 6 and 0 in conference play, 20 and 1 on the season and breaking the WCC record for consecutive regular season wins with 33.

When I see point totals like 104 and 92 in college basketball, defense usually isn’t the first thing that comes to mind.  The Zags were definitely getting buckets last week, but they’ve been putting hard work in on both ends of the court lately.  Consider:  Gonzaga had 22 steals last week—11 in each game.  Guards Ryan Woolridge, Admon Gilder and Joel Ayayi had 3 steals each in the game against Santa Clara—a game that saw the Bulldogs block 7 shots as well—Killian Tillie and Drew Timme getting 2 blocks each.  Ayayi had another 4 steals against BYU as well.

Gonzaga outrebounded both opponents by a combined total of 90 to 51.  Though most rebounds happen on the defensive end, it was the offensive rebounding numbers that showed improvement from the first game to the next.  One of the few statistics in which Santa Clara came out in front of Gonzaga was on the offensive glass, where the Broncos edged out the Bulldogs 16-14.  Perhaps in an effort to shore up one of the areas of the game where they had trouble against Santa Clara, Gonzaga pulled down 9 offensive rebounds on Saturday, but allowed BYU only one offensive rebound on the Zags’ defensive end.

Those numbers tell you something, but good defense isn’t always the easiest thing to quantify.  My high school coach used to say (repeatedly):  “The best play you can make in basketball is to take a charge, and they don’t even keep track of those.”  He was also the football coach, so I think the thing he really liked about that defensive highlight was the collision that taking a charge involves—since the defensive player must often accept a blow delivered with the full force and inertia of the offensive player’s body without flinching in the least (as they’re being knocked down).  The Zags had at least one of those Saturday when Drew Timme stood up straight just outside the restrictive circle under the basket and unflinchingly took the brunt of a driving Cougar attempting to get a lay-up—going down to the floor, forcing a turnover, negating the offensive possession for BYU, and giving the ball back to the Zags.

Perhaps an even better play in basketball (because it involves the coordinated effort of all 5 defensive players) is to get a shot-clock violation.  Shot-clock violations only happen when the defensive pressure is so intense and consistent that the other team is either unwilling to take a poor shot in the time allotted to do so, or are just plain unable to get a shot that hits the rim off in time.  Again, the Zags had at least one of those on Thursday against Santa Clara early on in the game, adding inspiration to a defensive effort throughout the half that limited the Broncos to just 22 points. 

More often than steals, blocks, shot-clock violations and charges taken though, defensive effort is simply working your tail off to stop the opponent from doing what they so desperately want to do (score), and being very aware of what as many of the 9 other players on the court are doing.  It’s the coordinated cutting off of the opposition’s efforts at every impasse.  Last week you saw Gonzaga players in synch and absolutely flying around at times in both contests.  And it ended up creating numerous fast break and transition opportunities on the offensive end—including a high-flying fast break dunk against BYU by Admon Gilder (off a steal by Joel Ayayi), and a fast break lay-in by Joel Ayayi against SCU (off a steal by Admon Gilder).

In the end, the best quantifier of the defensive effort for a team—definitely the most important one—is the final score.   And limiting Santa Clara to just 54 points on Thursday, and BYU to 69 on Saturday was a great achievement.  BYU had scored more than 90 in both of its previous games, and 84 against Saint Mary’s before that.  Santa Clara scored 84 in a win against Pacific on the same Saturday the Zags beat BYU—and any time you hold a team under 60 in Division 1 basketball, it was doubtless a great effort.  Some Cougars fans are going to argue that Yoeli Childs’s absence in the game would have changed the outcome a good deal—especially in terms of offensive production.  There’s no doubt about that—but it doesn’t take away, I think, from the defensive achievement.  We look forward to the game on February 22nd in Provo that sees BYU at their full strength and in their own building.  Childs, with teammates TJ Haws (who had 17 points against the Zags and showed off some very nifty passing skills), and Jake Toolson (who came away with 16 points), will be a challenge that can help this defense grow even more.

Gonzaga continues to impress on both ends even though there isn’t much rest being had for any of the Bulldog players.  What we’ve seen develop through these first 21 games for Gonzaga is a very tight rotation.  Since it was announced earlier last week that Anton Watson would be out for the season as a result of continuing shoulder problems and scheduled surgery, Mark Few is giving a vast majority of minutes to just 7 players.  A 7-player rotation is great in terms of developing a cohesive group on both ends of the court.  It’s troublesome, though, when any of that 7 gets into foul trouble—and especially troublesome when any injury problems make that into a rotation of just 6.  Five minutes into the second half against BYU, with the Zags up by a slim 7 points, that very situation came about when Filip Petrusev, the high scorer on the team and a key piece of the Gonzaga offense down low, rolled his ankle and went down in excruciating pain.  Luckily there wasn’t much foul trouble at the time.  The very skilled and able-bodied Drew Timme filled in, and Corey Kispert logged some minutes in the roll of forward instead of shooting guard without missing a beat in his offensive production for the night—and the Bulldogs ended up extending their lead rather than suffering as a result.

Killian Tillie, who seems to be almost fully mended from his own early-season knee surgery, ended up leading all Zags in scoring and rebounding with his double-double against BYU—gathering 22 points and 10 rebounds and shooting 7 for 13 from the field.  Kispert had even better shooting percentages against the Cougars, going 7 of 12 from the field and 4 of 7 from beyond the arc to gather 19 points.  Against Santa Clara it was two other starters and a 6th man off the bench leading the offensive production.  Petrusev earned 18 points on Thursday night and added 7 rebounds.  Coming off the bench, Admon Gilder had the same 18 points on a 4 of 6 effort from the field, 2 of 4 from deep and a perfect 8 of 8 (!) from the free throw line.

It was Joel Ayayi who led the Bulldogs in scoring against the Broncos, and filled up the stat sheet in both of last week’s contests.  Against the Broncos, he shot 8 of 13 from the field, 2 of 5 from beyond the arc, and added 6 rebounds and 3 steals to his 19 points.  He did something similar stat-wise against BYU with 14 points, 6 rebounds, 6 assists and 4 steals.  While Drew Timme didn’t earn his more and more common double-double on the evening against BYU, he went a perfect 3 of 3 from the field for 7 points, 5 rebounds and 2 steals.  Against the Broncos he added 15 points and 11 rebounds to his 2 blocks.  What gems these young Gonzaga players are becoming!

One very welcome change we saw last week was both opponents shooting a good deal worse from the free-throw line than the Bulldogs, who were surprisingly good—even stellar.  Against SCU, GU had, I believe, their best mark yet this season with an 87.5% mark on a 28 for 32 attempts effort, highlighted by perfection from Kispert (5 for 5) and Gilder (8 for 8) and a respectable 6 for 8 from Petrusev.  Against BYU the Zags had a slightly less impressive 75% mark on a 19 for 25 effort.  It’s great to see that statistic moving in the right direction for the Bulldogs after a somewhat worrisome effort from the charity stripe throughout the season so far that saw games with Gonzaga shooting below 60 and even 50%.  Last week bumped the season’s free throw percentage up a bit to 67.6%, a number we all hope continues to rise as the players strokes from the line are looking smoother and more relaxed.  Both Santa Clara and BYU suffered woes last week in this area, going for 47.4% on Thursday and 50% on Saturday.  Taking free throws in the very intimidating and sometimes downright hostile McCarthy Athletic Center in Spokane can’t be easy.                

After last week’s convincing performances, it may seem wrong to many Gonzaga fans that the team was bumped out of the top slot in the AP Top 25 by Baylor in a very close vote.  Baylor had 33 1st place votes and 1591 total points compared to 31 first place votes for Gonzaga and 1588 points.  Baylor’s victories over Iowa State and Oklahoma State in the Big 12 were more impressive in the panels’ eyes than Gonzaga’s blowout wins in the WCC.  It’s a bummer that you can win by 50 and nearly 25 and still slip a spot in the rankings for sure, but it’s a voting matter that no one should attach a great deal of importance to.  There’s always the possibility that the Zags will regain the top slot if Baylor slips up against West Virginia or any of their other conference foes.

Pacific in next on Gonzaga’s slate in the WCC on Saturday night.  Besides Jahlil Trip, who is averaging 15.4 points and 8.4 rebounds per contest, Pacific is what Steve Cameron of The Spokane Review calls a “hoops by committee” team “as no less than 12 players are averaging at least 14.4 minutes per game.”  In other words, The Tigers do exactly the opposite of the Zags’ slim rotation.  Pacific has quite a fat rotation of players.  Perhaps their best victory of late was a quadruple overtime (I’d never even heard of a quadruple overtime) thriller against Saint Mary’s in which they prevailed 107-99.  Jahlil Trip gathered 39 points and 11 rebounds in that game.  The Tigers just lost on Thursday to BYU, 74-60—in a game that saw Yoeli Childs return to action.  He and teammate Jake Toolson did a majority of the scoring for BYU, combining for 54 points.  I have no doubt everyone on Gonzaga is going to be pumped up for another home contest on Saturday—and all seriousness is going to be brought to facing these Tigers.  Hopefully Filip Petrusev will be healed up enough to join the starters.  If not, this might be closer than the games last week.  I’m gonna say Gonzaga wins 83-61 if Petrusev doesn’t play.  If he does play, I say the Zags breaks 90 again 91-58.  Have a great weekend, and GO ZAGS!

​~ Clark Karoses

After a somewhat shaky first week of WCC play, with stretches that saw the Bulldogs playing catch-up against Portland and Pepperdine, the #1-ranked Gonzaga Men’s Basketball team took a trip to California and had a much less anxious showing this last week on Thursday evening against San Diego and Saturday afternoon against Loyola Marymount.  Though the margins of victory much higher than the ones against Portland and Pepperdine, the overall result was the same as the week before.  The Zags notched two more wins to make them 4 and 0 in conference play so far, and 18 and 1 overall this season.

Last week’s games against the San Diego Torreros and the LMU Lions weren’t without some difficulties—including continued and worrisome shoulder trouble for freshman Anton Watson as well as a frigid spell from deep early on against Loyola that saw Admon Gilder as the only Zag able to connect twice from beyond the arc in the whole first half of play.  Little else was going wrong though, and Gonzaga walked off the court at half in both contests with a comfortable lead:  38-22 against LMU and a whopping 53-16 against San Diego.  Finshing with scores of 87-62 and 94-50 respectively, the Zags left little doubt that their #1 ranking is well-deserved. 

Debate about that #1 ranking in college basketball, however, has been abundant in the last few days since Baylor (who beat #3 Kansas in Kansas 67-55 on Saturday and disposed of #22 Texas Tech 57-52 earlier last week) emerged as the definitive #2, leapfrogging the now woe-stricken Duke (who just lost away at Clemson).  Don’t get me wrong.  I know these numbers don’t matter, but I think there is good and bad about Gonzaga having the top ranking.  On the one hand the #1 could inspire complacency, egotism, lack of effort and the underestimating of opponents in players because they’ve been recognized as superior.  More likely, though, the Zags could use the goal of keeping that #1 ranking as inspiration for further excellence, improvement, attention to detail and hard work.  The vote in the two significant polls was very close earlier this week.  The Coaches Poll had Gonzaga ahead of Baylor, 775 points to 764 points—Gonzaga with 16 first place votes and Baylor with 10.  The AP poll had Baylor getting one more first place vote than Gonzaga 31-30, but Gonzaga edging them in the total point margin 1574 to 1567.
 
Baylor has a good argument for being #1, and perhaps they deserve it.  The only piece of evidence I might use to refute that is that Gonzaga beat the only team to beat Baylor this season, Washington.  Of course, the Zags lost to Michigan by a much larger margin than Baylor has lost.  It’s a dilemma, and I’m glad it’s up to others to decide who gets what number. The only real solution if each of the top teams continues to win convincingly, will be to see them play to settle the matter—but that won’t happen, if it ever does, until March.  I was lucky enough to see that Gonzaga/ Baylor game happen last year in March at the Vivint Center in Salt Lake City, and Baylor’s returning players and fans are sure to remember Gonzaga—especially the name Clarke, as in Brandon Clarke, who played two feet above everyone the whole night and finished with 36 points and 5 blocks.  I digress—back to the games last week in California. . .  

Gonzaga absolutely owned the glass in both contests.  The Bulldogs had a dominant 47 total rebounds to San Diego’s 27, and 41 to LMU’s 23.  And all the usual suspects wreaked their usual scoring havoc on the opposing defenses.  Filip Petrusev scored 16 against LMU (half of those at the free throw line on 8 of 11 attempts) and added 7 rebounds as well. He had 17 points against San Diego on 7 of 10 shooting from the field, along with 5 boards.  With consistent performances like and exceeding these in almost every outing this season, Gonzaga’s vastly improved big-man from Serbia has earned a well-deserved slot on the JR Wooden Award Midseason Top 25 list.

Corey Kispert picked only his best opportunities on the road trip and hit roughly half of his shot attempts in both games, gathering 10 points against San Diego on 3 of 6 shooting from the field and 2 of 4 from beyond the arc.  Against LMU he found a bit more fire, going 6 of 10 from the field, 2 of 4 from deep and finishing with 15 points.
The team points leader in both of the Bulldogs first two WCC games (adding 22 against Portland and 20 against Pepperdine), Killian Tillie, had a much more subdued scoring outing this last week.  The French, sharpshooting forward had 8 points against LMU and 6 in the game against San Diego where he led the team with 10 rebounds.  His best games always seem to come when the pressure is on and/or competition is fierce and I think we’ll see him return to prime form in the two very challenging upcoming games this week.

On Saturday afternoon at LMU, Gonzaga had a freshman not only lead the team in rebounds, but also earn the first double-double in his young, promising career.  It’s time to talk about Timme!  The freshman native of Texas, Drew Timme, has been and is going to continue be a force and a key component for the team this season—especially considering Anton Watson’s shoulder troubles.  As the likely heir-apparent to a starting slot on the low block next season (since both Tillie and Petrusev will almost certainly find places to play professionally), he has found his way into some significant minutes through tenacious play on both ends of the court as well as a super-slick set of post moves—including an excellent and accurate jump-hook.  The passion he plays with has earned him a fair number of quick and, perhaps, ill-advised fouls in many contests so far.  That passion and fight have also resulted in some very efficient, high-percentage scoring down low as Timme is excellent at crashing the glass—especially at finding offensive rebounds and put-backs whenever Zag shooters miss.

In his 20 minutes against LMU, Timme went 4 of 5 from the field, gathering 10 points, 11 rebounds (3 of them offensive), and 2 blocks.  Against San Diego he showed off some passing skill as well, with 4 assists in 19 minutes of play along with 8 points and 7 rebounds (4 of them offensive).  Timme, Petrusev and Tillie all pass extremely well for forwards, often assisting from down low or at the high post—getting the ball to the other forward across the block, to a guard streaking to the basket, or to a shooter setting up for a good look from in or outside the arc—a fact that will continue to bode well for the team for the remainder of the season should any foe try to double down.  While Timme doesn’t have the same green light to shoot from deep that Tillie does, or quite the polished finesse Petrusev has learned with a couple of years in the program, Timme is an absolute gem to have off the bench to substitute for either or the starters down low.  He seems to be getting a lot of attention and specific instruction from Coach Few each time he comes off the floor.  He is, without a doubt, bound to improve at an exponential rate under the tutelage of Gonzaga’s coaching staff and the WCC’s school of hard knocks.

Another interesting player success story this season comes from Tillie’s fellow Frenchman on the team, Joel Ayayi.  Last year Ayayi’s minutes and contribution to the team were minimal, and I believe everybody except perhaps Ayayi himself, some members of the team and the coaching staff, and those who paid attention to his outstanding play for the French team in the 2019 U-19 international tournament, have been surprised by his stellar rise this season into a multi-talented guard who fills up statistics sheets in every category. 

Admon Gilder, the graduate transfer from Texas A&M had the starting spot over Ayayi for many of the early games this season.  After being hobbled and suffering some down-time due to knee trouble, Gilder bowed out to Ayayi as starter.  Though he’s shown some minor inconsistency, Ayayi has flourished in the starting role.  He showed why he earned the starting roll on Thursday night against San Diego by leading all scorers with 20 points on 7 of 12 shooting, going 3 of 5 from beyond the arc and a perfect 3 of 3 at the charity stripe—adding 6 rebounds, 3 assists and a steal.  It’s not just that so many announcers get endless amusement out of loudly exclaiming his last name—the kid can straight-up play basketball.  But to that point about inconsistency:  against LMU Ayayi, accruing too many early fouls, struggled to earn 5 points and went 0 for 5 from deep.  Days like that are already few and far between and will very likely become fewer and farther.   

Fortunately Admon Gilder showed consistency in both contests off the bench and performed particularly well in the LMU game where Ayayi struggled, going 4 of 8 from the field and 2 of 4 from deep for 12 points.  In fewer minutes he had the same 12 points against San Diego, getting a good helping of those at the foul line where he went 5 of 6.  Though Gilder might be the better defender and the smarter veteran player, Ayayi continues to both impress and improve on both ends of the court and has the potential to add the kind of go-to, confident element that a guy like Zach Norvell Jr. brought to the team in years past.

Along with his role as shooting guard, Ayayi is also the best substitute for the other grad transfer from North Texas University, point guard Ryan Woolridge.  As one of the best defenders on the team, however, Woolridge rarely sees any time on the bench—and he is proving to be a more and more dangerous weapon on the offensive end as well.  Though he has had a few days on top of the scoring board for the team (especially in games against teams from Texas) he used these last two games to do a little bit of everything well by distributing the ball with precision, rebounding, scoring and locking down on defense.  Against LMU he had 13 points on 5 for 8 shooting, 6 rebounds and 5 assists.  On 4 for 9 shooting against San Diego, he earned 8 points, 6 assists, 6 rebounds and 2 steals.  He gets well-deserved praise nearly every outing, and Woolridge has made the transition for the Zags from Josh Perkins at point last season (the all-time assists record holder for the team) to the graduate transfer from North Texas at point this season, a very painless one.

In summary, things went well last week for Gonzaga, have been going well for some time, and I expect nothing but the same excellence in all weeks to come as this team becomes more cohesive with each contest.  After its road trip to California last week, Gonzaga will be enjoying a stretch of games at home that should test this team to the core as they proceed deeper into the minefield the WCC seems present these days. 

Gonzaga is the only team in the conference that has managed to go undefeated, even at this early juncture.  Every other team has suffered at least one loss, and Gonzaga’s long-time rival and nemesis, the Saint Mary’s Gaels—who took the WCC Tournament Championship from the heavily favored Zags in Las Vegas last year—have already suffered 2 defeats in conference play and will have to climb back into good standing.

The next two opponents coming to Spokane may be the best two they’ll face before March.  The Zags are at home against Santa Clara on Thursday (at 8 pm Pacific on ESPN2), a team with a very impressive 15-3 record on the season who just beat Saint Mary’s by a point last Saturday.  After that they get BYU on Saturday.  Sitting at 13-5 on the season, their non-conference losses have come at the hands of some of the better teams in the country, including Kansas and San Diego State.  They were narrowly defeated by Saint Mary’s in conference play and will no doubt present a significant challenge considering that the very talented, veteran players they return to the court are both accustom to Gonzaga’s style of play and are looking for revenge after some significant pummelings in the last couple of years delved out by the paws of the Bulldogs.

The WCC seems to be as competitive this season as I’ve every seen.  Every team has a shot at winning any given night, and there are 4 or 5 teams that are going to threaten to add to Gonzaga’s loss column.  These next two teams the Zags play are both significant threats, along with Pacific who comes to town the following Saturday the 25th.  You can’t build greater strength without resistance and I think the WCC play is going to be some heavy lifting this year. 

My predictions this week:  Gonzaga is going to add some order to the chaos in the conference by establishing dominance and continuing its winning ways.  The McCarthy Athletic Center and the hometown crowd are going to give Gonzaga the extra boost that propels them into even more significant victories.  Santa Clara will suffer a respectable loss in Spokane, falling by a score of 88-77 on Thursday night.  BYU will lose just a bit more convincingly, 95-80 if Childs is playing in decent form and 95-71 if he’s still suffering a good deal from the recent injury to his hand.  Best wishes, Happy New Year, and GO ZAGS!!!

​~ Clark Karoses            

Since the New Year, Gonzaga Men’s Basketball has played two WCC conference games, one away against Portland on January 2nd, and another at home against Pepperdine.  Though the Zags were heavy favorites in both, neither game proved to be smooth sailing for the Bulldogs.  Each game proved to be a significant challenge, testing the meddle and composure of the team that had been granted the title of #1 for Christmas.  The challenge presented in every game of conference play is a trend that will likely continue throughout play and into March as every team with a shot at beating #1 and proving they deserve a leg up in the ranking gives an extra-special effort against the Zags.  It is facing up to that challenge and maintaining that #1 next to their name on the scoreboard that should carry this team closer to perfection and put them in an even better spot come tournament time.

Gonzaga’s WCC opener away at Portland quickly had me thinking the jinx on anyone who has been honored with the #1 spot in the polls (5 previous teams ranked #1 this season have lost quickly after gaining the throne in the polls including Michigan State, Kentucky, Duke, Louisville and Kansas) was more like a legitimate curse.  The Portland Pilots, despite being considerable underdogs in the contest, came out strong in the first half on Thursday night and left Gonzaga more than a little bit flabbergasted—concerning both how to guard a team that seemed to be throwing everything they put up into the basket (Portland was 6 of 8 from beyond the arc in the first half and finished the game at a scorching 61.5% from long range) as well as how to solve the seeming lid over their own basket (Corey Kispert was the only player on the team to hit 2 3-pointers in the first half though Gonzaga took 10 attempts).  After a frustrating first half of play, the #1 Bulldogs went to the locker room shaking their heads and down by 7 points, 42-35.

I’m not sure what Mark Few and the rest of the coaching staff said at halftime, but it sure inspired some spirited defense that turned into some much better offense in the second half.  Killian Tillie, in particular, caught fire.  With 3 misses from beyond the arc and only 4 points in the 1st, he dialed in the long-ball and did a bit of everything well in the second—including making steals, one of which he threw down on an alley-oop dunk served up nicely by Ryan Woolridge.  Tillie would emerge as leading scorer for the night with 22 points, followed closely by Corey Kispert with 18.   

Tillie’s dunk helped light the fire under the whole Zags team, and they utilized a 16-0 run early in the second half to not only erase the 7-point deficit from halftime, but to go up as much as 18.  While an 85-72 victory against anybody on the road is nothing to shake a stick at, Mark Few’s comment after the previous game against Deroit Mercy on Dec. 30th applies well to both conference opening games that followed:  “We were a little choppy tonight, “ he said after the 93-72 win.  “We’ve got to be better than we were tonight.”  Few also foreshadowed what would come in these initial conference contests, recognizing that the #1 spot Gonzaga had gained would motivate opponents to make extra-special efforts and present a serious challenge.  “We’ve got to embrace this challenge,” the Gonzaga coach remarked.  “You get all kinds of crazy efforts out of the people you are playing against.”

Two such efforts stood out recently.  The first by the truly phenomenal Antoine Davis of Detroit Mercy who is averaging over 25 points a game.  He dropped 31 on the Zags in the loss on the 30th.  Pepperdine’s Colbey Ross, another outstanding talent, had a double-double against Gonzaga with 24 points and 10 assists.  The Gonzaga player who drew the hefty defensive assignment against both, Ryan Woolridge, stepped up well to the challenge even if the point total each player finished with isn’t indicative of excellent defense.  Both were held to sub 50 % shooting in their respective contests, Davis on an 11 for 23 effort and Ross with 9 for 21.  And the 10 assists Ross dished out were ultimately negated by 10 turnovers that can largely be attributed to defensive pressure from Woolridge and the Zags. 

Prior to Saturday night against Pepperdine, Woolridge hadn’t just been good on the defensive end—against both Detroit Mercy and Portland he showed off his smart, high-percentage offensive production as well.  In the two games combined, Woolridge shot a bonkers 78% from beyond the arc and 81% from the field on 13 for 16 shooting overall and 7 for 9 from deep—adding steals, rebounds and assists that bolstered team play all around and led the Zags to victories in both contests.  Too-often, perhaps, point-minded fans mistake a large point total for an excellent game when they should be giving praise to those playing tough, smart, high-percentage basketball instead.
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As wonderful as those two games were for Woolridge, the game against Pepperdine was a different story.  Woolridge didn’t score at all—not a point, on 0 for 3 shooting and 0 for 2 from deep, finishing with 3 assists, 2 steals and 1 rebound.  Much of the result may have had to do with the way Pepperdine was playing defense.  The Waves “guarded the fence” very well, pressuring shooters at and beyond the 3-point line, and forced Gonzaga to work hard for almost every point inside.   It may be that the better scoring opportunities weren’t there for him and he chose to facilitate everyone else’s scoring instead of his own—or maybe he was laser-focused on his defensive assignment against Ross.  Whatever the cause, or the excuse, it’s a bit confounding after such heavy production in the two games prior. 

But Woolridge’s statistics overall this season are quite mysterious.  Consider the fact that his 3-point field goal percentage is a few tenths higher than his field goal percentage at 53.8% and 53.2%.  That seems a little odd, but maybe not unwelcome by any means—he’s hitting more 3’s than he misses and nobody is going to complain about that.  The very problematic statistic is his free throw percentage which is right in the same range.  A point guard, especially a point guard who drives to the hoop as much as Woolridge does, has a lot of potential to go to the free throw line often.  A low free-throw percentage for that position is rarely even heard of.  Woolridge’s free throw percentage is (brace for it) 54.5%.  That’s one he’s got to bump up.  Contrast that with Pepperdine’s Colby Ross whose 3-point percentage looks low comparatively at 33.3% (he shoots a lot more than Woolridge), but shoots free throws at 91.3%.  Now that’s just phenomenal for any player, but you get my gist. 

Don’t get me wrong, Ryan Woolridge is a gift to this team and he has absolutely stepped up in so many areas to continue to get this team its wins.  Like the team as a whole, though, he needs to bump up that area of his game or Gonzaga is going to run into some serious problems quickly.  In many of the games so far, free throw shooting has been beyond problematic.  Consider the last 6 games against Arizona, North Carolina, EWU, Detroit Mercy, Portland and Pepperdine.  As a team, Gonzaga shot 56.7%, 68.2%. 75%. 70.8%, 47.8%, and 66.7%.  My guess is that among most coaching staff in Division 1 Men’s Basketball, 70 or 75% free throw shooting in a game would be considered around average, anything below 70% would be considered not so good to poor and get players some extra wind sprints in practice—and anything below 60% would make many a coach lose some hair.  Sitting at around 65% for the season overall, it’s quite amazing the Zags have managed to win all the games they have.  Many games down the road are going to tip toward or away from the Zags depending on their ability to make free throws and that has got to get better.

Whatever difficulties Gonzaga is having, the team is facing up to challenges it’s been presented with and come away with all but a single win this year.  Against Pepperdine’s Herculean effort on the defensive end, and despite it’s own sometimes sloppy play (the two combined resulting in 17 turnovers) Gonzaga mustered some composure late and came out on top.  An absolute steady source of greatness, Filip Petrusev got himself another double-double with 16 hard-earned points and 10 rebounds.  Corey Kispert’s 10 points and 7 rebounds on top of that, helped Gonzaga outrebound the Waves 39 to 30 on Saturday night.  Tillie added 4 rebounds and the 3 of bigger starters—Tillie, Petrusev and Kispert—added 4 assists and a block each. 

Tillie’s block may have been the most important, coming against Pepperdine’s Colbey Ross, who pulled up (with seconds left on the clock and the score 73-70 in the Zags favor) to shoot a 3-pointer that could have tied the game had it not been swatted.  Killian Tillie ended up with exactly 20 on the night and for two games straight was at or above that point total.  Admon Gilder and Joel Ayayi added excellence at key moments as well, hitting from deep at crucial moments and putting in 11 and 12 points respectively.  In limited minutes, Drew Timme has shown moments of brilliance in both games as well, and offered an excellent player to spell either Petrusev or Tillie when necessary.
What we can see from these first two conference games is that the WCC is not going to be a cakewalk by any means.  It is assumed that the better teams in the conference, including Santa Clara, Saint Mary’s and BYU, are still a few games away.  But looking at other WCC results, including a 107-99 win by Pacific against Saint Mary’s on Saturday, this conference looks like an absolute minefield—full of challenges that are going to require extreme focus from everyone on the team.  Gonzaga is going to have to bring their best every night and even the #1 team—or, rather, especially the #1 team—is going to have to tough it out many a night. 

It is truly a dangerous, hydra-headed attack that Gonzaga presents to defenders when any of the starters can potentially come up with 20 points—all the starters have in one or more games this year and the 6th man off the bench, Admon Gilder, has as well.  The defense needs a couple turns on the ratchet to tighten up, but I think it’s all going to improve with time.  No doubt about it, Killian Tillie’s health is going to be vital to the most difficult contests this year.  Mark Few realizes that and has provided his future NBA prospect a number of games on the bench to preserve his health and allow him to further heal.  Though his leg obviously isn’t 100%, he’s looking good lately—and whatever happens he’s got a host of talent and heart on the team to carry all this wonderful momentum forward.  I’m still predicting the Zags will win out in conference play and through March and April.  It would be a momentous feat for the Zags to do so, but I’m a true believer that this team can tough it out.  As far as the next few contests go against San Diego and Loyola Marymount, I predict good wins for Gonzaga by 20 or more.  They’ve been tested early and I think they’re tired of the game staying close.  I think they’re going to pull away early and hit often—and I think they’re going to shoot over 70% from the free-throw line.  I would say 98-76 on Thursday night against San Diego and 87-56 against Loyola.        
     
And as a true fan now and in the future, I can’t help but be happy about Gonzaga getting a verbal commitment from Jalen Suggs.  It’s hard not to be skeptical about whether a “verbal commitment” actually means anything in this day and age, but I hope Jalen Suggs is sincere and that the tricky trio will be lighting up the court next year for the Zags.  It’ll be a great year again no matter what, but that trio coupled with Timme, Ballo and anyone else who doesn’t get snatched up by some professional organization in the states or abroad would be one seriously fun group to watch.

Have a Happy New Year and Go Zags!  

~ Clark Karoses