After a demonstration of dominance with a 112-77 win at home against Eastern Washington University on December 21st, Gonzaga Men’s Basketball was named #1 in the country the following Monday according to all the significant polls.  Usually that’s good reason to celebrate and shake some champagne and such.  But the way things have been going in the upper echelons of Division 1 Men’s College Basketball this season, that might be an accolade any team that has strung together some significant wins would want to chase away with a cross in one hand and a wooden stake in the other.  With 5 different teams having taken the #1 throne since the beginning of the season only to lose almost immediately after gaining the honor, that designation could be something many teams would flee from.   

No stranger to #1, Gonzaga has begrudgingly accepted the honor out of necessity this December and disregarded its importance completely—preferring to get back to work and to heal the bumps and bruises they’ve sustained in their weary travels so far.  If Mark Few is any indication of how everyone on the team feels, there definitely isn’t much import placed on the top slot.  In an interview prior to the game against EWU, Few said:  “I don’t think they should be doing polls this year until March. . . it’s just an effort in futility at this point.” 
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Is Gonzaga, or any team for that matter, the #1 team in the nation?  That’s hard to say, but enough people considered expert in the field think so and they’ve got the number now.  Ohio State has, perhaps, as many great wins as Gonzaga—and undefeated San Diego State looks good as well—along with a long list of potential greats.  Gonzaga has come up with significant wins at the right time and has benefitted a great deal from the difficulty of their schedule before the New Year.  Maybe the more important question is:  Can Gonzaga hold on to #1 and get rid of the jinx on that number?

Yes, is my answer.  And yes, they will hold on to #1 in the polls provided the pollsters accept Gonzaga continuing to win every game as sufficient to keep them there.  They’ll be there until March and into March Madness.  That’s my prediction.  Many feel winning out isn’t in the cards for Gonzaga—that it’s too much to expect—but I strongly feel they’re wrong.  As a Bulldogs fan, I may be the wrong person to ask, but I think Gonzaga is going to win out—a formidable task, no doubt, but I think this is a team that can face every contest with even-headed intensity and come out on top.
 
The WCC conference, very good last year, is perhaps even better this year.  Saint Mary’s (12-2), BYU (10-4) and Santa Clara (12-2) are all going to be difficult to beat, especially with that #1 designation like a target on the back of the Bulldogs.  But Gonzaga matches up well against anybody in the country right now and I think every member of this conference (like their next opponent on December 30, Detroit Mercy) is going to be begging for mercy when they face the Zags.

In the last game against EWU, many expected a decent game and perhaps a challenge from the Eagles who were averaging over 90 points a game.  I predicted the game would be somewhat close in the first half before Gonzaga pulled away for a significant victory of 93-70.  It wasn’t that, for sure.  With a final score of 112-77, the game essentially seemed over 10 minutes into the 1st half.  After a somewhat even exchange of baskets for the first 6 minutes of the game, Gonzaga went on a 15-0 run between 13:55 and 11:14 on the clock to go up 29-9.  Every aspect of the game, besides some decent 3-poing shooting from EWU, was controlled by the Zags, especially rebounding.  A freak tip in by Anton Watson as the final seconds in the 1st half ticked away made the score 64-33. 

It was another game that saw a pair of Gonzaga players with 20 or more points for the game.  Filip Petrusev, who added 20 points against North Carolina earlier in the week, added another 24 against the Eagles and was just a rebound short of a double-double.  Admon Gilder, who had been hobbled of late with knee trouble, seemed quite well against EWU.  His shooting numbers look especially strong with 8-11 overall from the field shooting, 3 of 6 shooting 3 pointers, and 22 points total.  It was the second straight game that the 2 highest scoring Zag players combined for 46 points.  Against North Carolina, it was Petrusev and the highly regarded (and justly so) shooting guard/forward Corey Kispert who went bonkers with his 26 points on 5 of 6 shooting from beyond the arc.  Against EWU he settled down a bit, but was a perfect 2 for 2 from deep, 3 for 4 from the field and steady at the free throw line—finishing with 13 points.

Free throws (a sore subject this season) were a statistic I implored myself to pay attention to after the last two games.  There has been a steady rise for the team in free throw shooting percentage over the last three games.  Against Arizona we saw Gonzaga shoot a very disappointing 56.7% on 17 of 30 from the charity stripe—and the panic alarm was sounded.  Free throw shooting has often been an embarrassing issue for Gonzaga this season but rarely as poor as that 56.7 %.  Against North Carolina we saw a bit of a boost, as the Bulldogs sank 15 of their 22 attempts for 68.2%.  In the last post I asked for a goal—that Gonzaga raise their team free throw shooting percentage to 70% over the course of a number of months by getting a consistent 75% mark in each game.  The Bulldogs responded by doing exactly that with a 30 makes in 40 attempts effort against EWU.  Petrusev, who will continue to shoulder more and more of the free throw shooting load was a very decent 10 of 14.  Corey Kispert, who is the team leader in free throw percentage at an even 80% went 5 for 6.  Ryan Woolridge, who has the worst free throw shooting percentage among players with significant minutes at 53.8%, is, we all hope, on the rise with a 2 for 2 effort in the game against EWU.
          
Free throw shooting might be the most significant concern for this team going into the new year.  Rebounding is a minor concern as well.  The Zags out-rebounded EWU 49 to 34, but not their two previous opponents.  Despite winning the previous two games, they were narrowly outrebounded by both Arizona and North Carolina.  They’ll need to focus some effort on more effectively getting to the glass against tough opponents.  They’ll also have to tighten up on defense.  Gonzaga plays very good but, perhaps, not great defense.  There are breakdowns on defense, like we saw at the very inopportune time of the last two minutes of the game against Arizona, where both the defense looked bad and the team made many mistakes.  Gonzaga has all the potential, I think, to hold opponents to under 60 points though they’ve only done so in a few contests this year.  All these areas I think will be areas of improvement in games to come as Gonzaga buckles down for the coming conference schedule.

Another thing to look for is the continued improvement of Joel Ayayi who has been an invaluable contributor to Gonzaga’s game on both ends of the court.  He has had brilliant games this season, especially in tight contests.  In the last two games he was slightly short of brilliant, going a combined 2 of 11 from 3-point range and 10 of 23 overall shooting from the field.  Despite those less than ideal numbers he added 13 points and 8 rebounds against EWU and 11 points, 10 rebounds, 6 assists and 3 steals against North Carolina.  His rebounding numbers (he averages nearly 7 a game) are second only to Filip Petrusev on the team.  

Looking into the future, I see Joel Ayayi and the rest of the team coming out of the Christmas rest with a vengeance.  They needed a week of rest after a brutal schedule, suffering significant injuries that slowed many players on the court and kept others off the court.  Anton Watson should see more minutes in games to come and could add even more length and strength to an already formidable line-up.  If Killian Tillie has used the down time to heal and strengthen his legs which, no doubt, he has—I pity the team who has to face his dangerous, Hydra-headed game down low and from deep and everywhere in-between.  The guards, including point and shooting, are just plain eating opponents up lately.  Ryan Woolridge is a precision surgical instrument, dissecting defenses and thwarting offensive weapons.  Gaining his health, Admon Gilder will continue to be dangerous everywhere as well.  And Corey Kispert and Joel Ayayi—lets just say it all looks good from here.  I just don’t like anybody’s chances against this team—nobody.  If the Zags lose before the tournament starts, I’ll admit I’m just a starry-eyed Zags fan.  Until then I’m that and the guy who says they’re not losing.  Right now, it seems like a good fan to be.  Best Wishes and Happy New Year.  I hope you catch the game on Monday against Detroit Mercy and the Conference opener against Portland on the second.

​~ Clark Karoses      

​There’s a saying in basketball.  To have “numbers” means to have more of the guys on your team ahead of the guys on the opposite team while you’re heading toward your basket.  You hear it sometimes on a fast break from the bench, or on a particularly quick transition push up the floor from players trailing.  “You got numbers, man—you got numbers!” which means attack the basket and look to pass if any defender focuses on stopping you because they’ve got less than enough to cover your more.  On Wednesday night, in the much-anticipated game against North Carolina in Spokane, Gonzaga had numbers.  Sometimes it was just one Zag ahead of no defenders—as Joel Ayayi and Admon Gilder showed on two separate plays after each made a great steal and took it to the basket by themselves with everyone else behind.  Sometimes it was a pass to a streaking zag ahead of everyone else—as we saw when Corey Kispert received the perfect long pass from Joel Ayayi to take it off a big bounce and throw it down for the emphatic dunk.  Sometimes it was just more of our guys getting ahead when we recognized any one of the defenders was lagging.

 This Gonzaga team pushes the ball perhaps better than any Gonzaga team I’ve watched so far—and to say that they did it well against a team that pushes the ball as a trademark is something significant.  Against a team with a fathomlessly deep bench (North Carolina utilized 17 different players in the game—Gonzaga played only 7), the Zags got out and ran and ran and ran Wednesday night—sprinting ahead on offense and backpedaling back on defense, again and again and again with very little to no relief from the bench.  And they showed that it is with good reason they’ve got #2 next to their name on the television scoreboard because they’re not only one of the most skilled teams in Division One basketball, but also one of the best conditioned.

Of course, “numbers” also refers to statistics and Gonzaga put up some serious numbers in that sense as well on Wednesday night.  I predicted we’d get 96 in the previous blog post, but 94 points is not too shabby against a team as well-coached and disciplined on both sides of the court as the Tarheels (I did get their 81 correct).  It was disappointing to the fans on both sides, I think, not to see Cole Anthony on the court as it would, no doubt, have made this an even more exciting game had he been healthy.  He’s the kind of game changer that could have evened the scales that, considering the injury difficulties Roy Williams’ club has suffered this early season, were tipped a bit toward the Bulldogs (though the Zags have a few injury troubles of their own).  We were blessed to have a window of reasonably decent health to work with on Wednesday night, and work with it is what we did.

Filip (allow me to apologize for the many times I’ve spelled this Philip) Petrusev and Corey Kispert simply killed it in this game.  Period.  Exclamation Point!  Some sportswriters, no doubt, will express disappointment with the number of rebounds they came up with, but when a team makes so many of the shots they take, the number of offensive rebounding opportunities goes way down.  In other words, you don’t have an opportunity to go after a ball that goes through the basket—the ref gets that one—and boy oh boy was it ever going through the basket for these two Gonzaga stars.

Petrusev was 6 for 11 shooting from the field against some great forwards down low while Kispert, beyond outstanding, went 10 for 12 including 5 for 6 from beyond the arc.  Petrusev wears number "3" which may seem more appropriate for Kispert, who wears "24" but hits so many triples in the course of the game.  The important thing would be to keep a good thing going so I would say stick with whatever number you've got.  Kispert showed his skills down low as well as from deep when, after too many of our bigs got into foul trouble, he filled in as forward (he’s listed as a forward even though he rarely posts up).  He defended quite well all over the court and showed off some nice touch with the jump hook that all the Gonzaga forwards utilize so well (thinking of both Tillie and Timme). 

Together, Petrusev and Kispert combined for 46 points, just a point shy of half of the Zags total.  The Serbian big man added 3 blocks and 4 rebounds to his 20 well-earned points.  For a guy who got a lot of flak for having too much finesse and not enough attitude in the post, Petrusev not only looked strong on Wednesday—but absolutely punishing.  He finished through contact multiple times for and-1 baskets (there is a good reason he wears "3")—and made powerful moves toward the hoop to get fouled as well.  On one such move, getting his shoulder into the defender and leaping for the shot—they had to check the defender’s teeth afterward on the sideline to make sure he hadn’t chipped or wasn’t missing any.  He is truly coming into his role underneath and looking more comfortable every game against some of the best of the best. 

Corey Kispert, who went off against Arizona for 18 points and 8 rebounds last Saturday, was leading scorer for the team once again against North Carolina with his 26 points, adding 1 block, 1 assist, 2 steals, 3 rebounds and 4 turnovers (sorry CK, I just wanted to keep counting).  Any player on a Gonzaga team getting over 20 points is a rarity since the team always shares the scoring so well--but to see two reach the mark is rare indeed.

Strange alignments and series though, seem prevalent in the box score for this game.  Numerologists might find some significance in such alignments.  11 is a great number.  Not only is it a prime to mathematician type folks (prime numbers are ultra-cool and unique), but in spiritual number theory 11 is known as a “master number” signifying insight and enlightenment.  There were a lot of 11’s in the numbers for Gonzaga on Wednesday, foreboding good things perhaps.  Though we’d love to see this statistic a bit lower, maybe even in single digits, there were 11 turnovers committed by Gonzaga—pretty darn good against a decent defensive team.  An even better set of 11’s comes from Admon Gilder, Ryan Woolridge and Joel Ayayi who all scored 11 points—pointing at balance among the trio of supporting guards on the night. 

Of these Musketeers, Ayayi (who wears "11") went 5 of 11 (!) shooting from the field, Gilder 3 of 9, and Woolridge 5 of 6 (5 + 6= 11).  Like Kispert, Woolridge was just plain money at point guard on the night.  He hit his only attempt from deep, gathered 4 rebounds, and was just a good pass away from a double-double, with 9 assists.  He continues to show elite talent at point guard on both ends of the court, and though he didn’t have to shoulder the responsibility of trying to put the brakes on Cole Anthony like we thought he would have to (a challenge he very likely would have relished), he handled his defensive assignments with stern resolve.   Whoever convinced him to come over to the Zags from North Texas is sure smiling to himself after this game.

Whoever got Joel Ayayi to come to Spokane from France has been smiling for quite a while now.  Though he wasn’t as stellar from deep tonight, going only 1 of 5 from beyond the arc, he did get everything he needed for a double-double, with those 11 points and 10 rebounds.  He was the only player with over 5 rebounds on the team, getting the only offensive rebound the Zags had all night (again, some of that has to do with the ball going in a lot) along with 9 defensive rebounds.  He had 3 steals (1 for a sweet, fast-break flush), 2 turnovers and 1 personal foul—his 6 assists, combined with Woolridge’s 9 gave the duo 15 of the 18 assists for the team on the night. 
            
Besides getting 11 of our 94 points, Admon Gilder ("1") had a strange string of 2’s in his stat line.  2 is, as you might expect, a love number according to some mystical circles—and Zag nation is feeling the love for this native Texan of late.  After going 4 for 4 from deep against Arizona, he cooled off a bit and was 1 for 3 in the Kennel, but 4 for 4 from the free throw line (that’s what I’m taking about!) and he had 2 rebounds, 2 steals, 2 assists, 2 turnovers and 2 personal fouls (spooky, right?).  "2," worn by Drew Timme, also happens to be the only even prime number.

Perhaps one of the best things about Wednesday night at the McCarthy Center, and it seems strange to say this, was that Killian Tillie sat most of the game.  Tillie wears "33" which is, of course, 11 x 3--which may be foreboding of a championship game where Tillie sinks that many from deep.  He's certainly capable of that.  After a scary tweak of his ankle and perhaps some stress of his knee later in the 2nd half against Arizona, Tillie started against North Carolina, not allowing any pain he felt to stop him from participating in a game that meant revenge for the beat down the Tarheels gave last season’s Zag’s in Chapel Hill.  And he played, as he always does, very well.  He seemed slightly bothered, off balance and favoring his good side though—and got into some foul trouble early—using his hands, perhaps, when his legs weren’t responding as well as usual. 

Gonzaga’s dominance through most of the game allowed Tillie to get back to what might be best for the time being; healing on the sideline.  It’s a wonderful thing that Christmas is coming for so many reasons—one of them is so Tillie and Anton Watson ("22"--yep, 2 x 11) and the rest of the Zag players who need some mending can take a few days rest.  Tillie’s shot is simply a thing of beauty and while it was wonderful to see him hit the shot he made from deep, I think I was more relieved to see him sit.  I suspect he’s gonna look better than he ever has this season or last after the holidays give him a good chance to kick back into recovery mode after the early season knee surgery that kept him out of some of the first few contests.  His numbers against North Carolina:  in 15 minutes he was 3 of 5 from the field, 1 of 3 from deep, 2 of 3 shooting free throws, with 3 rebounds, 4 personal fouls and 9 total points (which is divisible by 3).   

One other thing I predicted in the last blog post was that Gonzaga would shoot better from the free throw line.  It wasn’t exactly a bold prediction considering the Zags went 17 of 30 for 56.7 % against Arizona.  Against the Tarheels, Gonzaga was 15 of 22 from the charity stripe for 68.2%.  Not great, of course, but better.  As I mentioned, Admon Gilder was perfect from the free throw line—which is so good to hear lately of any Gonzaga player.  Unfortunately, Ryan Woolridge continues to struggle from the line and lowered his already low FT percentage, as did Drew Timme.  Both had wonderful games otherwise, Timme getting 3 of his 5 attempts from the field down low to fall and, like always, being a tough toughie all over the court.  Together, however, he and Woolridge went 0 of 4 shooting free throws—and brought Gilder’s 100% back down to 50% in going 4 of 8 for the three combined. 

Kispert made his single attempt from the line after the sweet and-1 he had (deserving the bicep flex he gave the camera afterwards)—getting a 3 point bucket the hard way.   The lion’s share of free throws for the team came from Petrusev.  He’s going to continue to shoot more and more free throws each week as he makes stronger and stronger moves to the bucket.  He went 8 of 10 from the line and I don’t think there’s a coach out there who isn’t going to be extremely happy about those kinds of numbers. 

I shouldn’t take liberty to say anything for Mark Few, but I suspect 75% shooting free throws as a team would be a number he could be happy about.  Currently through, through these first 13 games, the Zags as a team are right at 65%.  I think Gonzaga has to, as a long-term team goal, get that number over 70%—meaning they’re going to have to reach at least that 75% mark each game for a good while to right the ship.  It might take until March, but I truly hope it’s in the works and I'll be paying close attention to those numbers.  
 
Here’s a couple more really great numbers for the night.  I said in the last blog post that 3-point shooting was going to be heavy in the scale of Gonzaga’s balanced attack.  Wednesday night it was—and it was Corey Kispert for the most part, having a field day.  The team was 9 for 18—a nice, round 50%.  Overall, at 35 for 59 shooting from the field as a team, Gonzaga was just shy of 60%.  Those are numbers to love.  Those are numbers to cherish.  So is 12 wins in 13 games—and the Zags got there on Wednesday night and in many of the contests this season with guts, tenacity and the ability to make the necessary changes to get better. 

This group that Mark Few called a bunch of introverts early in the season (claiming that in his despair over the difficulty he felt working with the group, he had wanted to forget about the basketball season, take a long fishing trip and be found only much later in April) is becoming a communicative, cohesive, bonded group—they’re diving for loose balls on defense, making the extra pass for the best shot and doing everything else and whatever it takes to improve their game.  It’s exciting to see the way possibility opens up with effort like theirs—that, despite despair, willfulness can usher in greatness and celebration. 

We mentioned 11’s earlier as regards some of the point totals and turnovers.  11, in spiritual circles, is also indicative of taking notice.  You see 11:11 on the clock, for instance—you’re supposed to pay attention to what’s going on and consider what’s going to happen because the universe is trying to tell you something—something perhaps a bit hidden that you might skip over if you didn't take a hint.  If I were to wage a guess at what the universe might be hinting at, I’d say the Zags are being told something about the game on Saturday—and to take notice of the challenge they are about to face in Eastern Washington University. 

These guys just up the interstate in Cheney are no joke (and we're playing them on 12/21--forwards-backwards, backwards-forwards).  After beating Belmont earlier in the season, they scored 146 points against Multnomah on December 13th.  At over 90 points per game, they have the highest scoring offense in the country (Zags were #3 last time I checked) according to one source—a statistic which, though impressive, should be taken with a grain of salt since the competition on their schedule isn’t quite up near the same level as Gonzaga has faced.  They did get 80 against Washington—though Washington got 90 against them.  But facing this team after a very hyped game against North Carolina, with all the ESPN cameras and the McCarthy Center going wild seems like something to be very wary of—with the potential for a serious energy level shrink being likely.  Mark Few said as much in the post-game interview on Wednesday, and earlier called it a classic “trap game.”
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No doubt the coaching staff will avoid putting a foot in the snare that Saturday could be.  The Zags are going to come out and play their brand of basketball against these Eagles from EWU.  Cross-town contests like this one are bound to get gritty and they know it.  Don’t miss this one if you have a chance to watch.  I think Gonzaga is going to take it very personally that EWU is racking up crazy numbers on the scoreboard and focus heavily on defense.  They’re going to test exactly how effective they can be at snuffing the opponent out.  I say they make this one into an ugly game—maybe not right away, but fairly quickly.  I say Gonzaga by 23, with a hard-fought first half and a dominant 2nd:  93-70.  Happy Holidays folks!!!

~ Clark Karoses           

This is the first installment of The Zag Wag in the 2019-2020 season, and it comes at the end of a challenging stretch of games that have tested the Gonzaga Men’s Basketball team thoroughly.  As a team I would say the Zags have performed exceedingly well, having won 11 of their first 12 games and earned significant wins over some of the best teams in the country, and definitely the very best of the PAC 12.  There are, of course, some reasons for concern and room for improvement, but what I see right now is another team that Mark Few and his assistant coaches and staff have captained extremely well into a solid spot where the sky is the limit.  Having won two straight road games against their most talented rivals out west, Arizona and Washington, the Zags return home for a contest that might mean more to Gonzaga coaches, fans, and players than any game on the slate this season.  What I’m referring to is the titillating chance at redemption for last year’s loss and losses in years past (need I mention more?) against North Carolina who comes to town this very Wednesday.  So how does the team look in preparation for the contest?

Though Gonzaga saw a few players return to action this season, it was quite a different team stepping on the court in November with some serious question marks.  Besides the obvious question of how to replace the powerhouse, NBA-bound duo of Rui Hachimura and Brandon Clarke (who anchored Gonzaga down low last season), this year’s team also had early question-marks concerning how to find quality minutes in the backcourt with the exit of Josh Perkins at point guard and Zach Norvell Jr. at wing.  Further uncertainty surrounded who would be coming off the bench for quality minutes with the loss of the likes of Jeremy Jones and Geno Crandall.  Perhaps it should no longer surprise us how well things come together under the expert guidance of the Zag’s coaching staff, and how well players have stepped up to fill these vacant roles. 

What we’ve seen come to fruition after the first 12 games of the season is the trademark, balanced attack of a slimly rotated Gonzaga squad with very solid and talented starters and back-ups. Six players are averaging 10 points a game or more and a seventh is so close to the mark we might as well round him up (Ryan Woolridge at 9.8 ppg).  The team is developing quite nicely on the defensive end as well, playing with a tenacity that, besides being very stingy about giving away buckets to opponents at any level, has blocked shots, caused numerous turnovers and shot clock violations and translated into offense through some easy transition baskets off steals.

In its offensive attack, Gonzaga always focuses on balance, sharing the ball and the scoring in a way that lifts up the whole team—often at the expense of some greedier-handed players’ statistics.  Perhaps the best example of that offensive balance was the game in Seattle, against the uber-talented Washington Huskies with young, NBA talent in Isaiah Stewart, Jaden McDaniels, Nahziah Carter and company.  This win saw every Gonzaga starter scoring in double figures, and the team as a whole showing what seemed like very serious veteran cool down the stretch. 

Though the Zags were never able to fully pull away with a comfortable lead, they held a relentless grip on superiority throughout.  The Huskies, despite strong play inside and moments of brilliance, tried in vain to string together significant runs that would weaken the Zags resolve.  The Bulldogs were able to thwart their efforts with tenacious defense, a hard-nosed crashing of the offensive and defensive glass, consistent skillful play inside and in the mid-range holes in the zone, strong drives to the basket and unflinching confidence in the long ball.  In other words, they did a little of everything—balancing the attack all over the court, utilizing every player.

Consistent savvy shooting the three has been and is going to be perhaps the most important part of that balanced attack this year.  Everyone loves a three pointer of course—everyone loves to raise both arms up high, fingers in the classic gesture for OK .  And I think Gonzaga fans are going to get more than their share of that love this year.  It was two deep daggers late in the game; one from Killian Tillie with just under three minutes left and the shot clock expiring, then another from Joel Ayayi with under thirty seconds (both from the same NBA-range spot, sneakers on the Alaska Airlines logo), that provided the final offensive punch to put an end to Husky hopes of upsetting their rival.  A similar story put the game strongly in Gonzaga’s favor in Arizona, when Killian Tillie and Admon Gilder each hit three pointers within a minute and a half of each other between the 8 and 6 minute marks, cushioning the lead to 14—a margin the Wildcats would never quite supplant. 

While Gonzaga has relied heavily on their inside game to carry them through many hard stretches last season and in years before, I believe it is going to be shots beyond the arc that keep us marching strong this year.  That is not to say we’re weak inside and that Gonzaga is going to hoist up a crazy numer of 3’s in the dim hopes a few might drop.  Each of the previously mentioned pairs of 3’s were the sandwich ends of shots at the rim.  At Washington, Ryan Woolridge had 2 of his numerous lay-ins between the aforementioned 3’s.  Philip Petrusev had an ESPN highlight-worthy dunk between Tillie and Gilder’s threes in Arizona.  Our inside game is strong enough to provide the necessary boon to open up our outside shooting and vice-versa. 

Gonzaga doesn’t, however, have anyone quite like last season’s dynamic duo of Brandon Clark and Rui Hachimura—dunking like crazy all over and/or ruthlessly swatting shots on defense.  Don’t get me wrong, Killian Tillie and Phillip Petrusev are as apt and able a starting duo of big men as any college team (or NBA team for that matter) could hope for—and provided they stay healthy they’ll have plenty of highlights to fill their reel when the time comes for that.  Rui and BC were something special down low together.  Tillie and Petrusev would be the first to admit that, having learned a great deal from them both.  The two starters this year, both from across the Atlantic, are extremely crafty forwards, with excellent discipline, strength and the ability to both block shots and throw down the occasional hammer.  They differ a bit in their styles of play, but compliment each other perfectly.

Consider the Serbian first.  Philip Petrusev is as legitimate an NBA prospect as anybody out there.  He’s started every game so far for Gonzaga this year and has performed extremely well against all but one opponent (against whom he performed only swimmingly).  In two of the three signature wins for Gonzaga, Petrusev had double-doubles with 22 and 15 in the OT win against Oregon and 17 and 10 against Washington.  Against Arizona and the most certainly NBA-bound Zeke Nnaji, he was excellent again with 16 points on 6 of 12 shooting, adding 7 rebounds and 4 emphatic blocks.  He’s the leading scorer, rebounder and shot blocker on the team, averaging 15.8 points, 8.4 rebounds and 1.4 blocks per game.  When he does well, the team has done well and the only game in which he had less than double digits scoring (he had 9 points and 9 rebounds in the Battle for Atlantis title game against Michigan), Gonzaga lost.

It was against Michigan, and the Wolverine’s hefty John Teske (and very talented Isaiah Livers) that we saw Petrusev and Gonzaga flounder.  He was bottled-up on offense and taken to school on defense.  And like the whole team, it seems Petrusev came out of the loss with a great lesson and great resolve.  It’s easy for a fan like me to look for a silver-lining in such a thorough thrashing, but I truly believe Petrusev and the team have taken the lesson to heart and manned up to face every challenge without shrinking.  I don’t think there’s a member of Zag Nation out there who hopes we don’t see Michigan again this coming March. 

Keith Ybanez, who put forth the criticism soon after the Michigan game that Petrusev’s style of play has “a little bit too much finesse and not enough attitude,” has seen a different Petrusev and a different Gonzaga team since that conclusion to The Battle for Atlantis.  Though now and again he defers to craftiness at the expense of a strong, power move that would yield either a dunk, an easier bucket or a trip to the charity stripe, Petrusev has been strong of late.  And that craftiness, which is going to get points at times when a power move would fail, get blocked or turn the ball over, seems no longer to be what he defers to.  His game is solid of late and its simply a matter of his leaning toward craftiness/finesse or strength/power at the right moments—and having both available all the time.

That balance of finesse and strength was on full display against Arizona where Petrusev showed great rim protection with four blocks, punished the rim a few times with two handed slam dunks (once a bit too emphatically for the referees’ tastes and earning him a technical foul).  I believe through facing the challenges of the likes of Zeke Nnaji, John Teske, and Isaiah Stewart, Petrusev is truly going to fully arrive at his best game of poise, patience and strength by March.

In regards to attitude, strength, ferocity, leadership and determination, the team is going to continue to see more and more from our beloved starter down low, Killian Tillie.  Mark few calls Tillie his “problem solver”—perhaps due to both his excellent hands and anticipation defensively (he leads the team in steals), and his ability to score from absolutely anywhere and against anyone on the offensive end with excellent ball-handling, touch, power and range.  Sharing Petrusev’s finesse and craftiness, the very skilled French big man and Gonzaga veteran has been and is going to continue to be an absolute force everywhere on the court, especially from beyond the arc where he has proved himself to be a more than significant threat.  It was Tillie’s misfortune with injuries last season, and during the last NBA tryouts, that may have truly saved Gonzaga from being sub-par this season.  Zag Nation let out a great sigh of relief when it heard he would be returning to Spokane this season, and it is everyone’s hope that this year will prove worthwhile for him; that he will be injury-free and will significantly boost his NBA stock.  If he continues along at the pace he’s maintained since he started playing in the fifth game of the season, I have no doubt it will.

His all-around presence offensively against the Husky Zone, and defensively against Washington’s elite athletes, was the decisive factor giving the Zags the win in Seattle.  He went 5 for 11 from the field (2 for 5 from beyond the arc), finished with 15 points, 5 rebounds, 6 assists and 4 steals, and truly earned the honor of ESPN’s Player of the Game.  In the Michigan game where almost every Zag player struggled, he was the lone star on the team to score in double figures in any statistic.  Facing up to the Wolverine’s, bulky, hounding defense, Tillie scored a season-high 20 points on 9 for 14 shooting (2 for 4 from deep).  On the season, he averages 12.7 points, 5 rebounds and 36.4% on 3 -point attempts in limited minutes.  He is perhaps the best defender underneath for the Zags—and all said, I think he’s just beginning to get his legs underneath him.

Maybe the biggest worry going into this season was replacing Gonzaga’s all-time assist leader and all-around baller at point guard, Josh Perkins—along with his back-up at point and Gonzaga shooting guard, Geno Crandall.  But the two guys who’ve taken on those roles this season have, in my humble opinion, far exceeded expectations.  Ryan Woolridge, a graduate transfer out of North Texas, has added a mature, slashing, drive-and-dish, disrupting element to the offense that has frustrated many a defense already.  Almost every one of his baskets against Washington (where he scored 16 points on 8 of 11 shooting and had 3 steals) were lay-ins, many of them heavily contested and stupendously gravity-defying.  Woolridge is shooting an outstanding 55.6% from 3-point land, perhaps largely because too many teams have made the mistake of discounting him as a threat from deep and sagged on defense.  When UT Arlington decided to pack the paint whenever Woolridge had the ball, leaving him open on a regular basis, Woolridge took serious offense and expertly dissected their defense. He ended up with three 3’s and a season-high 19 points and stared down the coach of the opposite team much to the chagrin of both Mark Few and the UT Arlington bench.

On top of his considerable offensive production, including nearly 10 points and 4 assists a game, Woolridge is an excellent defender.  He is quick, fast and anticipates extremely well, leading to numerous steals.  Tasked with the job of covering one of the best point guards in the country on Sunday, Nico Manion of Arizona, with the help of Joel Ayayi and the rest of his teammates, Woolridge performed wonderfully, limiting the known expert shooter to a 3 for 20 night from the field, and a stat line with only single-digit points, strong only in his 10 assists.

Joel Ayayi, Gonzaga’s team leader in assists with 4.1 per game, gets time at both point (to relieve Woolridge) and shooting guard to spell Corey Kispert or Admon Gilder.  Ayayi started the season as a substitute off the bench and surprised many with stellar performances in very limited minutes, filling almost every category of statistics’ sheets with numbers.  It was largely his heroics that carried the team to victory in the last seconds of both the Oregon and Washington games.  In the second game at the Battle for Atlantis tournament against Oregon, Ayayi made an acrobatic, reverse layup with 1:18 left in OT to even the score at 72, leaving it to Drew Timme to make one of 2 free throws in the final minute to seal the win.  Ayayi’s reverse lay-in earned him 2 of his 13 points on the night, as he went 5 for 8 from the field, 3 of 6 from beyond the arc, and added 5 rebounds, 3 assists, 2 steals and 1 block.
 
Ayayi’s heroics at the end of the game against the Huskies included another bold move by the young native of France.  It was a particularly brave shot to take with 27 seconds remaining, considering that, besides it having been beyond NBA-range, Ayayi had missed a 3-point jumper with 1:11 remaining on the previous possession.  Gonzaga ahead by a slim 3 points, instead of doubting himself as the shot clock ticked down single digits, he stepped into a shot without hesitation to hit what made any further attempt by Washington to win moot.  His 40.0% shooting from beyond the arc, ferocious rebounding, excellent passing, creative scoring from anywhere on the court, and quality defense have earned him a starting spot in the wake of Admon Gilder’s knee problems.  Consider his stat line against Arizona where he was 5 of 9 from the field, 2 of 4 from deep, with 6 rebounds, 7 assists 1 steal, and 15 points total including an incredible and-1 late in the 2nd half that stretched the lead and allowed Gonzaga to hold on for the victory.

Ayayi’s rise and continued health is a very welcome addition to Gonzaga’s backcourt that has been hobbled and is healing of late.  He and Corey Kispert have been the only two players not to suffer from health problems this season.  A Gonzaga veteran of 3 years and a team leader, the expectations for Corey Kispert this season are great.  He has suffered, however, from a few cold shooting spells in games where, unable to dial in his range, he finished in single digits.  After the season opening blowout of Alabama State where Kispert went 5 of 6 from deep and 10 of 13 from the field, finishing with 28 points, those expectations lulled a bit after games like the ones against Texas A&M and Michigan.  In both, Kispert scored only one field goal.  After shooting through these cold stretches as any pure shooter should, Kispert is back to his expert form, averaging 14.1 points per game and hitting threes at a clip of 40.3%, including an awesome 5 for 8 performance beyond the arc against Oregon. 

Lately, Kispert has done what sharp-shooters like himself should do when faced with any difficulties scoring—he’s found other ways to score.  In the games against Wasington and Arizona, we saw him being useful in many capacities offensively and defensively beyond his obvious talent shooting the long ball.  He’s been rebounding extremely well lately, especially on the offensive glass, pulling in a number of weak side rebounds and earning some easy put-backs as well as utilizing his considerable vertical leap to take the alley-oop from Ayayi against Washington for a sweet dunk.  In Arizona he and the team as a whole utilized the shot fake at the three-point line to repeatedly unsteady a defender and drive to the hoop for lay-ins.  Leading the team in points and rebounds for the game with 18 and 8, the strategy of faking and threatening with the drive opened up some space for Kispert to hit the two three pointers he had at key moments in the game. His rebounding, defensive toughness, athleticism and offensive play both in and outside the arc are extremely important to a proper balance and success for this team against elite competition. 

We can’t leave our discussion of Gonzaga’s backcourt without mentioning Admon Gilder.  Though Gonzaga has a reputation as an internationally flavored team with players from France, Serbia and Lithuania, more representation comes this season from Texas than anywhere else.  Admon Gilder, a transfer out of Texas A&M, along with Woolridge of North Texas fame and freshman, Drew Timme have added some of that state’s attitude and toughness to Gonzaga’s game.  With perhaps the least attitude of the three, Gilder, a starter for the Zags until knee problems sidelined him and limited his game of late, has averaged an even 10 points per game.  His 4 for 4 shooting from beyond the arc against Arizona was a consistent and necessary lift for the Zags in Arizona—both in the team’s recovery from being down early to go up by a point at halftime and to gain the considerable lead later that would allow them to narrowly hold on for the win.

Drew Timme, another Texan, has perhaps the lion’s share of attitude, at least according to Kispert in a pre-season television interview.  A star high-school player, Timme, despite his youth, has become a consistent substitute for the bigs down low.  His all-around toughness, excellent post play, and good defense allow Mark Few to give needed rest to Petrusev and Tillie without losing firepower on either end.  He’s off to an excellent start and has proven himself toe to toe against some of the best bigs in the county, exercising calm composure and patience along with fiery aggressiveness.  He averages 10.1 points and 5.3 rebounds per game.  If he doesn’t make an early exit for the NBA, he’ll be an integral part of Gonzaga’s offense this season and hopefully at least another season to come. 
The same goes for the local, Spokane-ite, Anton Watson who showed early brilliance and elite athleticism off the bench for Gonzaga.  Lately, however, he’s been sidelined for what appears to be (I’m admittedly no doctor) a repetitive shoulder stinger and/or dislocation problem.  It’s a very unfortunate problem because Watson had been a key element off the bench, adding frustrating length to the defense and elite athleticism to the offense in earlier games.  He is able to play and substitute for almost any position and has every part of what could make a dangerous NBA player one day, except health.  All of Zag Nation truly wishes him a speedy recovery and hopes he will return to the line-up very soon.

The very serious concern that I’ve avoided talking about so far for Gonzaga is free-throw shooting.  The Zags have been extremely lucky so far to win as many games as they have while shooting such a low percentage from the charity stripe.  Against Arizona, they were a dismal 17 of 30, or 56.7% from the line.  In the loss to Michigan, it was 46.2% (Ouch).  Overall this season, Gonzaga has shot 65%, which would, perhaps, be a disappointing figure for many high school teams in the area.  This is obviously something to be concerned about and, no doubt, the coaching staff is acting accordingly.  That Gonzaga has been able to win despite such poor performances at the line is quite a testament to what they’re doing well everywhere else, but eventually you can’t hide your weak points with strong points anymore.  It is particularly distressing that the point guard on the team, a position on any team that needs to shoot good free throws since they have the ball so often (especially when they specialize, like he does, in driving to the basket through contact) Ryan Woolridge is shooting the poorest percentage on the team, with (I cringe to say) 54.3%.  He did, however, ice the game in Arizona with the two free throws that made it an impossible 2 possession contest with just a few tics left on the clock.  Maybe he’s got ice in his veins when it matters but I’d rather have some higher numbers whatever the case.  Corey Kispert, as he should, leads the team at 78.6 %—and I watched in amazement when he was fouled on a three-point attempt against Washington and hit all three in a row as it seemed a rarity for anyone to get even one after another.  In the wins against Oregon and Washington, the team shot at or very near 80 %, giving hopes to fans that things weren’t as bleak as suspected.  But the poor performance against Arizona says issues there haven’t been put to rest and we’ll have to see how it pans out against the likes of North Carolina who might foul a lot as a strategy in the hopes of keeping the score in check. 

In the same Arizona game just mentioned, another issue was exposed in the poor team performance down the stretch by a Gonzaga team leading 81-65 with 1:35 left in the game.  How do you end up at 82-80 with a few ticks left, needing two free throws from a 55% free-throw shooter to ice the contest.  You mess it all up—that’s how it happens!  I have no doubt, however, that Mark Few will be sure to shore up those difficulties along with the woes from the charity stripe, and prevent potential heartbreak losses of the lead that have doomed a few of Gonzaga’s best squads to painful, heart-rending losses in March as potential trips to the final four slipped through our very able fingers (I won’t mention which team I’m thinking of—perhaps you remember one or more).

Those concerns aside, things look really good for the Bulldogs.  Really, really, surprisingly good.  The Gonzaga ship has weathered its worst stretch very well.  It has passed through the roughest center of the storm, and though it has a few bruises and is in need of a some repairs, all aboard can see the break in the storm ahead—the Christmas break.  We still have North Carolina on Wednesday.  That’s always gonna be tough, even though its at home, and even though North Carolina looks like they’re even more hobbled than the Zags at the moment.  I predict a really good outcome in that contest.  I think North Carolina is going to foul us a lot and we’re going to be very decent from the line this time despite our recent troubles.  If everyone is healthy—in particular, if Killian Tillie is able to play at near his best—I suspect this is going to be a blowout Gonzaga win.  If he’s not playing or not playing well, I still think we win by 9, 10 or 11.  I’m going to say 96-81 Gonzaga—maybe a bit pretentious me—but I’m gonna stand by it. 

With the excitement of Wednesday looming, let’s not forget that before Christmas there is another contest scheduled that no Zag fan or player should look past, or look though.  It’ll be the very tail end of the storm before the break, but it could get a little rough at the exit.  The inter-city contest against Eastern Washington University (technically they’re in Cheney, but let’s call it inter-city like it is) is not going to be easy.  EWU, while not an elite out west, has shown resilience and toughness and faced up valiantly against the likes of Boston College and Washington who by no means easily came away with wins against the Eagles.  Belmont suffered a loss against EWU this season.  Let’s not be another ranked team slapped out of the top ten by someone no one knows is very decent.  No doubt the McCarthy Athletic center is going to be up and rocking for the North Carolina game on Wednesday—for the opportunity to finally get a W against perhaps one of the most historically prestigious teams we’ve yet to beat.  No doubt about that—but once that happens, once the W is in the books, let’s make sure we get our heads back out of the clouds and set our eyes on clipping the wings of some high-flying Eagles here at home.  Only that will make it a truly brilliant and jubilant Christmas where Gonzaga could find, under one of the many Christmas trees here in Spokane, a box with #1 in the Nation inside.                            

~ Clark Karoses