Loss shows Zags' need for depth, toughness

LAST WEEK

Well, that wasn’t much fun.

If I told you the Zags would play a game in which they created 23 turnovers and converted them into 29 points, and scored 90 overall ...

Would you believe they never really had a chance to win and got done by 13 points?

By now, of course you know that Gonzaga, No. 4 at the time (but now having tumbled to No. 8 in the AP poll), got physically dominated in that 103-90 loss at North Carolina.

Yes, it was a road game at one of the country’s toughest places to win.

Yes, it came right after finals week.

Yes, it was the end of a grueling stretch of games against some of college hoops’ very best.

Yes, it happened with the Zags woefully shorthanded, playing basically with five starters and a couple of here-for-a-second caddies.

All those things are true, and there’s no question that they all played some part in the Zags getting drubbed at Chapel Hill.

On top of everything else, Carolina hadn’t been playing well, and was roasted by Coach Roy Williams for lack of effort.

They weren’t shooting worth a hoot, either.

When the Heels only made 6 of 24 shots from behind the arc against UNC-Wilmington, a media member said, “They’ll get hot eventually.”

Williams replied: “I hope it happens in my lifetime.”

Hah!

ROY GOT his wish with the Zags in town, as Carolina tossed in 13 of 25 from deep, many of them just when it appeared Gonzaga might come to life.

But if we’re honest here, any true sign of life from the Zags would have required a few rebounds.

Carolina owned the boards (42-21) and put up a stat that nobody — and certainly not Coach Mark Few — ever thought they’d see

The Heels murdered Gonzaga 27-0 on second-chance points.

Asked to explain how his team could make such a turnaround after playing poorly for weeks (they were drubbed at Michigan), Carolina senior Cam Johnson replied simply: “Effort.”

That will have to sink in with the Zags, who may have been tired from finals, weary from so many tough games in a short time, or whatever.

But Few will not be happy that, no matter the reason, Gonzaga gave very little effort of its own.

THIS WEEK

Presumably the Zags will be able to take out their frustrations on a couple of the game’s lesser lights in the friendly confines of The Kennel.

They play Texas-Arlington on Tuesday night and Denver University on Friday, with both games tipping off at 6 p.m.

The only telecasts are on ROOT-TV.

At the moment, you might suspect that anyone who wants to hustle and make the Zags work can put up a fight.

These two opponents would really have to punch above their weight to cause panic, though.

UT-Arlington is 3-7 and 0-5 on the road.

Denver is 4-8 and just absorbed an 86-52 beating from UC-Irvine.

YOU WOULD suspect that Few will use freshman big man Filip Petrusev a lot more in these games, along with guards Greg Foster Jr. and Joel Ayayi — if for no other reason than the Gonzaga starters are about ready to keel over.

We’re still weeks away from the return of Killian Tillie and Geno Crandall, so somebody has to play.

The starters, talented as they are, looked tired against Tennessee and then completely done at North Carolina.

The Heels are big and deep, which is the exact formula that can make the Zags look terrible at the moment.

Let’s see if some poor competition can, at the very least, restore a little confidence in guys like Rui Hachimura (5-of-14 shooting at Carolina) and Brandon Clarke (just 3 rebounds in that game).

THE STORY

If you want to have happy dreams over the holidays, feel free to imagine that the Zags will begin to turn things around with a softer schedule and, eventually, with the much-needed return of Tillie and Crandall.

The Zags themselves are eager to suggest you don’t give up on a big run through March Madness just yet.

“I still believe we’re the best team in the country,” offered senior point guard Josh Perkins.

“We’ve got some things to fix, but that’s the good news. It’s only December. Once we’re back and at full strength and fix these problems, we’ll be back at the top, no question.”

It’s pretty obvious what needs to be fixed, frankly.

The Zags are not a good defensive team, and anyone who seems willing to bang with them can cause havoc on the boards.

In the past three games now, we’ve watched Washington, Tennessee and Carolina breeze into the middle of the Gonzaga defense, either getting to the hoop or drawing fouls – which caused Few to try a zone against the Tar Heels, a hopeless effort against a team which was just blazing from outside.

The question, I guess, is how Tillie will fit into the current mix.

And can he make a difference on defense and the boards?

Tillie is big enough at 6-foot-10 and 220 pounds to help Hachimura and Clarke, but Killian is not really a banger.

Still, he averaged 6 boards per game in 26 minutes a year ago and ...

Anything would help at this point.

TILLIE’S A terrific outside shooter (48 percent from 3-point range last year) and hopefully he can add some presence as a rim protector, but he’s not a bruiser like Johnathan Williams — who would have been immensely helpful against Tennessee and Carolina.

These Zags are slowly giving the impression of a gifted but not particularly rugged bunch, a trait that could haunt them again if it turns out to be true over the next few months.

Guard Zach Norvell Jr. addressed that very subject after the lost evening in Chapel Hill, suggesting that the Zags had played “soft” during too many stretches of the game.

It will be fascinating to see if some rest for the starters (Crandall will give Perkins some time on the pine) and the addition of Tillie changes the perception of this team.

If you want to look at the up side, the Zags certainly didn’t back down from Duke’s bruisers in Maui.

That suggests that perhaps the brutal, non-stop schedule and lack of depth through injury may be all that’s ailing the guys right now.

We’ll know for sure when Tillie and Crandall return.

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Steve Cameron is a columnist for The Press. He’s a former sports writer with the Denver Post and Kansas City Star and the author of 13 sports books. He’s hosted radio programs specifically on college basketball. Email: scameron@cdapress.com