Zags might have ammo to take out these 'Noles
With all proper respect to the words of the late Yogi Berra…
Gonzaga has no use for “déjà vu all over again.”
The scary thing is that the possibility is sitting right there, with deep, athletic and very, very talented Florida State waiting for the Zags in the Sweet 16.
Surely you recall that it was the Seminoles who dispatched Gonzaga at this exact spot in last year’s NCAA party.
Playing 10 guys and using them to great effect, Florida State clogged the lane, swarmed the Zags and never let them get into the rhythm of the game.
Who knows, however, how that game might have gone if Gonzaga hadn’t lost Killian Tillie to a muscle injury just before that match-up?
Could Tillie, who was sizzling hot from behind the arc (12 of 14 in the WCC tournament), have spread out the Florida State defense and let some of the other big boys go to work?
NOW THAT the rematch is upon us, a few things have changed — but some have not.
Florida State is still using everyone in uniform, as Coach Leonard Hamilton keeps them all fresh with constant rotation — and the guys on the floor play with wild abandon.
They’re good — really good — as they showed by totally overwhelming Ja Morant and Murray State 90-62 on Saturday.
Hamilton made no secret of the game plan, which was to concede Morant his points but make life miserable for his teammates.
“We wanted to get turnovers and missed shots from the other four,” he said.
And so they did.
The bottom line on Florida State — runner-up to Duke in the ACC conference tournament — is that the ‘Noles are still as potent as they were a year ago.
Unlike Baylor, whom the Zags more or less dismissed 83-71, Florida State is big and rough.
How big?
Center Christ Koumadje is 7-foot-4, and whatever shots in the paint he doesn’t block, he likely alters.
Huge athletes like Koumadje normally get winded after some hustling trips up and down the floor, but the Seminoles’ rotation allows the big man and his teammates to catch their breath just at the right times.
RIGHT, SO we’ve established that Florida State is still tall, aggressive and dangerous — a team you could picture in the Final Four.
What’s different in this game is that Gonzaga may have the ammo to take the ’Noles out.
Brandon Clarke isn’t likely to score 36 points, as he did against Baylor, but he teams with Tillie and Rui Hachimura to give the Zags a fighting chance in the lane.
Hachimura scored just six points in the Baylor game and Tillie managed just a single bucket, but those may be good signs.
Both are capable of going off anytime, and Tillie can always light things up with a barrage of 3-pointers.
With Corey Kispert and Zach Norvell Jr. added to the gang, and Josh Perkins a cool and capable shooter, Florida State may have to come out and guard the Zags all over the floor.
And all season long, Gonzaga has cut up teams that step outside and play fast with them.
The ’Noles’ other option is to bang around inside as they did last year, and gamble that the Zags can’t hit 3-pointers.
This could be a game made for Norvell Jr., who has nailed cold-blooded 3-balls at critical times — not to mention Kispert, who was so fired up against Baylor that he drew a technical foul for taunting.
A year ago, the Zags looked lost and out of sync without Tillie — and Florida State owned them from start to finish.
This time around, though...
Don’t be shocked if the Zags punch them back.
Steve Cameron’s “Cheap Seats” columns for The Press appear on Monday, Wednesday and Friday. He also contributes the “Zags Tracker” package on Gonzaga basketball each Tuesday.
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