Zags show they can play bully ball too
In case you were wondering…
Would Mark Few ever put Brandon Clarke, Rui Hachimura and Killian Tillie on the floor together in a win-or-lose situation?
Now you know.
Against the big, rough bullies from Florida State, you need some bullies of your own.
Anyone who saw Florida State harass and shove the Zags around near the hoop in the Sweet 16 a year ago probably would have trouble guessing that Gonzaga would outrebound the ’Noles 45-36 this time around.
Not to mention cleaning up on a batch of second-chance points.
Predictably, the result was flipped as the Zags won 72-58 for their third trip to the Elite Eight in the last five years.
“We got it done on the glass, and to do it against that team is really saying something,” Few gushed afterward.
Yes, they did, and away went another myth about the Zags — that they can only play pretty, fast-break basketball against overmatched opposition.
Make no mistake.
Gonzaga slugged this one out.
“We knew they would be physical,” Clarke said, “so we had to be physical, too.”
IF YOU simply look at the stats from this Sweet 16 slugfest, it appears that the Zags were simply more accurate from deep.
Both teams shot 40 percent from the floor, give or take a decimal point, with Gonzaga getting just one more attempt (62-61).
But the Zags were 7 of 19 from behind the 3-point line, as opposed to a woeful 3-for-20 effort from Florida State.
And sure, the 3-ball was front and center twice in the game.
The Zags hit four straight in the first half to take a 14-point lead that they never fully surrendered.
Then when FSU’s Trent Forrest put on a show down the stretch — getting to the rim in every possible way without actually snapping his spine — and single-handedly hauled the ’Noles within 60-56, Gonzaga summoned “The Assassin.”
Zach Norvell Jr., who had made some 3s in the game but also was guilty of some loose play with the ball, stepped up for his specialty — the kill shot.
The cold-blooded gunner from South Chicago has already proven that he’s fearless and has the short memory necessary for a true scorer, and he added to that reputation again.
Norvell Jr. didn’t hear the crowd, didn’t bother with the excitement humming through the ’Noles, didn’t really even size things up when he got the ball with 3:10 to play.
He caught and fired.
Dagger.
Suddenly the Zags had a seven-point lead with under three minutes to go, and it was a done deal.
SO, YEAH, the 3-point shot differential truly did matter.
What you can’t see in the box score, though, was the Zags’ ferocious defense.
They rarely let anyone get a clean look — not just from deep, but from anywhere.
The secret may be out.
These Zags aren’t just one-trick ponies who score 90 points per game and trot back to admire their work.
They can, and did, play vicious defense — switching quickly and effectively on ball screens, jumping out to stop 3-pointers, and denying clean entry passes to the FSU big men.
“We were tough as nails,” Few said.
In fact, it was a defensive clinic.
And down the stretch, when Florida State tried a full-out assault on the bucket, Few countered by using Clarke, Hachimura and Tillie all at once to man the fort.
The whole gang banged bodies with one of the most physical teams in college hoops, and the ’Noles came off second best.
Now we know that the Zags have yet another hammer in their toolbox.
They’ll be more than happy to hit you with it, too.
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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