Bigger battles lie dead ahead for Gonzaga

LAST WEEK

Got a calendar handy?

Pull the thing out, and we’ll go over some dates that could mean a lot to the 2019-20 Zags.

Start with this: After batting around a couple programs that would love to have ANY of Gonzaga’s regular rotation players — let alone a whole batch of them — the Zags figure to do more of the same against North Dakota at The Kennel tonight.

Still, let’s assume tonight does not provide a thriller.

After that, they take to the road for the first time for a date with Texas A&M on Friday night.

Despite playing in a hostile environment, the Zags have a fair shot in College Station, where the Aggies are transitioning under new coach Buzz Williams — who enjoyed success at both Marquette and Virginia Tech.

Then the Zags come home for two more apparently comfortable games against Texas-Arlington and Cal State-Bakersfield.

But after that …

Beginning Nov. 27 — just 15 days removed from tonight’s scrum with North Dakota — Gonzaga will be tossed into the deep end of the pool at the Battle 4 Atlantis.

That tournament in the Bahamas features ranked teams Seton Hall and Oregon (one of whom will be Gonzaga’s second-round opponent) plus old friend North Carolina and super frosh Cole Anthony perhaps waiting in the final.

DO YOU see where we’re headed with this?

To get through that gauntlet unscathed — as they did last year with a spectacular victory over top-ranked Duke at the Maui Invitational — the Zags and their seven new players (not counting freshman guard Brock Ravet, who is on unconditional leave) have to be learning plenty while cruising past teams — all in Spokane — that don’t have the talent to compete.

Two things jumped out during the past week’s thrashings of Alabama State (94-64) and Arkansas-Pine Bluff (110-60).

First, with Corey Kispert the only returning starter, the Zags occasionally looked lost on defense — especially when double-teaming the post, thus leaving 3-point shooters gleefully open (Alabama State hit 9 of 16 from deep, for a fat 56 percent).

“Then when we’d get our rotations mixed up, we’d give up easy rebounds,” Coach Mark Few said.

“This is a naturally quiet group of guys, not just on the court but in terms of personality. We’ve got to get them hollering out on screens and switches.”

That defensive confusion seemed to clear up a bit against Arkansas-Pine Bluff, but …

That was Arkansas-Pine Bluff, a team picked to finish eighth in the SWAC.

Gonzaga was able to overwhelm those first two regular-season opponents with a combination of size, speed and offensive skills — and when needed for a jump-start, a three-quarter court zone press with 6-8 freshman Anton Watson up top.

Defense and rebounding?

Yes, it seemed to pick up from game to game, but let’s see how it looks against genuinely tough opposition.

Putting it in another context, backup guard Joel Ayayi is the Zags’ leading rebounder with 20 over those two games.

That terrific for Ayayi, a gifted athlete, but I’m not sure what it says about 6-11 Filip Petrusev (12 boards total) or even 6-7 vet Corey Kispert (5).

NEXT UP on the list of concerns from the past week was that 6-10 NBA prospect Killian Tillie remained consigned to the bench.

As in, sitting on the bench in a warmup outfit.

The senior, whose various injuries are rapidly becoming the stuff of unhappy Gonzaga legend, is likely the difference between a very good West Coast Conference team and an elite team capable of doing damage in March.

Tillie had what was termed a “clean-up” knee surgery last month, and Few made it sound at the time as though the work was done for the Frenchman’s overall health but, at the same time, so that he’d be ready to integrate with all the program’s newcomers fairly quickly.

Tillie himself said he hoped to be ready for the start of the regular season, which has now come and gone.

We know from Tillie’s various rehabs that he can’t just jump on the floor and be the star you’d expect — nor will he be familiar, as a matter of second nature, with the movements and passing preferences of all his new teammates.

He’s never played in a game with starting guards Ryan Woolridge and Admon Gilder.

For the past few weeks here, I suspect Zag fans thought Tillie would get some light work in these easy games, perhaps test himself a little more down at Texas A&M, then be ready to go full speed at that big test in the Bahamas.

So far, however …

No, and no.

The pleasant news, maybe, is that Tillie warmed up with the team prior to the Pine Bluff blowout, hitting 3-pointers as though he’d never been away and going through regular pregame drills.

No medical clearance to play yet, however, as the Gonzaga physio team wants that knee to be strong enough for the rigors of serious hoops.

Even Tillie doesn’t know when that will be, but he says it doesn’t feel far away.

Back to lighting candles, gang.

NATURALLY we don’t know exactly how much or how hard Tillie is practicing on that rehabbing knee, but there are only a couple of possibilities.

Either Killian is just about ready to bring his inside game and 3-point marksmanship to the party, and the Zags medical team have decided to hold him out a little bit longer for safety’s sake against soft competition, or …

Rehabilitation from this supposedly “minor” knee surgery has taken longer than the medics predicted.

If that second option is the case, Tillie will have a hell of a time aiding the Gonzaga cause in the Bahamas.

I mean, he’s got to play SOME games before he’s anything close to full speed — not to mention a seamless piece of the team at both ends of the floor.

Maybe this is all a lot of worry about nothing.

Maybe Tillie will play a few minutes tonight and then a few more down at Texas A&M.

But I have my doubts.

At this point, Zag Nation must be fearing the worst.

Each of the last two years, that fright has proven to be true.

So …

Hold your breath.

THIS WEEK

It’s North Dakota tonight, then the visit to Texas A&M on Friday.

This evening should be pretty straightforward, although …

Minor warning: UND took the Zags into overtime in this same spot two years ago, with Geno Crandall scoring 28 to give GU all kinds of headaches — but also helping him change schools and earn a grad transfer role with last year’s Elite Eight team.

Taking North Dakota for granted just a bit (knock on wood, since regional schools seem to fear the Zags less than long-distance travelers), the interesting game this week pops up Friday night at A&M.

Besides finding out how they stack up as a unit against a bona fide SEC squad, the Zags no doubt have even more personal interest in this matchup.

Gilder is a Texas A&M grad who averaged double figures for three seasons with the Aggies.

He was stuck on the sidelines with a blood clot in his arm last year, leaving open the door for a transfer to Gonzaga as a grad student.

Gilder has made no secret of his desire to give the NBA a shot, and he’s a shooting guard who needs to prove he can hit from outside as well as get to the basket with that strong 6-foot-5 frame.

So far, Gilder is 6 for 16 from deep — counting the exhibition game against Lewis-Clark State College — and Few may need a word of caution with Admon to keep him from wanting to freelance a bit too much against his old mates.

There’s no question Gilder has been brought in to score, and basically let Woolridge be the distributor.

Gilder had exactly one assist and one turnover (as opposed to 22 shots) in last week’s two victories.

ONE THING Gilder can provide is a little scouting on A&M, and in particular on Savion Flagg, a 6-7, 225-pound package of muscle who had 22 points, 7 rebounds and 5 assists in the Aggies’ opener, a 77-63 win over Northwestern State.

Flagg drew interest from some NBA teams a year ago, but then withdrew his name from the draft after originally declaring.

Williams is not inheriting a powerhouse in College Station. The Aggies were 14-18 a year ago, and 6-12 for 11th place in the 14-team SEC.

Buzz didn’t just fall off a turnip truck, however. He’s taken teams to the NCAA tournament eight times in his 13 seasons as a Division-I head coach, and he built Marquette into a routinely dangerous outfit.

Even though Williams is still putting the house in order at Texas A&M, this could be a surprisingly dangerous evening for the Zags.

For one thing, they haven’t faced any big men — like Flagg, in particular — who might get Petrusev or freshman Drew Timme into foul trouble.

Without Tillie (and we have to assume he’s out of action for at least another week), Few needs both Petrusev and Timme to crash the boards and protect the paint.

GONZAGA’S weakness is pretty obvious.

Unless or until Tillie returns, and perhaps another guard (Lithuanian frosh Martynas Arlauskas?) can soak up some minutes, this is a pretty short-handed team.

So far, Few has counted on just seven players to get almost all of the meaningful playing time: Petrusev and Timme down low, Kispert and Watson on the wings, with Woolridge, Gilder and Ayayi at guard.

The danger with a squad like that could come suddenly with another injury — Petrusev, for instance, went down in pain after twisting his ankle against Arkansas-Pine Bluff — or a rash of foul trouble in a game against a formidable opponent.

We’ve already seen a zone press from the Zags, but it wouldn’t be a shock if Few had his guys working on some type of straight zone defense behind closed doors.

There has to be some protection against foul problems with a seven-man rotation.

Of course, that changes to eight if Tillie wades back into battle.

Whether you’re brimming with optimism about these Zags or a little nervous because of the limited experience, one thing is certain.

A month from now — after Texas A&M, after that dance in the Bahamas and after December games against Washington, Arizona and North Carolina — we’re certainly going to know what these Zags have in the tank.

The series of tests starts this week.

Email: scameron@cdapress.com

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Steve Cameron’s “Cheap Seats” columns for The Press appear on Monday, Wednesday and Friday. Steve also contributes the “Zags Tracker” package on Gonzaga basketball each Tuesday.