Tillie's back; 3-point shooting isn't
LAST WEEK
Hmmm …
It’s almost painful for a professional analyst to use a cliché, but sometimes a common old jumble of words will turn out to be as accurate as you’re going to get.
Forgive me, then, just this once — because developments in the world of Gonzaga hoops this week have come down to the simplest of phrases.
So …
Do you want the good news or the bad news?
The very good news stands 6-foot-10½, weighs 220 pounds and carries the rich bloodlines of an Olympic volleyball family from Cagnes-sur-Mer, France.
Barring further injury, senior Killian Tillie — who despite his size and the maturity of his game is still just 21 — likely will take his diploma and his remarkably varied skills into the NBA.
If someone wants to bet you that Tillie can’t possibly be a lottery pick, go ahead and take the wager.
That’s what the Frenchman’s game is worth.
Tillie would already be playing pro ball, in fact, if he hadn’t turned his ankle during a private workout for the Atlanta Hawks after last season.
GIVEN that he’d suffered three injuries just last season alone, along with the painful rehab that accompanied each one, Tillie decided that he’d return to Spokane — among his pals both on and off the court — and see if he could help the Zags return to the Final Four.
Tillie is the kind of player on whom deep tournament runs are built. He is a rugged rebounder with just a hint of nastiness, a coach’s dream who almost always makes the right decision, and who possesses the sort of shooting stroke that screams: “Get him open for a second!”
Tillie actually could play any position on the floor. He’s spent time at most of them, and he’s a solid enough ballhandler that if Gonzaga needed a point guard for a critical stretch …
He could fit right in.
Among other things, he has almost limitless range on his 3-point shot and has drained an astounding 47 percent of them during his on-and-off appearances caused by those injuries in three-plus years at Gonzaga.
WE COULD be talking about Tillie as a safety-net ballhandler sometime fairly soon, as the Zags fight to advance in the NCAA tournament.
On a team with some suspect free-throw shooters who could wind up with the ball in their hands at crunch time, Tillie has the court presence of a guard — and he’s a career 78 percent shooter from the line.
In fact, last week when Tillie finally joined his mates after a minor knee procedure designed to keep him healthy long-term, he promptly splashed five of six free throws (and hit four of six 3-pointers just to clear off some rust).
Perhaps more important, though, Tillie was the guy who kept his first game back from being far more exciting than the crowd at The Kennel wished to see.
Texas-Arlington was giving the Zags nightmares with switching defenses and scary shooting from 3-point range (11 of 26), and some of the younger (or newer) Zags began to take on a glassy-eyed appearance.
But Tillie appeared as though he’d never missed a game.
With the issue still in doubt, Tillie powered to the rim for a couple of “and-ones” just when UTA had crept distressingly close — allowing the Zags to slip away with a 72-66 victory.
Coach Mark Few wasn’t shocked.
“He’s got so many different types of skills,” Few said, “that I call him my problem-solver.”
Job done, and in his first game of the 2019-20 season, as well.
Bottom line, in the good news-bad news department, the Zags are thrilled to have this NBA-level player back in their midst, and he’ll cause all sorts of matchup puzzles for opponents down the road.
WE DID mention there was some bad news, correct?
Tillie’s presence kind of overshadowed things, but until further notice the Zags have not looked like a gang of decent shooters.
Let’s look at last week …
In that six-point escape act against Texas-Arlington and then a fairly comfy 77-49 thumping of Cal State Bakersfield, the Zags connected on just 13 of 45 from 3-point range — and an even more frightening 42-of-69 from the foul line.
The first of those two stats may not be a killer in the long run, since these Zags are big, rugged and plan to shoot from 10 feet and in whenever possible.
Filip Petrusev, Drew Timme and 6-8 freshman Anton Watson will not be actively seeking long-range bombs.
Tillie will get his, almost certainly, and guards Ryan Woolridge, Anton Gilder and Joel Ayayi are, well, decent shooters from deep.
So as long the right guys are in the right places, the lack of a 3-point bombardment shouldn’t be too much of a handicap for these Zags.’
However …
Texas-Arlington provided a game tape that plenty of opponents will be studying.
THE MAVS essentially clogged the lane while allowing Gonzaga to pass the ball around the perimeter, and they played far off Watson, Woolridge and all the big men but Tillie — in other words, daring the Zags to try some 3-balls.
UTA had faced North Texas transfer Woolridge in the past, and seemed perfectly happy to let him shoot.
The second part of that strategy was to chase Woolridge around the court near the end of the game – hoping to make him shoot free throws.
It turned out to be a mixed bag, as Woolridge foiled the first part of the plan by hitting 3 of 7 from deep (and scoring 19 points), but the Mavs had the right idea with the free throws, as Woolridge made just 2 of 7.
As for newcomers like Watson, he seemed startled to be left alone — and missed his only 3-point try.
What was truly baffling, though, was the ice-cold hand of junior Corey Kispert, who has been a reliable long-range shooter ever since arriving on campus.
In fact, using Kispert and Tillie to spread the floor has been one of Gonzaga’s most basic plans for create room for everyone to operate in a comfort zone.
THE BRUISING Kispert, who is a muscular 6-7, should be really bad news for opponents. He can put the ball on the deck, pound the boards — and shoot somewhere north of 36 or 37 percent from deep.
For whatever reason, though, Kispert got off to a hot start this year, but then over the past three games, he’s missed almost everything. He made just 3 of 25 shots in those games, including a baffling 2 of 17 from 3-point range.
Kispert thinks it’s a fluke, for lack of a better word. He hasn’t changed his routine or his shot selection.
“It’s worked in the past, it’ll work,” Kispert said.
“I’m not worried about the slump that I’m in. I’m going to keep letting that thing fly and live with the results.
“I’m confident the results are going to start getting better.”
The Zags truly need those shots to start falling, because they are about to jump into the deep end of the pool.
Well, actually, it would be the ocean.
THIS WEEK
Unless they suffer an upset on Wednesday, the Zags will face one (more likely two) of the sport’s big sluggers in the next few days.
They’re part of a loaded field at the Battle 4 Atlantis in the Bahamas.
Gonzaga opens with Southern Mississippi (2-3) in the first round of the tournament, but assuming they survive, the semifinal opponent will be one of two ranked teams — Seton Hall or Oregon.
Meanwhile, the other side of the bracket isn’t quite as tough, which sets up North Carolina and freshman sensation Cole Anthony as a pretty solid favorite to play in the final.
Yes, there’s a bit of deja vu going on here.
A year ago at this same time, a very different Gonzaga team beat Illinois, Arizona and then top-ranked Duke to win the Maul Invitational.
In fact, for several months, the Zags were the only team to defeat Duke with the Blue Devils at full strength.
So here we go again, with a potential match against North Carolina on the horizon — which would be irony, indeed, since the Tar Heels are coming to The Kennel on Dec. 18 as part of a home-and-home series.
THE ROAD to a title in the Bahamas looks a bit tougher, though, since both Seton Hall and Oregon are ranked and already have proven they’ve earned the notoriety.
No. 11 Oregon (5-0) dusted Memphis and 7-foot-1 wonderchild James Wiseman — almost certain to be the first pick in next year’s NBA draft.
Seton Hall is 4-1 and ranked No. 13, but that loss was a 76-73 thriller at the hands of Michigan State, a team that will probably hop around the national top five all year.
As usual, Few has lined up as many rough opponents as possible – hoping to grab some signature wins to make up for what most people consider a cream puff schedule in the WCC.
After the Battle 4 Atlantis, the Zags get a bit of a breather with a home game against Texas Southern on Dec. 4 — then it’s a heavyweight fight every few days for a stretch after that.’
Gonzaga travels to Seattle to face a loaded U-Dub team (No. 25) on Dec. 8, then visits Arizona in Tucson on the 14th, and finally there’s that brawl with Carolina on Dec. 18.
After that gauntlet of games, it would be difficult for national rankings services to discount Gonzaga’s strength of schedule.
But of course, they’ll do it anyway.
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.