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THE CHEAP SEATS with STEVE CAMERON: Fixing a flaw or two in the Zags offensive outlook

| January 14, 2025 1:20 AM

It happens to all of us.

Some everyday question comes out of nowhere to bug you.

It can be anything, like whether there is a spiritual significance to those mists up near the summit of Mount Fuji.

OK, OK.

A more routine puzzle might involve whether you forgot to pick up potatoes at the grocery store.

But you get the idea.

And me?

I’ve had two questions running around in my head today.

One: How did the whole world agree on Greenwich Mean Time to set their clocks?

I mean, you’d think somebody would object.

North Korea, maybe, or Arizona.

Two: Can you actually forget how to shoot a basketball?

That first one can be sorted out on Google, if you ponder long enough.

The answer to that second question, however, can’t be found in a search engine.

It involves the minds of human beings, and we can’t just toss it away because the springtime fate of Gonzaga hoops could hinge on the resolution.

Get bounced out of the NCAA tournament in the second round, or make a deep run and maybe take a shot at another Final Four.


LET’S ASK Michael Ajayi his thoughts on shooting accuracy.

Or Dusty Stromer.

What these two lads can contribute might have a huge effect on the Zags’ fate when we get to the business end of the season.

We’ll start with Ajayi, whose inability to heave a basketball into that little orange ring is nothing short of a mystery.

Ajayi transferred north from Pepperdine where — seriously, now — he led the entire WCC in scoring at 17.1 points per game.

That was just last year, not a decade ago.

Not only that, but Michael drained 3-point shots at the rate of 47 percent.

That is deadly, my friends.

You see now why I’m wondering about whether it’s possible to forget how to shoot.

Through 18 games at Gonzaga, Ajayi is knocking down those 3-balls (or NOT knocking down many of them) at a chilly 18 percent.

The 6-7 forward has converted on just 5-of-28 long balls and, frankly, when you watch him release a shot, it doesn’t LOOK like it has a chance.

Michael is averaging 6.5 points per game overall — in the same conference where he lit it up at Pepperdine.

Ajayi knows that his form is way, way off.

Just like week, he told the media that since he isn’t shooting or scoring with any impact, he’s trying to help the team with his defense and rebounding.

Fair enough, but how can you go from a 47-percent shooter from downtown to a guy who couldn’t throw the ball in the ocean from the deck of a Carnival Cruise liner?

I don’t get it.

On Saturday night in the blowout win over Washington State, Ajayi attempted just one shot (which he missed), but notched two assists.

Imagine if the coaches could make the adjustments needed to return Michael to dead-eye status.


OH, AND then we have Stromer, who is hitting just under 36 percent from beyond the arc.

The thing with Dusty, however, is that he’s WAY better than that — assuming he can just hang on to his confidence.

Stromer hit 38 percent on 3-pointers as a senior in high school (Notre Dame, Sherman Oaks, Calif.), then 37 percent as a Gonzaga freshman last year.

Yep, the drop-off is pretty slight.

But.

Stromer looks like a guy who can ignite these jumpers, his coaches believe he can — and they’ve been getting on him about stepping into a shot when it’s there.

Every once in a while, Dusty will miss his first 3-pointer of a game, and after that you see in his body language that he’d rather not take the next one.

The thing is, Dusty Stromer could become one of the Zag greats over the next two years if he just said to hell with it — and let his game do the talking.

He’s a terrific defender at 6-6, and should make a great pair next year with soph Emmanual Innocenti — the transfer from Tarleton State who already gets tasked with special defensive assignments for Gonzaga.

Back to shooting.

Every 3-pointer that Stromer releases looks great, and yet he’s tossed up some air balls.

The problem?

He hesitates occasionally, even when he’s open.

You can tell the coaches have talked to him, because he’ll immediately come right out and launch one.

But if it misses, he’s likely to pass up the next chance.

Somehow, the Gonzaga staff has to fix Ajayi’s form, and get Stromer to believe in his.

Those two could shoot the Zags a long way.

So, there.

Issue solved.

Now, about Greenwich Mean Time?


Email: scameron@cdapress.com


Steve Cameron’s “Cheap Seats” columns appear in The Press three times each week, normally Tuesday, Wednesday and Friday unless, you know, stuff happens.

Steve suggests you take his opinions in the spirit of a Jimmy Buffett song: “Breathe In, Breathe Out, Move On.”