Zags emphasize tough stuff

It wasn’t just their scoring, rebounding, defense, experience or leadership. Or their hard-nosed presence on the basketball court.

It was all those things and more, many of which never appeared in a box score.

Gonzaga only lost two players from last year’s 25-8 crew, one of the primary reasons expectations are soaring for this year’s team. But replacing the intangibles provided on a daily basis by David Pendergraft and Abdullahi Kuso won’t be easy.

It’s one of many things on head coach Mark Few’s mind. After Gonzaga finished Midnight Madness activities last week, one of the initial questions to Few was his priorities for the first practice the next morning.

“We’ll start with the basics, mostly our team defense and individual defense,” Few said. “And then we have to figure out the rebounding. We lost two great rebounders and a lot of toughness. I think that’s how you would describe ‘Kuse’ and ‘Pendo.’

“Collectively, we can’t just say, ‘Well, Ira (Brown) is going to play more, so it’s going to be him.’ Collectively, we all have to pick that up.”

Numerically, Pendergraft and Kuso did their best work in West Coast Conference games last season. Pendergraft averaged 10 points and 4.1 rebounds, shot 55.4 percent from the field, 44.1 percent on 3-pointers and 84.2 percent on free throws. Kuso checked in at 7.0 points, 4.8 rebounds, 62.1 percent from the field and 66.7 percent at the foul line.

Pendergraft and Austin Daye shared the “4” spot with Pendergraft playing about 6 minutes more per game. The 6-foot-4, 235-pound Brown has moved to the 4, where he could present matchup problems for opponents. Daye is already a difficult matchup. He’s listed at 6-11, an inch taller than a year ago. After a summer spent recovering from a knee injury, he appears poised to take on a more prominent role.

“I think you saw a little toughness out of Ira (at Midnight Madness),” senior point guard Jeremy Pargo said. “He skied for a couple of rebounds that a lot of people think a 6-4 guy wouldn’t get.

“You can always be tougher on the court, no matter who you are. Losing those two guys is a big loss toughness-wise, but we have Austin coming along and getting tougher, Ira coming in being tough and even Micah (Downs) going down and getting big rebounds. We have a lot of tough guys and as a group we can make up for that.”

Still, Gonzaga needs its frontcourt players to be healthy. Forward Josh Heytvelt is coming off foot surgery and Daye is returning from months of inactivity as he recuperated from a knee injury. Early indications are the two will be at or close to full speed for the season opener against Montana State-Billings on Nov. 15. Sophomore center Robert Sacre, a 7-foot, 247-pounder who started 10 games last season, will probably miss 5-6 weeks after undergoing foot surgery.

Junior center Will Foster figures to see some time and 6-11 freshman Andy Poling is another option, though he might redshirt, depending on the timetable of Sacre’s return. The versatile Downs usually plays the 3 spot, but he can play 2 or 4.

Pendergraft and Pargo were co-captains last season. Few has credited the two for the leadership they showed when Heytvelt was suspended and missed the last 12 games of the 2006-07 season.

“Toughness is a really big part and I think the whole team is trying to do that in the off-season so far,” Downs said. “I’ve been trying to pick up on that myself, with the toughness and leadership. Ira’s done a great job and Pargo, everybody on this team really looks up to him as a leader.”