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The Spokesman-Review Newspaper
Spokane, Washington  Est. May 19, 1883

Time to step forward


Gonzaga forward Sean Mallon contributed 12 points and four rebounds in Thursday's victory over Washington State. 
 (Brian Plonka / The Spokesman-Review)
Staff writer

SEATTLE – Delete his five field-goal attempts, four fouls and 15 minutes played, and Sean Mallon’s statistical line from last Sunday’s 99-95 road loss to Washington reads like the linescore of a well-pitched, extra-innings baseball game.

Sorry, but 000-011-220-000 – with the twos denoting Mallon’s scoring and rebound totals against UW – just doesn’t cut it for a 6-foot-9 junior forward who was expected to be a foundation-type player at Gonzaga University when he signed with the Bulldogs out of Ferris High School back in 2002.

The silver lining here is that nobody realizes that more than Mallon, who rebounded from his barren effort against the Huskies to play a major role in the Zags’ 67-53 home win over Washington State on Thursday.

“I just haven’t been doing a good job of producing in games this year,” Mallon explained after contributing 12 points, four rebounds and a steal to the much-needed win over WSU. “And that’s going to change. It has to change if we’re going to get to where we want to go.”

Bulldogs coach Mark Few, who admitted to being “perplexed” by the way Mallon struggled during the latter stages of last season and again early this year, couldn’t agree more.

“We need him,” Few said. “He’s a cornerstone guy of our program and we need him to have an all-league type year. We need him to fly around and play with fire. When he plays that way, he’s the total guy that our team needs.”

Especially with GU’s injury situation being what it is.

When the ninth-ranked Zags (5-2) tip it off against Oklahoma State (6-2) in this afternoon’s third annual Battle in Seattle at KeyArena, they will be alarmingly short-handed again.

Senior small forward Erroll Knight (knee) and redshirt freshman power forward Josh Heytvelt (broken ankle) are out, and junior point guard Derek Raivio, who missed the WSU game, remains questionable because of back and hip bruises suffered in the loss to Washington.

It’s another situation in which the Bulldogs need Mallon to perform with the same kind of confidence and passion he exhibited early last season in averaging 14.6 points and 7.4 rebounds through GU’s first five games.

“Sean Mallon was the best player we had on the floor at times early last season,” Few said.

But after junior college transfer J.P. Batista was promoted to the front-line starter alongside Ronny Turiaf, Mallon nearly disappeared, finishing his sophomore year averaging 7.6 points and 4.2 rebounds.

This season didn’t start off much better for Mallon, who left Ferris as the Greater Spokane League’s all-time scoring leader with 1,214 points.

Through GU’s first six games he was averaging a meager 4.8 points per game and leaving everyone associated with the Bulldogs program – included him – looking for answers to his lack of offensive productivity.

Few originally suggested a lack of confidence might be the cause.

But now GU’s seventh-year head coach is wondering if Mallon, like the rest of the Zags Nation, might have been caught up in all of the early-season talk about the Bulldogs’ “Big Three” – Adam Morrison, Batista and Raivio.

“We just haven’t been able to put our finger on it,” Few said. “Whether he got lost in Adam’s and J.P.’s and Derek’s success early on, I don’t know. Whether it was him perceiving that we didn”t need him or something …

“But sometimes, within a season, a player can create his own little mysteries. It’s no different than what a guy goes through on the golf course or anywhere else.

“But the bottom line is, if we’re going to do anything, Sean’s going to have to have a big year for us.”

Mallon admits he might have been a bit caught up in the early season scoring outbursts of Morrison, Batista and Raivio.

“We’ve definitely got a lot of guys on this team who can score,” he said, “so, sometimes, I look to do other things, and I feel I do a good job of that. But at the same time, I can score, too, and the coaches have kind of addressed that to me.

“My teammates say I should look for my shot more, too.”

Morrison, who played against Mallon in high school, is sympathetic of the tough times his teammate has had to endure since becoming a Zag.

“When he played at Ferris, he was kind of an inside-out guy,” explained Morrison, who broke Mallon’s GSL career scoring record as a senior at Mead. “But here, they want him to stay kind of inside, so he’s been really working hard on improving his inside moves and presence.

“He’s also done a good job of keeping his head up here. He’s had to redshirt, and his freshman year he probably could have played a few more minutes. But he’s stuck with it and keeps working hard, which is always the sign of a great person and a great player. That’s one thing about Sean – he’s always team-first and always positive.”

Few, too, admires the way Mallon has dealt with his on-court demons.

“He’s just a great kid with a great attitude,” he said. “But we can tell you only so many times that we want you to have the ball and we want you to score and be our guy. After that, you’ve got to figure it out for yourself. You’ve got to create your own confidence, and that comes from inside.

“At a certain point, you’ve got to draw a line in the sand and say, ‘Hey, you know what? I am really a good player. They need me, and I’ve got to come back and respond.’ And I think that’s what we saw (against WSU). He played like a Zag, and showed what a winner he is.”

As for Mallon, he hopes his performance against WSU on Thursday night is just the first step on his way back to becoming the kind of college player most thought he would be.

“I just tried to come out and play and be productive for my team,” he said. “Now I just need to keep it going. I’m capable. … We’ll have to see.”