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

Blanchette: Bulldogs open huge gap between them, rest of WCC

Back at the turn of the calendar, it wasn’t a night in front of the TV with the Gonzaga Bulldogs without a comfortable lead squandered or a sure thing rendered no-so-sure.

So does this one make up for those?

Midway through the second half Thursday night, when Kevin Pangos found massive Przemek Karnowski trundling down the key for a couple of dunks and Kyle Wiltjer followed with the blocked-3-coast-to- coast-drive-behind-the-back-finish (it has to be those faux-snakeskin Nikes, right?), did you mark it down in the win column?

Or did you brace for stomach distress, allowing that the Zags were playing Saint Mary’s, their perennial shadows in the West Coast Conference? After all, if they’re going to let everybody else up, surely the choke hold would be harder to apply to the slippery Gaels.

Well, even those who guessed wrong found happy comfort in the Zags’ 68-47 rout – particularly the slick show they put on after halftime.

No 16-up-to-six-down swing as against Brigham Young. No 7 scoreless minutes as against San Diego. No 21-point lead melting to five as against Portland.

And no talk about lacking the killer instinct – if it’s even that the Zags have lacked.

“Leads happen for a reason,” Gonzaga coach Mark Few pointed out not long ago.

“You’re playing really efficient offense. You’re making free throws. You’re making open shots and defending and driving (opponents’) shots to areas you want. All of a sudden, if that just ebbs a little bit, things change.”

Which was the difference against the Gaels.

Gonzaga’s efficiency didn’t ebb. It just took the Zags longer to find it.

When they did, they were a marvel.

The defense had been pretty good all night long, except when big Brad Waldow was able to exploit his considerable gifts in muscle, touch and leverage. But after the Gaels drew as close as three points with just less than 12 minutes to play, Waldow missed two shots and turned it over once – and that was the extent of his contribution the rest of the way. Gonzaga outscored the visitors 22-2, and when Waldow picked up his fourth foul and headed to the bench with 5:17 to go, coach Randy Bennett never bothered to send him back into the game.

The offense, stagnant and turnover-prone before, also found its feet. Half of the Zags’ six 3-pointers were made in this burst. Kevin Pangos, who hadn’t had an assist the last 15 minutes of the first half, had four of his five. Domas Sabontis snared seemingly every rebound.

This is what Few calls “gap time,” and from time to time they work it in practice. In order to get a point, one team has to get a stop on one end and score on the other. Without both, no points.

“That’s the only way to build a gap,” Few said. “We started doing it 10-12 years ago, and we don’t do it often, but just enough to remind them what it takes.”

Of course, it helps when the opponent is as one-dimensional as the Gaels were this night.

This is Gonzaga’s seventh straight win over the Gaels, and right now the gap between the two programs looks to be as wide as it’s been in the last 5 years, even if Saint Mary’s is still two games clear in second.

Waldow can carry them most nights in the big-man-challenged WCC, as he did for a while against GU. But the Gaels were just 2 of 15 from 3-point range, and point guards Aaron Bright and Emmett Naar were a combined 0 for 14 from everywhere. For a team that’s been getting a lot of static nationally for its backcourt defense the way the Zags have, that’s a pretty good night.

“Basically, their entire offense goes through (Waldow),” Karnowski said. “If they don’t get an open look for 3 or an open drive, they just pass the ball to the left side and feed the post, and it’s his own world. It’s hard to play and defend, especially if you get a couple quick calls.

“But I think we did a good job of doubling and playing straight 1-on-1 and eventually I thought it worked out really good.”

And again, Gonzaga’s most impressive facet was its balance and versatility. Yes, Pangos, Wiltjer and Karnowski had the big knives, but there are lots of teammates who can administer the paper cuts.

“These guys have a little more firepower,” Bennett admitted. “They’re going to score. You can limit them, but they’re going to score. You have to find a way to put points on the board.”

If not, it turns into gap time. Or nap time.