Dave Boling: ‘It’s effort, it’s toughness…’ How the simplest solution might cure Gonzaga’s stumbles this year

Not to knock the froth off anybody’s well-whipped hysteria, but you might remember that Gonzaga went through the same thing last year and everything turned out fine. Better than fine, in fact.

Last year, the men’s basketball team belly-flopped from the Top 25 rankings amid a few high-profile defeats and a couple of unexpected midwinter stumbles.

A little rotation tinkering and some timely motivation led to a string of successes that took them back to the NCAA Sweet 16 for a nation-best ninth consecutive time.

So here we are again.

GU’s six losses thus far match or exceed the full-season total of seven of the past eight seasons. These Zags are giving up points at historic rates, and haven’t learned how to finish close games under pressure.

Of the millions of words in ether and print that analyzed, lamented or derided the Zags’ competitive sag, we may pinpoint the four most incisive and relevant words, voiced by coach Mark Few.

Few said this week (after losses to Oregon State and Santa Clara) they would examine every possible cure. He went into some strategic detail, but started his assessment with the most important: “It’s effort, it’s toughness …”

Defensive problems? Almost always matter of effort and toughness.

Finishing? Effort and toughness.

Those six losses have included any number of instances when opponents demonstrated a greater motivation to win. Not in the cases of all individual players, but 5-on-5, 40 minutes, getting after it and winning those 50-50 opportunities.

There have been enough solid wins to sustain the expectations of this talented, veteran and deep roster. And losses to West Virginia (OT), UConn (77-71) and UCLA (65-62) came without disrepute.

Perhaps most illustrative of the Zags’ promise and vulnerability came in the Kentucky game. In a 20-minute masterpiece of a first half, GU destroyed the No. 4 Wildcats by a 50-34 margin. It provided the perfect example of why some of us predicted national contention for this club.

Kentucky responded, though, with some defensive changes the Zags failed to counter. Nor could GU’s defense match UK’s second-half effort and toughness. Had they bowed up for just one more stop along the way, the Zags could have held on. Instead, they fell 90-89 in overtime.

Historic? Yes, again. It was the first time in 175 games GU had lost a game with a double-digit halftime lead.

But the two losses last week? Painful. Surrendering 200 points. Allowing OSU to shoot 58% for the game and outscore the Zags 14-6 in overtime? Unheard of. And SCU making 12 of 17 3-pointers in the second half on Saturday was another stunning development.

So, we may wonder if this week of practices has resembled a Parris Island boot camp for the Zags, or if any ineffective defenders have been assigned to guard the bench for a while.

Few always has been adept at pushing the right buttons to get things turned around in times of need.

But it is fair to question, given the atmosphere of player autonomy and independence, if they even have buttons anymore – more likely pressure-sensitive, digital icons to be tapped, with all messages routed through their agents’ contact systems.

Patience is thin and pressure is everywhere.

Two-time defending national champ UConn has five losses. The Top 25 teams in the AP poll lost a collective 20 games last week.

The first indicator we’ll see of the Zags’ response to recent defeats takes place at Portland on Saturday, with a better indicator in a revenge opportunity against Oregon State at home Tuesday.

After that, there is time for this to go either way for the Zags, with two games remaining against West Coast Conference leader Saint Mary’s, two against San Francisco and another at Santa Clara and at Washington State.

Will they recover as they did last season?

The problem hasn’t been on the offensive end, especially with post Graham Ike putting in 26 and 21 points last weekend, or point guard Ryan Nembhard leading the nation in assists.

But looking back at the 85 minutes of defensive struggles against OSU and SCU, perhaps only a few minutes of inspiring play took place. Not much, but enough to provide hope.

Fueled mostly by the clutch shooting of guard Nolan Hickman, the playmaking of Nembhard, and the 94-feet of predatory truculence of forward Ben Gregg, the Zags fought back from a 93-80 deficit to threaten Santa Clara in only a few minutes’ time.

In the past two games, Nembhard scored 29 points with 25 assists and just three turnovers. Gregg has scored 28 points, with 12 offensive rebounds.

Most impressively, when the gravity of the 13-point deficit took hold, Gregg went into Marvel Cinematic mode, coming up with three steals, energizing the team and the entire arena.

Still, one Bronco got free on an unguarded back-door-cut layup, and another sank another unconscious 3-pointer, and Santa Clara held on.

What to take from that hyperpressurized late surge? It can be done. With the right players with proper intent.

A snapshot from the end of the game should be preserved as a reminder.

Trying to force a life-giving turnover or at least a clock-stopping foul, Gregg and Nembhard dove toward an opponent, and the whistle blew with 00.1 on the clock.

Gregg, having fought through a painful back issue, and Nembhard having come up lame from contact on a recent fast break – the two were jack-strawed on the floor, seemingly struggling to even pull themselves off the court.

There they were – the physical embodiment of the kind of effort and toughness this team needs more of – having competed until the final one-tenth of the last second of another painful defeat.

It was too late to change the outcome of that game, but might end up being the example that saves the season.