Gonzaga’s Ike, Innocenti and Warley put on show against Gaels | Zags Insiders Podcast

Graham Ike stole the show Saturday as No. 6 Gonzaga downed rival Saint Mary’s 73-65.

Ike’s 30 points and major contributions from Emmanuel Innocenti and Jalen Warley carried the Zags.

The trio was front and center on the latest Zags Insiders Podcast with Richard Fox, former Gonzaga big man and current analyst on GU telecasts on KHQ and SWX, and yours truly.

Per usual, we covered numerous GU-related topics, including where Ike stands in WCC player of the year rankings as well as Warley in the defensive player of the year picture.

Here are some highlights, edited for space considerations. The full podcast is available at www.spokesman.com/podcasts/zags-basketball-insiders/ or https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=a3amAtmpKIA.

Another GU-SMC classic

Meehan: The battle for tempo – the Zags won it early, the Gaels kind of imposed their will in the midsection of the game and then the Zags got it back, thanks to Emmanuel.

It’s not the prettiest game, it rarely is, but it’s just the way they operate. You saw what Saint Mary’s wants to do and how effective they can be when they get the pace the way they want it. And you could see what Gonzaga wants to do, how they want to get up and down the floor.

Fox: Even though the Gaels were up by four at half I just had a feeling Gonzaga had to like where it was. The adjustments they could make, they were going to take control of the game.

I credit the Gaels. They found a way to stay in the game, but at the end of the day you saw Gonzaga’s depth, length and overall talent kind of win out at the end.

The Ike Show

Fox: Thirty-seven minutes, it was really impressive. The thing about taking that kind of time off, obviously you’re doing that because of the injury to that ankle. But it does allow you, looking at it holistically, you’re off your legs in a way you usually don’t get to do during the season.

Really impressed with his ability to play the whole game. (Harry) Wessels and (Andrew) McKeever, they’re just big-body guys, they’re physical. We’ve seen Graham do this before where he’ll knock down jump shots and step out to 3. There are some mixed reviews on that, it’s not always there for him, but there were shades of the Houston game last year (in the NCAA Tournament). Against that front line he stepped out and used a little more finesse than the power that we kind of applied to our view of Graham because he’s a big body, strong and aggressive around the basket.

That’s really what defines his game and time at Gonzaga, but he does have incredible touch and he’s able to knock down jump shots. They don’t win without that effort from him.

Meehan: Back in the lineup for the first time in three games after that ankle injury, he looked a little different than the usual parked on the low block or six feet out. There weren’t a lot of duck-ins, post-ups compared to him operating in a little more space. There were times he got the ball, started to back down and then squared up and shot fadeaways or turnarounds.

He hit three 3s, got out on the break and threw one down. And then the play everyone is going to remember where he pump-faked near top of circle, Wessels bit on the fake and went down in the paint. Graham drove for a dunk.

I was surprised how bouncy Graham looked, he dunked two or three balls, he was flying around. I do think his plan offensively was a conscious decision in that it isn’t very easy shooting over a 7-3 guy, even if you have him parked six feet from the hoop.

Boarded up

Meehan: Rebounding is always a huge concern when playing the Gaels. No (Braden) Huff, so it was still small-ball around Ike and that turned out to be one of the big keys in the game.

When (Paulius) Murauskas had to guard Warley, that felt like advantage Warley. When it was the other way around, Warley did a pretty nice job, especially as the game wore on Murauskas was not nearly as effective as he was in the first 10-12 minutes.

The smaller, quicker guards and wings, a little more athletic – Emmanuel, Warley, Tyon (Grant-Foster), Davis Fogle, even Mario (Saint-Supery) were a big reason why they won the glass. Ike ended up with four rebounds, he’s usually around eight or nine, but his job was to wall off those bigs, and he did that.

Fox: This is a Saint Mary’s team that excels on the glass. Gonzaga was plus-5 (rebounding), plus-4 on the offensive glass. Second-chance (points): Gonzaga 17, Saint Mary’s five.

Wessels and McKeever had four offensive rebounds. Gonzaga’s guards collectively had eight. You saw the best of Gonzaga in certain categories for large stretches. One of those was their ability, we call that gang rebounding where it’s not just your bigs that are competing for the rebounds but the guards. And on the offensive end, everybody but you’re point guard is attacking and you want to force four to have to block out.