New look, same results for Gonzaga minus Braden Huff, Graham Ike | Zags Insiders Podcast

Gonzaga encountered heaps of adversity last week with forwards Braden Huff (knee) and Graham Ike (ankle) sidelined, forcing the coaching staff to revamp game plans with little prep time.

The eighth-ranked Zags still racked up a pair of 21-point road wins over Washington State and Seattle U and showed they’re fully capable of playing different styles offensively and defensively without their top two scorers.

Former Gonzaga center Richard Fox, an analyst on GU telecasts on KHQ and SWX, and yours truly broke down the staff’s adjustments in the latest Zags Insiders Podcast.

Here are some highlights of our conversation, edited for space considerations. Find the entire podcast at https://www.spokesman.com/podcasts/zags-basketball-insidersor https://youtu.be/mR_bdpoJT74.

Adjusting on the fly

Fox: Against WSU, you’re without Huff. That game is bit easier to adjust because you still have Graham and you can play through him. He was really good and you’re able to stay tethered to how you’ve played throughout the year. But then you lose him against Seattle U. It’s not just that you’ve lost that production, the way you play has to completely change. You have to be selective when you dump it down to (Ismaila Diagne).

They still played nine guys heavy minutes. It says a lot about the confidence they have in (Davis) Fogle and Diagne, a lot about their talent. Diagne played 20 minutes, efficient with his size, eight rebounds, eats up a lot of space, good screener, which helps open up a lot of those drives. They don’t want to live this way for a long period of time. They’ve got Pepperdine (Wednesday). Do they say, ‘We can have another 24 or 48 hours to let Graham continue to recover or play him for some stint?’

Fogle puts a lot of pressure on you with dribble drive, Mario (Saint-Supery) with his 3-point shooting is what built that lead and put the (Seattle) game away. He puts a lot of dribble pressure on teams. So they get into the paint and couple that with the ability to offensive rebound, 14 second-chance points, you’re collecting those and going right back up.

Meehan: They have depth, they have some players that are offensive-minded, some are defensive-minded. Not only do you have to play different guys, but they’re also playing in different situations. They’re playing in high-leverage, pressure situations, not just the tail end of games.

Paint buckets were off the charts (with Ike and Huff). You throw it into them, the play develops from there, whether they create for themselves, draw doubles, put foul pressure on somebody, baskets, kick-outs. It all kind of revolved around that.

Ismaila started (vs. Seattle U) and he’s way more impactful on the defensive end and you saw that in his first-half minutes, but offensively, that’s not his deal yet. The drop-off is obviously significant. What you have is a shorter lineup outside of (the 7-foot) ‘Izzy’ with a lot of 6-7 guys – Jalen Warley, Tyon Grant-Foster and Fogle – Emmanuel Innocenti, Adam Miller and the two point guards.

They can’t just throw it in and watch a play evolve. They have to do some things on their own. You saw Warley become a point-wing at times. You saw Fogle get the ball and it’s, ‘I’m going to the rim’ and he hit a beautiful pullup, a fadeaway. Emmanuel was more offensive-minded, Miller had a great game against the Cougs.

Defense, Warley deliver

Meehan: I looked out there and Warley is guarding 6-10, 235-pound center (Houran Dan). Steele Venters was guarding Dan at times. Fogle was playing the 4. They’re switching all over the place. They’re so quick-handed.

Warley’s first half against Wazzu, he was the best player on the court and it wasn’t even close. What he did defensively, sagging, steals, rebounding.

As a team, they forced a bunch of turnovers (in both games). Their perimeter pressure was much more than they usually do, they got their hands on the ball, in the passing lanes, stripped the posts. They gave up some inside buckets but not a ton and they won the glass.

Mark (Few) has used a term before with Killian (Tillie) and Anton (Watson), he’s a fixer, he fixes things. Warley can bring the ball up against pressure, he’s almost always in the right spot defensively. He can guard this guy, that guy, a 7-footer, a point guard. He just has the smarts, the feel, much like Tillie and Watson. They’re going to really need him with these games coming up.

Fox: The prospects for the group are very different if you don’t have Huff and Ike, but do they have the personnel to play in a competitive way in this conference with who they have? Absolutely.

They don’t have the frontcourt size without Huff and Ike, but they have a lot of long, athletic kids that are smart and very active defensively. Steele, he’s 6-7 and he’s a heady defender. Mario is very good at helping and recovering.

Warley just kind of does it all and that’s a trend we’re seeing. He’s becoming indispensable to Mark in that he can just do so many things. We always talk about it can be anybody’s night. With Warley, I don’t care what his scoring is, I have to have him on the floor.

I was really impressed how they reacted to both the injuries. They didn’t appear to be a group that felt sorry for themselves or panicked in any way. That says a lot about the staff and the mentality they have, which is next man up.