Zags defense gets no respect

Despite their glossy 29-3 record, No. 5 national ranking and No. 3 regional seed in this year’s NCAA tournament, the Gonzaga Bulldogs have taken their share of jabs from the television pundits who seem to endlessly opine on college basketball this time of year.

One of the sharpest came during the weekend, when ESPN’s Digger Phelps predicted second-seeded UCLA (29-6) would handle the defensively challenged Zags in Thursday night’s Sweet 16 showdown in the Oakland (Calif.) Arena, primarily because they can’t guard anybody.

Phelps’ comments did not go unnoticed by GU’s coaches and players.

“Yeah, I know. Digger says we can’t guard,” Bulldogs assistant Bill Grier said dryly, just prior to Monday’s afternoon practice session in the McCarthey Athletic Center. “And if you look at our defensive numbers, they’re not as good as some of our teams in the past.

“But we’re also a lot better than some of our teams in the past, offensively.”

Grier, who is in charge of putting together GU’s defensive game plans, said he would like to see some better numbers – particularly in the area of field-goal percentage defense, where the Zags rank 153rd nationally, having allowed opponents to shoot a solid 43.3 percent from the field.

“But I don’t think you should really get caught up in the numbers,” he added. “The bottom line is, we won.”

Head coach Mark Few agrees with Grier’s reasoning, saying the defense played by this year’s team has been “good enough to win 29 games.”

“It’s obviously not our forte,” added Few, whose Bulldogs rank 259th in scoring defense, allowing an average of 72.8 points per game. “But that’s just a product of our personnel and our makeup. Sure, we’ve given up a lot of points, but we’ve also had stretches in games and a lot of end-of-game situations where we’ve dug out some big defensive stops.”

Grier said GU’s scoring defense numbers are skewed by the team’s fast-paced offense.

“This team, when they’ve really had to dig in and defend, they’ve done a good job of that,” he said. “But playing an up-tempo style like we do requires a different mindset than if you’re playing in the 60s and every possession is just a grinder.

“There are always exceptions to the rule, but most teams that play a fast-pace and up-tempo game, where there are a lot of possessions, give up a lot points.”

This year’s team, Few said, is probably better equipped to defend man-to-man than most of the others he had.

As a result, it’s not unusual to see the Zags playing man late in close games, rather than resorting to the matchup zone that was a staple of many past teams, including the senior-laden team of 2003-04 that featured Blake Stepp and Cory Violette and finished 28-3.

“That Stepp team was just solid,” Few recalled. “They were usually in the right spots, and they were smart. But they were never a team that could, defensively, bust you out of a lot of things.”

This year’s team, with the athleticism of senior Erroll Knight, sophomore Pierre Marie Altidor-Cespedes and freshmen Josh Heytvelt, Jeremy Pargo and Larry Gurganious, has that ability. But it’s hard to squeeze many points out of that young lineup, in which Knight is the only player with more than two years of experience.

“We can put a very athletic group out there,” Few said. “As a whole, we might have played more man that we have in the past – especially in conference, where we match up better against guys.

“But that’s the whole trick to this thing – trying to pull the best out of some players and minimize the worst, whether that’s on offense or defense. And I really think that’s confused fans and pundits and everybody.”

Sean Mallon, a fourth-year junior forward, said this year’s team has as much defensive potential as any he has played on at Gonzaga.

“We haven’t played zone as much,” he said. “I don’t know if we’re not as good at it or what. But it seems like – down the stretch, anyway – we’ve gone to man a lot of times when we would normally have gone zone, and that’s probably a good sign.

“We can put some pretty quick lineups out there, so that’s definitely an advantage for us.”

Junior point guard Derek Raivio concurs.

“I think we’re a lot more athletic than we’ve been – young and athletic,” he said. “And with all the depth and different kinds of personnel we have, we’ve got a lot more options on defense.

“As far as getting hands on balls, we’ve really improved. We get lost on matchups sometimes, though, and we still get a little confused about what we’re doing. But as far as being able to make something happen and shake things up, this team can get it done.”

Raivio likes the chaos this year’s team can create with its assortment of half-court traps – especially with the 6-foot-7, long-armed Knight at the head of the trap.

“Erroll gets his hands on a lot of balls out there,” Raivio said. “He probably gets his hands on a lot of wrists, too, but as long as (the refs) don’t call it, that’s fine.”

“It’s been a point of emphasis this year,” Mallon said of the Zags’ intricate defensive scheme, which includes a couple of different zone sets and a variety of half-court traps and zone presses. “It hasn’t been perfect, but I think it’s been improving.

“Still, we’ve got a long way to go.”