Gonzaga lineup configurations are a work in progress: ‘It’ll change throughout the year’

Gonzaga started with a big lineup and finished with a group featuring three guards.

In between, the Zags’ first substitution was five players entering to replace the starting unit and 11 eventually saw action in Saturday’s exhibition loss to USC in Palm Desert, California.

Eight logged at least 13 minutes and only starting point guard Ryan Nembhard (32) played more than 30. At the other end of the spectrum, Tarleton State transfer guard Emmanuel Innocenti was on the floor for five minutes, junior forward Jun Seok Yeo four and 17-year-old freshman center Ismaila Diagne three.

’Tis the season for tweaking lineups, particularly for the Zags coaching staff wanting to try multiple combinations on a roster with considerable depth.

“We were shuffling guys in and out there (and) tried to get certain guys minutes,” coach Mark Few said following Gonzaga’s 96-93 loss. “Which is what we need to do in an exhibition. Figure it out, it’ll change throughout the year.

“We have a bunch of guys that are kind of bunched together. It’s not like they are head and shoulders above each other, so there’ll be a bunch of that.”

USC didn’t keep the scorer’s table quite as busy, using 10 players. Forward Saint Thomas played all but 92 seconds, and the Trojans mirrored the Zags by largely staying with the same five down the stretch as both teams lit up the scoreboard.

Nembhard, senior guard Nolan Hickman and Arkansas transfer guard Khalif Battle led the way as Gonzaga’s offense put up points in a hurry. They were joined by Pepperdine transfer forward Michael Ajayi, and bigs Graham Ike and Braden Huff essentially split up the last 12 minutes.

The closing crew erased an 11-point deficit and made things interesting in crunch time.

“You had three guards out there that can all dribble, pass, shoot, all make plays. So I think that’s always a good lineup for us, but I’m going to leave that up to the coaches. They know what they’re doing. They’ll find the best lineups for us.”

On the flip side, USC also had no problem scoring, often on isolation plays against the Zags’ smaller backcourt trio.

“One -on -one defense is the big thing,” Nembhard said. “I think it was pretty bad, so we have to learn how to level our guy off. Rebounding, we have to go hit and be physical. That’s the physicality of the game and that’s something we need to improve on for sure.”

Battle, who averaged 14.8 points last season with the Razorbacks, joined returning starters Nembhard, Ajayi, Ike and Ben Gregg in the first five. Hickman replaced Gregg to open the second half and responded with 3-of-3 shooting, eight points, two 3-pointers and a pair of assists.

Few reiterated that the experimentation is nowhere near complete. GU has the personnel to operate big or small.

“We’re going to play a bunch of different lineups,” Few said. “They’re all the same so the faster everybody gets used to it the better it’s going to be. We’re not just going to roll out the same guys.

“Again, there hasn’t been a whole lot of separation. I just keep trying to reward guys for what they did in the past game or past practice or maybe this has been working better and just keep going with that. We’ve got a lot of guys.”

That depth has led to intense drills throughout the summer and fall.

“They’ve been very, very competitive,” Few said. “The guys have been great. They bring great energy and they’re getting after it each day.”

The Zags entertain Warner Pacific in an exhibition game Wednesday before the season opener against No. 8 Baylor the following Monday at the Spokane Arena.