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

Oct. 27—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, Calif.

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, utilizing 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…

Source link : https://sports.yahoo.com/gonzaga-lineup-configurations-progress-itll-020300104.html

Author : The Spokesman-Review, Spokane, Wash.

Publish date : 2024-10-28 02:03:00

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