Gonzaga-Warner Pacific rewind: Bulldogs get look at another starting lineup in exhibition rout of NAIA squad

Oct. 31—With the amount of depth and versatility on Gonzaga’s roster, coaches could probably toss eight rotational players into a hat, blindly pick out five names and emerge with an effective starting lineup.

The Bulldogs have already used two different starting units in exhibition games against USC and Warner Pacific, and neither of those resembled the one many thought Gonzaga would open the year with.

The odds-on favorite, in all likelihood, was a group that included four returning starters — Ryan Nembhard, Nolan Hickman, Ben Gregg and Graham Ike — along with one newcomer, Michael Ajayi, who was expected to replace Anton Watson at the small forward spot.

Gonzaga coaches went with another combination for Saturday’s exhibition against USC, starting Nembhard, Khalif Battle, Ajayi, Gregg and Ike.

Another changeup was in store Wednesday. Three of the same five players — Nembhard, Battle and Ike — started against NAIA Warner Pacific, but Ajayi and Gregg were replaced by Hickman and Braden Huff.

As for how Gonzaga will open things up Monday, when the college basketball world shifts its attention to a highly-anticipated matchup between the sixth-ranked Bulldogs and eighth-ranked Baylor Bears at Spokane Arena?

That’s still unclear at the moment, but something Mark Few would advise the general public not to get too hung up on, reiterating on Wednesday the Zags will experiment with a handful of different lineups until they have a better feel for which ones they’ll be able to lean on during a long, unpredictable 31-game regular season.

“Sort of like I talked about, the guys are kind of bunched together and depending on what night, everybody’s level is different,” Few said after Gonzaga’s 109-52 exhibition rout of Warner Pacific. “We’re just trying to reward them for all their hard work and all that.”

Gonzaga’s starting unit on Wednesday featured a fairly unconventional look in the frontcourt, with the 6-foot-10 Huff playing alongside the 6-foot-9 Ike. Both were effective for the…

Source link : https://sports.yahoo.com/gonzaga-warner-pacific-rewind-bulldogs-020300785.html

Author : The Spokesman-Review, Spokane, Wash.

Publish date : 2024-11-01 02:03:00

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