College Men's Basketball | Zags' defense won't rest

SPOKANE — As he forged his run toward Mick Jagger status among college hoopniks last year, a story — well, one of many, actually — made the rounds about Adam Morrison.

It seems the Gonzaga forward was known to wear a T-shirt that pretty much summed up his proclivities: IF IT WASN'T FOR OFFENSE, I'D PLAY DEFENSE.

Funny stuff, and truth be told, not inaccurate.

Now: New season, new team, new focus.

And New York.

Wednesday night, Gonzaga completed its cartography to the NIT preseason semifinals next week at Madison Square Garden against No. 2 North Carolina, dispatching the Baylor Bears, 78-69. It wasn't as lights-out dominating as the 88-50 victory over Rice a night earlier, but it gets them there nonetheless.

If the Zags (3-0) didn't establish anything else here in two nights of the preseason NIT, they wrote this in stone: They're indeed going to be a lot different without Morrison.

I have a hard time concluding that means better, not after watching him drop 43 points on Michigan State and 37 in an unconscious second half against Loyola Marymount.

Morrison had a year you don't forget, from the rock-star treatment on ESPN's "SportsCenter" to the Sports Illustrated cover to the palpable squirm he felt picking up a national co-player-of-the-year award in a suit and patent-leather shoes. (For reference, go to paste-on smiles on President Bush and Nancy Pelosi after lunch last week.)

With Morrison, the Zags got to the Sweet 16, and only a colossal wilt in the last three minutes against UCLA denied them the final eight.

Now they've embarked on life without him, and — surprise — there's a lot to like.

You can start with that element of the game that Morrison self-deprecated.

The Zags held Rice, a club picked fourth by the coaches in Conference USA, to 29.5-percent shooting. You have to go all the way back to the end of the 2003-04 season, to an NCAA first-round game against Valparaiso, to find a better number.

They also limited Baylor — forecast No. 7 in the Big 12 — to five makes in its first 23 attempts in blowing to a 17-point lead in the first half.

Against Rice, there was also this: Five charges taken. Asked if the Zags ever took that many a year ago, one of their assistant coaches rolled his eyes drolly and said, "1941."

"When you have a player as great as Morrison was, you need him in the game," said Willis Wilson, the veteran Rice coach who had looked at some old Gonzaga tapes. "He's allowed to do some things, or not do some things, on the defensive side you normally wouldn't let go on.

"But with this team, they bring it on every possession, and there's no fanfare about it."

At the offensive end, Morrison's departure has given rise to some new components, including selfless passing. Sean Mallon, a fifth-year forward, is shooting with more abandon. Pierre Marie Altidor-Cespedes has been casting threes and hitting them.

Derek Raivio, one of the best free-throw shooters in the nation, is answering the overplays against his outside capabilities by putting the ball on the floor. In the first half against the Bears, he had six straight Gonzaga points on free throws.

That said, the player Gonzaga coach Mark Few called the MVP against Baylor was junior-college transfer Abdullahi Kuso, a 6-foot-8, glass-crashing garbage man from Nigeria who had eight points and seven rebounds in 14 minutes.

As much as there was to like about watching Morrison, that may have become part of Gonzaga's profile last year — watching him too much.

"I think with those two [including big man J.P. Batista], they were such prolific scorers, it kind of taught us bad habits at times," said junior David Pendergraft. "We'd kind of slack off. Not to take anything away from them; they were amazing."

Rice's Wilson, whose team came back to beat Colorado State in a consolation game, seemed impressed.

"They're not terribly complicated," he said admiringly of the Zags. "You can guard sets, but it's much more difficult to defend the spontaneity they bring to the game."

Said Altidor-Cespedes, "If we keep the right attitude, this team has the potential to be as good as any we've had here, I think."

It's premature for dashing conclusions. The Zags haven't played farther than a mile from their campus yet. We'll know more next week, when Josh Heytvelt matches up against Carolina's Tyler Hansbrough and the Zags have to nullify dynamic Reyshawn Terry.

Still, the early signs are good. Yeah, the circus has left town. But maybe a carnival wasn't far behind.

Bud Withers: 206-464-8281 or bwithers@seattletimes.com