Gonzaga Basketball: Key storylines for 2019-2020 home matchup with Pacific

How much will Petrusev play, if at all?

After Filip Petrusev’s ankle injury against BYU, the odds of the Serbian big man playing in this game have been questionable all week. Jim Meehan at The Spokesman-Review tweeted today that his participation will be a game-time decision, and frankly one that could feasibly go either way.

Not having Petrusev for any period of time — even if it’s just one game — is a massive blow to the Zags’ depth, especially considering that Watson is no longer available to shore up the frontcourt. Frankly, his presence in the post is not really replaceable at this point. Few likely can’t run with a six-man rotation, so freshman center Pavel Zakharov would have to move into Drew Timme’s hybrid 4/5 backup slot if that were the case. Zakharov has only played in blowouts so far, and Few hasn’t displayed a willingness to expand his minutes beyond that unless it’s absolutely necessary. If Few does decide to go with a six-man rotation, that could be telling about his confidence in his bench.

While not exactly disastrous, a Killian Tillie-Timme-Zakharov frontcourt rotation is far less dynamic and challenging for defenses and Tillie’s freedom to roam the perimeter and shoot would be hindered. It probably wouldn’t be a glaring issue against Pacific, but it’s not ideal moving forward either.

But all indications are that it’s not an issue that will have long-term implications. Petrusev’’s been out of the boot and has had a full week to recover, so fortunately for Zag fans, any absence for more than a game or two looks very unlikely.