It’s time.

Gonzaga now hits what could be a defining stretch of its build-up toward the NCAA tournament.

The next few weeks offer the thorniest assignments possible in the WCC, with a test at BYU this Saturday, a home game against Saint Mary’s the following week — and then the grand finale, a road trip to San Francisco and Saint Mary’s to wrap up the regular season.

If the Zags are going to stumble in conference play, it will almost surely come on one (or more) of those tough games away from the friendly confines of the Kennel.

So …

The question at this point should be pretty obvious: Are the Zags better than they were a month ago?

Or two months ago?

Are they fitting together as a group, the sure sign of efficient Gonzaga hoops?

SEVERAL individual players clearly have developed into more dangerous contributors.

Anton Watson finally has hit the stride everyone believed he would coming out of Gonzaga Prep, while freshman guards Nolan Hickman and Hunter Sallis have settled into useful back-up roles.

Hickman, in fact, is solid enough at the point that Andrew Nembhard can be rested for key stretches in games.

Speaking of Nembhard, he seems to have taken Mark Few’s insistence that he “hurt for shots” to heart, and he’s become a legitimate scorer both diving toward the basket or — even more important — confidently hitting 3-balls from the top of the key.

In fact, over Gonzaga’s last seven games, Nembhard is 13 for 27 behind the arc, presenting teams that want to clog the lane and neutralize Drew Timme with a serious problem — especially since Timme is an excellent passer, and always knows where to look for Nembhard, Rasir Bolton (42.9 percent on 3-point tries) and Julian Strawther (37.9).

ONE TRUE remaining puzzle, even 19 games into the season, is the giant, NBA-bound Chet Holmgren.

The 7-foot “unicorn” has proven that he can — as advertised — handle the ball in the open court, shoot 3s with the best of them (an astounding 45.6 percent), swat away shots (3.3 per game) and alter countless others.

He’s also a soft-spoken, team-first young man who honestly believes that the future will take care of itself, and that right now he cares only about helping deliver wins for Gonzaga.

Here’s Holmgren on guarding stronger players who hope to take advantage of Chet’s rail-thin, 195-pound frame …

“Whatever coach (Few) asks of me to help us get a win, whatever he sees as best, and if that’s me guarding somebody that weighs a considerable amount more than me, that’s what it is and I’m up for any challenge.”

Holmgren begins answers in almost every interview by using the word “we.”

He’s clearly anxious to help, and prove himself a winner — believing that his physical skills will speak for themselves down the road.

HOLMGREN, though, remains something of a puzzle in the Gonzaga offense.

He’s obviously a huge force at the other end of the court, and he can get out and run with everybody else on this team that leads the country in scoring (90.1).

But when the Zags are forced into half-court sets, what exactly is Chet’s role?

He’s never wanted to be a pure center, and told recruiters that when he was in high school.

If Holmgren could model himself after a former Gonzaga big man, it likely would be someone like Killian Tillie — a sharpshooter who could also bang around the hoop (and who is now a starter for the Memphis Grizzlies).

The problem, at least at the moment, is that Holmgren has no back-to-the-basket game.

When he’s on the court without Timme, Watson is generally charged with being the post-up guy in the lane.

Holmgren would like to mimic Tillie in another way — driving to the hoop from somewhere on the perimeter or charging down the baseline — but so far, that hasn’t worked very often because he dribbles so high that quick college defenders can knock the ball away.

PERHAPS what we’re seeing from Holmgren now is just about all he’s going to produce – at least until he gets to the NBA and gains some muscle (not to mention learning to protect the ball when he makes moves to the hoop).

The big kid is most comfortable facing the basket, and he may be able to do enough damage with his jumper that he forces the better opposing teams to alter defenses – thus giving Nembhard and others room to drive, and Timme space to do his thing around the bucket.

A guy as tall as Holmgren, with that otherworldly wingspan and a jumper that he releases WAY up top — while hitting over 40 percent from 3-point range – definitely puts defenses in a muddle.

How do you handle him?

More critically, do you try to defend him at the cost of letting the Zags have room everywhere else?

Few has already gotten his half-court attack more spaced out, forcing teams to make tough decisions on whom to guard, and where.

Big Chet knocking in 3-balls would certainly help dissuade double-teams on Timme.

And there’s always Holmgren’s intimidation factor on defense.

Maybe that package is enough.

We’ll know more in the next few weeks.

Email: scameron@cdapress.com

Steve Cameron’s “Cheap Seats” columns appear in The Press on Mondays, Wednesdays and Fridays. He also writes Zags Tracker, a commentary on Gonzaga basketball which is published weekly during the season.

Steve suggests you take his opinions in the spirit of a Jimmy Buffett song: “Breathe In, Breathe Out, Move On.”