THE CHEAP SEATS with STEVE CAMERON: Reasons to be concerned about the Zags

Don't lie, Zag folk.

I can smell your whiff of fear.

That 93-74 beatdown in Austin on Wednesday night was more frightening than just a bad night at the office.

Yes, it’s early in the season.

Yes, Mark Few is still sorting out roles and fiddling with puzzle pieces.

I don’t think you’re kidding yourself, though.

For the first time in nearly a decade, Gonzaga may NOT be in the national powerhouse conversation.

That No. 2 ranking is about to hit the elevator button marked: “Down!”

These Zags may be flawed to the point that the annual wish to snag that first NCAA championship just fades quietly away.

Sure, there’s a counter argument.

Texas came into Wednesday’s game shooting 19 percent from 3-point range.

The Horns guards looked quick and talented — especially on defense — but hardly any kind of threat from outside.

And then …

Marcus Carr, Tyreese Hunter and just about everyone else who touched the ball just chucked in shots from behind the arc, and …

From behind the popcorn stand.

Some were open as the Zags (again) failed to rotate properly, but plenty were contested.

Whatever …

THEY ALL seemed perfect.

Texas was 11 of 22 from downtown deep into the second half, and if you want to feel better, well …

You just aren’t going to beat a good team that’s hitting shots like that.

If you care to spend a few seconds in the time machine, the Longhorns’ barrage felt a little bit like the 3-point assault from Alabama in that forgettable Battle in Seattle.

There was a suspicion after that game that the 
Tide weren’t really as good as a single thumping of the Zags — and no, they weren’t.

Likewise, Texas probably isn’t a Final Four team, either.

The Horns don’t have a legit inside game to lean on if that perimeter shooting goes chilly.

No mistake, though.

Texas is a damn good team that can get after you on defense — regardless of how they’re shooting.

Using that as a base point for judging the Zags, there is every reason to be concerned.

This Gonzaga team, unlike anything we’ve lately seen come out of Few’s laboratory, looks scattered and unconnected – not to mention (currently) missing a take-charge point guard and any true rim-protecting defense.

Some great Zags groups in the past have won big-time without super athletic gifts.

The 2017 team that got screwed in the national title game didn’t exactly have the fast-twitch muscles of a 100-meter relay team.

This present gang, however, also lacks those true physical skills and, unfortunately, so far there’s very little of that Gonzaga team Zen to make up for it.

Like cutting to the basket, just to pick one instinctive Zag trait.

There was a play in the second half against Texas that made you want to look away and weep.

The Zags were breaking in the open court when Drew Timme (who, surprise, is not Steph Curry) steamed past the halfway line and promptly plowed over a defender.

For whatever reason, the officials let the collision go, and Timme regained his balance in time to find Julian Strawther — who stumbled, then barged toward the basket and ran down ANOTHER defender.

That one got called.

It didn’t matter in terms of the score, but I remember thinking: “Compared to Texas, the Zags just look … clumsy.”

By the way, Strawther’s charge merely added to a whopping total of 20 turnovers.

That’s just so …

So, NOT Gonzaga.

WE CAN say that, of course, but we’re basing the feeling on all those previous Gonzaga teams that could play at Mach speed — and still make it all look so easy.

This gang cannot.

At least not yet.

Few has arranged a murderer’s row schedule that either will forge these Zags into something like a slower-but-cohesive, Villanova-style NCAA tournament team, or …

The whole thing will descend into one chastening loss after another.

Think about it …

Kentucky comes to town on Sunday night, and then (with a couple of cupcakes sprinkled in) the Zags face a cast of heavyweights in the PK85 Invitational in Portland, followed by Baylor in South Dakota and Alabama in Birmingham.

Some issues need to be solved, pronto.

Assuming his ankle injury isn’t too severe, Nolan Hickman needs a full-bore, never-mind-the-mistakes audition at point guard.

Rasir Bolton and Malachi Smith are needed elsewhere in the offense, and Hunter Sallis (bless him) plays like his hair is on fire.

Dominick Harris — who might eventually be a star — has to use this entire season to rediscover his game after foot surgery.

If Hickman struggles at the position, Gonzaga becomes just another “pretty decent” team without a class point guard.

Period.

Nolan needs time and patience to figure it out, though.

As for issues around the hoop, Anton Watson is not athletic and neither is Efton Reid — who also clogs things up when they pair him with Timme.

More than anything, soph Kaden Perry’s surgically repaired back needs a miracle cure, and even more miraculously, he has to turn up playing with experience he doesn’t have.

Ugh.

It’s not ALL thorns here, happily.

Gonzaga still has good basketball players (although not the usual cast of “dudes”), and boasts a truly unique post scorer in Timme.

Somehow, though, this thing needs to come together, because if it doesn’t …

How often can you suffer through 20 turnovers?

Email: [email protected]

Steve Cameron’s “Cheap Seats” columns appear in The Press four times each week, normally Tuesday through Friday.

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