Petrusev Ceiling or Comparisons

[LTownZag]

Warning - nothing but idle speculation and conjecture ahead.

Does anyone have a suggestion on the kind of season we might see from Petrusev next year but especially the year after?

At 6'11" and able to hit the 3 pt shot it seems like he could be a huge impact guy but it also seems with our incoming players, Petrusev's defensive and rebounding woes, and occasional weak/soft hands and slippery fingers, it's possible he'll be passed over. Does "motor"/intensity develop, or remain innately fixed?

I was dreaming about the possibility of a team 2 years from now with:

Suggs/Harris/Ravet Strawther/Watson/Kispert Timme/Ballo/Zakharov

My "ceiling" hope was that he'd be a slightly taller Tillie type player without the injury woes, but I don't see him ever being as bouncy, assertive, or having nearly the on-court vision/passing/BB intuition. If anyone remembers our Illinois game or listened to that team's season later on, they had a freshman eastern European big man named giorgi bezhanishvili who was very impressive despite being a little shorter. He had some really crafty post moves and plays hard nosed defense.

What would Petrusev need to do to be somewhere closer to Lauri Markannenen (Arizona, Chicago Bulls)?

[LongIslandZagFan]

If he can be better about not bringing the ball down after rebounds and works a bit more on his post skills, then the ceiling is quite high.

[sylean]

how about stop dissin our players before they even get a decent chance to prove themselves.....people doubted Brandon......

[DZ]

how about stop dissin our players before they even get a decent chance to prove themselves.....people doubted Brandon......

Legitimate critique of play, while also acknowledging what a player does super well, is not, IMO, "dissing" our players.

I am fully on-board for not unfairly calling kids out personally. They are kids, not grown men, they're not paid to play.

OTOH, they are absolute elite level athletes that play the game at an international level and don't expect total kid-glove treatment, either. If it relates to play on the floor, if it's balanced, I don't see anything wrong with the thread.

I suspect everyone here wants him to develop to his full potential, and being a GU big, there is a lot of reason for hope.

[Reborn]

I have high hopes for Petrusev. I thought he played well before Tillie came back. I think he will put on weight and muscle, and develop more post moves. As we know he's an outstanding 3 point shooter and we need that. I think he'll have a place at GU, and I'm looking forward to seeing him mature.

Go Zags!!!

[TexasZagFan]

If he can be better about not bringing the ball down after rebounds and works a bit more on his post skills, then the ceiling is quite high.

I'd like to see him develop a power move to the hoop, one that's set up by faking a shot from 3.

Playing against/with Timme and Oumar in practice should benefit his development, i.e. getting better at mixing it up in the paint, and become more of a presence on the boards.

I thought he personally handled well the cards he was dealt last season, the highs and the lows. I expect he'll play a big role for us next year, and hopefully into 2020-2021. Yes, I believe that is the year for our next run at a title.

[LTownZag]

Legitimate critique of play, while also acknowledging what a player does super well, is not, IMO, "dissing" our players.

I am fully on-board for not unfairly calling kids out personally. They are kids, not grown men, they're not paid to play.

OTOH, they are absolute elite level athletes that play the game at an international level and don't expect total kid-glove treatment, either. If it relates to play on the floor, if it's balanced, I don't see anything wrong with the thread.

I suspect everyone here wants him to develop to his full potential, and being a GU big, there is a lot of reason for hope.

Thank you, Dixie.

[Ladyzag12]

He will be our best or second best player next year. He was good this year in his minutes. He does need to work on his defensive reads, but he is super mobile and has incredible hands and touch.

[willandi]

I expect him to be more of a perimeter playing forward, similar to Wiltjer and probably/possibly platooning with Timme.
His hands will be improved and he will have a much better idea of what he needs to do. The staff and the other players will have been scrimmaging and sharing. Last year he was a true freshman, forced into playing because of Tillie's injury.
The centers will be Zahkarov and Ballo.

At least that is my opinion.

[LongIslandZagFan]

how about stop dissin our players before they even get a decent chance to prove themselves.....people doubted Brandon......

For the record... one of my favorite Zags ever, Robert Sacre had the same issue. Not dissing FP at all, in fact, it is something I am confident that he can work on and fix and then he's even that much better. I said, quite clearly, that if he fixes a couple of kinks in his game then the ceiling is very high for him. That is a compliment.

[LongIslandZagFan]

He will be our best or second best player next year. He was good this year in his minutes. He does need to work on his defensive reads, but he is super mobile and has incredible hands and touch.

I could definitely see that. My gut says if Tillie doesn't get injured then he'd have redshirted this season.

[Mr Vulture]

I personally think that Petrusev has NBA potential and I've read scouts say the same thing. For me, his biggest thing to work on this offseason is his strength, particularly upper body/hands. Otherwise, his skill set is good for his age and will get better as he matures. I don't know who will start next year, not sure it really matters, but I doubt Petrusev is passed up by all three incoming bigs. Frankly, I think Ballo has a lot of development that will need to happen before he is an impact player. For the record, I expect that development to happen and for Ballo to be a stud as he matures. I can't speak much about Zhakarov as I haven't seen much on him but I have heard that his skills will surprise us. Most think Timme will start from day one and after watching video on him myself, I think that is very likely barring Tillie returning to school.

[Markburn1]

Depends entirely on Filip. Generally the biggest improvement in college players comes between their freshman and sophomore years. He needs to take advantage of a brand new highly motivated assistant coach (Powell Jr.) whose specialty is working with bigs. Also this offseason will be the time to transform his body to enable him to play a more physical game.


Filip will be pushed for minutes by incoming freshmen, in particular Timme, and that could go one of two ways. He can rise to the challenge or settle for good enough. I hope the challenge motivates him.


He has a good offensive foundation. Decent shooter from range and a couple of adequate post moves. Both have the potential for dramatic improvement. A major upgrade is needed on defense, especially footwork and revving the motor.


I'm looking forward to what he will bring next year. Good luck and good work, Filip.

[zag67]

First I agree with Reborn. I think that as a freshman big man he showed solid minutes when he played. At times he would make moves to quickly and lose or mishandle the ball. We all knew that he needs work on his defense, but I think even that looks better toward the end of the season. I also would not be surprised that if everyone stays healthy, we might see Ballo redshirt (only because of his age). But even if he does not, I think that "bigs" playing time is going to be interesting to watch. I t also would mean that our front court can be more aggressive attacking their opponents with that many fouls to give. We are going to be young and make many mistakes, this will be a YOYO year. Look forward to following them as the year goes on.

[bartruff1]

I doubt he will be another Kelly, Sabonis. Karno, Collins , Williams.....but he will have a fine career in D1... and play for some real dough for years after he leaves Gonzaga....

[Vanzagger]

A little better than Channing Frye who I believe 20 years later is still in the League

[IowaSERE]

I doubt he will be another Kelly, Sabonis. Karno, Collins , Williams.....but he will have a fine career in D1... and play for some real dough for years after he leaves Gonzaga....

I think that he reminds me a LOT of Freshman KO, but better. Here are the stats/

KO 12 min, 50% fg, 59% ft, 2.7 reb, .1 blk, 3.8 pts
PET 11.4 min 55% fg, 85% ft, 2.7 reb, .5 blk, 6.5 pts.

Kelly had 4 years in the program. If FP stays through his SR year, I expect similar results.

[bartruff1]

Kelly played 3 years plus a red shirt....made first team All American and was the 13th player in the draft as a junior.....I am not aware of any Gonzaga Player who improved as much after his sophomore season...... . that is quite a high bar....the proof of course is always in the pudding...

[Once and Future Zag]

For the record... one of my favorite Zags ever, Robert Sacre had the same issue. Not dissing FP at all, in fact, it is something I am confident that he can work on and fix and then he's even that much better. I said, quite clearly, that if he fixes a couple of kinks in his game then the ceiling is very high for him. That is a compliment.

Of our recent bigs, maybe a cross between Sacre and Heytvelt - Sacre's back to the basket game + Heytvelts flexibility away from the paint.

[jazzdelmar]

KO was a guard in his younger days and that became a big edge as he grew to 7 feet. Petro has no such guard skills.

[bdmiller7]

I think he is 10 ppg and 6 rbg next year, starts and gets 20-25 mpg. I like that we will have a stable of bigs that all bring something different to the table, practicing against each other is going to bring out the best in all of them.

[WallaWallaZag]

petrusev isn't a great athlete, so he needs to make up for it with a better motor. sabonis is a better athlete, but not by a whole lot and petrusev is actually more skilled...the motor and toughness is what separates. he needs to try and get to a z.collins level from an effort standpoint...collins probably a better comp as he also likes to shoot, though collins also a superior athlete which shows up on d.

[zagfan1]

I personally would like to see him become a better defender. That was the big issue this past season and translated into very few minutes after Tillie came back.

[LTownZag]

Kelly played 3 years plus a red shirt....made first team All American and was the 13th player in the draft as a junior.....I am not aware of any Gonzaga Player who improved as much after his sophomore season...... . that is quite a high bar....the proof of course is always in the pudding...

How about Brandon Clarke's Sophomore to Junior year improvement as being even bigger?

(but I acknowledge that it's not even a fair comparison to make, since BC wasn't at Gonzaga hist first two years. Maybe in GU's program he would have improved more gradually and steadily the whole time.)

It does seem that both Johnathan Williams and BC have really amazing RS junior years. I wonder how each of their college careers would have turned out if they had not transferred or had transferred elsewhere.

[bartruff1]

Good grief....Clarke made a huge improvement but he was a very accomplished player at San Jose..... unlike Kelly....including Defensive Player of the Year and first team All Conference…. some of you just want to argue.....about nothing...