by ESPN’s Andy Katz

Here is a quick snapshot of Gonzaga this preseason:

Athleticism is definitely the new catch word:
The Zags expect to run even more and be much more effective on the defensive end this season.

Gonzaga coach Mark Few said all the negative defensive talk about the program started with Adam Morrison a few years ago. And he said the Zags weren’t as poor defensively a year ago. Still, there is a stigma with the Zags that they can get out and run and score, but still play the matador defense.

Well, that seems to be changing. It may be just lip service, but the Zags are talking a good game about defending at a higher level.

Part of their thinking defensively is that it will help their ability to score in transition. Point guard Jeremy Pargo said he expects many of their players to push the ball on their own, even 6-10 freshman Austin Daye. If that happens, there may end up being more offensive possessions for the Zags.

“The big guys can run the floor, ” said Pargo, who passed up USA Basketball this summer, instead choosing to work out on his own. “There’s going to be a lot of up and down basketball. It’s going to be fun. ”

Few said he has depth to hang over the players’ heads this season that he didn’t have last year so that there can be more of a commitment to defense. The Zags legitimately have 12 players who can play. This is a scrub-free zone.

The Zags will likely look to Pargo, Matt Bouldin, Micah Downs, David Pendergraft and the once-suspended Josh Heytvelt (who is out the first few weeks of practice with a foot injury) in the starting five. The bench is deep with freshmen Daye, 7-foot Robert Sacre, guard Steven Gray, JC transfer forward Ira Brown, redshirt forwards Larry Gurganious and Theo Davis and junior Abdullahi Kuso, one of the sleeper producers last season.

The Zags expect to redshirt 7-4 center Will Foster.

“We’re definitely deeper, ” Pendergraft said. He added that when the team that lost to UCLA in the Sweet 16 two years ago, it had really only two players it relied on in Morrison and J.P. Batista.

“Those two players were dominant in college basketball, so we could get away with it, ” Pendergraft said. “This should be the deepest team Gonzaga has had top to bottom. ”

Few’s biggest surprise has been Downs. The Kansas transfer is healthy after being hurt to start last season.

“I’ve never been this excited about basketball, ” Downs said.

Here’s the rub on these guys:
Pargo and Bouldin will be tough to tame, as both players can fly on the break and score in bunches.

Downs will be hard to play off because he can light it up from the perimeter. Pendergraft is a nuts-and-bolts guy who will hurl his body around to make a play.

Heytvelt has oodles of talent and once he’s healthy, could be a pro in the post.

The bench is still a work in progress, but there is size in Sacre, brute force in Brown, strength in Gurganious and Kuso and maybe the most versatility in Daye. Daye is slender, but if he can avoid being pushed around, he has the potential to be a double-figure scorer at times this season.

“We’re going to be really good defensively, really good rebounding the ball, ” Downs said. “We slipped on that last year. We’ve got a lot of athletic guys and guys who can rebound at the guard position, and that will help us out a lot. ”

Gonzaga should easily win the WCC, and the schedule is loaded with plenty of power-rating points from the Great Alaska Shootout (Western Kentucky for sure with possible games against Texas Tech, Butler, Michigan or Virginia Tech), Connecticut in Boston, Washington State at home, Oklahoma in Oklahoma City, Utah and Georgia (both in Spokane), a monster matchup against Tennessee in Seattle and a road trip to Memphis in January.