TDCB: Return to Eastern Washington, Part 2

[klayman]

Kevin Rigby wins his third straight Big Sky Freshman of the Week award with a 10.5 Ppg, 2.0 Apg, 7.5 Rpg, 1.0 Spg, 3.0 Bpg, -3 performance.

We debut on the CRI at 120 with a 104 schedule rank.

Still no change in the recruiting targets. Eddins and Jensen both get aggressive efforts this week, eating our entire budget.

Game 7: EWU Eagles (3-3) @ Texas A&M Aggies (4-3)
Texas is the favorite with a 3-2 starter advantage. Both Price and Holley continue starting. We start the game shooting 1 for 11, and things don't really get much better. But thanks to several turnovers by the Aggies and Joey Zinn coming off the bench for 17 1st half points, we only trail by 4, 37-33 at the break. We actually hold the lead for most of the 2nd half, but some weak shooting fails us, and the Aggies go up by 5 with just under 4 mins left. We fight our way back into the game, but the Aggies go 17-18 from the charity stripe in the final 2 mins, and we lose 68-82. Zinn finishes with 21 and that is about all worth mentioning.

Idaho State improves to 6-2 after beating undefeated and 7th ranked Mississippi 99-46

Game 8: Florida A&M Rattlers (5-2) @ EWU Eagles (3-4)
We're the favorites at home, despite the Rattlers having a 3-2 starter advantage. The Rattles start off on a 18-2 run and hold an comfortable 41-24 lead at the break. We offer no resistance at all in the 2nd half, and they mail in the 60-82 thrashing. Rigby grabbed 15 in the loss, while Zinn followed up his 21 point performance going 0-6 and -5 on the night.

[klayman]

Kevin Rigby wins his 4th straight Big Sky Freshman of the Week award. His 11.5 Ppg, 0.5 Apg, 6.0 Rpg, 1.0 Spg, +4 stats are earth shattering. A quick check shows me that besides Marcus Williams, there is only one other freshman starter in the Big Sky this year, so expect Rigby to continue winning the award.

We get screwed when our #1 target, Chad Eddins commits to Washington State. We instead offer a scholarship to Willie Brinkley a 3* Center from Rochester, NH. He's #160th overall on Syd's list, but he's 22nd on the .400 top 200 list. Someone's not right, and I'd think it's probably Syd at this point, since Willie has some nice HS numbers, plus he hasn't had any offers from his top schools yet, so we might catch a break. His aggressive effort eats most of our budget, and we can only offer Jensen a light effort for the week.

Game 9: San Diego Toreros (1-7) @ EWU Eagles (3-5)
We're the favorites with a 5-0 starter advantage. We're looking to stop the bleeding on a 4 game losing streak, the longest in my coaching history. Once again we fail to start strong, and SDU jump to a 12-2 run to start the game. Finally we wake up, and the team responds to an up tempo change to jump to a commanding 52-32 half time lead. We keep up the pace, and outdistance San Diego by 30 points for most of the 2nd half, cumulating in a 104-76 win. It's our first century mark since I've been coach, and a nice way to end a 4 game losing streak. Holley led the way with 22, while both Rigby and Cabrera grabbed 17.

Game 10: EWU Eagles (4-5) @ Pepperdine Waves (7-2)
They are the favorites with a 4-1 starter advantage as well. Looking ahead on the schedule, there is a very good chance we're going 4-8 heading into conference play with Pepperdine, Nebraska, and Marquette yet to play. Another game and another slow start as Pepperdine start with a 18-4 advantage. Don't know what is up with these awful starts we are having. A press disrupts the Waves dominance, but we just don't have the offense to get back in it, and trail 36-23 at the break. We never trail by less than 10, until a 14-2 run ties the game at 61 with 3 and a half mins remaining. They pull away again, but we fight back, and only trail by 2, when Price blows the easy layup with 40 seconds remaining and the Waves go on to win 65-72. Rigby had a double-double with 13 and 11, while Holley (12) and Cabrera (11) both contributed.

As this losing is reminding me of my SDSU VC days

[klayman]

Rigby again with the Big Sky Freshman of the week award. 15.0 PPg, 0.5 Apg, 11.5 Rpg, 1.0 Spg, 1.0 Bpg, +3, 54.5% FG%, 100% FT%

We lose Jensen to North Texas, forcing to once again change our plans. Now we decide to concentrate on Zeljko Yilmaz, a 6-8 PF out of Lithuania. He's got a 3* ranking, and is #29th for PF. No interest in EWU, but nobody has offered him a scholarship yet, and it's getting late in week 7. He gets an aggressive effort, while Brinkley, who warms up to EWU quite a bit, gets a moderate effort this week. That leaves a light effort for Brett Ball, who has also warmed up to EWU. We rescind Howard's scholarship offer, and offer it to Ball instead. It might not be a bad class.

We've changed up the lineup going into the next batch of games. We'll switch to a 3 guard set, with Zinn, Holley and Price in, as well as Rigby and Cabrera, pushing Marcus Williams to the bench.

Game 11: EWU Eagles (4-6) @ Nebraska Cornhuskers (6-4)
We're actually the favorites although Nebraska has a 3-2 starter advantage. We come out strong with a 11-3 start, and continue with pressure throughout the 1st half. But the Cornhuskers 6-12 from 3pt land brings them back in, and it's knotted at 40 at the break. Our solid first half shooting fails us into the 2nd half, and Nebraska takes an early lead they never concede, for the 73-85 loss. Zinn scored 17, and Rigby had 16 in the loss, while Kevan Price scored a double-double with 11 points and 12 assists.

Game 12: EWU Eagles (4-7) @ Marquette Golden Eagles (8-3)
The coaches ridiculously believe that we are the favorites, while Marquette holds an obvious 4-1 starter advantage. Looks like the assistants have dipped into the crack again. Another slow start, but we're able to hold off Marquette so that they don't take advantage. However, that doesn't last, and although we keep things close for most of the 1st half, a 9-0 run puts us behind, and we close out the half trailing 45-38. Both teams exchange the lead several times throughout the 2nd, but it's Marcus Williams off the bench with 4 mins remaining, that hits 2 consecutive threes to give us a 72-67 lead. It's a lead we never relinquish, and take the nice 84-76 win. Joey Zinn led the way again with 19, despite playing most of the 2nd with 4 fouls. Rigby and Cabrera both hit 14, Price had 8 and 11 assists, and Marcus Williams came off the bench for 10 important points. I guess I was the only coach on crack

[klayman]

Big surprise as Rigby takes home Big Sky Freshman of the week awards with 15.0 Ppg, 8.0 Rpg, 1.0 Spg, 2.5 Bpg, -2, 60% (12-20) FG%.

All three targets have increased their interest in attending EWU. However, both Bosie State and Idaho State show interest in Zeljko Yilmaz. He gets an aggressive effort and has enough interest to have a week 8 visit. That's expensive, but we have enough to offer Ball a light effort and a visit as well. Since nobody is still offering a scholarship to Brinkley, we should be able to offer him a visit next week.

We close out the year heading into conference play.

Big Sky Standings entering conference play

Team                 W  L  Pct.  PF   PA 

Idaho State          9  3  .750  927  797 
CS Sacramento        8  4  .667  892  858 
Montana State        6  6  .500  802  856 
Eastern Wash.        5  7  .417  879  936 
Montana              5  7  .417  827  950 
Weber State          5  7  .417  773  854 
Northern Arizona     4  8  .333  904  953 
Portland State       2 10  .167  773  921 

[klayman]

Game 13: Montana Grizzlies (5-7, 0-0) @ EWU Eagles (5-7, 0-0)
We own a 4-1 starter advantage and are the overall favorites as well. We absolutely crush the Grizzlies 2-1-2 zone, and go on a 20-1 run before the bench takes over for the half. We hold Montana to only 6 for 30 shooting, and cruise to the 43-19 half time lead. We relax in the 2nd, and the Grizzlies take advantage from 3pt range, but not enough to ever threaten. Eagles win 75-65. Holley led the charge with 15, while Rigby grabbed 14 and 8 boards, and Price had another solid game with 12 points and 8 assists.

Game 14: Montana State Bobcats (6-7, 0-1) @ EWU Eagles (6-7, 1-0)
Bobcats are the favorites on the road with a 3-2 starter advantage as well. We come out completely flat against the Bobcats, and they quickly grab an 11 point lead that they maintain through most of the first half. We finally start to get on track offensively, and close the gap to 7, trailing 37-30 at the break. We finish the game a horrible 18-61, and never own the lead, suffering a 69-60 defeat. Cabrera had 15, and Williams grabbed 9 off the bench, and everybody else sucked.

[klayman]

We still get no commitments from our targets. Yilmaz gets another week of aggressive effort, while Brinkley gets a moderate effort since nobody continues to show interest in him. Ball rounds out the recruiting week with a light effort since he looks a lock to sign.

Rigby takes the Big Sky Freshman of the week award, again. His stat line for the week 12.5 Ppg, 2.0 Apg, 8.5 Rpg, 2.0 Bpg, +3.

Game 15: EWU Eagles (6-8, 1-1) @ Idaho State Bengals (9-4, 1-1)
ISU are the favorites with a 3-2 starter advantage as well. We start off with an 11-4 run and foul trouble by ISU keep us in the lead for most of the 1st half. Joey Zinn's 10 first half point give us a slight advantage, but 2 quick 3 pts by ISU give them the 39-37 lead at the break. We fail to find any offensive momentum in the 2nd half, and ISU never give up the lead, defeating us easily 67-73. Zinn and Rigby lead with 14 points each, while Price had 12 and 5 assists in the loss.

Game 16: EWU Eagles (6-9, 1-2) @ Weber State Wildcats (6-9, 1-2)
We're the unlikely favorites with a 3-2 starter advantage on the road. Another disappointing 1st half, as we can't contain Weber State at all, and they march to the 41-34 half time advantage. Despite the fact that the Wildcats play like absolute garbage in the 2nd half, some embarrassingly poor shooting by us guarantees their victory, and we lose our 3 straight 59-72. Zinn got 11 and Holley got 10. Not much of an effort really.

[klayman]

Our very poor performance over the last week results in Rigby not picking up the Big Sky Freshman of the week award for the first time this year. That of course, probably spoils his chances to win the Big Sky Freshman of the year award.

Brett Ball commits to EWU, leaving us with just 2 more targets. I want to give Brinkley a visit and in order to do so can only offer a light effort to both Brinkley and Yilmaz since it eats over half of our budget. Both still have moderate interest in EWU, and neither have received interest from higher ranked universities.

Committed: Brett Ball C (***, 6-9, 188) Grant HS Portland, OR C: NR, National: NR, Regional: #80 West. Offense: Good, Defense: Good, Handling: Average, Rebound: Good, Athleticism: Below Average, Potential: Good HS Stats 6.4 Ppg, 2.9 Rpg, 1.8 Apg 3.89 GPA

Game 17: Cal State Sac Hornets (11-4, 3-0) @ EWU Eagles (6-10, 1-3)
A shift of power in the Big Sky as perennial bottom feeders Cal State sit on top of the Big Sky while we hold last spot in the conference. The assist coaches generously give us the favorite tag although Cal State holds a 3-2 starter advantage. We push through early foul trouble and god-awful shooting to come ahead with a 33-27 lead, saved only by the fact that the Hornets shot less than 30% in the half. The 2nd half is much the same, but a strong performance by Marcus Williams off the bench turns out to be the difference as his 11 points lead us to a 67-56 win. Cabrera had a strong game with a 12 point, 11 board night, while Holley grabbed 11 points as well. The reason we won, however, was Cal State's 18 for 61 shooting on the night to help us snap a 3 game losing skid.

Game 18: NAU Lumberjacks (6-10, 2-2) @ EWU Eagles (7-10, 2-3)
We are the favorites at home again, although the Lumberjacks hold a 3-2 starter advantage. We miss our first 10 shots, giving NAU a 12 point head start in the game. Things don't get much better after that, and we find ourselves down 45-25 at the break. Continuing our lack luster play of late, we miss our first 8 shots of the 2nd half as well, and the game is quickly over as NAU go on to an easy 51-84 win. Our best player on the night was Tim Williams who got 8 points off the bench. That tells you about everything you need to know about our starters effort.

[klayman]

Rigby once again gets shut out of the awards because of brutal performances.

With our CRI dropping like a rock, we get some good news as both Brinkley and Yilmaz commit to EWU for next year. All and all, not a horrible class, but nowhere near the 8th ranked class in the nation we got last year.

Committed: Willie Brinkley C (***, 6-10, 222) Spaulding HS Rochester, NH C: #36, National: #160, Regional: #48 East. Offense: Excellent, Defense: Excellent, Handling: Good, Rebound: Good, Athleticism: Average, Potential: Below Average HS Stats 18.3 Ppg, 10.8 Rpg, 5.0 Apg 3.45 GPA

Committed: Zeljko Yilmaz PF (***, 6-8 270) Panevezys, Lithuania PF: #29, National: #182, Regional: #47 West. Offense: Excellent, Defense: Excellent, Handling: Below Average, Rebound: Good, Athleticism: Below Average, Potential: Average HS Stats 21.3 Ppg, 11.0 Rpg, 2.3 Apg 3.58 GPA

Game 19: EWU Eagles (7-11) @ North Texas Mean Green (13-5)
North Texas are the favorites with a 3-2 starter advantage as well. Once again, we spot the opposition a 10 point lead before starting to play, and UNT hold that lead until the final seconds of the 1st half, giving them the 37-32 advantage at the break. Some serious foul trouble by UNT get us back in the game, but we fail to take advantage of their poor play, and when our lack of clutch performers hurts down the stretch as UNT walk away with the gifted 68-77 win. Cabrera got 14 and 8 boards in the loss, and Rigby put up 11 points, but missed 4 straight shots in the final minutes to seal our fate.

We thankfully only play one game this week so that we can't add anymore losses to our total.