WhoÂ’s Bret Vandergard and whatÂ’s he done for us lately?

[PointGuard]

Game #1, Nov. 15, 2013: Eastern Washington Eagles (0-0) at Stephen F. Austin Lumberjacks (0-0)

The Lumberjacks run a slow-paced offense. While their primary offense set is the 5-out, they play with a lot of offensive freedom and try to work the ball inside. Defensively they primarily employ a man-to-man defense. SG Kevin Bryant and C Charlie Turner are their go-to guys.

The first half was a disaster for us, as the Lumberjacks built a 51-29 halftime lead. So much for them running a slow-down offense. I chewed out the team during the intermission since they were out-rebounded 21-5 and gave up 11 offensive rebounds to Stephen F. Austin resulting in 19 second chance points and 28 points in the paint. We hit 54% of our shots, but the Lumberjacks dropped in 57% of theirs. Michael Taylor came off the bench to lead our scoring with 8 points.

We shot well and cut the lead to 7 points at 67-60 with 7 minutes to play. With 1:39 to play the score was 80-75. But we turned the ball over twice from that point and were unable to score again.

Final Score: Stephen F. Austin (1-0)—80, Eastern Washington (0-1)—75.

Team stats:

FG %: 67% (29-45) vs 47% (29-62) in favor of EWU
FT %: 88% (15-17) vs 76% (19-25) in favor of EWU
3 pt %: 43% (3-7) vs 40% (2-5) in favor of SFA
Reb: 30 (including 16 offensive reb) vs 19 in favor of SFA [ouch!]
Turnovers: 9 vs 14 in favor of SFA [Argh!]
Blocks: 3 vs 2 in favor of EWU
Steals: 5 vs 2 in favor of SFA
Assists: 11 vs 10 in favor of EWU
Fouls: 19 vs 24 in favor of SFA
Pts in paint: 42 vs36 in favor of SFA
2nd chance pts: 25 vs 3 in favor of SFA [Ouch!!]
Fast break pts: 16 vs 4 in favor of SFA [Ouch!!]
Biggest lead: 24 vs 2 in favor of SFA [Ouch!!!]
Lead changes: 4
Times tied: 3

Leading Eagles’ players: C Michael Taylor—15 points, 5 rebounds; PG Robbie Taflinger—10 points; PF Cory Davis—9 points; and PG Tim Dove—4 points, 5 rebounds, 6 assists.

Stephen F. Austin’s SG Kevin Bryant was the player of the game with 18 points, 2 rebounds, and 2 assists.

[PointGuard]

The entire coaching staff was disappointed about being completely dominated on the boards and the advantages it gave to the Lumberjacks. Coach V was ranting and pulled me aside to say he wanted complete focus in the coming week’s practices on gaining and maintaining position, boxing out, anticipating, and aggressively attacking the boards. He wants a “take no prisoners” attitude with respect to rebounding.

The only player whose stock rose tonight was Michael Taylor. He attacked the boards and didn't hesitate to put he ball up and into the hoop. But that was somewhat tempered by his turning the ball over 4 times. He's a big guy (6-10) but needs to protect the ball.

[PointGuard]

Game #2, Nov. 18, 2013: Eastern Washington Eagles (0-1) at Utah State Aggies (1-0)

The Eagles traveled to Logan, Utah to play their second straight game on the road at the start of their 2013-2014 campaign. The Eagles had to contend with LaVall Cleaver, Utah State’s power forward, who had scored 26 points in the Aggies season opening win plus had their first look at playing against a 1-2-2 zone defense.

After falling behind by 6 points early in the game due to frequent turnovers, the Eagles rallied to take a small lead. But then the turnover bug returned (14 in the half) and Utah State ran away to take a 46-27 lead at the break.

Shawn Jackson hit 5 of 6 shots to lead the Eagles’ scoring with 10 points, but picked up 3 fouls.

Utah State’s shooting sizzled in the 2nd half and the Aggies pulled steadily away to come away with a 91-59 victory.

Even though the Eagles’ rebounding improved from their weak performance in their first game, the Aggies still controlled the boards to the tune of 30-21. And while EWU took better care of the ball in the 2nd half, they still finished with 21 turnovers while the Aggies made just 12.

Freshman SG Shawn Jackson topped the Eagles’ scoring with 14 points. He said, “I felt a lot more confident than in my first game, and my shots were going down tonight. I got into foul trouble in the first half, but Coach gave me some hints and I was able to get through the 2nd half without fouling. But even though I had a better game, it all was negated by our getting trounced so badly.”

Coach Vandergard attributed the loss to a porous defense, saying, “We’ve got a lot of aspects of the game to work on and the Aggies took advantage of our inexperience to dominate all aspects of the game. Our big guys are going to have to step it up a notch. In both losses our opponents’ big men have scored nearly at will and totally dominated the boards plus we’ve been unable to cut off drives down the lane and along the baseline. But it also shows how difficult it is to play on the road.”

PG Robbie Taflinger twisted an ankle in the 2nd half and sat out the rest of the game as a precaution, but is expected to be back at 100% for the Eagles next game.

Final Score: Utah State (2-0)—91, Eastern Washington (0-2)—59.

Team stats:

FG %: 62% (40-65) vs 48% (28-58) in favor of Utah St.
FT %: 100% (7-7) vs 100% (3-3) in favor of Utah St.
3 pt %: 57% (4-7) vs 0% (0-4) in favor of Utah St.
Reb: 30 (including 9 offensive reb) vs 21 (including 8 offensive reb) in favor of Utah St.
Turnovers: 12 vs 21 in favor of Utah St.
Blocks: 5 vs 0 in favor of Utah St.
Steals: 8 vs 6 in favor of Utah St.
Assists: 19 vs 16 in favor of Utah St.
Fouls: 11 vs 13 in favor of Utah St.
Pts in paint: 56 vs 42 in favor of Utah St.
2nd chance pts: 16 vs 14 in favor of Utah St.
Fast break pts: 22 vs 16 in favor of EWU
Biggest lead: 44 vs 3 in favor of Utah St.
Lead changes: 7
Times tied: 2

Leading Eagles’ players: SG Shawn Jackson-14 pts, 1 reb, 4 assists, 2 steals; C Odie Joseph-9 pts, 2 reb; SF Cory Davis-6 pts, 3 reb, 2 assists, 1 steal.

Utah State’s PF LaVall Cleaver was the player of the game with 22 points, 4 rebounds, 3 assists, 1 steal.

[CoachC]

I really love this unique take on a dynasty PG! Good luck! Don't be afraid to call an opponent's play by play guy to the mic if you need to!

[PointGuard]

Thanks...yeah, good idea...might need to do that at some point.

[PointGuard]

*DIALS*

B: “Hello.”
C: “Hi Bret. This is Christine. We haven’t talked since your house purchase closed escrow, so I thought I’d better check to see how things were going with your home.”
B: “Ohhh, uh yeah Christine, nice of you to check on it. I still need to buy some more furniture and decorating isn’t my thing, so the walls are still rather bare. But I DO like the house and it’s feeling comfortable.”
C: “I’m glad to hear that Bret. It’s a great house. I really think you made the best choice. And sometimes bare is better than over-dressing…the walls. You know, this week has just been horrendous. I had 2 house deals fall through and there’s this big fight going on in the city council, so I have 2 council members accusing me of all kinds of things.”
B: “I’m really sorry to hear that. My week didn’t go so well either with us dropping both of our games.”
C: “Yes, I’ve been following your team, Bret. I’m sure you will get them playing well soon though. But I imagine the beginning of the season has been a little disappointing for you. With the kind of week we both have had, maybe we should go out and get a good dinner or something to lift our spirits.”
B: “Umm, well, uhhh…………….hmmm…well, yeah I guess we could.”
C: “There’s this nice restaurant I’ve been to a couple times in Spokane. Do you like Thai? (laughs)”
B: “Uhhh, Christine, isn’t that pronounced Thai rather than Thigh? But if you like it, I’m sure it’s good. I’ve sort of tried everything in Cheney, and the variety is rather limited. So maybe expanding my tastes and exploring what Spokane has to offer would be a good idea. When would you like to get together?”
C: “Oh, the sooner the better, Bret…how about tomorrow night at 7 pm?”
B: “Sure Christine. Practice will be over by then so that’ll work for me.”
C: “Great! Since I know where you live and where the restaurant is located, I’ll pick you up.”
B: “Well yeah, that would probably be best…plus you have a much nicer car.”
C: “It is nice, isn’t it! I just love how it looks and drives and the seats are so comfy.”
B: “I’m sort of in the middle of watching some game films right now and I better get back to it. So Christine, I’ll see you tomorrow night then.”
C: “Great! I look forward to showing you more…of Spokane.”

[PointGuard]

Ms Rozniak is back at our restaurant. She’s been here several times. She’s a good customer, so we give her the table she likes in the back corner. She’s always been a good tipper, so I’m happy to be able to wait on her table.

Tonight she’s with some tall guy, and she’s really dressed sexy…a slinky dress with lots of cleavage. She seems to be making most of the decisions about drinks and food. But I guess that is because she’s been here fairly often, and he seems not to know anything about the restaurant or our menu.

The guy hasn’t said much to me at all and he seems sort of ill at ease, but she’s particularly bubbly. Maybe that’s because she’s downed several drinks. Towards the end of the dinner, she introduces me to him (Bret Van-something) and says he is the new basketball coach at Eastern Washington. He gives me a business card and writes on the back of it, telling me “If you want to see our team play, just bring this card to the ticket office and they’ll provide you with tickets for two good seats.”

As they get up to leave, she wobbles slightly and giggles, then takes his arm to steady herself while saying, “Bret, I really have had too much to drink so I think you better take control…of the car and drive us back to Cheney.”

She leaves a VERY nice tip. The valet later tells me he also got a good tip and a nice view. We get better tips than the valets, but there are other benefits to being a valet.

[PointGuard]

Game #3, Nov. 22, 2013: Eastern Washington Eagles (0-2) at Savannah State Tigers (0-1)

I wish our AD had not scheduled a team from out west. There’s absolutely no draw. We’ve got maybe the smallest home crowd in the three years I’ve been here. It’s going to be much too quiet. We lost a close game in our home opener to the University of San Francisco, and I want my team to notch one up in the win column tonight. EWU might just give us that chance. Their new coach, who I’ve never heard of, doesn’t seem to have this team firing on all cylinders yet.

We hit our first 4 shots and took a 9-3 lead over the visiting Eagles. We had heard the Eagles defense was suspect and found it to be just that. They let us score on 70% of our shots in the first half allowing us to take a 48-39 lead to the locker room.

We held a double digit lead through most of the 2nd half, but Eastern Washington closed to within 3 in the final minute of the game. We barely escaped with a win.

Final Score: Savannah State (1-1)—88, Eastern Washington (0-3)—83.

Team stats:

FG %: 59% (30-51) vs 44% (28-63) in favor of Savannah St.
FT %: 78% (25-32) vs 73% (24-33) in favor of EWU
3 pt %: 33% (4-12) vs 29% (2-7) in favor of Savannah St.
Reb: 37 (including 20 offensive reb) vs 24 (including 8 offensive reb) in favor of EWU
Turnovers: 11 vs 11 so equal
Blocks: 5 vs 3 in favor of Savannah St.
Steals: 5 vs 4 in favor of Savannah St.
Assists: 15 vs 8 in favor of Savannah St.
Fouls: 19 vs 24 in favor of Savannah St.
Pts in paint: 42 vs 36 in favor of EWU
2nd chance pts: 26 vs 12 in favor of EWU
Fast break pts: 31 vs 12 in favor of EWU
Biggest lead: 14 vs 0 in favor of Savannah St.
Lead changes: 1
Times tied: 0

Leading Eagles’ players: C Joseph Palmer-10 pts, 7 reb, 1 block; C Michael Taylor-9 pts, 7 reb, 1 block; SF Terence Hillier-15 pts, 3 reb, 1 steal; PF Cory Davis-10 pts, 3 reb; C Odie Joseph-7 pts, 6 reb, 1 assist, 1 steal.

Savannah State’s SF Billy Avery was the player of the game with 19 points, 3 rebounds, 1 assists, 1 steal.

[PointGuard]

Game #4, Nov. 25, 2013: Eastern Washington Eagles (0-3) at Bethune-Cookman Wildcats (2-1)

Man, another freakin’ road game. I’m beginning to question the leadership affecting the Eastern Washington basketball team. The AD, Swede Olaffson, really messed up on our schedule. And Vandergard’s choice of starters is killing this team. I didn’t say much at first, but his starting all these freshman is a big mistake. The team would be doing a helluva lot better if he’d start me instead of Terence Hillier at SF. Hillier is really a PF and he’s doing a terrible job at SF. I didn’t say much for a while, but watching from the bench as we continue to crash and burn had gotten me so pissed off that I’ve let Hillier have it a few times. The coaching staff has come between us and tried to throttle me, but nobody else on this team will speak up and we’re going to continue to fall on our faces until they finally figure out they’re giving minutes to the wrong guys.

Well, another night on the bench for me. So I might as well let you know what really goes on in this game tonight.

Same bunch of guys start tonight who’ve led us to 3 straight losses. We’re up against another team that’s been scoring most of their points inside and our starters have just been letting guys blow by them for easy baskets. Bethune-Cookman is pretty weak at SF, so I sure wish I was in there so we could get some offense at the 3.

Hillier wears down so quickly. Coach V then replaces him after 4 minute of play with Joe Blackwell rather than me. Another poor decision. Blackwell picks up 2 fouls in just over a minute of play. And again the coaches pass me, instead inserting Travis Dawson at SF. Hillier comes back in and does nothing except get tired and finally I’m in with 6:20 to play in the half. I force a couple quick turnovers by the Wildcats and hit a 3 in my first minute on the court. For once the coach left me in for enough time for me to put some numbers on the board. I scored 5 points in just over 6 minutes of play and we cut the Wildcats’ lead to 36-31. Michael Taylor and (surprisingly) Terence Hillier led our scoring with 6 points apiece.

With 16:05 to play, we finally got a lead at 41-40. Hillier was dragging by then and I was sent back into light a bigger fire. But our guards began turning the ball over and we fell behind once again. After just 4 minutes on the court, Hillier was brought back in and I was back on the bench. We fell further behind from that point and lost our 4th straight game. This sucks!

Final Score: Bethune-Cookman (3-1)—81, Eastern Washington (0-4)—64.

Team stats:

FG %: 57% (29-51) vs 53% (28-53) in favor of B-C
FT %: 70% (21-30) vs 70% (7-10) in favor of B-C
3 pt %: 100% (1-1) vs 33% (2-6) in favor of EWU
Reb: 26 (including 7 offensive reb) vs 23 (including 9 offensive reb) in favor of B-C
Turnovers: 13 vs 21 in favor of B-C
Blocks: 2 vs 2 so even
Steals: 8 vs 5 in favor of B-C
Assists: 15 vs 9 in favor of B-C
Fouls: 14 vs 22 in favor of B-C
Pts in paint: 42 vs 36 in favor of B-C
2nd chance pts: 15 vs 12 in favor of EWU
Fast break pts: 20 vs 16 in favor of EWU
Biggest lead: 17 vs 2 in favor of B-C
Lead changes: 11
Times tied: 2

Leading Eagles’ players: C Michael Taylor-14 pts, 5 reb; PF Cory Davis-11 pts, 6 reb, 1 assist; SF Terence Hillier-10 pts, 4 reb, 1 assist, 1 steal; PF Cory Davis-10 pts, 3 reb; C Odie Joseph-7 pts, 6 reb, 1 assist, 1 steal.

Bethune-Cookman’s PF Michael Selden was the player of the game with 13 points, 6 rebounds, 1 assists, 2 steals, 2 blocks

[PointGuard]

In the past couple ah weeks, DeLawn West has been accusin' Terence Hillier ah costing us the game plus the two have been arguin' loudly at times. I got in both ah their faces, but it doesn’t seem tah have helped.

Today, Coach Vandergard called each one intah his office tah find out what's goin' on. Hillier felt it wasn’t him that was initiatin' all this (which is true, since it's been West’s bad attitude that has been drivin' things). Surprisingly, West apologized an' said he'll try tah control himself in the future. Coach V told he’d better because a recurrence would earn him a suspension.