Cougars’ Style Fractured By Hendrickson’s Absence

College basketball coaches scout, study, plan, prepare, practice, rationalize and then worry like hell.

Players? They just play.

Which is why Kevin Eastman’s read on the effects of the extended loss of Mark Hendrickson is much more analytical and complex than those of his Washington State players.

According to Eastman, the absence of his all-conference senior forward and top rebounder has changed everything.

Opponents no longer concern themselves with double-teaming WSU’s frontline players. With Hendrickson on the bench with his fractured left hand braced and heavily taped, they overplay the perimeter and make it difficult for WSU’s guards to find open shots.

They don’t send as many bodies to the defensive boards, opting, instead, to release an extra man on the break. And they pound the ball inside from their half-court offense, knowing that Hendrickson will not be there to contest all entries with his 6-foot-9, 240-pound frame.

As a result, Eastman has been forced to alter everything from the motion of his half-court offense to the way his team runs the break and attacks the press.

“Right now, we’re still trying to adjust to playing without Mark,” he explained earlier this week while preparing his Cougars for tonight’s critical Pacific-10 Conference matchup against Oregon at MacArthur Court. “We have to understand who we have out there and that nothing is going to come easy. We have to battle through it.

“Right now, it’s in the players’ hands. If they want to play cool, then we’ll be an average, at best, and probably a below-average, basketball team. We’re not even a middle-of-the-Pac-10 team right now.”

Narrow home losses to UCLA and Southern California last week would seem to support Eastman’s assessment of the damages caused by Hendrickson’s injury.

But if the situation is, indeed, that dire, then Eastman has done a wonderful job of shielding his players from reality.

“I don’t really notice any difference whatsoever,” junior forward Isaac Fontaine said, when asked if he sensed greater defensive pressure on the perimeter with the threat of Hendrickson missing on the inside. “It’s just that the last two games have come down to us playing defense as a team and we just haven’t done it.”

Eastman probably applauds such a simplistic view. He has, after all, done his best to avoid using Hendrickson’s injury as a crutch. He even considered not bringing him on the Oregon trip.

“Just so our guys would know that the team we (travel) with is the team we play with,” Eastman explained.

But in reality, not having Hendrickson was devastating in the losses to UCLA and USC particularly to a team as cellophane-thin as WSU on the front line.

“The fact that they were in both ballgames is a positive,” said Hendrickson, who can’t even clap for his teammates because of the bulky brace on his hand. “But I think they miss my leadership in close games.

“My freshman year, I played in so many close games and I learned a lot about what it takes to pull out victories. We’re struggling right now to find a go-to guys at the end of the game - either defensively or offensively.”

Looking back on the past two games, it is difficult to recall a key rebound that ended up in the Cougars’ hands. It is hard to remember an easy inside basket or a possession that did not turn into an absolute grind.

And it is nearly impossible to come up with a single clutch defensive stop in the final minutes.

Hendrickson is one of three players the Cougars couldn’t afford to lose. Eastman optimistically hopes to have him back for a Jan. 25 home date with California.

But that might be too late.

Having failed to protect its home court last week, WSU faces a tough test in a hostile environment tonight. A defeat would put the Cougars in an 0-3 hole in the Pac-10 race and, quite possibly, ripen them for an unthinkable upset loss at Oregon State on Saturday.

Eastman realizes as much, saying there is a chance his team could return from Oregon 0-4 in the Pac10. If that happens, WSU would probably need to win at least 10 of its last 14 conference games to finish in the first division and play on past the second Saturday in March.

It helps that Arizona, one of the preseason favorites to win the Pac10, lost two games last week. But it might not help for long.

“Right now, a win is very important to us,” Eastman said, “but we’re still not at the critical, devastating part of the season. (Pac-10) teams have a lot more losses to go, including us.”

Eastman would love to sneak a couple wins this weekend, if for no other reason than to quiet the inquiries about Hendrickson.

“I know I’m tired of talking about it,” he said. “My dad calls, he doesn’t care how I’m feeling. He wants to know how Mark is.”

For the record, Hendrickson is frustrated, but still hoping to return within the next couple of weeks.

“I’m sick of the (exercise) bike and I’m out of shape, but I’m doing the best I can to stay positive,” Hendrickson said. “It’s just that these guys aren’t making it any easier.

“We’ve got to win some games.”

, DataTimes