Lack Of Playing Time Leaves WSU’s Ellison A Bit Ill All Point Guard Wanted Was A Chance To Make A Difference Against Asu

Donminic Ellison tried to be as diplomatic as possible after playing only a little more than 11 minutes in Washington State’s 87-60 loss to Arizona State on Sunday afternoon.

But the Cougars’ starting point guard obviously felt he should have been given more of chance to make a difference - especially after getting medical clearance to play Friday morning and flying into Tucson, Ariz., late Friday night to rejoin his teammates following a weeklong bout with chicken pox.

“Very frustrating,” Ellison said when asked about sitting out the entire first half and almost 9 minutes of the second. “Things weren’t as bad as they could have been, but a lot of things weren’t as good as they could have been, either, and I just think I could have helped us.”

Ellison, whose face showed the scabbedover remnants of his chicken pox, entered the game with 12:23 remaining and the Cougars trailing 49-38.

He made a quick steal that led to a 3-point basket for Shamon Antrum - his only points of the game - and later hit a couple 3-pointers of his own. But ASU still managed to pull steadily away in the final 10 minutes.

WSU coach Kevin Eastman said he had planned to not use Ellison at all, but changed his mind after freshman point guard Chris Griffin, who has been fighting a respiratory problem, became fatigued.

“Chris was exhausted and having a tough time breathing,” Eastman explained. “We just ran out of guys.”

Ellison said he sensed a lack of vocal leadership on the floor while he was confined to the bench.

“Once the game got going, a couple of guys started looking down the bench at me, hoping coach would put me in,” he explained. “After the first half was over, a couple of guys even asked if I was going in.

“But from my perspective, I let coaches be coaches. I just play ball. I don’t have any control over who makes the decisions.”

Teammate Isaac Fontaine said he wasn’t sure whether putting Ellison in earlier would have changed things.

“It might have, maybe in the tempo or something,” he said. “But you never know. You can always say if. … But he wasn’t in, so we had to play without him.

“We didn’t expect him to be here the whole weekend, so we weren’t expecting him to play at all.”

Ellison said it felt great to get back.

“The fatigue is gone and my sickness is over,” he said. “I just wish I could have had an opportunity to play more minutes and help us in the game.”