Eagles await hot streak

This season was going to be different for the Eastern Washington basketball team with a new up-tempo offense, tweaked lineup, more – and more talented – depth and Rodney Stuckey.

Expectations were sky high for the Eagles and their potential All-American who single-handedly put Eastern on the national radar.

But 18 games into the season a 9-9 record is only one win better than the Eagles were a year ago when Stuckey was in the midst of a remarkable freshman season despite “playing out of position” at point guard.

Yet third-year coach Mike Burns isn’t pulling his hair out – and he shouldn’t, even if he didn’t choose to shave his head.

The Eagles’ non-conference schedule proved to be more difficult than expected and the Big Sky is surprisingly salty, especially considering some of the travel teams face because it now has nine teams.

The Eagles went 6-6 in non-conference games, all the losses coming on the road to teams that were a combined 75-31 entering this week. That includes close games at UNLV (15-4), Washington (11-6) and Northridge (9-7). The others were at Gonzaga (12-7), Oregon (16-1) and Santa Clara (12-6).

The lone quality win was a home shootout over Fullerton (12-3).

“It was one of those things. We were 6-6, but with a little good fortune could have been 8-4 or 7-5,” Burns said. “Unfortunately, it didn’t turn out that way.”

Kicking off Big Sky play with a buzzer-beating home loss to Montana State, picked among the conference also-rans, fueled anxiety. A win followed over another Big Sky favorite, Montana, but the Eagles only went 1-1 on a pair of road trips the last two weeks.

But a split sounds like success when listening to the travel arrangements for a trip to Greeley, Colo., and Flagstaff, Ariz., and then turning around for a Pocatello-Portland trip.

“The Montana State game was a hiccup – we wish we could have that one back,” Burns said. “While we’d like to be 6-0, at least we split the road trips. Now we have to defend our home court.”

Defending champion Northern Arizona visits Reese Court tonight and Northern Colorado, which surprised the Lumberjacks last week, is here Saturday.

“The league’s better because there aren’t really bottom teams,” Burns said. “Look at the job they’re doing at Idaho State and Weber State. Portland State came into league with the best record. Every single night, at home and on the road, you have to be at your best to win.

It’s going to be a dog fight for the next six weeks.”

What contributes to the unsettled feel may be the unsettled lineup. Burns consistently plays almost all 11 players at his disposal.

“We have kids that can play and at different times different guys are going to be playing better. We’re trying to put the best five out there at any given time,” he said. “I think it’s a strength we have. We’ve been able to push different buttons at different times and it’s worked well for us.”

Nine different players have started in six different combinations. That’s with Stuckey starting every game and Paul Butorac all but the one for which he wasn’t available.

“Different guys have different strengths and we can utilize those against different teams,” Burns said. “Also, because the competition is so close, it’s a way of rewarding guys for what they’ve done in practice.”

Stuckey is kind of settling back at point guard.

“When we have the ball in his hands so many good things happen, not only for himself but for his teammates,” Burns said. “We’re playing (freshman) Michael (Taylor), (junior college transfer) Omar (Krayem) and Rodney at the point, but he has the ball in his hands because his assist (96) and turnover (56) numbers have been so good.”

Somehow, Stuckey has seemed inconsistent, probably because his shooting touch has been off recently.

His scoring is down just more than a point – a combination of more firepower in the lineup, a two-point game when back spasms limited him in 4 minutes at Oregon, and defenses designed to make his life difficult.

But in addition to leading the conference in scoring by a wide margin (22.9 ppg), he leads in steals (2.56) and free-throw percent (.863). He is second in assists (5.33).

He does all that while knowing NBA scouts are flocking to Eagles games.

“That’s the neat thing about him – he doesn’t concern himself with that stuff … he just goes and plays and plays at a high level,” Burns said. “I think in time he’s going to get that opportunity. He’s aware all he can do is go out and do his best, the rest will take care of itself.”

Last week’s issue of Sports Illustrated suggested Stuckey could be a first-round pick in June, though he has said he plans to return to school.

“If he has the opportunity and it’s something he has to pursue, then we are 110 percent behind him pursing it,” said Burns. “I don’t think it’s a distraction, I think it’s a blessing. We’ve been blessed with a player of this caliber who will hopefully have that opportunity.”

All the anxiety will be erased by a strong finish. EWU didn’t panic last year, finished third and then took eventual winner Montana to overtime in the tournament semifinals.

“The biggest surprise to me is how competitive the league is and how balanced it is,” Burns said. “I expected it, but I didn’t expect it to be this competitive and this balanced.”