With WSU wing Cedric Coward out indefinitely, how has the Cougs’ offense flourished? Thank LeJuan Watts

PULLMAN – Washington State will have to wait a bit longer to find out more about Cedric Coward’s status.

That’s the word from coach David Riley, who confirmed Tuesday that the star wing is scheduled for surgery this week on his injured shoulder. The Cougars expect to have more clarity on Coward’s status next week, Riley said.

WSU (8-2) has made do without Coward recently, taking down Nevada and Boise State last week, underscoring how well Riley has managed an undermanned roster. He’s also operating without wing Rihards Vavers and freshman guard Marcus Wilson, both of whom will be out “for the foreseeable future” with injuries, Riley said.

With freshman guard Kase Wynott also on the shelf with an injury, WSU doesn’t have much of a bench to work with. Riley effectively used a seven-man rotation in the Cougars’ win over the Broncos on Saturday, going to forward ND Okafor and freshman Tomas Thrastarson for 12 and 15 minutes, respectively. Redshirt freshman guard Parker Gerrits played a four-minute stint.

That rotation may not be sustainable, but the Cougars may not have much of a choice. Ahead of their Saturday home matchup against Missouri State, they aren’t missing much of a beat, either.

Much of that credit goes to the Cougars’ individual outings and the way they’ve meshed with each other. Guard Isaiah Watts has scored double figures in back-to-back games, hitting 7 of 13 3-pointers in that span, and point guard Nate Calmese has dished out five-plus assists in four straight games.

“I think they’ve rallied around each other and really started to understand each other’s strengths and weaknesses, which has allowed them to play a little more confident,” Riley said. “I think in particular, Isaiah and Nate are starting to figure things out, how the offense flows a little bit better. It just takes time.

“Dane (Erikstrup) and LeJuan (Watts) and Ethan (Price), they’re all in a different role than they were last year, and so especially when Cedric got hurt, yes, we flow and we have a very open offense, but there’s also a lot of it that’s determined by the way we practice and the things that we try to emphasize as coaches.”

In their win over Boise State on Saturday, the Cougars also did well to involve LeJuan Watts, who had six assists in each of his past two games. With Coward out, WSU has often let Calmese handle the ball, at least to score. When the Cougars have put the ball in Watts’ hands, especially at the elbow or on the block, they’ve trusted him to make the right pass – and he’s making his coaches look like geniuses.

In Saturday’s first half, Watts had four of his six assists, many coming on set plays, which Riley doesn’t always call. Early in the game, Riley drew up a flare screen to free up Isaiah Watts for a 3-pointer, with the pass coming from LeJuan Watts. The results were aces.

Later in the first half, WSU put Watts on the block to make a decision. Erikstrup faked a flare screen for Price, then set one for Price going toward the rim, and Watts delivered the perfect pass. Price, who has scored in double digits in three of his past four games after a minislump , had no trouble putting it in.

As a freshman last season at Eastern Washington, Watts reached six assists once and five on one other occasion. He never got to four, and he only put up three assists on four occasions.

Now Riley is using Watts as an offensive hub, and it’s paying dividends for the Cougars, who prefer a laissez faire type of offense. Watts’ passing fits perfectly into that approach.

In a recent scrimmage in practice, Riley said, Watts’ team had 35 possessions to work with. Watts recorded 10 assists and zero turnovers.

“So he can really, really pass when he’s locked in on that,” Riley said. “I think the last four or five games, especially since Cedric has been out, he’s had to learn how to assert himself more, how to present himself to the ball. I’ve had to put him in better positions to score. I didn’t do a good job of calling plays and calling sets for him up until the last game, really. We’re just learning. He’s got a ton of room to grow.”

In that game, Watts was hardly done finding teammates for open buckets, especially when he posted up looking to pass. On a possession midway in the second half, as Boise State was building momentum, Watts rifled a pass to the corner to Erikstrup, who connected on a 3-pointer.

Another of Watts’ post-up passes came late in the second half. He might have been looking to score , but with his eyes up and his back to his defender, he spotted Isaiah Watts curling around the perimeter for a 3-pointer. After receiving a pass right in his shooting pocket, Isaiah Watts knocked down the shot.

In other sequences, such as one early in Saturday’s first half, Watts improvised. He delivered timely and accurate passes, even when there wasn’t a set play called, which is often the case under Riley’s system.

One play started with the ball in the hands of Erikstrup, again looking to pass out of the post-up, and the ball went to LeJuan Watts in the corner. He head-faked a defender, attacked the closeout and spotted Thrastarson, who was setting a screen to free up Watts for a shot. Watts’ pass was perfect, and Thrastarson finished on a reverse.