MILL CREEK
The Jackson boys basketball team comes into the 2006-07 season brimming with confidence.
Much of that confidence is a carryover from the Timberwolves’ surprisingly strong run at the Class 4A state tournament, where the team took home a fifth-place trophy.
“It’s different coming off a successful season than coming off a season when you weren’t very good,” senior center Dan Wishko said. “We’ve got high standards for ourselves. … Once you get a taste of state and the whole atmosphere, obviously you want to get back.”
But the road back to the Tacoma Dome is shaping up as much more of a challenge for the Wolfpack.
Jackson graduated a pair of key players — Drew Eisinger and reserve Joe Markovich. Eisinger, the Wolfpack’s top scorer, best defensive player and team leader, arguably was the Western Conference South Division’s best player.
“No one can really replace him,” said senior guard Jamie Eisinger, Drew’s younger brother. “We just have to work hard and practice a lot more to fill in for Drew.”
While much of the attention is focused on the loss of the elder Eisinger, Jackson head coach Steve Johnson noted that Markovich provided steady leadership and was one of the team’s major role players.
“It’s a huge loss — no question about it,” Johnson said of Eisinger and Markovich. “That’s just the way its goes. Every year if you’re going to try and maintain a level of excellence you have to have people step up when people graduate.”
Senior guard Brian Rucker, who along with Drew Eisinger earned first-team, all-state tournament honors, said that he and the other seniors are ready for the challenge.
“I’m going to have to be more of a leader than last year,” Rucker said.
The loss of Drew Eisinger likely will have its biggest impact on Rucker and Jamie Eisinger. Those two and Drew Eisinger provided the bulk of Jackson’s offense.
Johnson predicted less open shots for Rucker and Jamie Eisinger since teams will no longer have to defend Drew Eisinger.
“They’ll have to play as good or better than they did last year, which will be more challenging because there won’t be another great player with them,” Johnson said. “They’re both obviously capable players. We’ll rely heavily on them.”
Jamie Eisinger is ready to assume more of the offensive load.
“This year I have to score a lot more than last year,” he said. “I just have to step up and shoot more but also have a point guard mentality to dish, not just score.”
While most of last year’s points came from the play of the two Eisingers and Rucker, this season could see more of a balance with an improved inside game.
Wishko and senior Jake Gelakoska both have made significant strides in their game, Eisinger said. Gelakoska, in particular, should play a major role this season.
“He’s gotten a lot stronger,” Eisinger said of Gelakoska, who was the Wolfpack’s starting quarterback. “He’s got some pretty good hops now. He’ll help us out a ton.”
Just about everyone has bulked up a little bit, Rucker added, and he expects the Timberwolves to take advantage of their size.
“This year we’re going to be a little more physical,” Rucker said. “A lot of us have gotten bigger over the offseason. … We’re going to be improved down low this year. We’re not going to have to rely on the outside shot.”
Johnson agreed that he is expecting more out of Jackson’s inside game.
“Last year the balance was spread around the three perimeter guys (Drew and Jamie Eisinger, Rucker),” Johnson said. “We’re going to have to get some more production from the inside guys — no question.”
While Eisinger, Rucker, Wishko and Gelakoska clearly have established themselves in Johnson’s eyes, the rest of the team still has some work to do to impress their coach.
The recent snowfall disrupted practices and the preparation for the upcoming season.
As of late last week, Johnson has not yet figured out his rotations or which of the other players he would look first to off the bench.
“It’ll probably be a battle for playing time all year round,” he said. “I’ve never had a season where exactly who’s going to end up running the minutes is more open and up in the air.”
But regardless of which players step to the forefront, Johnson and his team know they have to deal with increased expectations, both from their perspective and the opposition.
Johnson described them as both good news and bad news.
“I would hope that we would have a lot of confidence going into the season,” he said. “But it’s a new year. I think Wesco South is going to be much tougher than last year. … I think certainly our goal is to win the league, but by no means will it be easy. If anything having the success the year before puts a big target on your back and our position is we’d better perform at high level or we’re going to get our comeuppance because people are going to come after us.”
Rucker feels the Timberwolves have put in the work to prepare for the challenges they will face this season with the increased expectations.
“We had to work harder in the offseason,” Rucker said. “We know that people are going to be coming for us. We realize that we just got to put in that much more of an effort to hopefully have another successful year.”
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