Illustration by Michael Uribes

Midway through the season, it has been same song, different verse for Fresno State men’s basketball.

Sure, fans expected a drop off from last year’s squad that only went 15-18. With 2009-10’s top-two scorers in Paul George and Sylvester Seay leaving, a rebuilding year seemed to be in the works.

But during a seven-game stretch from Dec. 7, 2010 to Jan. 6, 2011, the ‘Dogs reeled off six wins, including the opening three games of Western Athletic Conference play, and actually cracked the .500 mark for the first time all season.

Then things returned to normal.

Last year the Bulldogs also opened the first three games in conference with wins over Boise State, Hawaii and San Jose State. The ‘Dogs then dropped 11 of their final 17 games and were eliminated in the first round of the WAC Tournament.

That was then, and this is now, but now is starting to look an awful lot like yesteryear. If head coach Steve Cleveland’s squad has any shot at reversing its fortune, a load of responsibility will fall on those who rise to the challenge, most notably the eight new faces to the program that see significant minutes.

“They’ve all been given an opportunity to play,” Cleveland said following Monday’s loss to Idaho. “Right now it comes down to who’s going to step up and who’s going to consistently make a contribution on the floor.”

A few players who were questionable to exactly how much playing time they would receive this season have seized the opportunity and have made names for themselves. Freshman Kevin Olekaibe has emerged as one of the few consistent scoring threats with his 11 points per game while Tim Steed came on strong at the beginning of conference play before suffering an injury.

But perhaps a lingering disappointment has come from what many saw as the key cog in the preseason. Center Greg Smith has averaged a respectable 10.6 points per game to go along with seven rebounds, but may not be good enough to garner All-WAC honors as expected.