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Post by nybuckeye on Feb 27, 2007 22:37:13 GMT -5
The HL format makes it tough for a lower seed to make a run with 3 games in 4 days. But I do like the added importance of the regular season and the fact that the a higher seed is likely to win the conference tourney and therefore represent the league in the NCAA's.
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Post by Retired Coach on Feb 28, 2007 7:13:57 GMT -5
Brownell tries to keep Raiders focused during breakWright State has nine days to think about its poor showing in the regular-season finale. By Marc Katz Staff Writer Wednesday, February 28, 2007 FAIRBORN — With nine days between games, Wright State men's basketball coach Brad Brownell is trying to keep players on message this week. "The only thing that's tough in our situation, you lose a game on Thursday, it's easier to grab their attention and have a game on Monday," Brownell said. "To try to hold that (attention) for like, 10 days, is hard to do. It's not easy to keep that message going." This week's message for Saturday's Horizon League tournament semifinal at the Nutter Center: If you play the way you did in the last regular-season game at Youngstown State last Thursday, the league tourney will be a short run. As it turned out, WSU ended up with the league's regular-season championship, home court and bye into the semifinals despite losing to YSU. The bottom six teams in the nine-team league played first-round games at home sites Tuesday night. Round 2 is Friday at the Nutter Center, with the winner of the second game meeting the Raiders on Saturday. This week, WSU coach Brad Brownell is planning tough practices, and after showing his team tape Saturday of the first half of the YSU game, he reran the second half Monday, "to remind them, 'Hey, I still remember this. It's still fresh in my mind. I hope it's fresh in your mind.' "I think sometimes as coaches we take losses a little longer than players." It certainly will be a long time between games for the Raiders, who have done it both ways this season. Early on, they had eight, then nine days between games. After Christmas, they played three games in three days at a tournament in Baton Rouge, La. Since then, the longest span between games has been five days; the shortest, two days. In the Horizon League, days off might not matter. In the league's final six games last week, four were won by the team lower in the standings. "That's another prime example," Brownell said. "We're dealing with young men, and other teams are talented. If you're not playing well and the other team gets momentum, you're in for a tough night. You might not like what's in store for you." Horizon League tournament schedule Tuesday's first-round results Youngstown State 82, Detroit 80 Wisconsin-Green Bay 78, Cleveland State 59, Illinois-Chicago 83, Wisconsin-Milwaukee 77 Second round Friday at the Nutter Center Loyola vs. Illinois-Chicago, 6 p.m. Green Bay vs. Youngstown State, 8 p.m. Semifinals Saturday at the Nutter Center Butler vs. Loyola/Illinois-Chicago winner, 5 p.m. Wright State vs. Green Bay/Youngstown State winner, 7 p.m. Championship Tuesday at better-seeded team Semifinal winners, 9 p.m. www.daytondailynews.com/s/content/oh/story/sports/college/wsu/2007/02/28/ddn022807wsubb.html
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Post by Raiderfan on Feb 28, 2007 21:28:16 GMT -5
What a classic coaching strategy! I love the BB replayed the 2nd half of the YSU game this week to hopefully motivate the guys to stay focused and not take our home court advantage to lightly.
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Post by Raider Country on Mar 1, 2007 7:14:51 GMT -5
Thousands of Horizon tournament tickets leftWright State will play the second game in the tourney's semifinals on Saturday night. By Marc Katz Staff Writer Thursday, March 01, 2007 FAIRBORN — Business is brisk, but plenty of tickets remain for Saturday's Horizon League basketball tournament semifinals, the second game involving Wright State. In addition, there are several tickets available for Friday's two second-round games. All games will be played at the Nutter Center. According to WSU officials, about 6,300 tickets are out for Saturday's games and 1,300 for Friday's. The arena holds nearly 11,000 for basketball. Friday's first game features No. 3 seed Chicago Loyola (20-10) vs. No. 6 Illinois-Chicago (14-17) at 6 p.m. At 8 p.m., No. 4 Green Bay (17-14) plays No. 5 Youngstown State (14-16). The winner of that second game will meet No. 1 WSU (21-9) in Saturday's second game at 7 p.m. Saturday's first game features No. 2 Butler (26-5) vs. the Loyola-UIC winner. If Wright State wins Saturday, the tournament will conclude at the Nutter Center on Tuesday at 9 p.m. If WSU loses, the tourney moves to the remaining highest-seeded team. Tickets for Friday and Saturday games are $20 for adults and $10 for students. Tickets for Tuesday's game go on sale if needed following Saturday's games. Tickets can be purchased at the Nutter Center box office or online at Ticketmaster. www.daytondailynews.com/s/content/oh/story/sports/college/wsu/2007/02/28/ddn030107horizon.html
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Post by Raider Country on Mar 1, 2007 7:16:25 GMT -5
Roots of WSU's success can be traced to pastBy Sean McClelland Staff Writer Thursday, March 01, 2007 Former coach Paul Biancardi should receive some credit for Wright State's basketball success. He recruited most of the players, including Horizon League Player of the Year DaShaun Wood. But let's not forget Biancardi's predecessor, Ed Schilling, who helped revive the program after longtime coach Ralph Underhill's firing. Biancardi was a good recruiter, but he never had a winning season. Schilling had two. Granted, the schedule wasn't exactly Murderer's Row back then, but Schilling did enough to be named Midwestern Collegiate Conference coach of the year in 2000-01 by CollegeInsider.Com — and to attract Drew Burleson, the other prominent senior on this year's championship team. Midway through Schilling's third season, the Raiders shocked Michigan State. In the two seasons that followed, they won 35 games. True, Schilling failed to build upon that success and was let go, but one could argue that the administration's commitment to winning wasn't as great then as it later would be. Schilling had been promised a practice facility, for example, but ground wasn't broken until he was gone, leaving his successors to reap the benefits of the 30,000-square foot, state-of-the-art Setzer Pavilion. The team back then primarily practiced in McLin Gym, where a curtain separated basketball and baseball activities. Often a baseball would squirt under or through the partition, interrupting a scrimmage. That doesn't happen anymore. Brad Brownell is obviously a fine coach. Should have been HL Coach of the Year. But he's also fortunate. He showed up at the right time, with much of the foundation for winning already in place. www.daytondailynews.com/s/content/oh/story/sports/college/wsu/2007/03/01/ddn030107audible.html
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Post by Fastbreak on Mar 1, 2007 19:23:48 GMT -5
Brownell Winning. ... Again Feb 27, 2007 | 12:48PM | report this When Brad Brownell left UNC-Wilmington for Wright State last year, everyone was shocked. Brownell’s track record since taking over the Seahawks was impressive. He was 83-40 in four seasons after taking over for Jerry Wainwright and made a pair of NCAA tournament appearances. ``It wasn’t an easy decision,” Brownell said. ‘’I loved it there and we had a good thing going.” But what wasn’t going well was his relationship with new athletic director Mike Capaccio. ``There was a change in athletic leadership and their values and my values seemed to be a little different,” Brownell said. “I didn’t know if I’d be able to do my job like I needed to.” ``His vision for what the program should be and mine was very different,” he added. “The vision I had was one I thought worked pretty well.” So the 38-year-old Brownell took the job at Wright State and those in the industry justified it as him trying to get closer to where he grew up in Evansville, Ind. In reality, it was a clash between coach and AD. ``I didn’t know a whole lot about Wright State, but I knew Dayton was a great basketball town that supports their teams if they do well. I enjoyed the administration here and the vision and commitment the school had for basketball.” Brownell inherited a talented team led by the best player in the Horizon, senior guard Dashaun Wood. Wright State started slowly, but went on a nine-game winning streak in the middle of conference play and finished tied with Butler for first place in the league. The Raiders received a bye and will play Saturday in the semifinals. ``Early in the year, we weren’t very good,” Brownell said. “The guys had to get used to a new system and it was a struggle.” By the way, UNC Wilmington is 7-21. community.foxsports.com/blogs/goodmanonfox/2007/02/27/Brownell_Winning_Again
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Post by Willie on Mar 2, 2007 7:14:29 GMT -5
WSU fans get into opponents' headsBy Chris Stewart Staff Writer Thursday, March 01, 2007 FAIRBORN — It might not be enough for the student section to simply cheer for the home team. Maybe not even enough to heckle the other team. If fans really want to rattle an opponent these days, they get right up in his Facebook. "What our job is is to get into the heads of our opponents. Our players obviously do a lot of game scouting. We do mental scouting. So we have pictures of girlfriends we've brought that we've gotten on the Internet," said Ryan Fahncke, a Wright State senior from Miamisburg, before he dug into Butler star A. J. Graves for the night, yelling himself hoarse through a cardboard tube during the Raiders' win over the Bulldogs on Feb. 10. The zeal shown by some fans in the Nutter Center student section called the Raider Den actually begins long before tip-off, sitting at a keyboard, searching the Internet for any ploy to unnerve an opponent. First used against military adversaries, the Psyop, or psychological operation, is now aimed at toppling sporting foes. The trend was made known last December in the New York Times Year in Ideas, which documented the case of University of California at Berkeley fans who created a fictional online co-ed to fluster UCLA player Gabe Pruitt. The newspaper reported that prior to the game, fans obtained Pruitt's Instant Messenger screen name and began sending flirtatious messages to Pruitt from an account they set up, complete with pictures of a striking "Victoria." Pruitt went so far as to give "Victoria" his phone number and agreed to meet after the game. During the game, Cal students broad-sided Pruitt with chants of "Victoria! Victoria!" and yelled out his phone number. Pruitt had one of his worst games of the season and Cal won by 11 points. Psyops or not, the home team enjoys the student section support, which helped pack the Nutter Center for the Raiders' last two regular-season home games. "Believe me, that makes a huge impact on our team to know we have a lot of support, with that end zone filled with green and gold," WSU coach Brad Brownell said. "When you're at home the cheers accentuate the positives. When you're on the road the cheers accentuate the negatives." On the road, Brownell said his team might take the brunt of a handful of hecklers, "But I don't think the other teams' fans have been as creative as ours. Instead of just coming and standing, ours get involved with T-shirts, different cheers and signs." 'Whitney loves Bobby' A sign the students created for the Feb. 17 Cal State-Fullerton game bore striking celebrity resemblance. "What we've done tonight as a student section is taken the leading scorer for Cal State-Fullerton — his name is Bobby Brown — and what we've done is blown up a seven-foot picture of Whitney Houston," said Jeff Frantz, a 2006 Wright State graduate from Beavercreek. "We just googled a picture of Whitney Houston. Normally when we get pictures of girlfriends of the players on the other teams we get them off Facebook." No one would confuse the Cal State-Fullerton senior guard, who was averaging more than 20 points a game, with Houston's hanging-by-a-thread husband, the R&B singer Bobby Brown. Nevertheless, Frantz hoped the large photo inscribed, "Whitney loves Bobby," and a lot of yelling would "create a little interference." Whether it was the Raiders' defense or Raider Den interference, Brown was held eight points below his average in a 77-62 Wright State victory. Frantz and friends will no doubt be moving high-speed tonight, gathering fresh intel on either Youngstown or Green Bay. That winner takes on Wright State on Saturday night in the Horizon League semifinals. While Psyops can't be proven as a factor in home wins, the Raider Den has been a force in heightening the energy inside the Nutter Center, where Wright State is 12-1 this season. And when a fan such as Latasha Glover, a junior from Columbus, says, "I've never seen Wright State basketball lose a game, ever," it's mighty believable. www.daytondailynews.com/s/content/oh/story/sports/college/wsu/2007/03/01/ddn030107wsuweb.html
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Post by Willie on Mar 2, 2007 7:17:45 GMT -5
Couldn't watch the game? It's ESPN's faultBy Marc Katz Staff Writer Friday, March 02, 2007 For every goofball tipoff time, for every niche network trying to broadcast a game most of the country can't locate, I'll blame television every time, mostly ESPN. That's just the way I am. Now, ordinarily, I love ESPN. If you want to know the big picture in sports, you go to that network. That's where the Horizon League went for some of its television contract, only the HL isn't getting many of those prime-time Saturday night games on ESPN's signature platform. Butler found itself an ESPN and ESPN2 centerpiece early for its long and successful run in the Preseason NIT, and there were other games involving Horizon teams as long as they were playing Big Ten schools. After that, the "leader" essentially turned its cameras elsewhere (except for the Butler's BracketBuster game on ESPN2 and Wright State's game on ESPN360), broadcasting only three league games, two on ESPN2. Ah, ESPNU. That's where you'll find — if you have satellite — Saturday's Horizon League tournament semifinals from the Nutter Center. These niche networks want us to watch. In between broadcasting field hockey and lacrosse, they throw in a good basketball or football game, trying to put pressure on the cable companies — and consumers — to buy the product. ESPNU and ESPN360 are available to so few homes, ESPN doesn't even track the ratings on those platforms. It's like there are no ratings at all. Some day? Oh, yeah, there will be ratings there, and they will always spike for men's basketball. The Horizon League doesn't mind, for now. It gets some games on television, and when ESPN asked — not demanded — if it could move the tournament championship game from 7 to 9 p.m. on Tuesday, the league said yes. "Nothing was forced on us," Commissioner Jon LeCrone said. "Nothing was purchased. It's one of only two 9 p.m. games we played this season. From a television perspective, it's good for ratings." Ordinarily, the league runs its games on the Horizon League Network (through CSTV), which is available online at no charge due to the league's largesse — if you have the right computer and are willing to sit hunched over your desk to watch. That goes away Saturday when ESPNU broadcasts the games — somewhere. Tuesday, the game is on ESPN. Not everybody has that network, either. But if you don't, you weren't going to watch anyway. I'll go along with this ESPNU and ESPN360 and CSTV stuff for now. Some day soon, though, I want more access — in reasonable time periods and at a reasonable cost. Sports fans and sports writers are, if nothing else, reasonable. www.daytondailynews.com/s/content/oh/story/sports/college/wsu/2007/03/02/ddn030207inside.html
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Post by keithfromxenia on Mar 2, 2007 13:17:44 GMT -5
nybuckeye, i used to hate this format because we were always a 5,6,7 or 8 seed. now that we are a 1 seed, i am lovin it. GO RAIDERS!!!!!!!!!!!!
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Post by Willie on Mar 2, 2007 18:38:24 GMT -5
RAIDER CONNECTION Nutter Center a beehive of activityBy Marc Katz Staff Writer Friday, March 02, 2007 FAIRBORN — The Nutter Center certainly was busy Thursday. It could have been busier, but the University of Illinois-Chicago men's basketball team opted out of a 9 a.m. practice session to practice at home and drive in later at night. Then Green Bay practiced, followed by Youngstown State, followed by two women's shoot-arounds for Thursday night's Cleveland State-Wright State game. Then the WSU men's team practiced, followed by Loyola of Chicago (which arrived late), followed by the women's game. They didn't have to re-sand the floor when it was all over. Tonight in the second round of the men's Horizon League tournament, Loyola meets cross-town rival UIC at 6 p.m., followed by Green Bay vs. Youngstown State at 8. The winner of the first game will meet Butler at 5 p.m. Saturday, followed by the winner of the second game vs. WSU at 7 p.m. The championship game will be played Tuesday at the home of the highest-remaining seed, which means the Nutter Center if WSU wins. "I think everybody left in the tournament is dangerous," WSU coach Brad Brownell said. "You only have to play well for a couple of games." These are the tough games, though. Wright State was 13-3 in league play during the regular season, losing only to Butler, Milwaukee and Youngstown State. Butler and Youngstown State remain, and while the Raiders beat Loyola, UIC and Green Bay twice, "I do think it is hard sometimes to beat a team three times," Brownell said. • Player of the Year DaShaun Wood doesn't like to talk about himself. "That makes you seem selfish when you talk that way," Wood said. "I'm just trying to do what the team needs me to do. I never try to take up the spotlight from somebody else. That's not how it works." • Freshman Todd Brown is also a team player. He said so after being named, along with Vaughn Duggins, to the league's all-newcomer team. "We wouldn't be here (all-newcomer) if it wasn't for our team," Brown said. • Practice after the Raiders lost at Youngstown State last week was hard. "We had football practice," Brown said. "First, coach said, 'I want to congratulate you. It (winning the championship) doesn't happen much here. Now, we're going to practice and we're going to practice hard and get better.' I understand where he comes from." • Regardless of what happens this weekend, the Raiders have at least one more game remaining. This is the 14th season since the team went to the only NCAA tournament of its 20 seasons in Division I and, believe it or not, this is only the third 20-win season in Division I. The 1989-90 team was 21-7. The 1992-93 team was 20-10. The current team is 21-9. In eight of the nine seasons prior to moving to Division I, the Division II Raiders won 20 games and, in 1983, the National Championship. www.daytondailynews.com/s/content/oh/story/sports/college/wsu/2007/03/02/ddn030207raiderconnection.html?cxntnid=rc-030207
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Post by Wolf on Mar 2, 2007 19:57:05 GMT -5
Loyola 66 UIC 62 Final
Looks like Butler gets a chance at some paybacks for last week.
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Post by rock70 on Mar 2, 2007 21:19:40 GMT -5
That was a closer game then I thought it would be. Is Loyola in a funk? Lets hope Loyola has enough juice left to take Butler into triple overtime.
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Post by Wolf on Mar 2, 2007 22:13:13 GMT -5
Wis. Green Bay 72 Youngstown St. 55 Final
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Post by Big D on Mar 2, 2007 22:15:26 GMT -5
Semifinals -- Saturday, March 3 Loyola vs. Butler 5 p.m. ET UWGB vs. Wright State 7 p.m. ET
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Post by wsu97 on Mar 3, 2007 7:12:46 GMT -5
Preview: Wright State vs. Wisconsin-Green BayBy Marc Katz Staff Writer Saturday, March 03, 2007 When: 7 p.m. TV: ESPNU Radio: WONE-AM (980) Records: Wright State: 21-9; Wis.-Green Bay 17-14. Probable starters Green Bay Pos. Ht. Yr. PPG Mike Schachtner F 6-9 So. 15.1 Aswan Minatee F 6-5 Sr. 4.8 Troy Cotton G 6-1 Fr. 7.6 Ryan Tillema G 6-8 So. 8.1 Ryan Evanochko G 6-2 Sr. 15.4 WSU Pos. Ht. Yr. PPG Drew Burleson F 6-6 Sr. 8.6 Jordan Pleiman F 6-8 Jr. 7.7 Todd Brown G 6-5 Fr. 8.9 Vaughn Duggins G 6-3 Fr. 9.1 DaShaun Wood G 5-11 Sr. 19.4 Wis.-Green Bay bits Phoenix won four of five before stumbling in close games to Butler and Milwaukee to end the regular season. Using a full-court trapping defense, Green Bay is usually difficult to play and two players — guard Ryan Evanochko and forward Mike Schachtner are responsible for more than 30 points a game between them. Wright State beat the Phoenix both times this year, with the coaches exchanging a few words (before shaking hands) at the end of each after WSU thought Green Bay was needlessly pressing in the final minute. Wright State ramblings Disappointed in losing their last game at Youngstown State, the team was revived after learning on the way home that Butler lost, giving the No. 1 seed to the Raiders. There will be nine days between the game and tonight's, with the Raiders playing a team that already has two tournament games played. Horizon League Player of the Year DaShaun Wood will be the centerpiece for the Raiders, who have also had big scoring nights from Drew Burleson and Todd Brown. This is WSU's first trip to the semis since 2001 when the Raiders lost 66-58 to Butler at the Nutter Center. www.daytondailynews.com/s/content/oh/story/sports/college/wsu/2007/03/03/ddn030307wsuprev.html
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