Expect more trips to the postseason
Feb 26, 2007 9:31:31 GMT -5
Post by Admin on Feb 26, 2007 9:31:31 GMT -5
www.daytondailynews.com/s/content/oh/story/sports/college/wsu/2007/02/25/ddn022607raiderconnection.html
RAIDER CONNECTION
Expect more trips to the postseason
By Marc Katz
Staff Writer
Sunday, February 25, 2007
FAIRBORN — You may have to get used to this. You may have to consider Wright State a postseason team for awhile.
Not to get too far ahead of the story, but the Raiders are already in the postseason, and not just in their own Horizon League tournament. They're going to play beyond that, win or lose. If they win, they're in the Big Dance, the NCAA tournament, which is where every school wants its men's basketball team to be.
If the Raiders lose in the Horizon League tournament, they'll play in the NIT, which for the first time is owned by the NCAA and will select among its 32 participants any team that won its NCAA-qualified league but lost its tournament and does not get an NCAA bid.
Wright State is considered the Horizon League champion even though it finished in a 13-3 tie with Butler. The league uses tiebreakers to name a champion in case of ties, and WSU won the second tiebreaker, which is a team's record against the next team in the standings.
The first tiebreaker is head-to-head competition, and WSU and Butler split, each winning at home. The next team in the standings is Loyola, which WSU beat twice. When the Ramblers beat Butler last Thursday, that gave WSU the tiebreak for the championship.
It was that simple.
It is also simple to see the difference from last season to this. It's coach Brad Brownell. With apologies to seniors DaShaun Wood and Drew Burleson — no coach wins without good players — they were with the Raiders last season and performed well. They just didn't win.
Two freshmen — Vaughn Duggins and Todd Brown — were in the mix for the first time, but every team had a good freshman or two playing.
Wood said last week Brownell and his staff told the team it was good enough to win, and the players believed it, given Brownell's record of two NCAA tourneys in four years at North Carolina-Wilmington.
That isn't to say Paul Biancardi didn't do a good job here. He did an excellent job. But for whatever reason, the team regressed last season. This season, it got better, a lot better.
And, how about this. Even with the loss of Wood and Burleson and fellow seniors Tyrone Scott and Reinaldo Smith, Wright State should be one of the favorites — along with Butler — to win big next season, too. After all, three starters return — Jordan Pleiman along with Duggins and Brown — and a big recruiting class joins the mix.
The postseason is at Wright State, and it may stay for awhile.
RAIDER CONNECTION
Expect more trips to the postseason
By Marc Katz
Staff Writer
Sunday, February 25, 2007
FAIRBORN — You may have to get used to this. You may have to consider Wright State a postseason team for awhile.
Not to get too far ahead of the story, but the Raiders are already in the postseason, and not just in their own Horizon League tournament. They're going to play beyond that, win or lose. If they win, they're in the Big Dance, the NCAA tournament, which is where every school wants its men's basketball team to be.
If the Raiders lose in the Horizon League tournament, they'll play in the NIT, which for the first time is owned by the NCAA and will select among its 32 participants any team that won its NCAA-qualified league but lost its tournament and does not get an NCAA bid.
Wright State is considered the Horizon League champion even though it finished in a 13-3 tie with Butler. The league uses tiebreakers to name a champion in case of ties, and WSU won the second tiebreaker, which is a team's record against the next team in the standings.
The first tiebreaker is head-to-head competition, and WSU and Butler split, each winning at home. The next team in the standings is Loyola, which WSU beat twice. When the Ramblers beat Butler last Thursday, that gave WSU the tiebreak for the championship.
It was that simple.
It is also simple to see the difference from last season to this. It's coach Brad Brownell. With apologies to seniors DaShaun Wood and Drew Burleson — no coach wins without good players — they were with the Raiders last season and performed well. They just didn't win.
Two freshmen — Vaughn Duggins and Todd Brown — were in the mix for the first time, but every team had a good freshman or two playing.
Wood said last week Brownell and his staff told the team it was good enough to win, and the players believed it, given Brownell's record of two NCAA tourneys in four years at North Carolina-Wilmington.
That isn't to say Paul Biancardi didn't do a good job here. He did an excellent job. But for whatever reason, the team regressed last season. This season, it got better, a lot better.
And, how about this. Even with the loss of Wood and Burleson and fellow seniors Tyrone Scott and Reinaldo Smith, Wright State should be one of the favorites — along with Butler — to win big next season, too. After all, three starters return — Jordan Pleiman along with Duggins and Brown — and a big recruiting class joins the mix.
The postseason is at Wright State, and it may stay for awhile.
