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Post by Wolf on Nov 29, 2008 22:57:40 GMT -5
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Post by Wolf on Nov 29, 2008 22:58:16 GMT -5
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Post by Wolf on Nov 29, 2008 22:59:36 GMT -5
Wisconsin Green Bay Phoenix Overall Rank: #117 Conference Rank: #5 Horizon 2007-08: 15-15, 9-9, 4th 2007-08 postseason: none It seems like Wisconsin Green Bay and Coach Tod Kowalczyk are always one year away from great things. However, a few bad breaks here and there and the Phoenix end the year disappointed. The 2007-2008 season was no different and the 2008 off-season has the expectations rising once again. Will this be the year the team finally breaks through and puts together a consistent winning campaign? The talent is there to do so, but it was last year too…and the year before that and the year before that. Who’s Out: Yet, with all five starters return, maybe this really will be the year. Tevah Morris earned a few starts during his senior campaign, but averaged less than ten minutes per game. Guards D’Angalo Jackson and Uriel Segura are transferring after seeing limited action last season. Who’s In: The newcomers are talented enough to provide some depth off the bench and increase the overall toughness on the roster. Jesse Childs has the experience after playing two years at Mesa Community College. The 6-3 combo guard will either be a solid backup point guard or a two guard who can also handle the ball and create shots for himself. Either way he will provide some quality depth on the perimeter. So will Brent Eaton. The 6-5 swingman is a superb shooter and will immediately be a sharpshooter off the bench. It might take some time for the Middlebury, Indiana product to adjust to the level of competition, not to mention the switch from Yoder cheese to Wisconsin cheese, but the rims are still ten feet high in Amish country and Eaton will certainly knock down his fair share of long balls as a freshman. Chop Tang’s versatility, toughness and neat name will make him a fan favorite. The 6-7 forward, who spent two years at the junior college level, can battle in the paint and step outside and hit the jumper. Who to Watch: Mike Schachtner might not be the most intimidating 6-9 forward around, but he gets the job done. The sharpshooter knocked down over 45 percent of his shots from beyond the arc last season and led the team with 15.8 points per game. He is not a great rebounder, but he will use his size to help out on the glass. Most of the rebounding will be done by fellow forwards Terry Evans and Randy Berry. Evans is only 6-5, but he makes up for his size with his hustle. Not only will Evans put up some decent numbers in the scoring column and grab plenty of rebounds, but he is also a superb defender and led the team in steals and blocks during the 2007-2008 campaign. Berry is the more traditional big man who will hang out in the paint and use his 6-9, 225 pound frame to clear space in the paint. Ryan Tillema might be listed as a guard, but at 6-8, he does not look like one. Tillema and Evans started on the wings last year and should again this year. That size is a huge advantage for the Phoenix. Tillema is the most prolific shooter on the team and defending him is a huge problem for most shorter wings. Final Projection: The biggest problem last year was with the turnovers. Rahmon Fletcher proved to be a solid scorer and distributor during his freshman campaign, but with that experience he has to keep the turnovers down and the team under control. If that happens, UWGB will be a force in the Horizon League. If it does not, the Phoenix will once again be another year away from big things. Projected Post-season Tournament: none Projected Starting Five: Rahmon Fletcher, Sophomore, Guard, 10.1 points per game Ryan Tillema, Senior, Guard, 12.5 points per game Terry Evans, Senior, Forward, 9.6 points per game Mike Schachtner, Senior, Forward, 15.8 points per game Randy Berry, Junior, Forward, 7.0 points per game www.collegehoopsnet.com/new/200809-wisconsin-green-bay-preview-117-47294
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Post by Big D on Nov 30, 2008 11:09:53 GMT -5
Men's basketball story, photos: UWGB routs UMass 84-67BY ROB DEMOVSKY November 29, 2008 ASHWAUBENON – Who knows how the University of Massachusetts will end up doing this season, but a victory over UMass sure looks good on a resume. A convincing one will be listed on the University of Wisconsin-Green Bay’s ledger. The Phoenix secured arguably its best non-conference victory in coach Tod Kowalczyk’s seven seasons with its 84-67 win over the Minutemen in Saturday’s home opener at the Resch Center. Maybe UMass (1-4) will continue to struggle in the Atlantic 10 under first-year coach Derek Kellogg, but that didn’t matter to a Phoenix program in need of a marquee win. The crowd of 4,086 seemed to believe it was something big when it offered a standing ovation to the Phoenix starters when they came out of the game in the final minute. “UMass is a good team with a good history, so this ranks up there,” UWGB senior Terry Evans said. “We’ve really struggled against the major conferences we’ve played lately, so this is a good win for our program.” In reality, this game was decided in the first minute and 3 seconds of the second half. After trailing by as many as 10 in the first half and by a basket at the half, the Phoenix (3-2) started the second half with consecutive 3s by Chop Tang and Troy Cotton and a pair of steals by Rahmon Fletcher, one that he turned into a layup. The next thing anyone knew, UWGB had a 45-39 lead that forced Kellogg to call a timeout with 18:57 remaining. “Coach really told us to be aggressive coming out in the second half,” said Cotton, who scored a team-high 21 points on 7-of-15 shooting (including 5-of-10 on 3s). “We were down. We knew we had to come with energy and if we came at them right away, we’d show them that the second half was going to be intense.” The start of the second half began a barrage of 3-pointers by the Phoenix, which buried eight from behind the line in the second half and 12-of-22 overall. Evans continued his surprising stretch of hot shooting by hitting all three of his 3-pointers on the way to an 18-point night. Both of Tang’s baskets were 3s, while Mike Schachtner (14 points) and Fletcher (11 points) each made a 3. Kellogg made the mistake of trying a zone in the second half, and the Phoenix shot the Minutemen right out of it. “When they went zone, I knew I had another shooter in there with me in Terry Evans,” Cotton said of Evans, who last season made just four 3s all year. UMass controlled the game early on despite major turnover problems. In a turnover-filled first half, the Minutemen led 33-23 after three free throws by Ricky Harris (who scored a game-high 27 points). But the Phoenix finally stopped giving the ball away and got back in the game. Evans hit a 3-pointer, and Schachtner scored on an up-and-under post move as part of nine straight Phoenix points to cut the lead to 33-32 with 3:33 remaining. After Randy Berry (10 points, eight rebounds) followed up a Schachtner miss with a put back with 34.7 seconds left, the Phoenix came up with a defensive stop and trailed just 39-37 at halftime. UMass’ new-fangled dribble-drive motion offense that Memphis used to get to the national title game last season helped the Minutemen shoot 60 percent in the first half, when they hit six 3s, but just 38.1 percent in the second half, when they made just two 3s. “I’d like to think we created a lot of things off our defense,” Kowalczyk said. “The first 10 minutes of the game, I thought we had a lot of nervous energy. We just wanted to weather that first storm and once we did, we settled into a nice pattern of getting stops and executing.” UWGB had 10 turnovers in the first eight minutes but didn’t commit another the rest of the half and finished with just 18 for the game. If 18 turnovers sounds like a lot, it paled in comparison to the Minutemen’s 29 – that’s right 29 – turnovers. “At least we spread them out,” Kellogg said of his team’s turnovers. “We had 15 in the first half and 14 in the second. I thought we had an opportunity in the first half to get a very good lead, and we just never capitalized.” www.greenbaypressgazette.com/article/20081129/GPG020101/81129053/1225/GPG02
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Post by Fastbreak on Nov 30, 2008 14:15:15 GMT -5
If Coach Brownell doesn't get these guys to start playing better, this one could get ugly. Poor man k hates WSU and will have no problem running up the score on us.
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Post by Class of '83 on Nov 30, 2008 19:53:57 GMT -5
I hope you are right Blitz. We need to get this season back on track.
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Post by Willie on Nov 30, 2008 23:10:20 GMT -5
Raiders need to improve, but how?By Marc Katz Sunday, November 30, 2008 It’s easy to see what ails the Raiders — poor shooting, diminished rebounding, some problems with defense. It’s even easier to see what the team will work on in practice this week as its readies for games at the twin Wisconsin outposts — Green Bay on Thursday and Milwaukee on Saturday. What is unclear is whether any of those ailments can be fixed in the short term. “We’re not playing well,” coach Brad Brownell said after Saturday’s 19-point loss at Sam Houston State. “We’re not following the defensive game plan. It’s very disappointing.” This should be a good WSU team. A very good team, even though it lost its two biggest inside starters — Scottie Wilson and Jordan Pleiman — to graduation. That explains a lot, but it does not fully explain how Todd Brown could go from averaging nearly 13 points to game to not quite four. It does not explain how the Raiders are getting demolished on the boards even though all the replacements for Wilson and Pleiman are bigger and all seem mobile. On the upside, each of Brownell’s previous two seasons here, the Raiders improved as the season progressed, notwithstanding last season’s three straight losses to end the regular season. Those losses were by eight, five and two points (in overtime). All last season, the Raiders lost only two games by double figures. They’ve matched that total in the last two games. Now would be the time to play better. The Raiders have lost four of their last six games in Green Bay, and haven’t won in Milwaukee since Feb. 21, 1998. www.daytondailynews.com/o/content/shared-gen/blogs/dayton/wrightstatesports/entries/2008/11/30/raiders_need_to_improve_but_ho.html
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Post by Sixth Man on Dec 3, 2008 12:31:47 GMT -5
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Post by Sixth Man on Dec 3, 2008 17:00:18 GMT -5
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Post by Fastbreak on Dec 3, 2008 17:03:08 GMT -5
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Post by Willie on Dec 4, 2008 1:38:53 GMT -5
Preview: Wright state (0-4) at wisconsin-Green Bay (3-2)By Marc Katz Thursday, December 04, 2008 When: 8 p.m. today Where: Resch Center, Green Bay, Wis. Radio: WONE-AM (980), WIZE-AM (1340) Series: Green Bay 19-18. Wisconsin-Green Bay Chop Tang Jr. 6-6 F 11.0 Terry Evans Sr. 6-5 F 10.6 Randy Berry Jr. 6-9 C 8.2 Troy Cotton Jr. 6-1 G 13.8 R. Fletcher So. 5-10 G 6.2 Wright State C. Cooperwood Jr. 6-7 F 8.5 Ronnie Thomas Jr. 6-9 C 3.0 Todd Brown Jr. 6-5 G 4.3 J.D. Gardner Jr. 6-4 G 4.3 N'Gai Evans So. 6-2 G 5.5 About Wis-Green Bay Following two smack-downs vs. Utah and Rollins, the Phoenix have rebounded to win three straight and moved junior college transfer Chop Tang into the starting lineup in front of 6-foot-9 senior Mike Schachtner, who continues to play starters' minutes while scoring 12 points a game, second on the team. About Wright State Not a good time for the Raiders to be starting their Horizon League schedule with guard Vaughn Duggins (broken finger) out, guard Troy Tabler (separated shoulder) out and center Kyle Pressley (sprained ankle) out. Not only that, forward Gavin Horne has a sore lower back, but should be able to play. Outlook Raiders were looking for a second scorer to go with Duggins. Now, they need two scorers. There are plenty of candidates, but some of them have to step up. Todd Brown scored nearly 13 points a game last season. He's scoring just a little over four now. Cooper Land has long-distance range, but has been battling an upset stomach. Scott Grote has shown ability to score inside, but no consistency. Quote "I thought (Green Bay) would be one of the best teams in the league. I would be surprised if they're not. And they've been able the last couple games to make a guy like Schachtner a bench player." WSU coach Brad Brownell www.daytondailynews.com/s/content/oh/story/sports/college/wsu/2008/12/04/ddn120408spwsuprev.html
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Post by Willie on Dec 4, 2008 1:46:44 GMT -5
'Everybody's got to step it up' against Green BayBy Marc Katz Thursday, December 04, 2008 GREEN BAY, Wis. — John David Gardner has fought through his own body breakdowns. Now, he's got to fight through injuries to his teammates. Who knew Wright State would enter Horizon League play tonight, Dec. 4, against Wisconsin-Green Bay as the only league team without a victory? Who knew three Raiders would be out with injuries, including starting guard Vaughn Duggins? Who knew Gardner would be starting his third straight game after overcoming injuries to his foot and hip that have reduced him to only a handful of games over the past three seasons? Gardner just sees himself as a player who has a burning desire to play, matched by a burning desire to win. "It's good to play," Gardner said, "although things aren't going like we hoped they would go. We've just got to get some wins." The 6-foot-4 Gardner is averaging 4.3 points per game and leads WSU with 10 assists. If the Raiders — who have started 0-4 — fight back like Gardner has, they'll get plenty of wins. A native of Homewood, Ala., Gardner shunned some bigger schools closer to his home to go to North Carolina-Wilmington, where Brad Brownell was the coach. Gardner's freshman season was cut short by a foot injury, and when Brownell moved to Wright State the next year, Gardner soon followed, although his foot was still giving him trouble. When he finally started to play again last year, he sprained his foot and missed the final two-thirds of the season. This year, his hip has been giving him problems, but he has worked his way into the starting lineup. "I'm not the athlete I was in high school, and there were a lot of down times," Gardner said. "But I always thought I'd be back." Brownell calls Gardner the toughest player on his team. Without Duggins (broken finger), Troy Tabler (shoulder) and Kyle Pressley (ankle) in the lineup for a while, Gardner will have to be tougher. "Everybody's got to step up a little," Gardner said. www.daytondailynews.com/s/content/oh/story/sports/college/wsu/2008/12/04/ddn120408spwsubb.html
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Post by bballraider on Dec 4, 2008 3:18:07 GMT -5
Game #5 Wright State @ Green Bay
Here's a little tidbit that may not be known about this match up. Both of these HL teams are among 8 schools from the top 11 RPI conferences from last year, that have finished in the top 4 in their conference the past 5 seasons. The others on that list are Kansas, Wisconsin, Southern Illinois, Creighton, UNLV, and fellow HL member UIC. That little tidbit shows some consistency over several seasons, but if you want some real consistency, just put the Phoenix on the free throw line. Green Bay is currently leading the country in free throw accuracy at over 86% from the charity stripe.
The Raiders hobble into Green Bay with hopes of ending a season beginning 4 game losing streak. The Raiders will be without 3 key players in this game, including leading scorer Duggins who just underwent surgery to have 2 screws inserted to fix a broken finger. With Duggins out, JD Gardner will most likely move into the starting lineup to replace him. Green Bay is also without 6'8" senior guard Ryan Tillema who is out after surgery on a right knee. The Phoenix are also without 6'5" Cordero Barkley who is injured and out for this season. So Green Bay is not at maximum strength for the game either, and came out of the gate with 2 losses. The good news for Green Bay is they are experienced and have overcome these setbacks by winning their last 3 games.
The key to Green Bay's turnaround has been the better play on defense and finding more than a couple scorers per game. In their losses they were only getting double digit scoring from 1 or 2 players, but in their wins they have had more players stepping up on the offensive end. In their last game they even had 5 players in double digits as they came from behind to beat UMASS. What makes the Phoenix tough to defend as it is not just one player that has been scoring. They have had 4 different leading scorers in their 5 games this year.
The Back Court
Starting at the PG position is most likely 5'10" sophomore Rahmon Fletcher, but fellow soph. Bryquis Perine will get almost the same amount of minutes at the point too. These players are very similar, and are not real outside shooters. They take most of their shots from inside. Neither is a great ball handler at the point, but with WSU's lack of depth, I do not think the Raiders will press too much to try to get these guys off their game. A possible 3rd guard, Jessie Childs (son of NBA player Chris Childs) could see some minutes this game if his season beginning suspension for breaking team rules is removed by the coach.
At the other starting guard is Troy Cotton Jr., Cotton a 6'1" junior is a streaky shooter, and has the ability to light it up from outside if hot. Cotton had a tremendous freshman year, but took a step backward last year as a sophomore. This season he seems to be playing closer to his first year with the team, he currently leads the team in scoring at almost 14/gm. Cotton will at times move over to run the point for several possessions too.
The Front Court
This is the real strength of this Green Bay team. The Phoenix are getting great play from both of their starting forwards, who are each averaging about 11 pts/gm. At one forward is 6'5" senior, Terry Evans, the returning defensive player of the year in the Horizon League, but this year he has found an outside shot to go along with his physical inside play. Evans has hit 8 of 11 shots from 3 point range for a 77.7% clip from behind the arc. His only flaw this year has been his turnovers, as he has averaged 4 per game, but has offset that a little with his 2+ steals/game. The other forward position is manned by JC transfer Chop Tang. The athletic 6'6" Tang can do it all. He can get to the rim, rebound, and is shooting 53.8% from behind the 3 point line. He has performed so well that he moved the high scoring 6'9" senior Mike Schachtner to the bench. Schachtner is the fourth player on the team that is averaging in double digits.
Finally at the center position, is the hard working Randy Berry. Berry is a 6'9" junior that is a very good role player. He is tied for the team lead in rebounding with Tang at 5.6/game. Berry is just below the double digit mark in scoring at 8/gm. He does all his scoring from inside and runs the court well on the break for a big guy.
The Match-Up
This will be a real tough test to start the HL. The Phoenix were picked to finish 4th this year, and have been playing well as of late. The Raiders on the other hand have been sliding the opposite direction with poor shooting, and lapses on defense. Green Bay will definitely be favored to win this game, especially with Duggins, Tabler, and Pressley out for the game. The Raiders only hope is that they cure their shooting woes in this game, and turn up the defense. Wright state is also at a disadvantage at the free throw line, and being on the road is not a good omen for getting calls. So the Raiders have to hit their free throws in this game.
In addition to shooting well, the Raider guards will need to disrupt the play of the GB point guards, and try to force some turnovers on defense to get some easy transition baskets. I think this is the weakness of Green Bay. As for my pick, until I see a change in the Raiders, I cannot pick them to win this game. However, if Todd Brown can start hitting shots, that would be big for WSU. I think he needs to attack the basket early and get to the line. Once he see those freebies go through the rim, I think he will loosen up and start scoring. The rest of the Raiders will also need to show up on the offensive end too, if they do then the Raiders have shown the firepower in the past to make this a game. I am picking GB by 2 free throws. Let's hope I am wrong, I haven't got one pick right this year yet, so we have that going for us.
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Post by rock70 on Dec 4, 2008 11:42:45 GMT -5
Game #5 Wright State @ Green Bay
I am picking GB by 2 free throws. Let's hope I am wrong, I haven't got one pick right this year yet, so we have that going for us. About our only hope of winning tonight is the fact that bball hasn't pick one right yet this season so I'm hanging my hat that bball remains a perfect 0-5 in picking games ;D. Honestly I don't see how we win these two game up in Wisconsin. Our defense is in shambles and our leading scorer now is Cory who averages just over 8 points a game. Maybe Scott Grote and Todd will put it all together tonight both offensively and defensively and we miraculously find a way to win. Nice break down once again bballraider!
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Post by Raider Grad on Dec 4, 2008 11:54:20 GMT -5
I think we will win tonight. Green Bay isn't that good this year. They lost to D2 Rollins by a score of 75-58, so they are far from invincible. I think this is the game where we come together as a team and get this season turned around.
Go Raiders!
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