|
Post by gerb on Sept 14, 2013 10:04:15 GMT -5
I think the CBE really screwed us here. They were in a tremendous bind last year for finding host sites and we kind of bailed them out. It worked in our favor, but if we hadn't agreed, there wouldn't be a tournament due to poor planning on their part. I know there was a deal worked out with them that would get us consideration in this year's classic. Get them a host arena and we'd get some games this year. What did we end up with? Three away games against teams with RPIs of 204, 154 and 310 (310!!!!) and a home game against a D-2 school. That's not to say the schedule we put together on our own isn't a turd sandwich on its own, but I'd be piiiiiised if I was Donlon or Grant.
|
|
|
Post by Raider Rowdies on Sept 14, 2013 10:07:47 GMT -5
I am curious, does anyone have a year where they were happy with the schedule? I was happy with the schedule the last few years when Biancardi was our coach. In 05/06 we played: Belmont twice, Toledo, Ball State, Miami (OH), Northern-Illinois, Texas-Pan-American, Northeastern, Akron, Bowling Green, and Kenyon. In 04/05 we played: Tulsa, Arizona, Brown, Toledo, Ball State, Northeastern, Miami (OH), Akron, Southern Illinois, Texas-Pan-American, and Morgan State.
|
|
|
Post by Big D on Sept 14, 2013 10:13:30 GMT -5
I think the CBE really screwed us here. They were in a tremendous bind last year for finding host sites and we kind of bailed them out. It worked in our favor, but if we hadn't agreed, there wouldn't be a tournament due to poor planning on their part. I know there was a deal worked out with them that would get us consideration in this year's classic. Get them a host arena and we'd get some games this year. What did we end up with? Three away games against teams with RPIs of 204, 154 and 310 (310!!!!) and a home game against a D-2 school. That's not to say the schedule we put together on our own isn't a turd sandwich on its own, but I'd be piiiiiised if I was Donlon or Grant. That is BS. We did not bail them out. We signed a contract to participate in the CBI. We knew we might have to be the host site for all of the games. That was in the contract and that was part of the reason we have never participated in these types of pay tournaments in the past. We requested to only host a first round game, but the CBI never promised us that so it wasn't their fault. It was our fault for signing the contract and participating in the tournament in the first place if we didn't have the finances to do so.
|
|
|
Post by wsutommygun on Sept 14, 2013 10:31:00 GMT -5
Arizona was part of the pre-season NIT so, we needed to beat Tulsa to play. I know some coaches like to play some top teams and some bottom teams to balance it out. Paul preferred playing teams near our RPI. I'm sure the type of teams would have been adjusted based on how we were doing but, he didn't believe in a schedule that went to far either way as far as RPI's. Over the course of time you're bound to see some exceptions. I liked those schedules, also ( but I'm not sure our fans wouldn't have hoped for something better ). Willie, if you're not saying UD and OSU have great schedules, why are you giving credit to the AD's? Surely, you infer that they wouldn't have been as good if the coaches put it together. Right? Anyway, don't know who does the schedule or if Grant has to sign off on them. I don't care if something different was tried. I'm sure the person most responsible wouldn't mind if you blamed Grant. I don't know if the AD at UD or OSU really put the schedules together but, I'm not sure it shouldn't be a case by case approach to make sure the process is considered an improvement. It is what it is for this year.
|
|
|
Post by gerb on Sept 14, 2013 10:34:11 GMT -5
I think the CBE really screwed us here. They were in a tremendous bind last year for finding host sites and we kind of bailed them out. It worked in our favor, but if we hadn't agreed, there wouldn't be a tournament due to poor planning on their part. I know there was a deal worked out with them that would get us consideration in this year's classic. Get them a host arena and we'd get some games this year. What did we end up with? Three away games against teams with RPIs of 204, 154 and 310 (310!!!!) and a home game against a D-2 school. That's not to say the schedule we put together on our own isn't a turd sandwich on its own, but I'd be piiiiiised if I was Donlon or Grant. That is BS. We did not bail them out. We signed a contract to participate in the CBI. We knew we might have to be the host site for all of the games. That was in the contract and that was part of the reason we have never participated in these types of pay tournaments in the past. We requested to only host a first round game, but the CBI never promised us that so it wasn't their fault. It was our fault for signing the contract and participating in the tournament in the first place if we didn't have the finances to do so. Okay, I grossly misunderstood that situation then.
|
|
|
Post by wsutommygun on Sept 14, 2013 10:37:17 GMT -5
I still think the buzz for the team and what made it a successful year was the CBI. Bob Grant told me that WSU ended up breaking even ( whatever that means if it included some carry over for this season's schedule ). I am glad we participated.
|
|
|
Post by Willie on Sept 14, 2013 10:44:55 GMT -5
Arizona was part of the pre-season NIT so, we needed to beat Tulsa to play. The pNIT is an example of a good tournament we should be trying to schedule. The CBE is pure crap. Willie, if you're not saying UD and OSU have great schedules, why are you giving credit to the AD's? Surely, you infer that they wouldn't have been as good if the coaches put it together. Right? Anyway, don't know who does the schedule or if Grant has to sign off on them. I don't care if something different was tried. I'm sure the person most responsible wouldn't mind if you blamed Grant. I don't know if the AD at UD or OSU really put the schedules together but, I'm not sure it shouldn't be a case by case approach to make sure the process is considered an improvement. It is what it is for this year. At OSU and UD, coaches recruit and coach. The AD does the scheduling. At Wright State, Assistant coach Mullin does the initial contact for scheduling and Donlon takes over from there. I think we would be much better served letting these 2 men focus on recruiting and coaching. Grant should take over the scheduling IMO for 2 reasons. First, he can devote much more time to scheduling than our coaches can. Second, he can put together the best schedule for the university, not just for the coach. Last year, for example, Donlon put together the weakest schedule he could because he knew he was starting to get on the hot seat from his previous season's poor performance. He put together a schedule that was in the best interest of his career. That wasn't necessarily what was in Wright State's best interest.
|
|
|
Post by gerb on Sept 14, 2013 10:51:08 GMT -5
Since college football doesn't start for another half hour, I just went through some team previews for our schedule for roster losses and gains on our schedule. The one source I found generally only mentioned the top teams in each conference. Here's what's leaving and coming back with some of his commentary mixed in. Georgetown - They didn't have any seniors on their roster, so they return everybody except for Otto Porter, who went to the draft. Obviously that's a significant loss, but they're always going to have quality players. They're in a similar situation roster-wise to us. On South Alabama - "The Jaguars lose a pair of starters - Javier Carter (7.1 ppg, 56.7 eFG%, 6.7 rpg, 2.5 bpg) and Freddie Goldstein (7.9 ppg, 2.4 apg), though an injury cost Goldstein most of the latter half of the season. They do return star Augustine Rubit (19.4 ppg, 10.5 rpg, 1.2 bpg), and also will hope to get back Xavier Roberson, who had 13.6 ppg (44.3 3P%) and 3.5 rpg before being lost for the season with an injury back in December. One of the things I like is their new head coach - Matthew Graves, who had been an assistant under Brad Stevens at Butler. If he can hold this roster this together and also add a nice addition or two, he has a team capable of making a run at a Sun Belt title next season." On DePaul - "It's shocking how awful DePaul has been since joining the Big East. And it's not going to change anytime soon. Considering how much more successful they were in Conference USA, maybe they should have stayed in Conference USA 2.0 (the old Big East)." On NC A&T - " Of the eight players who earned at least 10 minutes per game this past season, five will graduate, including three starters. The toughest losses are Adrian Powell (12.3 ppg, 36.5 3P%, 4.9 rpg, 1.8 spg) and Lamont Middleton (12.4 ppg, 4.1 rpg, 2.2 apg). Their top prospect going forward has to be Bruce Beckford (8.2 ppg, 55.0 FG%, 4.5 rpg as a freshman). With all of those losses, there's almost no way North Carolina A&T can avoid being even weaker next season." On Western Carolina - " they also return every player from their regulation, and will likely start four seniors next season. Their top returners are the inside-outside combo of Trey Sumler (18.4 ppg, 4.5 rpg, 3.6 apg, 1.9 spg) and Tawaski King (11.0 ppg, 6.3 rpg). They also have an athletic prospect in Mike Brown (3.5 ppg, 3.2 rpg and 1.1 apg as a true freshman)." On Eastern Illinois - "If there's a sleeper team for next season, I think it actually has to be Eastern Illinois. They started the season a brutal 3-16, but finished the season really strong. They won 8 of their final 12 games, including an upset of Murray State. They do lose three regulars (Austin Akers, Taylor Jones and Malcolm Herron), but return star Sherman Blanford (10.5 ppg, 6.4 rpg, 2.3 apg) and also a quality big man in Josh Piper (10.2 ppg, 55.0 eFG%, 4.4 rpg). They have two strong 2012 shooting guard recruits (Cameron Harvey and Alex Austin) to build their future around, and there's a good reason to think that they should be even better next season." Alcorn State … " (will) lose multiple starters to graduation. The bottom of the conference was just a wasteland." So, based entirely on roster moves and this guy's lone analysis, we could be looking at four teams improving, three teams getting worse or staying at their poor level, and the rest not worth mention. I guess when you total it up, that’s an over all gain, right? Right?
|
|
|
Post by Big D on Sept 14, 2013 10:53:51 GMT -5
At the end of the day, the schedule is what it is. I am disappointed that we are putting all of our post season aspirations into winning the HL tournament because this schedule gives us no chance whatsoever at getting an invite into the NIT or NCAA. I also don't like that we are setting this team up for a poor NCAA tournament seed. I think our last 2 NCAA tournament teams could have won a game in the tournament if we would have had more favorable seeds. I really like this year's team. I think this schedule does them a huge disservice and they deserved better.
|
|
|
Post by gerb on Sept 14, 2013 10:55:24 GMT -5
At the end of the day, the schedule is what it is. I am disappointed that we are putting all of our post season aspirations into winning the HL tournament because this schedule gives us no chance whatsoever at getting an invite into the NIT or NCAA. I also don't like that we are setting this team up for a poor NCAA tournament seed. I think our last 2 NCAA tournament teams could have won a game in the tournament if we would have had more favorable seeds. I really like this year's team. I think this schedule does them a huge disservice and they deserved better. +1 Agreed on all points
|
|
|
Post by wsutommygun on Sept 14, 2013 11:21:26 GMT -5
Willie, I think you have to be invited to the pNIT ( but, I agree that it would be better than the CBE...maybe in a sense you need to be invited to any exempt tourney ). I liked your reasoning as far as the scheduling. Still not sure how much hands on dealings these AD's have with scheduling but, I'm not against it.
|
|
|
Post by mrose on Sept 14, 2013 20:01:39 GMT -5
The irony is BD scheduled weak last year to save his job. With this weak schedule, and all the returning players, if he doesn't win at LEAST 12 OOC games he should be fired.
|
|
|
Post by Dr J on Sept 15, 2013 10:47:18 GMT -5
Well we can all moan and groan about the schedule but as it has been said it is done. I am ready for the first tip off and Raider basket, GAME ON.
|
|
|
Post by Raider Grad on Sept 15, 2013 11:01:46 GMT -5
Well we can all moan and groan about the schedule but as it has been said it is done. I am ready for the first tip off and Raider basket, GAME ON. It's too bad that with this schedule, no one will be in the arena to see it.
|
|
|
Post by keithfromxenia on Sept 15, 2013 13:39:07 GMT -5
big d, you are right as far as you go, but you are missing the key point imho. the coaches want this type of schedule because they believe that wsu, for the next 5-10 years, is not giong to be a program that contends for an at large bid. they do not believe we will be a "bubble team". they do not believe the hl as currently constituted will be a multi bid league. therefore the only hope for an ncaa bid is the league tourney. failing to win that, they beleive that by padding the schedule with softies, we will have 24-25 wins and be in line for one of the poc tournaments. obvious downsides are that in the years we win the tournament our sucky schedule gets us a 15 seed and prompt exit from the tournament. the other downside is the poor fans who pay premium prices for a lousy schedule. two upsides are that winning 21-24 games per season, regardless of the competition, will guarantee the coaches they won't lose their jobs and may even result in moving up. and second, that the post season aka.poc tournament, will be almost guaranteed. i truly believe that a lot of the fans will settle for this approach with 1-3 league championships per decade and a bunch of poc tournaments.
the people i really feel sorry for are those new folks who were sold on season tickets this offseason. probably heard all the stuff about us being a much better team and therefore upgrading the schedule to reflect the quality of the team. well, surprise!!!!!!!!! no upgrade, maybe a downgrade.
|
|