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Post by wsutommygun on Mar 26, 2015 7:33:12 GMT -5
I could probably go to Ann Arbor and find students from that school up north making fun of Ohio State's nickname and mascot, so what? If you don't like the mascot, just say it. If people make fun of your team, why? Is that separate from them making fun of the mascot? FWIW, it is supposed to be a wolf. FWIW, wolves are supposed to be some kind of raiders. I don't care anything about a nickname or mascot. When I go to someone else's arena I don't care about their nickname or mascot ( I don't know anything about most mascots unless I go to an away game and if I look at spirit units I can usually find a cheerleader or dancer that I'd rather look at then any mascot...no offense, Rowdy ).
I do appreciate any thoughts on what could make Wright State a better basketball program. At times I thought we had things better than Butler and Xavier, as members of the Big East I no longer think of them as mid-majors.
I am curious about who you think is responsible for the "game experience". Do you think the men's basketball coach schedules the halftime activities? How about concession prices? Parking? As for the style of play, I would think you'd recruit to win the Horizon League using guys that you think can play giving you the best chance to win. I didn't think we played great defense this past season ( although I saw signs of it just before Kendall's last concussion so, maybe Kendall just made it look better for everybody ).
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Post by wolf41 on Mar 27, 2015 12:08:20 GMT -5
I think anyone who posts here is a fan of WSU atheletics. I try to support nearly all our programs, but some, like golf, X-country, track, tennis, and swimming are more difficult to attend. The other WSU sports are doing pretty well in their respective areas, except for volleyball and men's basketball. I am hopeful the new volleyball coach will continue to make progress with her team, but we have been down for so long that it will take time.
As for men's basketball I feel we have been slowly losing momentenum. I am hopeful that next season we can bounce back and play solid games of basketball. But I do have concerns. I haven't been impressed with our scheduling for some time. If we want more "gate" we need to schedule games with teams that can help attract that gate. I have also been concerned about the number of chronic, serious injuries our players have suffered. Are we recruiting players with a history of injuries, or does our style of practicing/playing lend itself to injuries? Finally, I'm concerned with recruiting. We seem to go after and land some stellar players who top out at about 6'4" or less, but will go to the bottom of the barrel, so to speak, to get some height for height's sake, but don't seem to be too concerned about the players skill set or overall speed, build, and strength. "Any tall guy will do" seems to be the mind set.
This past season our leading rebounder was Joe Thomasson, a 6'4" guard. When was the last time we graduated a player with 500 career rebounds? I might be wrong, but I think it might have been Todd Brown who graduated in 2010 with 529 boards. He had also played the third most minutes at the time he finished his career, so that may explain why he got 529 boards. Maybe I'm wrong, but it seems as if we forfeit our rebounding effort on our offensive board much of the time. Are we really that confident about our shooting skill? Right now we have no one on the horizon who will pull down 500 boards by the time he graduates. If so, we will tie and exceed the 9 year gap we had from '84 to '93 without a 500 rebounder. Since going to D-I we have had 10 such players in the 15 years between '93 and '08. Since '08 Brown has been our only 500 rebounder as we head into the 2015-16 season. We must be fooling ourselves if we don't think rebounding has become a low priority in WSU basketball.
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Post by gerb on Mar 27, 2015 16:16:41 GMT -5
While I agree with the overall sentiment, it's worth pointing out that a few guys like Here an Young, Cory Cooperwood, and Scottie Wilson would have likely topped 500. The slowdown style of play also leads to fewer possessions on both ends and, therefore, fewer rebound opportunities for anyone.
Having said that, the style of play sucks, the injuries are concerning, and the majority of our big men have either been projects or cast offs. We're all fans, But we're all pretty underwhelmed with all of it.
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Post by Dr J on Mar 27, 2015 21:14:13 GMT -5
Good rebounding is the first line of defense. Our rebounds decrease the opponents offensive possessions. Nuff said
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Post by oldschool on Mar 29, 2015 15:54:34 GMT -5
Couldn't agree more, atpartycrew. When you look at our player's bodies as compared to other teams, we don't get any bigger throughout our careers. Seems the Strength and Conditioning program is severely lacking. I see other teams have strength coaches that are specifically for men's basketball. I don't think that is the case at WSU.
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Post by Raider Pride on Mar 29, 2015 18:25:52 GMT -5
I have also been concerned about the number of chronic, serious injuries our players have suffered. Are we recruiting players with a history of injuries, or does our style of practicing/playing lend itself to injuries? I believe the injuries could be partly attributed to intensity in practice and bad luck. But the main culprit I feel is our strength and conditioning program. I think Cole Darling is a perfect example, riddled with injuries and actually seemed to get smaller each year. Cole is a poor example of what our strength program is capable of doing because he he was not able to lift weights with his upper body his last 2 years at WSU due to having back to back off season shoulder surgeries. Despite that he went from being a 185# high school senior to 210# college senior. The problem isn't our strength and conditioning program. We have 3 main problems: 1. Donlon recruits underweight SFs and plays then at PF and underweight PFs and plays them at center. 2. Donlon wastes their first season by playing them mop up minutes as true freshmen instead of red-shirting them and allowing them to put on some weight and learn how to play the post at the collegiate level. 3. Donon keeps too many guards on his roster and not enough big men which results in our big men getting hurt from playing too many minutes and not having the benefit of red-shirting. AJ Pacher is a good example of what our strength and conditioning program is capable of. He came in as a 210# high school senior and graduated from Wright State at 245#. He had a good senior year at Wright State. Imagine what he could have done here this season next to Karena if we would have red-shirted him as a freshman and allowed him to put on some more weight and worked on his game another year.
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Post by Raider3G on Mar 29, 2015 19:43:46 GMT -5
I believe the injuries could be partly attributed to intensity in practice and bad luck. But the main culprit I feel is our strength and conditioning program. I think Cole Darling is a perfect example, riddled with injuries and actually seemed to get smaller each year. Cole is a poor example of what our strength program is capable of doing because he he was not able to lift weights with his upper body his last 2 years at WSU due to having back to back off season shoulder surgeries. Despite that he went from being a 185# high school senior to 210# college senior. The problem isn't our strength and conditioning program. We have 3 main problems: 1. Donlon recruits underweight SFs and plays then at PF and underweight PFs and plays them at center. 2. Donlon wastes their first season by playing them mop up minutes as true freshmen instead of red-shirting them and allowing them to put on some weight and learn how to play the post at the collegiate level. 3. Donon keeps too many guards on his roster and not enough big men which results in our big men getting hurt from playing too many minutes and not having the benefit of red-shirting. AJ Pacher is a good example of what our strength and conditioning program is capable of. He came in as a 210# high school senior and graduated from Wright State at 245#. He had a good senior year at Wright State. Imagine what he could have done here this season next to Karena if we would have red-shirted him as a freshman and allowed him to put on some more weight and worked on his game another year. This is one area that I don't know who to criticize or critique first. I don't know how much influence Donlon has on the strength program day-to-day, since I believe WSU uses one guy for most if not all sports. But I don't know that for sure. I was pretty involved doing the weight program at a local football program (about three years). The big thing with any program at any level is a) how often the guys make attendance, b) How hard they work when they are there, and c) what is the punishment if they miss sessions or if they slack off. This is one area about Donlon as a head coach that I don't think we know a lot about. When you look at guys like Kendall, Matt Vest, AJ, it definitely looks like they are doing something right with some of the guys. N'Gai, Troy Tabler, Cooper Land...all guys that definitely put the work in. I think a bigger cause of the injuries for any team during the course of a season could be possible over-conditioning, particularly if there is a sustained high-tempo with practice throughout the year. At some point, bodies can only take so much.
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Post by ohiopirate on Apr 1, 2015 14:52:08 GMT -5
www.indystar.com/longform/sports/college/butler/2015/04/01/gordon-hayward-shot-butlers-run-final-four/70680056/This article about Butler's run to the Final Four and Hayward's half court shot is spectacular. There is a lot we can learn about who Butler was at that time in comparison to how we view Wright State - as evidenced by many of the comments in this thread. Butler did not care who was on the other sideline - they believed in themselves and never considered the possibility that they may lose. Every person associated with the program said a variation of those exact words in the article. There was no underdog story - they believe they were going to win every game. That's a program culture. Wright State...Every time we play a big name program or national TV game we....struggle....to put it mildly. How many people associated with Wright State could say they believed they were going to win those games? Anyone? I know its not apples to apples but it just shows how far we need to go still. Where does that start - who instills that confidence? One special player? Coach? AD? I don't know the answer.
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