Cleveland State
Dec 23, 2008 20:44:30 GMT -5
Post by Bomber on Dec 23, 2008 20:44:30 GMT -5
A season in parts
By Marc Katz
Tuesday, December 23, 2008
DAYTON — Just back from San Juan, and there’s no reason to go out to Fairborn becuase the place is closed for a few days.
We’re a little more than a third of the way through the men’s basketball season, and I feel like I’ve already seen parts of three different seasons.
Part one was the unexpected loss of six straight games. Not only that, Vaughn Duggins broke his finger and will be out through the rest of this month, and Todd Brown lost his scoring touch.
Not only were the Raiders losing, they were without their two top scorers from last season.
Season two began at Green Bay (overlapping season one). The Raiders were already 0-4, then lost at Green Bay and Milwaukee, but played much better in those losses. Coach Brad Brownell was actually happy with the way his team played beginning in the two Wisconsin games.
Season two also included a big victory at Arkansas-Little Rock and a good, if losing effort at Wake Forest.
Season three was at the San Juan Shootout, and there was little resemblance to the other two seasons.
The Raiders not only played lock-down defense, they began to show some offense, particularly Brown, against Oral Roberts, South Florida and Murray State. Those three teams are of a caliber — or better — than the Raiders will see the rest of the way in the Horizon League.
What happened in season three? Brown is playing like a guy who is improving on his previous season, not just trying to duplicate it. John David Gardner is becoming the player Brownell thought he had before Gardner went down with injuries the last three seasons.
N’Gai Evans has emerged as a player who can start or come off the bench. Troy Tabler is healthy after missing six games with a shoulder separation and big men Ronnie Thomas and Gavin Horne are becoming stronger inside.
Scott Grote is playing better and is more confident.
All this and Duggins won’t return until probably the first of the year. Without him, the Raiders have stepped up. It remains to be seen which season the team is in when it resumes league play Dec. 30 with Cleveland State.
That’s the team favored to win the league this season. From what the Raiders have shown recently, that could be a night to circle on the calendar.
www.daytondailynews.com/o/content/shared-gen/blogs/dayton/wrightstatesports/
By Marc Katz
Tuesday, December 23, 2008
DAYTON — Just back from San Juan, and there’s no reason to go out to Fairborn becuase the place is closed for a few days.
We’re a little more than a third of the way through the men’s basketball season, and I feel like I’ve already seen parts of three different seasons.
Part one was the unexpected loss of six straight games. Not only that, Vaughn Duggins broke his finger and will be out through the rest of this month, and Todd Brown lost his scoring touch.
Not only were the Raiders losing, they were without their two top scorers from last season.
Season two began at Green Bay (overlapping season one). The Raiders were already 0-4, then lost at Green Bay and Milwaukee, but played much better in those losses. Coach Brad Brownell was actually happy with the way his team played beginning in the two Wisconsin games.
Season two also included a big victory at Arkansas-Little Rock and a good, if losing effort at Wake Forest.
Season three was at the San Juan Shootout, and there was little resemblance to the other two seasons.
The Raiders not only played lock-down defense, they began to show some offense, particularly Brown, against Oral Roberts, South Florida and Murray State. Those three teams are of a caliber — or better — than the Raiders will see the rest of the way in the Horizon League.
What happened in season three? Brown is playing like a guy who is improving on his previous season, not just trying to duplicate it. John David Gardner is becoming the player Brownell thought he had before Gardner went down with injuries the last three seasons.
N’Gai Evans has emerged as a player who can start or come off the bench. Troy Tabler is healthy after missing six games with a shoulder separation and big men Ronnie Thomas and Gavin Horne are becoming stronger inside.
Scott Grote is playing better and is more confident.
All this and Duggins won’t return until probably the first of the year. Without him, the Raiders have stepped up. It remains to be seen which season the team is in when it resumes league play Dec. 30 with Cleveland State.
That’s the team favored to win the league this season. From what the Raiders have shown recently, that could be a night to circle on the calendar.
www.daytondailynews.com/o/content/shared-gen/blogs/dayton/wrightstatesports/