2024-25 basketball season outlook

[Dr J]

Our team is set for the next season. We have a new coach and some new players. I am expecting to see a different offensive look and seeing different defensive schemes.in looking we have some athletic players. Will we improvement in returning players, I say yes. We lost a lot of offense but we are returning players with the potential to replace that loss.expect a better defensive play and more balanced scoring stats. I think we will be seeing more games with four players in double figures in games I don’t expect to see any player averaging 20+ points. I will expect an increase in assists per game
Is anyone else optimistic about this team.

[refrigeratorraider]

I'm on the optimistic side. I feel the defense will improve (Can it even get worse?). While the three key losses (Calvin, Holden, Braun) were all great offensive players, I don’t think any were great on defense. The offense will likely take a step back, but should still be good. If the defense can just take 2 steps forward, this can be a better team. That will really be the determining factor.

Nagy had his way of doing things and simply refused to change. I think our new, younger coach will be open to change and try different things, especially on the defensive side. I’m also hoping he goes deeper in the bench with the rotation. The starters will be less fatigued and less injury-prone, the younger players will gain more experience, and hopefully we will see more hustle.

[hokieraider]

I go into every season optimistic, and sometimes also with expectations. I still have the optimism this year, but not any expectations. More questions this year than most with more transfers/turnover, and the new coach. I'm expecting more defensive adjustments and flexibility, and less of Nagy's "we only do it this way". I also expect to see more energy and fun from the players, and less walking on eggshells afraid of getting a quick hook if they make a mistake. Lastly, I hope we'll call a timeout when the other team goes on a run.

Have no clue what the other HL teams have done, and the portal has made forecasting who will be good a total crap shoot. Would expect overall the HL will still be a crap league, with 3-4 competitive teams -- let's hope we are one of them. For the rest of the HL, I'm most curious how the part time coach, part time radio host idea will work out in Green Bay (for the record, I've liked his radio show for years). Might actually help his recruiting.

[wsuwillie]

I think we will have plenty of good players at the 2/3...will be light at the 4 and without a legit 5...and abysmal at PG. My confidence level is quite low.

[Dr J]

Sept 26, 2024 7:57:35 GMT -5 wsuwillie said:

I think we will have plenty of good players at the 2/3...will be light at the 4 and without a legit 5...and abysmal at PG. My confidence level is quite low.

Willie I will predict you may be wrong. I can see point guard play with more assists and fewer points.
I think we will see more athletic play with two power forward type players a lot of the time.
I am hoping to see coaches who will be pushing and teaching the players. I will expect our newest coach to help improvement in point guard play than most people expect.
GO RAIDERS

[wsuwillie]

I hope you are correct Dr J...I prefer the optimism.

[Dr J]

Sept 27, 2024 9:13:04 GMT -5 wsuwillie said:

I hope you are correct Dr J...I prefer the optimism.

No competative athlete goes into the season with a negative attitude. A competitive athlete prefers to make the pessimistic person wrong.

[refrigeratorraider]

I think the point guard play will be strong. My concern is at the 4/5. Our 2 returners (Noel and Carter) should be good, but I'm not sure about the others. Michael Imariagbe put up decent stats, but will he be able to do that in the Horizon League? Ben Southerland is still really unproven at the college level. If Ayden Davis plays, that will help the depth and size, but is he ready? Will Sargent redshirt most freshman like Nagy?

[guyinstandswithbeer]

Sept 27, 2024 10:29:29 GMT -5 refrigeratorraider said:

I think the point guard play will be strong. My concern is at the 4/5. Our 2 returners (Noel and Carter) should be good, but I'm not sure about the others. Michael Imariagbe put up decent stats, but will he be able to do that in the Horizon League? Ben Southerland is still really unproven at the college level. If Ayden Davis plays, that will help the depth and size, but is he ready? Will Sargent redshirt most freshman like Nagy?

There are at least 4-5 options available to play the 4-5 positions with 3 of them being proven players.  Michael Imariagbe put up good stats in games against competition far superior to anything he is going to see in the HL.  I think our size and depth is lacking at the 4-5 but we at least have options.  I don’t get how you are optimistic at all about our PG situation.  Norris isn’t going to be a good point guard and I am not even thinking about what he lacks from an offensive standpoint.  He has next to no athletic ability and without that he is not going to be able to guard point guards in the HL.  If you can’t defend the other teams point guard you can’t win games consistently.  You just can’t.  A good guard that can penetrate the lane at will, will get out interior players into foul trouble because they are going to have to play help defense every time those point guards penetrate the lane and puts them at a huge disadvantage.   Coach can try to talk up how much improvement Norris has made in the off season but I just don’t buy it.  You can’t teach athletic ability and that is what Norris lacks.  I’ve already heard other fans try to make the argument that having Cole Gentry on staff is going to make all the difference with Norris.  I call BS on that idea too.  Gentry wasn’t a great athlete but he was a better athlete that Norris is and he was quick in body and mind, and he played with the heart of a champion.  You can’t teach that either.  Anyone that has truly been around that kind of a player knows you either have it or you don’t.  It’s not something that you learn.  If anything I sure in the hell know that a champion walks into the fight and doesn’t run from it.  He sure in the hell would not concede his roll on the team as a 3rd year player to a true freshman and ask to be redshirted like Norris did last year.  Quite honestly, once it was known that we weren’t bringing in an experienced PG from the portal or JUCO ranks, I lost interest in this season altogether.  I hope Callaghan is ready to lead this team this year and I hope Sargent is smart enough to play the best players on his team instead of coaching with blind loyalty like I’m afraid he is going to do.  I just don’t see it and based on all his public comments so far, I’m not even hearing it from him.  

[Jazzfan]

I was on the fence about this upcoming season but then I read that article about our defense last year and pretty much lost any hope I had for this year. When your coach makes public statements that he can’t understand why our defense was bad last year and he doesn’t know what to do to correct it this year, he might as well just said that he is over his head and doesn’t know WTF he is doing because that is how he came off to me in the article.

It’s hard to get excited about this year to me anyway. Normally I would just accept that we have a new coach and this is going to be a rebuilding year and I would try to focus on the development of the younger players hoping to see what we will be developing for the future. It’s hard to do that anymore in the new NIL era. We are going to see a lot of other teams that have new coaching staffs that already rebuilt their roster better than we did. We also can’t watch these young players expecting to see them in a Raider uniform in the future. If they show any promise as a player, it is just as likely that they will transfer out as it is that they will be here in a year so watching their development isn’t quits enjoyable as it used to be for me.

[bballraider]

I think Coach Sargent was saying those things about not knowing why the defense was so bad last year because he didn't want to throw Nagy under the bus or some of the players that aren't great man-to-man defenders. He obliviously knows we needed to be more athletic (and addressed that in the portal some) and needed to switch up defenses. Things he has stated that he plans on doing this year. I believe he is just being loyal to his former coach and some players.

I stated in another thread that I am optimistic about this year, if coach is willing to use the bench, play the freshman and switch up defenses. We should still be good offensively and I think we will be better defensively. I think we finish at least 5th in the league and probably contend for a title. The HL should be good at the top half as usual, so if we are in contention for the title we should have a pretty decent season.

[nomeara]

Our only hope this year is if Norris improved a ton or Callahan is ready to lead a team in addition to both transfers MI and JD playing significant roles and producing game after game. It’s going to be a long season without all of those coming together and coach knowing how to set his players up for success. Oh yeah and our defense has to look completely different and our guys can’t be afraid to rack up fouls either, we need to play 9-10 guys every single game for our defense to help winning.

[refrigeratorraider]

Sept 27, 2024 11:04:51 GMT -5 guyinstandswithbeer said:

Sept 27, 2024 10:29:29 GMT -5 refrigeratorraider said:

I think the point guard play will be strong. My concern is at the 4/5. Our 2 returners (Noel and Carter) should be good, but I'm not sure about the others. Michael Imariagbe put up decent stats, but will he be able to do that in the Horizon League? Ben Southerland is still really unproven at the college level. If Ayden Davis plays, that will help the depth and size, but is he ready? Will Sargent redshirt most freshman like Nagy?

There are at least 4-5 options available to play the 4-5 positions with 3 of them being proven players.  Michael Imariagbe put up good stats in games against competition far superior to anything he is going to see in the HL.  I think our size and depth is lacking at the 4-5 but we at least have options.  I don’t get how you are optimistic at all about our PG situation.  Norris isn’t going to be a good point guard and I am not even thinking about what he lacks from an offensive standpoint.  He has next to no athletic ability and without that he is not going to be able to guard point guards in the HL.  If you can’t defend the other teams point guard you can’t win games consistently.  You just can’t.  A good guard that can penetrate the lane at will, will get out interior players into foul trouble because they are going to have to play help defense every time those point guards penetrate the lane and puts them at a huge disadvantage.   Coach can try to talk up how much improvement Norris has made in the off season but I just don’t buy it.  You can’t teach athletic ability and that is what Norris lacks.  I’ve already heard other fans try to make the argument that having Cole Gentry on staff is going to make all the difference with Norris.  I call BS on that idea too.  Gentry wasn’t a great athlete but he was a better athlete that Norris is and he was quick in body and mind, and he played with the heart of a champion.  You can’t teach that either.  Anyone that has truly been around that kind of a player knows you either have it or you don’t.  It’s not something that you learn.  If anything I sure in the hell know that a champion walks into the fight and doesn’t run from it.  He sure in the hell would not concede his roll on the team as a 3rd year player to a true freshman and ask to be redshirted like Norris did last year.  Quite honestly, once it was known that we weren’t bringing in an experienced PG from the portal or JUCO ranks, I lost interest in this season altogether.  I hope Callaghan is ready to lead this team this year and I hope Sargent is smart enough to play the best players on his team instead of coaching with blind loyalty like I’m afraid he is going to do.  I just don’t see it and based on all his public comments so far, I’m not even hearing it from him.  

RE Imariagbe and the 4/5: I was happy with his signing, but I’m not sold on how good he will be at Wright State. He played on a team that went 6-23. 16 of his team’s losses were by double digit points. 2 of those wins were against non-D1 schools, including a stat-padding 26-point, 21-rebound performance against Champion Christian. He put up decent stats against a couple power conference teams, but I’d guess most of those stats came against reserves or players who were phoning it in. I think he can be a solid player and give needed depth at the 4/5. I just think we lack size and physicality at the 4/5. We need a rim protector--someone who, when our guards get beat, can be quick to step over and prevent an easy shot at the basket. Ayden Davis is the only true center and I’m not sure he is ready for the college game.


RE Norris and the PG: Keaton Norris was very steady as a freshman, but then had a sophomore slump in 22-23. I thought Keaton looked more mature over the summer. He is essentially going from his sophomore to senior year. I expect he will take a big step forward and all the naysayers will be pleasantly surprised with how he looks this season. What you describe defensively about guards getting beat is exactly what we’ve gone through the past couple seasons, with and without Norris in the lineup. This year we should have more athleticism and more depth that will actually be used. If Keaton is overmatched by an opposing guard, Sargent can assign Woods, Doumbia, or another guard to him. Keaton might be lacking something you can't teach (athletic ability), but I think he possesses other things you can't always teach, which, quite frankly, our PG has lacked the past couple seasons: competitive instinct/hustle and leadership. Why am I confident in the PG? Even if Norris doesn’t show the improvement I expect, I think Callaghan will be very good. If there are injuries or neither of them cut it, Alex Huibregtse is capable as well, and thankfully there’s more depth at the 2/3 position.

[nomeara]

What’s everyone thinking about Alex Bruskotter? Kid was draining 3’s in the summer full court video on the team’s twitter page. I don’t think he’s physically strong enough to start for us out of the gate, but I wouldn’t be surprised if he shines when given opportunities this year. We need an under the radar player to step up and surprise opponents and he is my dark horse.

[bballraider]

Sept 27, 2024 17:31:34 GMT -5 nomeara said:

What’s everyone thinking about Alex Bruskotter? Kid was draining 3’s in the summer full court video on the team’s twitter page. I don’t think he’s physically strong enough to start for us out of the gate, but I wouldn’t be surprised if he shines when given opportunities this year. We need an under the radar player to step up and surprise opponents and he is my dark horse.

I think Alex is going to be a star here, and if given some minutes could be a bright spot for us in limited action until he gets stronger, or shows he can be physical enough to play defense and rebound to go along with his shooting.