Horizon remains entertaining but average league
Mar 8, 2005 7:16:52 GMT -5
Post by Big D on Mar 8, 2005 7:16:52 GMT -5
Horizon remains entertaining but average league
Only three teams had winning records this past season
By Marc Katz
Dayton Daily News
FAIRBORN | One team has been really good and one really bad. In between, the nine-team Horizon League, with Wright State a prime example, has been average this basketball season, ending tonight with the league tournament championship game in Milwaukee.
Host Wisconsin-Milwaukee (23-5), the regular-season champion, plays Detroit, a 14-15 team with athletic talent that is just now starting to show its expected promise.
Some would call it mediocrity, but for the fans who just wanted to be entertained, they were. Just three teams finished with a winning record. Five teams finished with a losing record. Wright State was dead even at 15-15 overall, 8-8 in league play and 1-1 in the postseason tournament.
The league showcased some stars, if not NBA prospects: Cedrick Banks of Illinois-Chicago, Blake Schilb of Loyola, Ed McCants of Milwaukee, DaShaun Wood of WSU.
Reality is, only one team — unless Milwaukee loses the game and automatic bid tonight but is granted an at-large invitation — will be invited to the NCAA Tournament. Even 17-11 Wisconsin-Green Bay might not get an NIT bid.
"The league is better than the records indicate," said Milwaukee coach Bruce Pearl, whose team won 20 or more games for the third straight season. "Every team is missing like one player. We need a dominant inside guy."
Wright State needs one of those, too, with the off-season focus on turning freshman Jordan Pleiman into that guy. The Raiders also need more consistent guard play to dial down the turnovers.
Another factor in the Horizon League is scheduling.
Pearl points out, in order to get games, Horizon League teams often have to go on the road. Three of his team's nonconference losses were on the road, two of them to powerful teams, Wisconsin and Kansas. The third was at Valparaiso by a point.
"We can't buy (home) games like (cross-town) Marquette," Pearl said. "They played only one nonconference game on the road, at Oakland (Mich.)."
Marquette, 19-10, was 11-1 in nonconference home games this year, the only loss to nationally ranked Arizona by five points. The Golden Eagles won their game at Oakland.
Wright State faces the same dilemma. The Raiders played 13 nonconference games (two extra because of the preseason NIT), losing four of six on the road. Across town at UD, the Flyers played 11 nonconference games, only three on the road, and lost two of those.
"We've got a big mountain to climb," Horizon League commissioner Jon LeCrone said. "It's hard to go out of the league and get quality games at home.
"Our margin of error is much smaller than in a league such as the ACC. A team in that league can finish lower and be carried by the teams at the top."
That may be the case, but it doesn't address what happened in the conference games, where teams ended up looking like perfect NFL clones, 8-8 being the goal. Three teams — including Wright State — finished with that record. One team was two games over, one team two games under. Milwaukee was best at 14-2, yet lost to 9-7 Detroit 76-68 and 10-6 Green Bay 76-72.
Youngstown State was worst with a 2-14 record, yet beat 8-8 Loyola 76-68 and Detroit 59-55.
Wright State suffered two close losses to Milwaukee and two not-so-close losses to Loyola.
"Maybe a team is missing one key player," Green Bay coach Tod Kowalczyk said. "It's a very good league with good coaches."
Of the league's top 25 scorers, 10 were seniors, including WSU's Zach Williams, the only Raiders senior. Butler didn't have any seniors on its roster. Green Bay and UIC each lose two key starters.
Wright State will have only one senior — guard Jaron Taylor — next year, too, but it will not necessarily be a young team. Returnees Wood, Zakee Boyd and Drew Burleson have either started two years or played starters' minutes. All will be juniors. Taylor started at the beginning of the season and became a key sub. Pleiman built his resume on a strong conference showing. Freshman Everett Spencer started every game.
Freshman William Graham was redshirted while rehabbing a knee and is expected to be a big contributor, while junior college transfers Walter Chancellor and Scott Wilson are expected to add some size to the lineup.
Two other freshmen — Parysh Munroe and Lorenzo Shine — are also expected to return. Will it be enough to get off the .500 bubble and post a breakout season?
It's a question every Horizon League team will be asking.
www.daytondailynews.com/sports/content/sports/wsu/daily/0308horizon.html
Only three teams had winning records this past season
By Marc Katz
Dayton Daily News
FAIRBORN | One team has been really good and one really bad. In between, the nine-team Horizon League, with Wright State a prime example, has been average this basketball season, ending tonight with the league tournament championship game in Milwaukee.
Host Wisconsin-Milwaukee (23-5), the regular-season champion, plays Detroit, a 14-15 team with athletic talent that is just now starting to show its expected promise.
Some would call it mediocrity, but for the fans who just wanted to be entertained, they were. Just three teams finished with a winning record. Five teams finished with a losing record. Wright State was dead even at 15-15 overall, 8-8 in league play and 1-1 in the postseason tournament.
The league showcased some stars, if not NBA prospects: Cedrick Banks of Illinois-Chicago, Blake Schilb of Loyola, Ed McCants of Milwaukee, DaShaun Wood of WSU.
Reality is, only one team — unless Milwaukee loses the game and automatic bid tonight but is granted an at-large invitation — will be invited to the NCAA Tournament. Even 17-11 Wisconsin-Green Bay might not get an NIT bid.
"The league is better than the records indicate," said Milwaukee coach Bruce Pearl, whose team won 20 or more games for the third straight season. "Every team is missing like one player. We need a dominant inside guy."
Wright State needs one of those, too, with the off-season focus on turning freshman Jordan Pleiman into that guy. The Raiders also need more consistent guard play to dial down the turnovers.
Another factor in the Horizon League is scheduling.
Pearl points out, in order to get games, Horizon League teams often have to go on the road. Three of his team's nonconference losses were on the road, two of them to powerful teams, Wisconsin and Kansas. The third was at Valparaiso by a point.
"We can't buy (home) games like (cross-town) Marquette," Pearl said. "They played only one nonconference game on the road, at Oakland (Mich.)."
Marquette, 19-10, was 11-1 in nonconference home games this year, the only loss to nationally ranked Arizona by five points. The Golden Eagles won their game at Oakland.
Wright State faces the same dilemma. The Raiders played 13 nonconference games (two extra because of the preseason NIT), losing four of six on the road. Across town at UD, the Flyers played 11 nonconference games, only three on the road, and lost two of those.
"We've got a big mountain to climb," Horizon League commissioner Jon LeCrone said. "It's hard to go out of the league and get quality games at home.
"Our margin of error is much smaller than in a league such as the ACC. A team in that league can finish lower and be carried by the teams at the top."
That may be the case, but it doesn't address what happened in the conference games, where teams ended up looking like perfect NFL clones, 8-8 being the goal. Three teams — including Wright State — finished with that record. One team was two games over, one team two games under. Milwaukee was best at 14-2, yet lost to 9-7 Detroit 76-68 and 10-6 Green Bay 76-72.
Youngstown State was worst with a 2-14 record, yet beat 8-8 Loyola 76-68 and Detroit 59-55.
Wright State suffered two close losses to Milwaukee and two not-so-close losses to Loyola.
"Maybe a team is missing one key player," Green Bay coach Tod Kowalczyk said. "It's a very good league with good coaches."
Of the league's top 25 scorers, 10 were seniors, including WSU's Zach Williams, the only Raiders senior. Butler didn't have any seniors on its roster. Green Bay and UIC each lose two key starters.
Wright State will have only one senior — guard Jaron Taylor — next year, too, but it will not necessarily be a young team. Returnees Wood, Zakee Boyd and Drew Burleson have either started two years or played starters' minutes. All will be juniors. Taylor started at the beginning of the season and became a key sub. Pleiman built his resume on a strong conference showing. Freshman Everett Spencer started every game.
Freshman William Graham was redshirted while rehabbing a knee and is expected to be a big contributor, while junior college transfers Walter Chancellor and Scott Wilson are expected to add some size to the lineup.
Two other freshmen — Parysh Munroe and Lorenzo Shine — are also expected to return. Will it be enough to get off the .500 bubble and post a breakout season?
It's a question every Horizon League team will be asking.
www.daytondailynews.com/sports/content/sports/wsu/daily/0308horizon.html
