Northern Illinois

[Big D]

WSUGRAD said:

The sad fact is that O'brien's assisstant coaches were not considered very strong. I know some will go crazy at this statement but I follow OSU basketball too. They also weren't considered strong recruiters.

The Sporting New considered Coach B the number 1 assistant coach in America before he came to WSU.

[Big D]

bballraider said:

Maybe something should be done to raise the focus coming out to start the 2nd half. We have depth of comparable talent and maybe we should consider raising the energy level by pressing or 3/4 trapping with the defense and maybe that could create some easy buckets or at least a few turnovers. Why not use our one sure strength of depth a press and run a little more, just my thoughts.

I had hopes that we would start using a full court press since the end of last season. UWM has used their press to own us the last few years. For a team that struggles for offense and plays pretty good defense, pressing makes sense.

[Wolf]

Huskies shut down Raiders, 62-42
By Marc Katz

Dayton Daily News

DEKALB, ILL. | For the second straight game, Wright State basketball coach Paul Biancardi went with his big-man lineup, only Tuesday night it came up a little short.

The Raiders, usually practitioners of a three-guard alignment, started three "big" men for the first time in Biancardi's three years last Wednesday and beat Detroit.

Against Northern Illinois at the Convocation Center, it stayed close for a half, WSU fell behind by double figures early in the second half and the three-guard lineup Biancardi used much of the rest of the way only fell behind by more as the Raiders ultimately lost 62-42 to the Huskies, the fourth Mid-American Conference team the Raiders have played this season, and the fourth one to beat them.

"If you had told me we were going to hold Northern Illinois to 62 points, I would have thought we had an excellent chance to win," Biancardi said. "We did a good job on defense. The bad part is they played excellent defense and they shut us down.

"We hung in there for a long time without scoring."

Biancardi was stunned to find out the Raiders had more offensive rebounds (16) than baskets (15).

We tried so hard, but couldn't put it in the basket," he said.

The Raiders scored only 22 points in the first half, yet trailed by only two. Scottie Wilson scored on a layup to begin the second half and it was tied.

Then the Huskies' Cory Sims hit a 3-point shot and Mike McKinney followed with a dunk and the Huskies were off sledding ahead of the pack.

"We didn't execute in the second half," said WSU co-captain Drew Burleson, who scored 17. "Then their defense got up in us. Our defense kept us in the game the first half, but the big problem is mental toughness. We're screwing up our plays. No one really is in sync."

That was much the same story Biancardi was telling his players. When he left the locker room to meet with the media, Burleson and fellow co-captain DaShaun Wood kept the team together and kept talking.

'We do have a lot of new guys," Burleson said, "but there's no excuses. People are going to have to learn our system. The season's started. It's time to grow up."

With the loss, the Raiders dropped to 1-5 and hosts Belmont on Saturday. That's the team that beat the Raiders 86-80 in the season opener in Nashville.

Tonight, 3-3 Belmont is at Ohio State.

Biancardi went with his "big" lineup for all but 2:40 of the first half, starting Jordan Pleiman, Burleson and Wilson as his big men along with Wood and Tyrone Scott as the guards.

It was Scott, playing in only his second game, who sparked the end of the half for the Raiders. He knocked in a 3-point shot from the right baseline with 2:08 left, then, following a NIU turnover, fed Burleson for a basket in the lane that tied the score, 22-22.

Northern Illinois scored just after that to take the lead, but the Raiders seemed poised for a big second half.

It was anything but.

When WSU called time with 13:54 left, the Raiders trailed 36-25 and changed back to their "small" lineup, trying to get some offense. There was scant little to be had. They scored five baskets the rest of the way, and only six in the half.

There was one consolation for Biancardi.

"It's work that's correctable," the coach said. "No doubt about it."

Contact Marc Katz at 937-225-2157.
www.daytondailynews.com/sports/content/sports/wsu/daily/1214wsubb.html

[keithfromxenia]

there are times, like when we lose to a +300 rpi team, or when we start with 5 losses against teams we should compete with, that i wonder if raiderroundball is perhaps destined to be a perennial bottomfeeder. right now i am seeing very little to give me some hope. i have watched my browns lose this year, but i can honestly see reason to believe that next year and the year after things will be better. with the raiders i am struggling to see a light at the end of the tunnel. i really saw this as a breakthrough year for the raiders. right now it is hard to see anything much better than a breakeven year. as our losses increase the chances of getting a "premier" game in bracketbuster decreases. it is just very discouraging. when you think back to the beginning of div i hoops at wsu, there was optimism and promises of competing at the highest level. instead we have had almost nothing but floundering and failure. we are so far down the bottom looks like up. GO RAIDERS!!!!!!!!!!!!!1

[WSUGRAD]

"The Sporting New considered Coach B the number 1 assistant coach in America before he came to WSU."

That is all fine and good but what I am telling you is the perception of PB.

Not that I am a fan but there is no way that Biancardi was a better coaching prospect than Brian Gregory.

[Big D]

I disagree. If you take the whole OSU investigation out of the equation, I wouldn't trade Coach B for Brian Gregory. What has Gregory done at UD that is so impressive?

2002/03: Purnell's last year. UD went 24-5. Their RPI was 13. They went to the NCAA tournament.
2003/04: Gregory took over. UD went 24-8. Their RPI dropped to 40. They still went to the NCAA tournament.
2004/05: UD went 18-11. Their RPI dropped to 125. No post season tournament.
2005/06: UD is 6-3 so far. Their current RPI is 123.

Gregory inherited a veteran team. He has all of UD's resources and his teams have still steadily declined since he took over at UD. How do you think he would have done at WSU? UD spent more money on the video editing equipment Gregory wanted for his basketball team than we budgeted for all of our recruiting last year. WSU is a school with no real D1 history. We don't have a huge fan base and we are in a mediocre conference and we have very limited financial resources. If he can't be successful with the resources he has at UD, how do you think he would have been successful with our limited resources at WSU?

[WSUGRAD]

You are crazy. I don't mean that the way it sounds.

[Wolf]

I wouldn't want Gregory either. He has been able to bring in a higher profile recruit than Oliver Purnell, but he has not proven himself to be a great xs and 0s coach yet. I do not think Gregory would be able to recruit as effectively for WSU as he recruits for UD.

[John]

2004/05: UD went 18-11. Their RPI dropped to 125. No post season tournament.
2005/06: UD is 6-3 so far. Their current RPI is 123.

So we don't like the coach that is 24-14 over the last 2 years and like the coach that is 4 games under .500 the last 2 years.

It is amazing that Gregory won 18 games last year with 6 freshman because Purnell didn't leave anything.

Gregory is a star in the making. He has already turned down Depaul and just signed an extention through 2013. If you want to compare the jobs both coaches have done in 3 years you won't be happy if you look at the total package.

[Big D]

John said:

If you want to compare the jobs both coaches have done in 3 years you won't be happy if you look at the total package.

That is the problem. You are comparing apples to oranges. Coach B inherited 3 seniors and a red-shirt freshman. That is it. We could barely field a team his first year here. WSU has no history in D1. We have a small fan base. We have a decent arena, but it is usually 1/2 empty. We play in a mediocre conference and we don't have many financial resources.

Gregory inherited an entire returning team that just went to the NCAA tournament. The cupbard wasn't bare. Even now, 3 of Purnell's recruits start for UD (Williams, Scott, Cripe) and Bennett comes off the bench. Given UD's recent success (7 straight 20 win season), huge fan base, conference affiliation, and financial resources, Gregory shouldn't have had a problem selling UD to recruits.

I'm saying, that he wouldn't be able to do that at WSU. He would have none of those advantages he had when he started at UD. I could sell a kid on coming to UD when you get to bring them in on an official visit and have them watch a game vs a team like Xavier, UC, Temple, etc in front of 12K fans. Try to convince a kid to come to WSU when we are only going to draw 5K in our 10K seat arena, when we haven't been to the post season in over a decade and only have a handful of winning season in the last 10 years. Oh and by the way, do all of that recruiting with only 30,000 dollars. Gregory is a good recruiter, but I don't think he would have been any more successful than Coach B has been.

[Big D]

raiderd said:

I disagree. If you take the whole OSU investigation out of the equation, I wouldn't trade Coach B for Brian Gregory. What has Gregory done at UD that is so impressive?

2002/03: Purnell's last year. UD went 24-5. Their RPI was 13. They went to the NCAA tournament.
2003/04: Gregory took over. UD went 24-8. Their RPI dropped to 40. They still went to the NCAA tournament.
2004/05: UD went 18-11. Their RPI dropped to 125. No post season tournament.
2005/06: UD is 6-3 so far. Their current RPI is 123.

Gregory inherited a veteran team. He has all of UD's resources and his teams have still steadily declined since he took over at UD. How do you think he would have done at WSU? UD spent more money on the video editing equipment Gregory wanted for his basketball team than we budgeted for all of our recruiting last year. WSU is a school with no real D1 history. We don't have a huge fan base and we are in a mediocre conference and we have very limited financial resources. If he can't be successful with the resources he has at UD, how do you think he would have been successful with our limited resources at WSU?

UD lost to Fordham tonight dropping their record to 7-7 against D1 teams this year. Their fans are starting to realize Gregory isn't the golden boy they thought he was.

The sky is falling across town:
www.udpride.com/cgi-bin/ultimatebb.cgi?ubb=forum;f=1;DaysPrune=45

[WSUGRAD]

Maybe we should argue who sucks more!

UD's problem is they have no PG. You can lay that on Gregory for not recruiting more depth there. Trent Meachum leaving is really hurting them.

I'll still take Gregory based on the fact that PB has done nothing so far.

[Big D]

PB hasn't done much for WSU, but UD went from a 4 seed in the NCAA tournament under Purnell to a .500 team under Gregory. I think he sucks more.

[keithfromxenia]

big d, what i find amazing is the difference between most ud fans and most raider fans. ud fans are in an uproar over a 7-7 record against pretty decent competition. they really expect and demand success. raider fans seem numbed and resigned to failure. i swear some raider fans are over sedated. no passion, demanding or expectation for success. that is sad, but maybe it helps explain why we have no success. GO RAIDERS!!!!!!!!!!!11

[BasketBallJones]

Keith, we have lost a huge number of fans over the last 7-8 years. They just quit buying tickets. My company did not renew our 4 premium seats for this year. I still go to games, but just pay $6 dollars for the tix and sit in my old seats. No one esle was willing to pony up the $ to get 4 of the best seats in the Nutter. This year looks like a .500 league record, and that might be an optomistic. I am beginning to agree with others on this board that PB is damaged goods and needs to go. The future looks bleak from my vantage point.