Time running out on Raiders
Feb 10, 2006 7:38:28 GMT -5
Post by Big D on Feb 10, 2006 7:38:28 GMT -5
RAIDER CONNECTION
Time running out on Raiders
By Marc Katz
Dayton Daily News
FAIRBORN | Maybe what the Raiders need is a little bit of urgency.
While it's nice to know a loss doesn't kill the whole season, at some point, this team is going to have to start beating teams with losing records as well as those with winning records.
Relying on the Horizon League tournament to get a possible NCAA bid is waiting too long. The Raiders are going to have to figure out how to win now.
"I don't think we played exceptionally bad," junior point guard DaShaun Wood said following Wednesday's 70-66 loss at Detroit. "We're still okay (in the league race)."
Well, no, they're not.
Both Milwaukee and Butler are two games ahead of the Raiders in the loss column and each has a more favorable schedule, although Butler visits Wright State on Saturday afternoon. Three of Milwaukee's final four league games — counting Thursday's night's with Youngstown State — are at home. Butler has two home games left, and three on the road.
Seeding in the tournament, by the way, will have nothing to do with a team's overall record. Tiebreakers will be determined by how league teams played each other. If ties can not be broken that way, a team's final RPI will be used.
That's a long way off. Wright State has only two home games remaining, with Butler and next Wednesday with Cleveland State. Then comes a three-game road trip, beginning with the Bracket Buster game at Bowling Green on Feb. 18 and an extended stay in Chicago to play Loyola on Feb. 22 and UIC on Feb. 25.
The Raiders have already beaten Loyola, but lost — at the Nutter Center – to UIC 62-57 in a particularly ugly game on Jan. 25.
When the season is completed, the Raiders will likely look to that game as the low point. Although UIC has a .500 record at the moment, the Flames didn't at the time. Neither did Detroit on Wednesday. It doesn't matter that Detroit has good players and should have won more of its earlier games. Wright State has to beat teams like that if it expects to play in the postseason.
At one point, the Raiders stood 8-6, two games over .500, after opening the season 1-5. At the moment, the Raiders are 11-11. Last season, they were 15-15. The season before, they were 14-14.
The rest of their games are winnable. They're also losable. If they want to win them, they ought to start Saturday, against Butler. Waiting for the league tournament is going to be too late.
www.daytondailynews.com/sports/content/sports/wsu/daily/0210raiderconnection.html?cxntnid=rc-021006
Time running out on Raiders
By Marc Katz
Dayton Daily News
FAIRBORN | Maybe what the Raiders need is a little bit of urgency.
While it's nice to know a loss doesn't kill the whole season, at some point, this team is going to have to start beating teams with losing records as well as those with winning records.
Relying on the Horizon League tournament to get a possible NCAA bid is waiting too long. The Raiders are going to have to figure out how to win now.
"I don't think we played exceptionally bad," junior point guard DaShaun Wood said following Wednesday's 70-66 loss at Detroit. "We're still okay (in the league race)."
Well, no, they're not.
Both Milwaukee and Butler are two games ahead of the Raiders in the loss column and each has a more favorable schedule, although Butler visits Wright State on Saturday afternoon. Three of Milwaukee's final four league games — counting Thursday's night's with Youngstown State — are at home. Butler has two home games left, and three on the road.
Seeding in the tournament, by the way, will have nothing to do with a team's overall record. Tiebreakers will be determined by how league teams played each other. If ties can not be broken that way, a team's final RPI will be used.
That's a long way off. Wright State has only two home games remaining, with Butler and next Wednesday with Cleveland State. Then comes a three-game road trip, beginning with the Bracket Buster game at Bowling Green on Feb. 18 and an extended stay in Chicago to play Loyola on Feb. 22 and UIC on Feb. 25.
The Raiders have already beaten Loyola, but lost — at the Nutter Center – to UIC 62-57 in a particularly ugly game on Jan. 25.
When the season is completed, the Raiders will likely look to that game as the low point. Although UIC has a .500 record at the moment, the Flames didn't at the time. Neither did Detroit on Wednesday. It doesn't matter that Detroit has good players and should have won more of its earlier games. Wright State has to beat teams like that if it expects to play in the postseason.
At one point, the Raiders stood 8-6, two games over .500, after opening the season 1-5. At the moment, the Raiders are 11-11. Last season, they were 15-15. The season before, they were 14-14.
The rest of their games are winnable. They're also losable. If they want to win them, they ought to start Saturday, against Butler. Waiting for the league tournament is going to be too late.
www.daytondailynews.com/sports/content/sports/wsu/daily/0210raiderconnection.html?cxntnid=rc-021006