Lovin' Tulsa Time

[Grunge84]

What a game, what a great win, what a great way to start the season! Just like they were last year, the guys would appear to be setting up to be Road Warriors again. This could turn out to be a huge win before it's all said and done. Just getting to play this game against Arizona sure does improve our post-season prospects if the guys finsish the year with a respectable record. With a pretty strong non-conference schedule already in place and the addition of this game against Arizona, then I think the "opportunity" and "potential" is there for an NIT bid if they don't make NCAA's. I know all that is a long way away, but no sense ignoring the possibilities!

Some quick observations:

DeShaun Wood is already establishing himself as one of the grittiest, hard-nosed and coolest customers to ever suit up for the Raiders, and he's only a sophomore. It's a beautiful thing.

They pulled it off without having the services of Zakee Boyd who was establishing himself last year as one of the better defenders on the team.

Sounded like Everett Spencer had a solid game and a spectacular tomahawk. I said it a long time ago....this guy is going to be something special.

Drew had an excellent game and Zach was solid. John Ramey was commenting on how valuable Zach was on the defensive end helping to direct traffic.

Even the bad stats had upsides (Turnovers and FT%). Most of the turnovers were in the first half and the bulk of the poor free throw shooting was also in the first half.


What a great way for the guys to jump-start the season.

GO RAIDERS!!!

[From Tulsa Message Board]

hotter...bandTU

To all the Wright State fans reading this board...
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Congratulations on the win.

I am not sure how much it really means, since we are a poor basketball team...Anyway, good job.

If TU played you guys 10 times, you would win 11.

Reasons...

I am not sure how many WSU guys could even be a part of TU's program talent-wise (maybe 2), but as a team, you blow us away.

Your offensive flow was great compared to TU's...There seemed to be an actual purpose.

Rebounding - It doesn't take much to outrebound TU...All this stat basically tells you is that your University posesses a D1 basketball program.

Defensively, you had a game plan...after watching 37 seconds of game film, you determined we had one outside shooter. Excellent observation.

Good luck the rest of the season...Unfortunately, this win really doesn't tell you the quality of your basketball team (except that you are much better than TU is)...

[Grunge84]

For a team that is in the midst of a serious rebuilding process, believe me, to win on the road against a legitimate D-I opponent (your personal feelings aside) is a moment to savor for WSU fans. There wasn't much to be giddy about for around 12 years and then Biancardi was hired last year. Finally, it seems that the light at the end of the tunnel is something other than a train about to smoosh us. I'm not sure I would give up on your team quite yet. It sounded to me like there was plenty of potential there. A good coach can use a loss like this as a good teaching tool. Good luck the rest of the year.

GO RAIDERS!!!

[Newbie]

Good points Grunge. Did I read the box score correct that Vova only played 4 minutes? If it is true I wonder why?

Sounded like Jordan Plieman had a nice game. If he can give us 8 - 10 minutes every game it will add to our depth.

[PapaRaider]

I got a chance to watch the game on line (by the way, the quality of broadcast wasn't very good - I wouldn't recommend anyone wasting money unless you are like me and can't live without this staff).

It did seem that Vova played longer 4 minutes just in the first half, and he had a huge impact in his limited time on the floor. Vova had 3 offensive rebounds, took at least 2 charges I can recall. He just looked too small compare to tall Tulsa front line, and Drew was very effective. Jordan played as well, but did not have such an impact as Vova.

Wright State (particularly DeShaun) was ultimately controlling the game all night. Tulsa's play was herky-jerky without any flow to it. I hope Wright State was the cause of their inconsistency.

Everett and Jaron played ok, but virtually disappeared for many possessions at a time. If DeShaun can slice and dice the opposition like he did in the end of the game, why not do it for the entire game. It was obvious from the get-go that Tulsa's guards were unable to stay with him.

I can't say that our defense was that great, but they played mostly 2-3 zone, and Tulsa had no reliable outside shooters. The rebounding, on the other hand, was tremendous, especially against a much bigger and athletic team.