Wright State game

[zipboy]

The most impressive win of the season so far. Wright State may end up winning the Horizon League. They would be an upper divison MAC team. Thoughts on the game and season in general

1. Halfcourt D is way better than last year. We actually can stop people when it counts. Fullcourt pressure D is still suspect. We are not good a pressure team right now. I like when KD drops back to the 3 qtr press or halfcourt trap.

2. When Zips shoot 40% from 3 line, they will win 9 out of 10 times. This will burn us at times, but shoooting half our shots as 3s is the best way to win right now.

3. Bubba played much more in control last night. He does other things to help you win. I like Cedric as well. Between the 2 of them, one usually steps up and plays well.

4. FT shooting was unbelievable. Best stroke that I have ever seen from JWood at the end of the game.

5. Guys seem to be finding their roles and doing the little things. You can almost feel Travis take pride in his offensive rebounds and focus on that.

6. Another solid game from McFadden. If he keeps having 2 out of 3 good games, we will be in good shape. I think a lot of guys are going to fall in that pattern, 2 out of 3 solid games. Just need to find who is hot that night.

7. DP seems to be taking over as the go to guy. He is one of the few guys that needs to give offensive production every night.

So far I have been pleasantly surprised. The league is much tougher this year. When OU, Akron, and NIU are picked for last, you know the league has some quality depth. No one should go 5-23 this year. A 500 season in the MAC or better is certainly attainable. Make some key FTs down the stretch and play good D, and Akron may play themselves into a top 4 or 5 seed.

[zipper]

I thought this was a very big win, and away at that (and loved the fact that it was on tv). Wright State beat Toledo and Miami had to take them into overtime to beat them. Ball State beat them by 7. We seemed to gel much better and the team seemed much more in sync. If this win is any indication, I'm getting psyched.

From the Dayton Daily, WSU head coach Paul Biancardi:

""No matter if it was on offense or defense, they out-rebounded us, they out-hustled us," Wood said. "They got all the loose balls. They made all the big plays.

"It comes down to energy. If you don't have energy on defense, they're just going to score at will. They were scoring inside and they were scoring outside because our team didn't have any energy like we've been having. They beat us on both ends of the floor."

We controlled the pace of most of that game, and it crippled them.