If stars don’t play defense, they don’t play.
No one is exempt — no matter how valuable they might be in other areas.
Senior guard Trey Calvin, a preseason second-team All-Horizon League pick, found that out when he was left out of the starting lineup the last two games.
The Raiders’ leading scorer still played about 30 minutes each outing. But he’d made 65 straight starts over three seasons, and Nagy was sending a message.
Calvin had a team-high 20 points on 10-of-21 shooting in a 64-60 loss at Western Kentucky on Saturday, but the coach said: “I don’t care about that. What he needs to do is guard better, just like everyone else. Scoring is pretty easy for Trey. We need him to guard and lead our team.”
Calvin opened the season with a career-high 37 points against Davidson and tossed in 27 against Abilene Christian at the Vegas 4 tourney just before Thanksgiving.
But his play had dropped off before regaining his form against the Hilltoppers, having averaged 9.3 points in his previous four games.
“The greatest quality you can have is to be reliable, which means you’re consistent,” Nagy said. “It doesn’t mean you’re perfect. We’re just trying to get everybody to be reliable so we know what we’re going to get.”
For a coach to sit his team’s best player is a risk, of course. The Raiders are a lot less potent without Calvin operating in peak form.
But Nagy, who is in his 28th year as a head coach, believes the move will pay dividends in the long run.
“We’re not overlooking anything on anybody,” he said. “We’re basically trying to not put winning first.”
He added: “It’s hard to do. But when I make the mistake of putting winning first, I don’t make very good decisions. And if I let stuff slide that I shouldn’t — and I’m not just talking about Trey, I’m talking about all our team — I have to come back later and do what’s right, and it’s more painful for everybody instead of doing it in the first place.”
The Raiders have lost three straight games to fall to 5-5. But Nagy was encouraged by the defensive effort against WKU.
Leading the nation in 3-point percentage at 46.0, the Hilltoppers were held to 3-of-18 shooting beyond the arc.
“Only one guy really hurt us,” said Nagy, referring to All-Conference USA guard Dayvion McKnight, who had 32 points on 13-of-17 shooting. “But had we’d been better offensively, it wouldn’t have mattered.
“Hopefully, down the road, we can rely on guarding like that. It kept us in the game.”
Nagy, though, isn’t overlooking how much the lackluster offense has contributed to the current skid. The Raiders have averaged just 65.3 points in the last three games after scoring 82.6 in the first seven.
“Our offense was kind of humming up till Thanksgiving. Now, it’s a little bit of a wreck,” he said.
Calvin and senior guard Amari Davis were expected to be the one-two punch. But that duo has lacked some of their wallop.
“Amari has not shot it real well from mid-range compared to what he’s done in his career,” Nagy said.
Davis averaged 15.9 points his first year at Green Bay while becoming the school’s first HL freshman of the year. He followed that with a 17.2 average in earning second-team all-league honors as a sophomore.
He’s averaging 12.9 with the Raiders.
“In terms of his percentages, he’s struggled the last three games (going 14 of 38 from the field). The shots he typically makes, he’s not making,” Nagy said.
“But he’s getting better defensively. I’m more happy about that. The offense will come around.”
WEDNESDAY’S GAME
Wright State at Akron, 7 p.m., 980
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