Asked last week how the Raiders are looking so far, he said: “I feel most people would say their defense is ahead of their offense, and we’re probably just the opposite, which is generally the case. Our offense is ahead of our defense. We can’t get our defense settled and where we want it.
“That’s what I’m struggling with it. I think we’ll be able to score. I’m not concerned about that — I never have been concerned about that. I’m always concerned about getting people stopped.”
The Raiders finished last season on a roll, sweeping three games in the Horizon League tourney to claim their second title under Nagy and third overall. And they notched the league’s first NCAA tourney win since Butler went to the national finals in 2011, beating Bryant in the First Four, 93-82.
But the seventh-year coach didn’t see an appreciable difference in the defense from the team’s rocky 2-7 start to its memorable March.
“We were not a great defensive team all year. We just weren’t. There might have been a (good) game here and there, but, consistently, we weren’t a great defensive team,” he said.
“We finished fourth in the league defensively, and we finished fourth (in the standings). We were first in the league offensively, and we finished fourth. I think winning is tied more to defense than offense.”
The Raiders gave up 71.8 points per game, their most since allowing 72.4 in Nagy’s first season.
They were 229th out of 358 Division-I teams in points per possession, giving up 1.017.
Hard at work getting ready for the season! Hear exactly what the team hears as we mic'd up Coach Nagy at practice! #RaiderUP | #RaiderFamily pic.twitter.com/NiR1c5J5fW
— Wright State Men’s Basketball (@WSU_MBB) October 20, 2022
Two years ago, with Loudon Love prowling the middle, they were one of the best defensive teams in the nation, giving up 67.4 points per game and .912 per possession.
“We’ve always been a good offensive team. We give our guys a lot of freedom,” Nagy said. “But it comes down to getting people stopped.”
Another area where Nagy will never accept mediocrity is rebounding. And while the Raiders had a positive rebound margin last year, their plus-1.2 mark was the lowest during his tenure.
The 2020-21 team had a plus-9.3 advantage on the boards.
“That’s probably the biggest concern about our team — can we rebound the ball?” said Nagy, who goes into the season with the fifth-best winning percentage in league history at .736, trailing only Brad Stevens (.811), Bruce Pearl (.797), Bryce Drew (.774) and Pete Gillen (.769).
“I don’t think right now we’re a particularly great offensive rebounding team. And I don’t know how good we are yet at defensive rebounding.”
Size shouldn’t be an issue, though.
“The one position where we have plenty of players is the center position,” Nagy said. “We also have people who aren’t true centers who can play the center.”
The Raiders return 6-foot-9 sophomore A.J. Braun at the 5 spot. Pegged as a redshirt candidate in the preseason, he ended up starting 22 games and made the HL all-freshman team.
He averaged 5.4 points and 3.0 rebounds and held up well even while dealing with the midseason death of his father.
“He’s good around the basket. He’s got (scoring ability) going off his left and right shoulder,” Nagy said.
One newcomer who could see significant time inside is 6-8 sophomore Blake Sisley, who transferred from Evansville. He made four starts at the end of last season and averaged double-figures over the final 10 games.
“I thought we’d get more 3-point shooting out of him, but really, he’s been better in the post. And I’m pleasantly surprised by that,” Nagy said.
Sizing up his options on the blocks, the coach said: “Some guys are better defensively and some offensively. Trying to meld those two together is what we’re still trying to figure out.”
GENTRY IN COACHING BIZ: Cole Gentry, a standout point guard for the Raiders from 2017-20, has joined the Colorado State staff as a graduate assistant.
Another former Wright State staffer, Brian Cooley, is in his second year with the Rams.
Gentry made 46 straight free throws in 2018, falling one short of Jesse Deister’s school record.
HL TOURNEY STAYING PUT: The league tourney has been played at the Indiana Farmers Colesium in Indianapolis since 2020, and it will stay there until at least 2026, the HL announced last month.
Nagy, whose team won the title there last year, had mixed feelings:
“With our league, if you want the games more highly attended, you just play them at home. But Indy is a good spot for us, and our fans can get there pretty easily.”
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