Wright State coach Clint Sargent vowed to figure out what was wrong in his program after the 95-79 spanking. His players were also on board in making sure the performance wasn’t repeated.
The Raiders had a team meeting leading up to the Detroit Mercy game Saturday, and honesty was encouraged.
“We had good conversations from staff to players. We kind of went over things, and they were trying to make sure they weren’t giving us too much information,” senior guard Alex Huibregtse said.
“At the end of the day, no matter how much information they give us, it’s on us to go out there and perform.”
That may be true, but the coaches recognized the players were suffering from information overload. There were clear signs of paralysis by analysis.
“Our staff is constantly trying to read our players and were trying to figure out what that disconnect was. Our defensive numbers have slid to a place that’s awfully similar to last year in some of our tendencies, which I don’t like. We had a lot of healthy dialogue,” Sargent said.
The principles may be sound, but the players had too much to process, especially in the meat of a game when the bullets are flying.
“As a coach, you want them to know it all. But then you go through a season, and you’re facing all these different teams and constantly tinkering and tinkering to guard them. Then you’re like, ‘What are our non-negotiables?’” Sargent said.
“That’s where I feel like I have to do a better job for them, so when it does come the heat of the moment, they know exactly what’s expected.”
The Raiders responded with a sturdy defensive effort against the Titans, holding them to 30.8% shooting in a 67-50 victory.
That’s the lowest clip by an opponent since Green Bay hit 29.6% on Jan. 28, 2023.
Detroit is just 6-16 and has lost 11 of their last 12 games.
Still, as Huibregtse said: “We were just very locked in defensively and forcing some tough shots. They started to make them a little as the game went on, but we were doing a great job defensively.”
That was another takeaway from the team meeting.
“I think it was just making sure defense is always our first priority. It slipped up the last two or three games. I think it was all right against NKU (in a 78-70 road win Jan. 18). But we’re just making sure our focus is on defense,” Huibregtse said.
Though they’ve been gashed for big numbers, the Raiders have clearly made progress this season.
They’ve already held seven foes to their standard of one point per possession after doing it only five time last season.
They’re allowing 73.9 points per game, which is 247th out of 355 Division-I teams. They were 346th last season.
But defense hasn’t been the only issue for the Raiders, who are 11-11 overall and 5-6 in the Horizon League. Sargent is looking for ways to simplify the offense, too.
“We run motion, and we try to teach our guys how to play intellectually, but there’s a lot of options. I’m watching them, and I’m sitting there thinking, ‘What is going on?’ I realized I’ve given them too many options, too many choices where it can snowball when it’s not going well,” he said.
“There has to be a shift from how I do the job in a lot of ways. That happens subtly, but I think it’ll put our guys in a better position to be successful.”
WEDNESDAY’S GAME
Wright State at Youngstown State, 6:30 p.m., ESPN+, 101.5, 1410
About the Author