The Raiders averaged 69.1 possessions per game, which was only the 269th most out of 351 Division-I teams. And while their glacial pace was effective, leading to a league co-championship and an NIT berth, coach Scott Nagy would have preferred a much quicker tempo.
“Loudon was young then, and with Parker, we were big,” said Clint Sargent, a former Raider assistant and Nagy’s successor. “We weren’t great offensively, and we kind of slowed it down based on our personnel.”
The Raiders have stuck with a fast-paced mode of attack since then, perfecting it along the way — they set a single-season school-record with 2,767 points last year — and Sargent doesn’t plan to mess with success.
“When you have skilled players, you tend to play quicker. I would anticipate us having that same piece to our game,” he said.
“I like playing aggressively. Of all the things offensively you’re trying to implement, ideally, you have five guys who have great rhythm together and are unselfish. When you have it, you’re dangerous.”
The Raiders were 22nd nationally in possessions per game last season at 74.7 and 17th two years ago at 75.0. They also were 64th in 2020-21 and 28th in 2019-20.
The only outlier was when they finished 121st at 71.2 in 2021-22. They had a freshman center in A.J. Braun, and their leading scorer was Tanner Holden, who was more of a methodical player than a whiz in the open court.
But that still puts them roughly in the top third in getting up and down the floor.
“If you’re playing against a set defense every time, your efficiency numbers will go down,” Sargent said.
“You’re looking to play off advantages, and there’s not a better advantage than when you’re playing in the full court and the defense isn’t set.”
The Raiders’ offensive efficiency numbers have been consistently high the last five years, including finishing eighth nationally in average points per possession last season and ninth in 2020-21.
“There’s stages of the game where you would want to slow down and grind them up,” Sargent said. “If you’re struggling a little bit defensively, a quick shot is not a great shot. But if you’re flowing and things are going well, maybe that quick shot is a really good shot.
“There’s an intellect and IQ piece to it. We don’t just want to play fast to play fast. We want to play smart.”
Wright State has added athletic players in D-I transfers Jack Doumbia, Ben Southerland and Michael Imariagbe. And the 6-8 Brandon Noel, the league preseason player of the year, excels at filling lanes on fastbreaks.
Deliberate teams have found success in the HL — Northern Kentucky has won three of the last six league tourneys — but fans seem to relish end-to-end action, and players do, too.
“Coach Nagy definitely preached playing fast, getting out in transition. And coach Sargent is pretty similar with that,” fifth-year senior guard Alex Huibregtse said.
“Obviously, that starts with getting stops and getting rebounds, and then you can push it. But it’s a lot of fun running up and down, kind of playing run-and-gun, and getting shots up pretty quickly.”
SINCLAIR HOSTS RADIO DUO: Former Wright State sports information director Bob Noss has started a monthly discussion series at the Sinclair College Centerville campus called “History of Dayton Sports,” and the guest speakers at 1 p.m. Friday, Nov. 1, will be Raider broadcasters Chris Collins and Jim Brown.
Dayton Flyers radio voice Larry Hansgen will be featured Friday, Dec. 6.
The series will be held in Room 105 at the college, which is located at 5800 Clyo Rd.
For info, go to Sinclair.edu/lifelong.
SATURDAY’S GAME
Wilmington at Wright State (exhibition), 7 p.m., 101.5, 1410
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