Dave Cokin
Bonus Play Monday
(719) GREEN BAY at (720) WRIGHT STATE 8:00PM
Take: (719) GREEN BAY -5.5
There’s quite the race developing in the Horizon League. Four teams are currently tied with two losses each, and the battle for seeding in a league where it would seem to really matter should be outstanding.
One of the leaders is Green Bay, but the Phoenix lost their perch atop the standings on Saturday when they got knocked around at Cleveland State. GB came out flat, fell way behind and trailed wire to wire against the Vikings, save for a very brief 2-0 lead.
I would expect Brian Wardle’s guys to rebound tonight. Wright State is not playing well at all right now and with as much inefficiency as their’s been with the Raiders offense lately, this is not a good opponent for them.
Green Bay isn’t a cinch here by any means. They’ve gotten a little undisciplined with their own attack of late. The Phoenix are not a good outside shooting team and they appear to be have settled for too many jumpers in the last couple of outings. They got away with it in the dogfight with Valparaiso but paid a price on Saturday at Cleveland State.
Look for a more concerted effort to get the ball into the paint tonight. If the Phoenix can accomplish that, things will open up for Kiefer Sykes and the road team should take command.
Wright State is still missing JT Yoho, and his absence has been costly. Now they’re without the senior leadership of Kendall Griffin, who’s career probably ended on Wednesday when he absorbed yet another concussion.
I think there are telling quotes here from Wright State coach Billy Donlon that appeared in the Dayton Daily News.
“I was honest with our guys,” Donlon said. “If we go 8-0 and finish 11-5 in the league, that’s not going to be good enough to win the regular season title in all likelihood. That record has never been good enough since I’ve been here.”
“We’re here to get better to play for the tournament in March, and that’s what we’re going to try to do every single day,” Donlon said. “That’s our job every day in practice, to improve our younger players, because clearly we’re a very young team now. We have two guys who play who have played a full season in Division I.”
That’s revealing stuff for these eyes. It tells me the focus is on improving enough to perhaps make a run in the conference tournament. For Green Bay, it’s all about right now and trying to nail down the league’s top seed. I think that’s good enough to justify laying the points with the Phoenix tonight.
Bonus Play Monday
(719) GREEN BAY at (720) WRIGHT STATE 8:00PM
Take: (719) GREEN BAY -5.5
There’s quite the race developing in the Horizon League. Four teams are currently tied with two losses each, and the battle for seeding in a league where it would seem to really matter should be outstanding.
One of the leaders is Green Bay, but the Phoenix lost their perch atop the standings on Saturday when they got knocked around at Cleveland State. GB came out flat, fell way behind and trailed wire to wire against the Vikings, save for a very brief 2-0 lead.
I would expect Brian Wardle’s guys to rebound tonight. Wright State is not playing well at all right now and with as much inefficiency as their’s been with the Raiders offense lately, this is not a good opponent for them.
Green Bay isn’t a cinch here by any means. They’ve gotten a little undisciplined with their own attack of late. The Phoenix are not a good outside shooting team and they appear to be have settled for too many jumpers in the last couple of outings. They got away with it in the dogfight with Valparaiso but paid a price on Saturday at Cleveland State.
Look for a more concerted effort to get the ball into the paint tonight. If the Phoenix can accomplish that, things will open up for Kiefer Sykes and the road team should take command.
Wright State is still missing JT Yoho, and his absence has been costly. Now they’re without the senior leadership of Kendall Griffin, who’s career probably ended on Wednesday when he absorbed yet another concussion.
I think there are telling quotes here from Wright State coach Billy Donlon that appeared in the Dayton Daily News.
“I was honest with our guys,” Donlon said. “If we go 8-0 and finish 11-5 in the league, that’s not going to be good enough to win the regular season title in all likelihood. That record has never been good enough since I’ve been here.”
“We’re here to get better to play for the tournament in March, and that’s what we’re going to try to do every single day,” Donlon said. “That’s our job every day in practice, to improve our younger players, because clearly we’re a very young team now. We have two guys who play who have played a full season in Division I.”
That’s revealing stuff for these eyes. It tells me the focus is on improving enough to perhaps make a run in the conference tournament. For Green Bay, it’s all about right now and trying to nail down the league’s top seed. I think that’s good enough to justify laying the points with the Phoenix tonight.