Twice this season Wright State coach Scott Nagy has been vocal about his team?s lack of toughness, and in both instances the bounce-back opponent has been Wisconsin-Milwaukee.
The first time was Jan. 14, when the Raiders rebounded from an uninspired, 17-point loss at Wisconsin-Green Bay for a 70-67 win at Milwaukee. The second time will be Thursday night when the Panthers visit the Nutter Center five days after WSU dropped an 83-79 decision against Northern Kentucky that again left Nagy fed up with the way his squad ?got pushed around.?
?The way we played last game, the question is how our players will respond,? he said. ?There?s always the feeling sorry for yourself response, and then there?s the fight response. We?re hoping our kids will fight.?
Wright State (15-9, 6-5 Horizon League) enters tied with NKU for fourth place, 1 1/2 games back of Oakland for third place and 2 1/2 behind Green Bay, which will be at the Nutter Center on Saturday.
Nagy said he believes his the message he attempted to send with his pointed criticism was received.
?Of all the people who were most unhappy about what happened last Saturday, it was our players,? he said. ?Does that mean they?re going to play perfectly? No. But one thing I don?t want them to do, and I told them this (Wednesday), I said I either want you completely brokenhearted that you didn?t win or I want you elated (that you did).
?The only way you feel one of those emotions is if you poured your heart into it. When you don?t pour your heart into it and you protect yourself, for whatever reason, you look back on it and think ?I could have done more? Those are the feelings you don?t want to have. That?s not living. That?s existing. I want our players to live and flat out put everything they have into it.?
There is no question Milwaukee (8-17, 4-8 HL) has been putting everything into its games of late.
The Panthers are on a remarkable run that has seen them go to overtime in four of their five games. They also opened the league season with a double-overtime game.
?It?s phenomenal to play five overtime games in one year, and all in the league,? Nagy said. ?I think it tells you how well they compete.?
The last five overtime games Wright State has played covers a span of 1,878 days, dating back to Dec. 20, 2011. And the last time the Raiders played more than two overtime games in a season was 2004-05, when they played three.
?And it?s not just the overtime games,? Nagy said. ?They have played in a ton of close games.?
The game before Milwaukee began its four-of-five-overtime run was a one-point victory against Cleveland State, which came six days after the first meeting with Wright State.
Nagy said he hasn?t revisited that first meeting much this week for a couple of reasons.
They run very good stuff, and they?re hard to stop, but they run so much that you just can?t show your players everything,? he said. ?And when you come off a loss, it doesn?t matter who you play.
?What matters is you want to feel like you can win again. What matters is being willing to make plays that are out there. Most of them are toughness plays, whether it be taking the charge or diving on the floor for a loose ball or blocking a guy out or setting a screen when it might hurt. Those are things we?ve been trying to focus on with our guys.?
The first time was Jan. 14, when the Raiders rebounded from an uninspired, 17-point loss at Wisconsin-Green Bay for a 70-67 win at Milwaukee. The second time will be Thursday night when the Panthers visit the Nutter Center five days after WSU dropped an 83-79 decision against Northern Kentucky that again left Nagy fed up with the way his squad ?got pushed around.?
?The way we played last game, the question is how our players will respond,? he said. ?There?s always the feeling sorry for yourself response, and then there?s the fight response. We?re hoping our kids will fight.?
Wright State (15-9, 6-5 Horizon League) enters tied with NKU for fourth place, 1 1/2 games back of Oakland for third place and 2 1/2 behind Green Bay, which will be at the Nutter Center on Saturday.
Nagy said he believes his the message he attempted to send with his pointed criticism was received.
?Of all the people who were most unhappy about what happened last Saturday, it was our players,? he said. ?Does that mean they?re going to play perfectly? No. But one thing I don?t want them to do, and I told them this (Wednesday), I said I either want you completely brokenhearted that you didn?t win or I want you elated (that you did).
?The only way you feel one of those emotions is if you poured your heart into it. When you don?t pour your heart into it and you protect yourself, for whatever reason, you look back on it and think ?I could have done more? Those are the feelings you don?t want to have. That?s not living. That?s existing. I want our players to live and flat out put everything they have into it.?
There is no question Milwaukee (8-17, 4-8 HL) has been putting everything into its games of late.
The Panthers are on a remarkable run that has seen them go to overtime in four of their five games. They also opened the league season with a double-overtime game.
?It?s phenomenal to play five overtime games in one year, and all in the league,? Nagy said. ?I think it tells you how well they compete.?
The last five overtime games Wright State has played covers a span of 1,878 days, dating back to Dec. 20, 2011. And the last time the Raiders played more than two overtime games in a season was 2004-05, when they played three.
?And it?s not just the overtime games,? Nagy said. ?They have played in a ton of close games.?
The game before Milwaukee began its four-of-five-overtime run was a one-point victory against Cleveland State, which came six days after the first meeting with Wright State.
Nagy said he hasn?t revisited that first meeting much this week for a couple of reasons.
They run very good stuff, and they?re hard to stop, but they run so much that you just can?t show your players everything,? he said. ?And when you come off a loss, it doesn?t matter who you play.
?What matters is you want to feel like you can win again. What matters is being willing to make plays that are out there. Most of them are toughness plays, whether it be taking the charge or diving on the floor for a loose ball or blocking a guy out or setting a screen when it might hurt. Those are things we?ve been trying to focus on with our guys.?
