Wright State, The Big 4 in Ohio in the NCAA’s?

Nice bounce back win for my beloved Wright State Raiders last night. Corey Cooperwood had a very good game finishing with 19 points. He has scored 19, 12, and 12 in his last 3 games. Over the whole season Cooperwood is averaging about 23 minutes per game. I think if he can average at least 5 more minutes a game down the stretch the Raiders offense will be more successful. He actually should have had about 25 last night if he hadn't missed some layups.

While Cooperwood's individual game is progressing, the Raiders guards' ability to penetrate last night was a key in Cooperwood getting some easy buckets. Todd Brown and N'Gai Evans especially were effective in penetrating to the basket.

As I was watching the game, one thing became clear. There is a big difference in Butler and Loyola! Butler cut off most of Wright State's efforts to penetrate in the game Saturday night, whereas Todd Brown, who isn't the quickest guy off the dribble, seemingly had his way taking the ball to the bucket against Loyola.

 

The Big 4 in the NCAA's?

I think most people would agree that the top 4 programs in Ohio are Cincinnati, Xavier, Ohio State, and Dayton. When is the last time those 4 teams have made the NCAA tournament. With Dayton's win vs. Xavier tonight, and Cincinnati beating St. John's it appears that all 4 are on their way to the NCAA tournament. Here are their records…

Dayton 22-3 (8-2)

Xavier 20-4 (8-2)

Cincinnati 17-8 (7-5)

Ohio State 17-5 (7-4)

 

I think these four teams are pretty even actually. One of them doesn't really stick out over the other. I think Cincinnati would be a bit of a surprise to make the tournament, but they have one of the best scoring guards in the country in Deonta Vaughn, a very talented big guy in Yancy Gates, and some other talented slash to the bucket type of players. They aren't great but I think they are improving.

With that being said, I think Cincy should still be on the bubble. The good thing if you're Cincy is that if you finish in the top 8 in the Big East, you're pretty much automatically in. I'm not sure that should be the case every year though. You can make a strong argument that Cincy doesn't deserve to be in. They haven't really had any really good wins, and have played hardly anyone on the road in the nonconference. I am a Bearcats fan, but they are one of those teams that as a "mid-major" fan I would despise because they may make the tournament with 10-11 losses, not playing a tough nonconference schedule…all the while keeping out a very good mid-major team with 4-6 losses. We'll See…

 

Finally…Big win for the Dayton Flyers tonight. They are a tough team to figure out. Very deep, but usually a terrible shooting team. They hit 6-14 from behind the arc tonight. If they should 40% from behind the arc they can beat about anyone. But it also seems like they can lose to anyone when they don't hit a couple threes. A few more thoughts on the Flyers

1. Chris Wright is the definition of raw talent. Sometimes I think he is overrated. He's not smooth in his offensive game. But he could be a great player if he stays 4 years at Dayton. I would say there is a 90% chance he stays 4 years. I'm not sure he would really excel in the NBA. He kind of is a good representative of the whole team. He'll brick a three-pointer, and then hit 2 threes in a row. If he becomes more consistent, he could be one of the best Dayton Flyers of all time.
   
2. Chris Johnson is really impressive. He only played 14 minutes tonight. You can't really criticize Brian Gregory tonight, but man how does that guy only play 14 minutes? Some night he looks like the best player on the team. He needs to play at least 20 minutes a game. He doesn't have the talent of Chris Wright, but he has more fluidity (probably not a word) to his game, plus he is quite athletic himself. Very impressive.
   
3. Xavier is a bit overrated. They don't look like a Top 15 team, and they definitely aren't a Top 10 team as they were ranked recently. I think as you build your program, it's a lot easier to get those higher rankings even when you may not quite deserve it. They are good don't get me wrong. A top 25 team, but I don't think they have the guards to make a big run in the NCAA tournament. I'd be really surprised if they make the Sweet 16.