College Hoops is starting to get a little more interesting as most teams have 6-7 games under their belt. Wright State has gotten off to the start that I think many Wright State fans thought they would. A solid 5-2 with 2 losses to Washington and Northeastern. Both games were winnable. Washington was just a better team, but if Duggins plays, maybe WSU wins that one.
My thoughts on the Raiders are a little mixed. I'm mostly optimistic about this team. They are better than last year, and last year's team won 20 games, so it's not out of the question for this team to win 24-25 games. Their all-around best player Vaughn Duggins is back and playing solidly.
Right now I think of the Raiders as a very solid team. They are going to be hard to beat. But I don't think of them as a very good team yet…Does that make any sense? Haha!
For them to become a very good team, they need to improve in a couple of areas. Right now, they aren't getting enough production from the PG or C position. N'Gai Evans has been inconsistent, and Ronnie Thomas isn't much of a threat offensively. Although Thomas doesn't usually play more then 20 minutes a game so he is a starter more in name then anything.
To break it down further…this team is lacking a point guard who creates for his teammates, and they are lacking an inside presence.
But I think there is potential there. I like Evans. He just hasn't played too well his last 3 games. If breaks out of this mini funk, it'll make the Raiders offense that much more dangerous. The return of John David Gardner could be huge. I think that will be one of the more interesting developments in the Horizon League this year.
Another positive is that I believe Corey Cooperwood is becoming more confident on offense. I think he can score a little more down low. I even think Thomas is capable, but just isn't a focal point in the offense.
This team can be dangerous on offense this year. You couldn't say that about last year's team. The development of Troy Tabler and Cooper Land seems to be the main key to in my opinion so far. Actually, the improvement is across the board. Todd Brown is better offensively, Duggins is back, Thomas a little better, Cooperwood a little more confident.
But I think a big difference is with this team you can't slow them all down. Someone comes off the bench and can be counted to pick-up the scoring slack unlike in past year.
Horizon League Thoughts
A few Horizon League games have been played. A couple of thoughts running through my mind.
-The top 4 teams seems to clearly be Butler, Wright State, Green Bay, and Detroit. Green Bay is a little surprising to me. You knew they had two good guards in Fletcher and Cotton coming back, but I questioned whether they had anything else. They are starting a 3rd guard (Perines) though who is averaging 12 ppg. They look like a very solid team. A little bit of a surprise I think.
The top of the league appears to be as strong as its been in the last several years.
-Butler has not shot it well behind the arc so far. I still think Butler is the league favorite, and a Top 25 team, but Wright State is capable of winning this league if Butler doesn't improve too much upon its 3 point shooting. Right now, I like Wright State's bench better then Butler's bench. Plus WSU has a little more experience than Butler. I don't think people outside of the conference realize that there's not a big separation between Butler and Wright State this year.
And who knows. Maybe Detroit and Green Bay are in that conversation as well.
-I've seen Loyola for a few minutes this year. They don't look particularly too talented, but I think they look well-coached from what I've seen. They could be a little bit of a surprise.
-Cleveland State is a work in progress. Norris Cole is very good, but not good enough to completely carry them. A lot of their success depends on Aaron Pogue's development. It's yet to be seen whether he'll finally live up to his potential. I know he's only a sophomore, but I'm not a huge Trey Harmon fan. He seems to have an extremely quick trigger. A disappointing start for CSU, but Gary Waters has that program in great position I think. If they stay healthy they should be very good again next year, and should improve within this year I would think.
-How long does Rob Jeter last at Milwaukee…I guess Tone Boyle is out for the season. You feel bad for Milwaukee and Jeter in that respect. But still, I'm not sure he is the answer at Milwaukee.
I think for the Horizon League to gain more notoriety it would help if the big city schools were at least respectable. If Detroit, Milwaukee, Illinois Chicago, and CSU were all consistently good I think it would be kind of exciting. Waters knows what he is doing at least. And it seems Detroit is on the way up.
Alrighty! Peace for now. Thanks for reading!
Jer
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