"I want them bothered," Nagy said a few days after the Raiders dropped an 80-75 decision against Youngstown State . "I don't have a lot of interest in being around people that aren't bothered by losing."
Nagy said he saw what he wanted to see when the team returned to practice Monday to get ready for its longest – and fastest – road trip of the season.
WSU (11-6, 2-2 Horizon League) will play at Wisconsin Green-Bay tonight against a Phoenix team that is streaking in more ways than one.
RELATED: Sophomore guard Mark Hughes to miss Wisconsin trip with rare injury
Green Bay (10-6, 4-0) is riding a six-game winning streak after rallying from a 15-point, second-half deficit Tuesday night to beat visiting Northern Kentucky 80-71. And the Phoenix are finding success with speed, pushing the tempo for all 40 minutes.
They rank 10th in the country in pace of play, averaging just 13 seconds per possession, and they lead the conference and rank 45th out of 347 Division I teams in scoring (80.7 points per game).
“They make you hurry up,” Nagy said. “We’ve got to get back and defend. They make it hard. They play fast on a make. They’ll try to push and get the quick shot. They’re going to play fast all the time.”
One of the ways to slow down a team like that is to get all five players back and play great defense, which could be an issue because it was an inability to play defense in the second half that led to the collapse against Youngstown State.
The WSU offense also will bear some responsibility in slowing the Green Bay offense.
RELATED: South Dakota State guard transfers to Wright State
“The best way to slow them down is to not turn the ball over, which we’ve struggled with,” Nagy said.
The Raiders average 16 turnovers per game and are tied for last in the HL in turnover margin (-4.2). The committed a season-low 10 Saturday against the Penguins, but that’s not easing Nagy’s concern.
“(YSU) didn’t pressure us,” he said. “We’re going to get pressure against Green Bay, so we have to take great care of the ball, run a good offense and get great shots. That’s the best way to slow them down.”
Nagy said he will call on junior guard Tye Wilburn to help point guard Justin Mitchell with the ball handling against the press, and sophomore guard Alan Vest also will see an increased role with sophomore guard Mark Hughes sidelined by a pair of sprained ankles.
Thursday’s contest marks a rematch of last year’s HL tournament championship game, in which fourth-seeded Green Bay upset No. 3 Wright State 78-69 to go to the NCAA tournament.
But Nagy hasn’t exactly been using that loss for inspiration this week.
“If you need to use that for motivation, in my opinion it’s probably a problem,” he said. “There’s no reason for us to have use that when we’re just coming off of a game where we were so bad defensively in the second half. That should be motivation enough.”
About the Author