He turned the cameras on himself.
“We’re always telling our players to get over this and get over that,” he said, meaning dealing with trials during a game. “We just showed them a clip of where we turned the ball over and showed them my response. It was awful.
“Here’s the head coach telling you to handle adversity better, and I’m over there with my head down. You just tell them, ‘I’m not immune to it, either.’”
The players didn’t appear ready for Nagy’s self-critique. They reacted at first with awkward silence.
“We watched it, and we turned the ball over. And I said, ‘What do you notice here? Just look at it.’” Nagy said.
“Somebody said, ‘Well, we didn’t give each other (a high) five.’ I said, ‘Don’t be afraid to say what you notice.’ Finally, somebody said, ‘Look at you, coach!’
“They know I’m in the struggle with them.”
Nagy didn’t have to worry about slumped shoulders and negative reactions during an 82-70 win over Cleveland State. Going into the game with a 4-8 record against Division I teams, the Raiders had perhaps their best showing of the year.
They went 33 of 55 (60%) from the field, had 22 assists on 33 baskets and held the Vikings to 38.5% shooting.
“I just I hate losing so much and how it makes me feel. And as much as I try to convince the players that losing doesn’t really say anything about who you are … I’m trying to convince them of something I don’t do very well,” Nagy said.
“But there’s one good thing about losing: it reminds you how good winning is. I’ve been on teams that have won so much, you almost lose appreciation for winning. But when you haven’t won like you want to and do, you remember how good that feels.”
The Raiders (7-8, 2-2) are almost leading the nation in field-goal shooting — they’re second at 52.89%, while Colorado State is at 52.96 — and will start a three-game road swing against a team just as proficient on offense as them.
They face surprising Purdue Fort Wayne (13-2, 4-0) at 1 p.m. Saturday. The Mastodons are the only Horizon League team without a conference loss after being picked eighth in the preseason poll.
They’re averaging 83.5 points to Wright State’s 83.4.
Nagy, whose team is 0-5 on the road, emphasized that defense will be the key in getting it turned around. But he added:
“Fort Wayne will be hard because they’re tremendous offensively. They just have really good players with no egos because they had no preseason hype. A chip on your shoulder, no egos and playing together — that’s all you need.”
PFW, which finished 17-15 and 9-11 last season, picked up two impact transfers in junior guard Rasheed Bello (Wisconsin-Parkside) and sophomore guard Jalen Jackson (UIC), who are both in the top 10 in the league in scoring.
And freshman guard Corey Hadnot II has already won four HL freshman of the week awards.
“They’re good players, and they didn’t have the accolades and all the stuff our guys did — the things you have to deal with as a coach,” Nagy said.
A quirk in the schedule means the Raiders will play five of their first seven league games on the road.
“Sometimes people complain about that, but if we had to play nine or 10 in a row, I don’t care. We’re going to have to play them sometime — and then we get them at home,” Nagy said.
NO SHOES: Nagy coached the game, which was broadcast nationally on ESPN2, in barefoot to raise awareness for the Chrisitan charity Samaritan’s Feet.
“I got started with it because of our (21-year-old) daughter Naika, who we adopted from Haiti. I’m just trying to help her country,” Nagy said.
“Samaritan’s Feet just did their 10-millionth shoe back in October had a big celebration, and they’re on to the next 10 million.”
SATURDAY’S GAME
Wright State at Purdue Fort Wayne, 1 p.m., ESPN+, 101.5, 1410
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