Division I regional track finals
Fenwick graduation 2012
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Home > Blogs > Flyer Connection: University of Dayton sports > Archives > 2009 > January > 08
Thursday, January 8, 2009
Flyers not at their best in half-court sets
Miami couldn’t quite knock off Dayton at UD Arena earlier this week, but Charlie Coles’ team may have given Atlantic 10 schools a blueprint for beating the Flyers.
As Coles pointed out after the 45-40 defeat, UD is much more comfortable in transition than in half-court sets. And the RedHawks turned the game into a walk-it-up affair by keeping defenders back.
George Mason coach Jim Larranaga had the same idea. He constantly motioned to his players during a 66-62 loss to collapse in the paint, cutting off driving lanes to the basket.
Opponents fear the Flyers’ athletic ability, but not their outside shooters.
“Are we better in the open court? Yeah,” UD coach Brian Gregory said. “And that’s an area we need to keep improving at, and we have gotten better at it.”
Gregory knows the Flyers are vulnerable if they have to survive on the perimeter, but opponents give up something with that strategy, too.
“If a team sends four guys back (on defense), you’re not going to score in the open court,” Gregory said, “but they’re not going to get any offensive rebounds.”
