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Home > Blogs > Flyer Connection: University of Dayton sports > Archives > 2009 > January > 14 > Entry
Flyers take step backward
Dayton seemingly had the perfect foe in Fordham to rebuild its confidence after that thrashing on the road at UMass. The Flyers know — shoot, everybody knows — the other 14 Atlantic 10 opponents left on the schedule will provide far greater tests than what the youthful Rams could muster.
But instead of a psyche-soothing victory, the Flyers are left to ponder whether that 14-1 non-league record was a deceiving feat built against mostly weak competition or whether they have the stuff to make a run at the postseason.
The Flyers pulled out a 72-71 victory, but that was a rattled team on the floor, playing, if I may channel Dr. Phil for a moment, with a fear of failure instead of a swagger that should be there from beating Marquette, Auburn and others.
These guys went into the game with an RPI of 43 — meaning they’re ranked ahead of exactly 300 Division-I teams in the computer ratings — but unless they solve their offensive woes, a slide down the standings is inevitable.
The Flyers are out of sync in half-court sets, and they’re not getting enough transition points to make up for it. There’s no easy solution, either. Opponents have figured out how to keep UD from running, and there aren’t enough players on the roster capable of creating shots for themselves.
And what’s happened to that celebrated defense? Only one of the Flyers’ first 12 opponents shot 40 percent from the field (Creighton), but Fordham connected at a 43.9 clip while becoming the fourth team in five games to top 40 percent.
“We’ve played two games now in this league, and in both games we haven’t defended and have not rebounded well, so we have a lot of work to do if we want to continue to improve,” UD coach Brian Gregory said. “Tomorrow morning, you feel a lot better that we won this game, but it’s hard to find a lot of things we did well.”
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By Digger67
January 15, 2009 12:05 AM | Link to this
A one point last minute win over Fordham! Give me a break!! Please tell me, if BG recruits such great talent, why he can’t coach them to a level where we can beat, or at least contend with, UMass, Temple, St.Joes, and URI? Then maybe we can worry about X, and an NCAA bid. If these teams don’t have better athletes, then they must have better coaching, because they sure compete better than we do.By Nick
January 15, 2009 2:30 AM | Link to this
The same thing happens every year it seems like. UD plays well against non conference opponents and teams that are ranked and then when they get into conference play they self destruct.I think they tend to play to the ability of their opponents. They need to come out each night as if they were playing a top ranked team in the nation.By Tyrone
January 15, 2009 8:04 AM | Link to this
After playing Fordham, our strength of schedule just dropped to 311. BG needs to start working on next years schedule, NOW!By sec 312
January 15, 2009 8:49 AM | Link to this
how many times has Little thrown away a inbounds pass? Answer a bunch, find someone else, to throw it in. A win is a win, so don’t get too down. BG have you ever thought about C. wright on the block? pound it in to him.By Count
January 15, 2009 9:06 AM | Link to this
I haven’t seen a replay yet, but did Lowery travel on the winning layup? UD’s A10 schedule shapes up nicely with many of the tougher opponents coming to the arena for at least a split. No excuses for not getting 10 wins in conference play.By C-Bus Flyer
January 15, 2009 9:17 AM | Link to this
Tyrone, BG does not handle the scheduling…that’s the Athletic Director’s job. Maybe a little input from the coach, but his influence is minimal. Here’s what to watch for when evaluating BG: (1) contend for your conference championship most years, (2) beat your rival, (3) get to the NCAA tourney. BG is 0 for 3 on this criteria. The UMass loss, coupled with last night’s 22-for-36 free throw performance — plus out-of-control play and mindless turnovers — suggest that there is a serious disconnect between the coaching staff and these players.By bobby
January 15, 2009 9:43 AM | Link to this
The greatest asset this team has is the home crowd at the arena. If UD doesn’t win on the road in conference play, it stays at home in March!By Chris-Flyer
January 15, 2009 9:44 AM | Link to this
BG is learning too. Needs to give more minutes to his starting 5, and cut the rotation down to 8. Playing 12 is great for non-con but not for A-10. He’s not helping CW by limiting his minutes. Great team with lots of potential, but CW has to be allowed to be a dominate force inside.By mike
January 15, 2009 9:54 AM | Link to this
Saturday’s game in Pittsburgh against Duquesne will be a good test as to where UD is. Duquesne has had a surprisingly good season thus far and, more importantly, they are 3-0 in conference play. A road victory on Saturday would go a long way in boosting this team’s confidence. However, if they play like they did at UMass & against Fordham, they could get blown out over there…. This game on Saturday is the kind of road victory this squad needs desperately!!!By Doc
January 15, 2009 10:03 AM | Link to this
When is UD going to get serious about pressing the opposition? We consistently use a single man press that is designed to take some time off the shot clock but never seem to trap trying to force turnovers. UDs strength is points after steals.By Jerseyflyer
January 15, 2009 10:06 AM | Link to this
Well the word has reached the East Coast on just how to beat the University of Dayton Bricklayers. We have players who’d rather dunk on fast breaks than set up in the half court.Dayton has zero long range gunners. Teams will just jam the middle from here out. NIT BABY! Same #*^# every year!By Rudy
January 15, 2009 10:33 AM | Link to this
I couldn’t agree more with Digger67. In short, Flyer fans better get ready for another let down. The Flyers will be fortunate to get an NIT bid, never mind the NCAA. Time for Gregory to go.By Poneman
January 15, 2009 11:44 AM | Link to this
We always hear about UD’s struggle to find a competitive non-conference schedule. Perhaps they should look at St. Joe (Texas, Indiana (H), Alabama (H), Creighton, Villanova) and Temple (Clemson (H), Penn State, Tennessee (H), Kansas, Villanova) as examples of how you get ready for your conference by playing a tough schedule, even if some of them are on the road. You mean Oliver Purnell won’t offer the Flyers a Home and Home series but he’ll give one to Temple? Or is it that the story about the Flyers scheduling woes is simply a product of Kissell/Gregory ducking the challenge of a tough schedule. GO ON THE ROAD SO YOU WILL BE A BETTER TEAM BY THE END OF THE YEAR!By Faithful Fan 65
January 15, 2009 11:54 AM | Link to this
I listened to the game on the radio. I wish I had counted the times that Bucky Bockhorn said that someone from Fordham downed a wide open 3 point shot while no one was even close to guarding him. And Dayton’s team is suppose to built around defense? Maybe it’s time they just started guarding their own man instead of everybody converging on the ball. UD was ahead by 3 at half time and won by 1. So Fordham with it’s 2 freshman guards won the 2nd half by 2 points. I thought Dayton’s 12 man rotation was suppose to wear down it’s opponents. Dayton has better athletes and had the home floor. It all comes down to coaching!!!!! NCAA—Hah! This team doesn’t belong in the NIT!By littledawg
January 15, 2009 11:56 AM | Link to this
The players are the ones that have to execute. The coach does not shoot foul shots or take 3pointers. I think that the shooters are not putting enough arc on their shots and they should see this when they study film. This is the coaches job to point things like that out. When I seen the first 14 games or so, I knew the Flyers were not going to be as good as everyone thought. Every year I wait for them to have a dominant center, but they never have one.By Matt
January 15, 2009 12:03 PM | Link to this
StJoe’s and Temple play Villanova as part of the Philly 5 every year. It’s autoscheduled. Going to Indiana this year is also not a good OOC.By Kyle
January 15, 2009 12:52 PM | Link to this
You have to watch out when comparing other teams OOC schedules. As at least one other has pointed out, some games are pre-scheduled as rivaly games and others (Maui Inv. for St. Joes) allowed the Hawks to play Indiana, Texas, and Alabama. It was unfortunate that the Chicago Inv. couldn’t have a stronger field with Marquette #1 and Dayton your #2. Gregory needs to stick with a 8-9 player rotation with an occasional 10th or 11th man only if the game situation calls for it - maximize the time in which your best talent is on the floor and forget about “wearing teams down”. It obviously hasn’t worked the last two games and it won’t work at Duquesne this weekend.By PoetWarrior
January 15, 2009 2:58 PM | Link to this
Scheduling:It took X and Gonzaga how many years of March Madness success to finally make it worth the BCS schools to schedule them to guarantee the benefits of victory outweigh the risks of a loss. St. Joe & Temple have a recent legacy…from 1980 to 2000 we had 5 20+ win seasons. That’s a tradition of mediocre that has changed since Parnell left the cupboard bare. To: Little Dawg…keep waiting for dominant center, so is most every other coach in the NCAA and NBA…how many true dominant center are there even in the NBA? 4. The center position is a role position, and you can’t find what Kurt contributes in a stat sheet. BG is 113-62…anybody not take that record when Parnell split leaving the cupboard bare?By El Gordo
January 15, 2009 3:34 PM | Link to this
I say, this chap “C-Bus Flyer” yes, is quite accurate in shining the crippling light of truth on BG’s recruiting éclat & floor coaching decay, I fear that this arena “connoisseur of the concession stand” is failing to work on his bowling stoke and thus will take a sound thrashing on the lanes in Cincinnati later this month.By BGard
January 15, 2009 4:14 PM | Link to this
Breaking Down UD Lineup – As an opposing coach I would play zone all day long Warren – shoots lay-ups only, not part of offensive scheme Johnson – inside and outside threat Wright – mostly drives to basket, does not scare from outside, seems to have gotten lost in their offensive scheme Little – no outside shot, tries to bull his way to basket, sometimes settles for short jumpers Huelsman – no scoring threat at all, can’t shoot Their starting lineup is terrible on offense and they actually have more scoring threats coming off the bench: Lowry – sloppy and bad decisions, but is a threat to score C. Johnson – Can shoot the 3 and rebound but makes rookie mistakes Searcy – A better scoring threat and free throw shooter. Not sure why he doesn’t get more time Perry – poor floor play, but he can hit an occasional 3 Fabrizius – same as above Thomas – I think he needs to take more time from the other 2 guys. Williams – Occasional 3 ball, makes rookie mistakes Summary: Play pretty good defense and rebounding. Need to constantly push the ball in order to better utilize their speed and athletic ability. However, the constant need to push causes more mistakes. Once they get into a ½ court they are pretty much done. Free throw shooting will cause them to lose some close games. Phil Gard Contributed to this report!By mike
January 15, 2009 4:31 PM | Link to this
Dont these guys get flu shots? 2 years in a row some get sick right at conf season time.By FaithfulFan 65
January 15, 2009 4:49 PM | Link to this
Good analysis of UD’s players by BGard. I agree, but he forgot one thing. BG can’t teach his players how to shoot and make free throws. Can’t teach them to play a half-court offense. And can’t make half time adjustments. I’d bet that if Fordham’s coach had coached UD and BG coached Fordham, UD would have won the game by 15 or more points.By T-Ruckus
January 15, 2009 5:05 PM | Link to this
I’m not saying BG is the best coach by any means, but he’s definitely better than J. O’Brian or Oli-P. How many times has UD gone 14-1 two seasons in a row?? Anyone? Bueller? Once! 2007 & 2008. You gotta be doing something right. UMass was a horrible loss, but last night I’m going to throw in the “take the win and move on” category. Ugliest win I’ve ever witnessed but I’ll take it with London Warren running into the locker room numerous times during the game to get sick - anyone else see that…I counted it two times. Duquesne will be a HUGE test, let’s just see what happens. If we’re healthy and we get blown out, then NIT at best.By tds 70
January 15, 2009 6:31 PM | Link to this
Everyone has good points, and everyone has remained positive to the most part and fair in assesments etc. It makes reading and participating more fun. I guess my thoughts- defense is still consistant enough for a top 75 team , but UD needs 3 things to go further -1) Foul shooting at 68-72% night in and night out 7 of 10 is a must unless you have some beasts like Memphis and can afford less. 2) A deadly outside shooter, with a bit of spead and balance to shoot of screens and off dribble and 3)An inside threat. Until then, analize all you want but not to much will change , most team are athlethic enough to overcome those flaws. There will be some good times and bad and UD will be around 500 in league play with a couple of big wins and acouple of bad losses. One thought I had and always wanted to ask one of the coaches. With the emphasis on effort/defense how much does that effect shooting and other then keeping players fresh what drills /prep work does UD do to get players in good form and rhythem for a good shot etc. I guess , until delivery day we will just enjoy the hoops and hopes ,go Flyers!By FoulsX
January 15, 2009 6:55 PM | Link to this
Fordam got screwed by the refs. 38 foul shots to 17 foul shots. Shouldn’t Douggie boy be crying FOUL?By Steve
January 15, 2009 7:06 PM | Link to this
BG good family man, a good recruiter not great. Suffers from a bad case of stubborness seems bound and determined to show us that you can win playing 10-12 players. Stop promising PT to players that clearly don’t deserve it. No dance this year, sighBy sammy
January 15, 2009 7:08 PM | Link to this
FoulsX, I noticed that also. Doug whined and complained about the foul discrepancy against UMass, then he was totally quiet about the foul discrepancy against Fordham. If the fouls were called fairly against Forham, that would have been a loss for us.By Glen
January 15, 2009 7:41 PM | Link to this
Tyrone, I hope BG wakes up soon. Our 311 SoS ranking is pathetic. Only St Bonny has a weaker Strength of Schedule in the A10. And no Horizon League team has as weak of a schedule as we (UD) have. It is sad that only 25 D-I teams can say they have a weaker schedule than UD.By tg
January 16, 2009 9:25 AM | Link to this
Lots of good comments. For whatever reason, the A10 coaches just seem to have our number. Leave Warren & Little open outside and collapse in the middle so there’s no room in the lane. We have plenty of people that CAN hit the 3 - Wright, Johnson, Lowery, Luke, Paul Williams, CJ - the question is WILL they consistently on any given night. I’m not giving up yet on the 12 man rotation as it does seem to help us pull out wins in the end. Two or three years ago, we would have lost a lot of these games. Bummer that everyone is getting the flu - and everyone probably will get it before long - but when you’re used to having 12 and you’re down to 10, those 10 have to play a lot more minutes than usual. They’re not going to play at the intensity level we’re used to for those additional minutes. It just seems like other teams peak at the end of the season, but our guys just run out of steam. Maybe coach is pushing them too hard with his “they’re 19 & 20, they can rest in April” attitude.By Bhoops
January 16, 2009 1:50 PM | Link to this
Problem is, gap in personnel and erratic sub pattern. I don’t know why teams don’t zone us more. We are completely ineffective against a zone defense. When you can’t shoot and score in the half-court set, only other option is points in transition and points off turnovers. Too many teams will adjust to this in the A-10. BG is a good defensive coach and an ok offensive coach. His dribble drive motion offense and Hi-lo sets would be effective if he had a shooter to stretch the D and allow lanes to open. The flyers have no consistent long range threat. Marcus is closest. However, he has a hitch in his shot which will never allow him to be a pure consistent shooter. He does shoot a remarkably high percentage from 3 for his form. CW- Has potential to be a decent shooter. However, he is in too much of a hurry and lacks balance and arch on his shot. Can only go right and has no pull up jumper. Get your elbow above your eye on release Chris. CL- No threat beyond 10 ft. He has potential and has been more consistent from 10 feet and in. I would like to see him look for more high post and short corner opportunites rather than head down penetration when nothing there. LW- Love him. However, Nuff said. RL- Is a threat from long range. However, takes bad shots. Huelsman- Doesn’t have athleticism to create shots and is scared to shoot anyway. Has one post up move, dribble three times, duck his left shoulder, turn to his right with jump hook. Searcy- needs more minutes, runs floor, has decent turnaround. Bad hands though and no court sense. PW- too small to get shot off and not that good. I don’t see his potential. CJ- Play this kid more. Dude averages 12 boards and 15 per 40. ST- needs more minutes. only guard who can run half court set consistently. And finally Luke- Only set shooter on team. However, needs to slow down, get his feet set and allow the game to come to him. BG seems hardheaded that he won’t adjust his sub patters to play his offensive potential more. MJ, CW, and CJ. Does anyone know why?By littleo
January 16, 2009 2:57 PM | Link to this
UD Grad-Long-time Flyer fan- live on East Coast so only see certain games on tv and computer. However, BG’s substitution patterns seem counterproductive. Fordham radio announcer gave up trying to follow the Dayton substitutions and simply said they are so many that he wasn’t going to try to give them to the audience. BG must use his most talented players in a shorter rotation - if Coach K can sit Paulus after starting for 3 years then he can sit anyone -BG doesn’t have to guarantee freshmen time- let them earn it. His core players need to be allowed to get a feel for and into the flow of the game and to have a chance to work through bad stretches so that they build some confidence that they can. You can’t put the responsibility on your leaders to win games if they are just one of 12. Maybe he needs to sit down the core and say it’s your game to win - now go do it. I’ve seen all the east coast teams and believe me the talent level is not that of the flyers- although I believe handing Warren the point guard spot is a huge mistake- he’s high energy with no feel or basketball sense- more a sixth man type.By Holiday Finn
January 16, 2009 4:03 PM | Link to this
Litledawg - Your comments make no sense. You say that the players are the ones that have to execute and that the coaches are not the ones taking the shots. In the very next sentence, you then say that the players are not putting enough arc on their shots and that it is the responsibility of the coaches to correct this. Make up your mind - is it the players failing to execute or the coaches’ lack of making corrections to their form? or is it both? Also, good luck waiting for that dominant center (of which there are maybe five in the country) to choose UD.By Bill
January 16, 2009 4:32 PM | Link to this
Lots of valid comments posted about BG’s coaching.Substitution pattern absurd, should adjust defense to opponent (if good 3pt shooters don’t collapse so much toward the inside),non-trappig press a waste of energy,makes no concession to improving offense (his “wear them out” contributes to his rationale for absurd substitutions, which precludes offensive flow),and his set line-up (does anyone think this team wouldn’t be beter with CW in the post instead of KH?). Oh yea, and how many players other than Brian Roberts and to a degree Marcus Johnson hav improved while playing for BG?By bhoops
January 16, 2009 4:57 PM | Link to this
Interesting about CW in post. As CW has not developed a mid range game, being around the basket would give him more garbage buckets. As of now, he is having to settle for offensive transition buckets. I might not start him in the post. However, would play LW or RL at 1, MJ at 2, CJ at 3, CW at 4, Searcy at 5. Or CW at 5 and little at 4…