Flyers’ next star — Chris Johnson?

By Tom Archdeacon | Tuesday, November 10, 2009, 02:28 AM

If I had to pick one player on the Dayton Flyers team this season who I think is going to really blossom — one guy who will step from the cast of talented support players into the spotlight now shared by high-fliers Chris Wright and Marcus Johnson — it would be Chris Johnson.

Although he’s still evolving, the 6-foot-6 sophomore forward from Columbus can soar like the other two and he’s better than them — coach Brian Gregory said — at pulling up on the break and hitting the three. He’s also one of the team’s most savvy rebounders and he’s handling the ball better than last season.

With a cursory glance, his stat line in the Flyers 71-61 exhibition victory over Northern Kentucky at UD Arena Monday night would appear to be pretty ordinary — 10 points, 4 rebounds, a blocked shot and a steal. But in the course of the game you also saw flashes of something greater from him.

When Northern Kentucky took the lead 25-24 with just over 7 minutes left in the first half, he instantly responded — it took just three seconds — and hit a three pointer from the wing to put the Flyers back in front. Soon after, that he hit another three to give UD a small cushion that it would maintain the rest of the game.

“Not only are we just seeing the tip of the iceberg with him, but he’s just realizing how great he can he, too,” Gregory said “He wants to be a great player . A lot of guys talk about that, but aren’t willing to put in the time.

“He’s a guy you can get on and you can tell him he needs to work on something and he is gonna work on it. That’s a great trait.”

After the game, Gregory talked about the back-to-back break-away dunks that Wright and Marcus Johnson had in the second half — the two plays folks will remember most from Monday night’s victory over a very good Division II team — and right away he included Chris Johnson in the conversation:

“If you look at it, with one guy flying on the right wing, and the other flying on the left wing, they’re maybe the two best in the country combination-wise…And then when you add Chris Johnson in the mix — and you’ve got all three of those guys who can run like that — it’s pretty good.”

Johnson — who averaged 6.3 points and 5.2 rebounds a game last season —likely will be named the fifth starter for Saturday’s opener against Creighton.

Speaking of Creighton — a team that blew Dayton out last season, a team that has had 11 straight years with 20 wins and 11 straight postseason appearance — Gregory gave a candid response that drew some chuckles from Monday’s post-game press conference crowd, when asked: “Do you like the fact you’re going to be challenged right away the first game of the season?”

Standing at the podium, Gregory kind of sputtered for a second. then smiled and simply said: “No…I mean…no…. If you think I’m excited about playing the game on Saturday, you’ve lost your mind.”

Soon after, he’d say he had been speaking tongue-in-cheek. He said it should be a great opener. One fans will love seeing.

In the process, they just may see the further emergence of UD’s next star.

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Ochocinco playfully tries to grease a ref’s palm

By Tom Archdeacon | Sunday, November 8, 2009, 09:23 PM

CINCINNATI — A greased palm sometimes works wonders. It might get you a table in a crowded restaurant or help you slip around the velvet rope at a trendy club.

But as Chad Ochocino found out Sunday, it won’t help you get a call from an NFL official.

….Now, if it were former NBA ref Tim Donaghy.

But hey that’s another story. And that was serious stuff that got Donaghy exchanging his referee’s shirt for another set of stripes.

What happened Sunday was all tongue-in-cheek fun, though the Cincinnati Bengals receiver likely will end up cutting another check to NFL commissioner Roger Goodell, who has been padding the league coffers with Ochocinco fines

The Bengals had a 17-0 lead on the Baltimore Ravens in the third quarter of their game at Paul Brown Stadium when Ochocinco made a leaping catch of a 15-yard pass from Carson Palmer right near the sideline.

The side judge ruled it a catch, but the Ravens challenged the call.

As the officials checked instant replay, Ochocinco — having borrowed a dollar bill from a guy on the sideline — playfully sidled up to the refs with the folded bill in his hand, which hung down at his side.

It didn’t work.

The call was overturned. Ochocinco was ruled not to have gotten both feet down in bounds on the catch. With a grin and a shrug, he handed the bill back to the guy on the sidelines and went back to helping the Bengals finish off their 17-7 victory.

In his post game press conference afterward, head coach Marvin Lewis was asked by a reporter: “When you’re talking about a veteran like Ochocinco…”

Lewis started to chuckle: “You throw that term around loosely when you’re talking about 85. I wouldn’t say ‘veteran.’ I think you can start over every day with him.”

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Bengals overpower Ravens, but Chris Henry breaks arm

By Tom Archdeacon | Sunday, November 8, 2009, 02:21 PM

CINCINNATI — Although the Cincinnati Bengals toppled the Baltimore Ravens, 17-7, Sunday at Paul Brown Stadium, the team received a big blow when receiver Chris Henry suffered a compound fracture of his left forearm.

Henry: compound fracture

Less than a minute into the second quarter — with the Bengals already leading 14-0 — Henry came across the middle, gathered in a 20-yard Carson Palmer pass and was tackled by Ravens cornerback Fabian Washington, who also was shaken up on the play.

The rolling Henry landed on the arm and when he tried lifting it up, you saw it flop sickeningly. Reports say the bone popped out through his skin near his wrist. His teammates — especially Palmer, fellow receiver Chad Ochocinco and guard Bobby Williams — gathered around him as he lay on the field.

When medical personnel came onto the field, Henry’s arm eventually was encased in an inflatable cast and he was taken off the field on a motorized cart.

On the season, the under-used Henry had 12 catches for 236 yards and two touchdowns.

The injury to the fifth-year receiver was one of the few negatives for the Bengals Sunday as they man-handled the Ravens, the former bullies of the AFC North. It was the second time this season the Bengals have beaten Baltimore.

The Bengals are unbeaten in the AFC North. They are 4-0 in divisional play and are 6-2 on the season.

The Bengals points — all which were tallied in the first half — came on a six-yard TD catch by Andre Caldwell, a one yard TD run by Benson and a Shayne Grahan 23-yard field goal.

Benson rushed for 117 yards, his second 100 yard game aainst the vaunted Ravens defense this season.

Bengals cornerbacks Johnathon Joseph and Leon Hall both intercepted Baltimore quarterback Joe Flacco.

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Too bad Raiders and Flyers won’t SHAKE THAT THANG

By Tom Archdeacon | Thursday, November 5, 2009, 11:54 PM

FAIRBORN — While it was nice to see Wright State show itself so well Thursday night — romping over Central State, 83-55, in the Raiders exhibition opener at the Nutter Center — I’d rather have seen the game be close.

Not a lot to cheer for CSU

That way the sizeable contingent of CSU fans who showed up at the game would have had something to cheer about. Instead the plug was pulled on the party before it ever got started.

Some five minutes into the game, WSU was up 15-4 and it only got worse from there. The Raiders led by 29 at the intermission and by as many as 38 midway through the second half.

Although CSU did show up with all its cheerleaders in tow and some fans in the stands occasionally held up three big signs that read SHAKE THAT THANG, there really wasn’t much to shake about.

It would have been great to see the two cheering sections go back and forth. No school around here has more animated and vocal backers than the Marauders, Anybody who’s been to Beacom Lewis Gym when CSU hosts its across-the-road rival Wilberforce will attest to that.

Thanks to CSU, Wright State had a crowd that was bigger than most it drew to last season’s games. The official count was 5,137 — which seems a little stretched, but not that bad.

Regardless, this was a good event to help build a bridge between the two Greene County schools. And in the end that’s good for the community.

Of course, so would be a Wright State -Dayton game again — especially in a town that can use all the good-time events it can get now — but you know all the tired, old arguments impeding that one.

Too bad because it would be like CSU vs. Wilberforce — only times 10.

And this would be a good year to see it.

Todd Brown

The Dayton Flyers appear to have the best team they’ve had in decades. And from what you could see Thursday night, Wright State — even with seniors Vaughn Duggins (suspended) and John David Gardner (injured) not in uniform — has a very good team that should make some real noise this season.

Senior forward Todd Brown — who had 17 points, Thursday — looks like he’s ready to wear the mantle of the team leader. The Raiders can shoot the ball — they were 10 for 21 from three-point range — and, as is a coach Brad Brownell trademark, they can play some tight defense.

They have a deep bench and while all three newcomers had their moments against the Marauders, I was especially impressed by guard Darian Cartharn, a 6-foot freshman from Canal Winchester. He’s a catch-‘em-napping passer, can shoot and has a little bit of swagger to him.

With the way this WSU team appears capable of playing, I think it will draw plenty more crowds this size and bigger during the season. Thing is, I don’t know if opposing fans will get much more of a chance to SHAKE THAT THANG than did the Marauders mostly-silent masses.

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Greatest Backcourt Ever Now Gone

By Tom Archdeacon | Wednesday, November 4, 2009, 08:21 AM

Phil Lumpkin

The greatest backcourt in Ohio high school basketball history is now gone.

At least I think they were the best pair of guards ever to play side by side for a prep team in this state.

Back in the late 1960s and into the first few months of 1970, Phil Lumpkin was the point guard and Donald Smith the shooting guard for Roth High School. Both averaged over 20 points a game and then Lumpkin went to Miami University and Smith to the University of Dayton.

When they played Chaminade — which starred Dan Gerhardt, had a stronger inside game and would later win state — the game sold out UD Arena.

Donald Smith

In college both ended up in their school’s Hall of Fame. Smith averaged 20.4 p.p.g. for his college career, Lumpkin 16.1.

Both were picked in the second round of the NBA draft — Lumpkin by Portland, Smith by Philadelphia.

Lumpkin, a successful high school coach in Seattle, was found dead in his apartment Monday. He was 57. Smith died five years ago at age 53.

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High praise for Tamika — but is she Dayton’s best?

By Tom Archdeacon | Monday, November 2, 2009, 11:41 AM

I just got a copy of “GENO: In Pursuit of Perfection,” the book University of Connecticut women’s basketball coach Geno Auriemma has done with Jackie MacMullen..

In it he makes several mentions of Tamika Williams, the Chaminade Julienne High School All American, who was one of the fixtures on two of the six national titles UConn has won with him.

Tamika

Auriemma tells about getting her out of Dayton to be part of one of the most celebrated recruiting classes in women’s basketball history. He recounts various games she played and the way she often was the glue that held the various personalities of the team together.

He talks especially glowingly of the impact she made at UConn before heading off to her pro career and then — after marrying former college athlete Ben Raymond — becoming an assistant hoops coach at the University of Kansas.

Here’s Auriemma on Tamika:

“Tamika Williams was — and still is today — maybe the most popular player among the coaches of anybody that came here. I just think her personality is so terrific. Her father was a Vietnam vet and he came back and was a DJ, among other things, and he is absolutely the most outgoing guy. He is funny and embracing and Tamika takes after him. She’s a lot of fun and very nurturing, always bringing people together.

“If you talk to Tamika and you’re not laughing, you don’t have a sense of humor Tamika and Meghan Pattyson, to me, epitomize the spirit of UConn basketball.”

That got me thinking. Tamika had a great prep and college career — she remains UConn’s all-time leader in field goal percentage — and then played several years in the WNBA.

Is she the most celebrated woman’s athlete ever to come out of the Greater Dayton area prep scene?

I’m not sure. Here are five other women I’d put in the mix:

LaVonna in Sports Illustrated photo

LaVonna Martin (Floreal) — The Trotwood Madison High track star became a University of Tennessee All American and then ran the 100 meter hurdles at two Olympics, Seoul in 1988 and Barcelona in 1992, where she won a silver medal. Her husband Edrick Floreal is the Stanford track coach.

Tonja

Tonja Buford (Bailey) — The Meadowdale High sensation went on to star at Illinois, where today — married to former pro football player Victor Bailey — she’s the head women’s track coach. She competed in three Olympics, Barcelona, then Atlanta in 1996, where she won a bronze medal in the 400 meter hurdles and finally the Sydney Games in 2000. She also won a silver medal at the 1995 World Championships in Gothenburg

Megan

Megan Duffy — After starring in hoops at Chaminade Julienne and then Notre Dame — where she was an Academic All American and won the Frances Pomeroy Naismith Award from the Women’s Basketball Coaches Association as the best senior player under 5-foot-8 — she played for Minnesota and New York in the WNBA, played overseas in Wales, Italy Slovakia and Romania and now is an assistant women’s basketball coach at St. John’s University.

Alison

Alison Bales — A high school All American at Beavercreek High, she starred at Duke University — where, at 6-feet-7, she became the third all-time shot blocker in women’s college basketball history — then played for three WNBA teams as well as playing pro in Moscow and Turkey.

Brandi

Brandi Hoskins — Another CJ hoops star, she became a cornerstone player for Ohio State — where she was the MVP of the Big Ten Tournament in 2005 — then went on to the WNBA and plays overseas.

I’m not sure who I’d rate as the best of that group and likely I’ve forgotten someone who is deserving, but I do agree with Auriemma on his assessment of Tamika.

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For OSU — Aggies were like shooting fish in a barrel

By Tom Archdeacon | Saturday, October 31, 2009, 02:01 PM

COLUMBUS — Ohio State’s annual Scarlet and Gray spring game is more riveting than was the Buckeyes 45-0 rout of New Mexico State, Saturday, at Ohio Stadium.

The athletes are better on both sides of the ball in the practice game, you’re bound to get a surprise or two and anything a player does, you know likely was hard-earned.

Saturday’s game was like shooting fish in a barrel.

New Mexico State took this game strictly for the money. The Aggies — now 3-6 — are the equivalent of a fight game palooka, a boxing opponent. They got $850,000 to let OSU hammer on them.

At least the Aggies are used to it. They haven’t had a winning season since 2002, haven’t been to a bowl game in 49 years and came into Saturday’s game — where they were 44-point underdogs — with the worst offense (statistically) of the 120 teams playing major college football this season. Their defense was No. 75.

Saturday, the over-matched Aggies had just 62 total offensive yards for the day. OSU had 559 and played back-ups a substantial part of the second half..

That said, here are a few observations:

— Receiver DeVier Posey’s tight-spiralled 39-yard touchdown pass to Dane Sanzenbacher in the second quarter was more impressive than any pass OSU quarterback Terrelle Pryor threw in his one half of action Saturday.

Pryor over threw several receivers and two of his passes hit New Mexico State defenders in the hands and could have been intercepted.

He didn’t play in the second half, finishing the game with 11 for 23 passing with 135 yards and a 19 yard TD pass to Sanzenbacher. He was more impressive on the ground, running nine times for 89 yards and another score, an eight-yard run.

— Back-up quarterback Joe Bauserman, played the entire second half and was even less impressive throwing the ball, completing 2 of 9 passes for 75 yards.

— If you’re looking for an OSU star from the Miami Valley in this one, how about the special teams play of Donnie Evege, the sophomore from Wayne High, who is a one-man wrecking ball on the kick team. He put jarring hits on three Aggie kick returners Saturday.

— Brandon Saine’s 3-yard touchdown run later in the second quarter was the Piqua High product’s first rushing score of the season. That’s a telling stat about your team’s rushing attack when your starting tailback doesn’t get his first TD until the ninth game of the season

— When OSU kicker Aaron Pettrey suffered a sprained knee in the second quarter — an injury that could prove to be quite troublesome going into next Saturday’s game at Penn State — he was replaced by Devin Barclay, who is not your typical college player.

He’s 26 years old and was a pro soccer player — playing for four teams including the Columbus Crew — before joining the Buckeyes as a walk-on.

Barclay had his own struggles, missing two field goal attempts — from 47 and 36 yards — while making one from 29 yards.

— This was likely a deja vu moment for New Mexico State coach DeWayne Walker. He had been to Ohio State once before. He was a junior defensive back for the 1980 Minnesota team that lost to the Bucks, 47-0, at the Shoe.

“We got killed,” was the way he recollected that game a few days ago.

It was the same Saturday.

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