Dayton Flyer Basketball

[BillDoran]

Moderately big game tonight against a good(ish) Buffalo team.

Early returns show Archie might have been a good hire. Players look loose and confident, the malcontents seem to have vanished, and there now appears to be a semblance of an offense in place.

It's early in the season, and in Archie's tenure, but there's a lot to be excited about. Archie seems to have that Thad Matta touch where players want to play for him and show consistent improvement in their games. Not sure he upped the ante in recruiting, but I think once he develops more connections, he should be all right.

Here's to not just treading water in the A10!

[Ohayou]

Dillard for President!

[BillDoran]

Spoke too soon. Getting blitzed in the first half 32-11.

Wrong on the playing with confidence as well; shooting a sizzling 16 percent from the field.

[reds1869]

That was brutal. Buffalo is a good team but Dayton needs to sweep teams like that aside if they hope to compete in the A-10.

[jimbo]

That was embarrassing. From the opening tip on the Flyers were out hustled in every aspect of the game. Hard to figure, hope Archie can turn them around fast as they have a tough game Saturday.

[BillDoran]

Hard to pinpoint what when wrong when they're getting crushed in almost every facet.

I still like the direction Archie has the program going though. I think it'll take a couple of years to get his players in the system, and until then we'll have to watch some spare parts like Parker (just plain bad) and Oliver (looks broken confidence-wise) tough it out.

It does sound like the cavalry may arrive arrive next year in Sanford and Derenbecker.

[Boston Red]

At Murray State is gonna be super tough, too. I'd be really surprised and impressed if the Flyers pull that one off.

[medford]

Should be an interesting one at Murray State, how do they bounce back. UD struggled to move the ball vs Fairfield zone defense, but they shredded Minnesota when they ran zone. Then again, they struggled to move the ball against Buffalo's zone, then compounded it by missing some open shots, and even worse getting crushed on the boards.

I think it comes with the territory, like you I already like Archie better than BG, at least offensively. BG's teams always played hard, tough nosed defense and attacked the rim, but man was it a struggle to watch them offensively. UD's been better on the boards than I thought they would be, and the offense is much easier on the eye.

New coach, expect some bumbs, new system, expect some bumps, little depth, expect some bumps. this won't be the first bump in the road, but I'm OK with that as long as I see progress towards an end goal and upward development.

[BillDoran]

Frustrating, though not particularly surprising loss, to Murray State today. No video (blacked out for that huge Flyer contingent in Bloomington, IN) or radio (can't handle Bucky), so I casually followed a box score.

Looks like we didn't have an answer for Canaan and couldn't overpower them down low. I'd be interested to hear from someone who watched the game why they didn't go to Benson more frequently (currently 7-7 from the field, though with 5 turnovers), as it was my understanding that the Racers didn't have much inside talent or size.

I also can't get past the idea that a BG-helmed team might have gave the Racers a better game; really challenge their guards and then hope to crush them on the boards. With the players on team, I gotta believe we would of stood a better chance.

I've read a number of quotes from Archie on how he thought this team shot the ball well. It's always struck my as curious, knowing who we had coming back, and strikes me as downright farcical after shooting games like this afternoon's.

Onward. Gonna be a challenge Wednesday with Anthony Grant's Crimson Tide coming to town.

[Ohayou]

Originally Posted by BillDoran

Gonna be a challenge Wednesday with Anthony Grant's Crimson Tide coming to town.

I'll be there.

[Ohayou]

About to leave for the game. Hopefully the players are well rested this time...

[cincrazy]

Holy crap. UD spanked Alabama tonight. Nice win for the Flyers. Certainly doesn't hurt their resume going forward.

[Ohayou]

Great game, although I cannot for the life of me understand why the UD student section would feel compelled to start chanting LSU's name.

[BillDoran]

Well, didn't see that coming.

Originally Posted by Ohayou

Great game, although I cannot for the life of me understand why the UD student section would feel compelled to start chanting LSU's name.

Mind games.

[Ohayou]

Regardless, Alabama is still in the BCS title game and I would never dare think of chanting another college's name (unless it's OSU).