Dayton Flyer Basketball 2005-06

[fett527]

OK, BiggusGeekus, Keeper, Krieg, IamTheTest and whomever else wants to join in the love. The Flyers tip-off their season tonight!

Hello, Flyer fans.

Are you ready for some roundball? Ready or not, another basketball season has arrived.

Dayton will make its debut tonight against Tennessee Tech, and I think we'll see a much more organized team than the one that fell to Eastern Kentucky in last season's opener.

A year ago, UD coach Brian Gregory had to replace his three strongest starters — Keith Waleskowski, Ramod Marshall and Sean Finn — from the previous season. He had to get six freshman recruits acquainted with his system and there was nothing he could do but throw them into the fire and hope they didn't get burned too badly.

All things considered, the 2004-05 season went pretty well. Early in the season I wondered if they could win 10 games, and they won 18. It was a disappointment for UD fans when the Flyers didn't make the NIT field, but perhaps it gave the players greater resolve for 2005-06.

Five of those scholarship freshmen are back to build on what they learned a year ago. Three of them will join senior Warren Williams and junior Monty Scott in the starting lineup. These same five were on the court together a lot last season, so I believe they will hold their own in any competition.

The Flyers had difficulty dealing with physical teams last year, which is why Gregory recruited a couple of physical specimens in Charles Little and Desmond Adedeji. When he arrived on campus, Little could bench press more weight than any player on the team. Adedeji's 270 pounds should eventually serve the Flyers well in the paint.

So far, however, we've not been given reason to believe that either of them is be ready to step in and provide significant help. Little has been plagued during preseason workouts by a hamstring injury that finally seems to be subsiding, and Adedeji is handicapped by lack of experience in the college game. For a man his size, he's been getting pushed around too much under the basket. He has to learn the tricks of successful post positioning.

Monty Scott, who was reduced to a jump shooter by many teams last season, has worked hard in the offseason to overcome his ball-handling deficiencies and his reluctance to drive to the basket. Just as Brooks Hall didn't get to the free-throw line nearly enough during his career, Scott didn't shoot enough free throws last year for a man with his ability and physique.

Playing as a backup to senior Mark Jones last season, Brian Roberts showed enormous potential. The sophomore probably will blossom even more now that he is a starter. He is a creative player with the ability to improvise when necessary. He'll be paired in the backcourt with Williams, who has the strength and skill to carry out his point guard duties.

It looks as though sophomores Chris Alvarez and Norman Plummer will be called upon to start at the post positions. Each has gotten much stronger since last season and each can step back and sink shots facing the basket. They both need to finish their inside shots better.

I'm still not convinced that it's too late for junior James Cripe to relax and become productive and consistent at the center position. He can shoot facing the basket and he has developed an effective hook shot. Gregory was starting him last season until he was injured prior to the fourth game. He sat out seven games, played in six, sprained an ankle and missed three more. He never really got in the groove.

Cripe's record is stained by his inability to grab as many rebounds as he should. Believe it or not, he never collected more than two rebounds in any game last season after getting three in the season opener. He played 11 minutes a game and averaged one rebound. That's not very impressive for a 6-foot-11 guy who weighs 255 pounds.

Look for senior Marques Bennett to come off the bench make his presence felt throughout the season, and Jimmy Binnie will break out with a big game some night. If Logan White can develop some confidence, he will help in the backcourt. Nick Stafford's offensive skills remain inadequate, but he can block a few shots and grab some rebounds when he is needed.

In spite of the two clunkers the Las Vegas Classic placed on UD's home schedule in December, the Flyers will be facing tough games night after night. The Atlantic 10 Conference will offer much stronger competition that it did a season ago, and a non-conference schedule that includes Miami, Creighton, Cincinnati (twice), DePaul, Northern Iowa and Vanderbilt is plenty tough.

We, the spectators, will be the beneficiaries of these matchups. Fortunately, we don't have to mix it up in the paint or dive for any of those loose balls.

— Bucky Albers

http://www.daytondailynews.com/spor...ly/1118flyerconnection.html?cxntnid=fc-111805

 

[BiggusGeekus]

I shall be monitoring this thread very closely. I'm not going to be able to keep up this year (I was barely able to last year). So I shall have to give Flyer love from afar.

 

[fett527]

I shall be monitoring this thread very closely. I'm not going to be able to keep up this year (I was barely able to last year). So I shall have to give Flyer love from afar.

That's OK, I'll keep it updated. Should be a fun season, though out of the gate they have 14 games before January 1 which is pretty unusual. But like Bucky said, last year he thought they'd win 10 games and they won 18. I hope they can better that record this year.

 

[fett527]

Home opener was last Friday:

Final Score: Dayton 81, Tennessee Tech 60

Dayton, OH (Sports Network) - Brian Roberts scored a game-high 28 points and
sank 4-of-7 three pointers to lead the Dayton Flyers to an 81-60 win over the
visiting Tennessee Tech Golden Eagles in the season opener for both squads.

Monty Scott added 16 points and eight rebounds for the Flyers (1-0). Warren
Williams pitched in with 10 points and dished out a game-high 11 assists in
the win.

Derek Stribling posted 16 point and pulled down six rebounds for the Golden
Eagles (0-1). Milone Clark and Anthony Fisher each chipped in with 10 points
in the losing cause.

The Flyers shot 54.2 percent from the floor in the first half, taking a 37-27
lead into the break.

Dayton pushed its lead to 24 points with 6:03 remaining in the second half,
and cruised to the 21-point win.

The Flyers shot 55.8 percent from the field in the game, while limiting
Tennessee Tech to just a 36.2 percent shooting effort from the floor.

Don't know anything about Tenn Tech, but that's a good start.

Next game at Miami (Ohio) tonight! Flyers haven't had a lot of success in Millet Hall the past few years- 1-8 in last 9 games there. They should have the superior talent this year though.

 

[fett527]

The game against Miami was disastrous. They looked like a team that had never been on the court before. UD 42, Miami 58. They need to look good against visiting Moorehead State tonight. They have dominated this team in the past, last game was 2001- Flyers won 85-41.

 

[fett527]

Flyers had an up and down week last week, but it was mostly up.

Morehead St.

Freshman center Desmond Adedeji, who didn't play much in UD's first two games, scored a career-high 13 points as the Flyers flattened Morehead, 67-41.

Creighton

The University of Dayton put on a courageous performance in front of a record crowd of 14,880 at the Qwest Center Saturday night, but the Flyers lost in two overtimes to Creighton, 91-90...

But It appears the Flyers got homered...

After Monty Scott fouled out 30 seconds into the first overtime, Roberts had to carry the scoring burden on his shoulders and did. The Bluejays knew he would attack the basket every time down the floor. They double-teamed him, and he still scored. Creighton fans began yelling for the Bluejays to watch No. 2.

Meanwhile, Creighton guard Nate Funk was doing the same thing. The difference was that Funk was doing most of his late scoring at the free throw line. He continually probed UD's perimeter defense and drew fouls — many of which were questionable in the eyes of the UD bench and the Flyer fans behind it. He shot more free throws than the entire Dayton team.

The Missouri Valley Conference crew called 33 fouls on the Flyers and 20 on Creighton even though the Flyers were attacking as much as the Bluejays did. Creighton shot 36 free throws to Dayton's 15, so it was not surprising that many in the Dayton camp felt the Flyers were victims of some home cooking.

At the beginning of the game I asked an Omaha sports writer seated next to me if he recognized any of the three officials, because I didn't. He said he recognized one of the three. It turned out, of course, that all three were from Creighton's league, the MVC. That seemed strange to me because contracts between two schools in home-and-home non-conference arrangements usually call for the use of officials from the visiting team's conference or a split crew with officials from both schools' leagues.

My concern about the officiating crew apparently was warranted. On a night when Dayton outgoaled the home team, 33-28, and had three more 3-point goals, the Flyers lost by one. In the second overtime, the crew called four fouls on Dayton and none on the Bluejays.

I dislike mentioning this because some will merely call it sour grapes from a Dayton sympathizer, but are we supposed to ignore the obvious? I think not.

In any case we're 2-2 going into tomorrow night's tilt at UC. Always a tough game against the Bearcats.

 

[fett527]

Flyers v Bearcats is exciting, Dayton leads at the start of the 2nd half!

For a live feed go here:

www.whiotv.com

 

[fett527]

GO DAYTON FLYERS!!!!!!!!

UD defeats the UC Bearcats at UC for the first time ince 1976! Final score 75-66!!!

I know UC is going through the coaching ordeal with Huggins out, but this is a HUGE win for the Flyers no matter what the circumstances. Let's hope they build on it!

 

[fett527]

Victory against Pepperdine who played UCONN close earlier. 63-45, Flyers in a more defensive game. And in case you're wondering about how the UD students are nowadays:

It was not a good night for Pepperdine's top scorer, either. Freshman guard Michael Gerrity, who scored 19, 19 and 25 in the Waves' first three games, made only 2-of-6 shots, scored six points and made seven turnovers as the UD students serenaded him with the "Airball" chant every time he touched the ball after missing the rim with a jump shot in the fifth minute of the game. Gerrity got fouled on the shot — there was no call — but the serenade began, anyway.

It was beginning to die down, but Gerrity made the mistake of calling the students' attention to a shot he made at their end with 1:48 expired in the second half. The students immediately raised their voices to another level and didn't get off him until he went to the bench.

In the final minutes, instead of begging for one of the walk-ons to get playing time, they were chanting, "We want Gerrity!"

 

[fett527]

Flyer's were winners over Grambling on Saturday. Their schedule is killing them though.

Playing their third game in five days, the Flyers were admittedly fatigued and, at times, unfocused. But after halftime, there was enough hard driving to the basket, enough missed shots from their opponent, that Dayton left UD Arena on Saturday night with a 59-55 victory against Grambling.

Flyers are 5-2. Next game is Central Michigan on Wednesday.