St. Joseph's Recap: All that Glitters
January 25, 2012 Tom Blackburn 
The Flyers shot 34% from the floor and 26% from the three-point line tonight in Philly. This Dayton team won’t beat anyone with that type of shooting; they need to hit around 50% and 40% respectively to take down even the most mediocre of teams (which is exactly what St. Joe’s is) away from home. The Flyers finally hit a road bump, succumbing to St. Joseph’s, 77-63, in front a raucous and oftentimes greasy crowd.
The Flyers were very much in the game, up seven early in the second half, before a nearly six-minute scoring drought let St. Joe’s back into the game. A CJ Aiken three-pointer extended the SJU lead to nine and the Flyers never challenged the Hawks again. The lead ballooned to as much as 16 late in the game. The Flyers energy after the half was non-existent, resulting in being outscored by 19 points in the second frame.
Only Kevin Dillard and Chris Johnson (finally) showed a pulse against the Hawks. The duo led the way for the Flyers with 17 points apiece, CJ grabbing a team-high eight rebounds as well. Outside of Johnson and Dillard, no other Flyer showed the willingness to make something happen on either side of the floor. Although Ralph Hill’s 7 point/7 rebound effort was somewhat encouraging. I actually found myself calling out for Ralph near the end of the ballgame.
Considering the huge win over the weekend against the Overlords and their absolute torrid offensive rate as of late, the G.C. Cagers were due for a letdown sooner rather than later. UD came into tonight’s game averaging 81 points per game in conference play, best in the league, relying on what was surely unsustainable shooting to edge their opponents out. It all came crashing down against the Hawks, as UD was only able to connect on seven threes, attempting twenty-seven.
The glaring mismatch occurred down low, where Dayton got absolutely manhandled by SJU’s big men. Ronald Roberts (27 pts), CJ Aiken (14 pts) and Halil Kanacevic (13 pts) combined for 54 of the Hawks’ 77 points (40 of those points coming in the paint). That’s total domination, kids. Martelli’s club found easy bucket after easy bucket down the stretch while Dayton was content to jack away from 22 feet. Aiken was effective defensively, blocking five shots and altering even more. The Flyer bigs were simply out-matched and out-worked.
Lastly, Paul Williams’s stat line:
I’m not sure if it’s the worst performance ever in a UD uniform, but it’s certainly in the discussion.
Tonight’s disappointment wasn't necessarily unexpected, yet it does serve as a wakeup call in some respects. Although Dayton is way ahead of schedule, there is still a lot of work to do. The Flyers return home for a very winnable clash with Rhode Island this Saturday.
Reader Comments (33)
Game just fell apart with 16 minutes left. Couldn't score, couldn't stop anyone, interior defense was atrocious. Nightmare game accompanied by a laughably bad night from Pau Willie. Luckily the Flyers get Rhode Island next and they're even worse than Fordham.
Fack.
i'm actually impressed by that stat-line. 9 shots and 2 rebounds in zero minutes? there's some magic in that kind of performance
@thechoadenone: ESPN is clearly mocking PW
i think it's the clearest demonstration of "intangibles" that i've ever seen
They don't have to shoot 50/40 to win, but they can't win when they let a team shoot 70% in a half. They shot poorly but still could have had a chance to win if they had given effort on defense. The rotations around ball screens and the motion of SJU's bigs was appalling. I was hoping Archie would throw a zone out for a few possessions just to see if they could slow the Hawks down (and they may have, I stopped watching with 10 minutes left), but I'm not sure it would have helped. SJU was on a roll, and UD was a step slow.
Happens sometimes. Next two are at home vs Rhody and Duquesne. Take care of business.
SIXTEEN TRILLION.
It will never be matched.
Time to put Ralph on the banner next to Red.
PW = White Poison
@Adam
Care to rethink your new found expectations for the season? Why would you late a solid 5 game stretch fool you? The performance tonight left us with a lot more questions about this team than dreams of playing in the NCAA tourny. I have to wonder if you've ever followed UD hoops as clearly this was a game we all should have been expecting to lose. I'll go on the record and say we finish 10-6 in A-10 play and that should be the new expectations for the season; if that leads to an NCAA bid great, if not who in right fucking mind would have that we would be 10-6 in Nov?
@kremer: Just shut up. Please.
Is that a LOTR reference in the title? NNEEEEEEERRRRRDDDD
@Hansmoleman...or Led Zep. But Blackburn does love him some middle earth. Nerrrrrrrrrrrrrd Alert!
@ Blackburn,
If you found yourself calling out for Ralph Hill you watched a different game than I.
King Ralph had his ass handed to him over and over and over on defense.
Archie little experiment with Ralph is over. Ralph took bad shots on offense and looked foolish on D.
During the St. Joe's run Ralph was instumental in the Flyers colapse. On both ends of the floor.
Liars can figure and figures can lie.
It appears to me that perhaps Archie perhaps attended a substitution seminar given by Brian Gregroy.
@tman: sarcasm, brother. I liked Ralph's effort though.
The title is part of "All That Glitters Isn't Always Gold."
@Blackburn-Great picture to include in the recap. I remember that play vividly, looked like PW was going to the basket with the speed of a layup line only to have it thrown back to the rafters.
I want to attend what ever school Fab is because 3 pts and 5 boards should not be a B. Ralph Hill was rewarded with more minutes than big frog, I think Archie got tired of seeing some of frogs wild hooks he was taking in the first half.
While it was disappointing to lose this game, what made it worse was Joe Lunardi getting all giddy announcing the game on the SJU broadcast. Gotta come home and get these next 2 before at Slu.
@DiSab
Whats your issue? You agree with Adam and think the expectations for this team should be an NCAA birth? Or is it with my drunk post that is missing so many words its almost unreadable?
mr. big kavs was troubled by the judge that would not allow him to swing his arms. It is not fair. The reigning A10 most best player must swing his arms because he cannot jump. The players with the chocolate faces always would shove the ball back in mr. big kavs face.
at mr tman - I did not know you actually watched the basketball games. I was told you were Ms. Grigsby's bidet, no?
What I like most about P-Willie's effort is that while managing to take 9 FG attempts, he didn't play a lick of defense that would register a steal, block, or even a personal foul. Well done.
@ Tariq,
قبلة مؤخرتي you dirty f'n towel head.
I got a Ba'ath you you can float in you filthy animal.
And as soon as Mahmoud Ahmadinejad has the bomb, you are dead !
@ Kremer - My thoughts on expectations had little to do with the 5 game stretch. It was about the 19 games as a whole. I don't know if you read my interview on the Philahoops site, but I picked SJU to win this game.
I don't think we should just settle for a cute little story. They are universally in the dance, and a single digit seed in many brackets through 2/3 of the season. I won't call for anyone's job if it doesn't happen, but shouldn't we expect them to finish the job?
@Kremer: Probably a little bit of both. But with what this team has showed us, I don't think an NCAA bid is too much of an expectation. Sure, they have let-downs and problems, but I really feel that they are good enough to earn a bid to the tourney, depleted roster and all.
Who is this Tariq character? I think I like him.
I am awaiting an aplolgy from those that came here in the past week and tried to convince blackburn that Kav is the savior of UD basketball.
I agree with Adam and he did predict a SJU win over on their site. After the start we've had, over half way through the season, we should make the NCAA...it would be another collapse if we don't. 10-6 would get us there, assuming we win 1 in A10 tourny.
Looks like Dougie turned in his homework assignment 4 days late:
http://www.daytondailynews.com/dayton-sports/university-of-dayton-flyers/commentary-gruden-energized-flyers-crowd-in-win-against-xavier-1318755.html
Best line: "And he (Gruden) showed how knowledgeable he is about hoops — emphasizing the need to finish plays, win the battle for loose balls and set a tone by being clean but physical."
I must've been drunk as shit which watching that speech cuz I thought it was awkward as fuck...
There's no need to apologize, Kav is still very much a work in progress. He's gonna have good games, decent games and games like last night where he's completely outclassed.
tariq is without a doubt my favorite commenter now
lol, absolute gem by Tariq. the post is even funnier if you read it aloud with a middle eastern accent.
@ Adam & DiSab
I think my problem is that you guys are focused on an outcome that you don't control the results of and you don't define what is need to accomplish said goal. I prefer to focus my expectations on something we control; the A-10. What A-10 record do we need to receive an NCAA bid? 12-4? 11-5? 10-6? 9-7? I'm not sure, but I'll set the goal for a 10-6 A-10 record which I think that is a very reasonable, if not conservative, expectation when you look at our remaining road games. We have no possibilities for signature wins at home so if we are going to strengthen our resume it’s going to come on the road where this team still hasn't proven it can win consistently. A 10-6 A-10 record would leave us a 20-10 overall heading into ACity with solid RPI and SOS numbers but probably 3-5 in the A-10 standings. Is that an NCAA team? Will the A-10 get 3 or 4 bids? I don't know those answers but I don't want to look at that record and be disappointed just because we didn't make the NCAA's.
Basically you just can't say the expectation is we get an NCAA bid without defining what it will take to get one and then examining how possible that outcome is.
Being at the game at St. Joe's, I got a vibe that things weren't right. UD seemed tenative almost scared. They didn't have a swagger like whent hey beat Temple or X. Boof sucked. He wasn't into the game all night just boofing around. Dillard had to take much more on his shoulders than usual. The Frog got burned so many times because he kept leaving his man to help and he is too slow to get back to him. The offense reverted back to BG's way of just swinging the ball around the outside with little penetration. Kid Yuma was lightin them up on the bench. He couldn't emplore them to play. The look he gave Fab once when he yanked him off the floor scared half the crowd that he may kill him! Ralph Hill's effort was poor. It's almost like throwing the towel in when he comes in. We're quitting already?! UD made SJU look like a great team. I hate the Dr Jeckyl/Mr Hyde team. Just when the hopes are up, Crash..reality hits.
Definitely more Tariq. I expect his post game analysis going forward as a highlight of Blackburn Review. Don't let this guy get away. Gold.
@Kremer - all fair points, but personally, I'm just tired of the BG, if-we-make-it-fine-if-not-fine attitude. Looking at what this team has done so far this year, and looking at what we have left to go, I fully expect them to be playing on the big stage in March. I don't know if they will, or what it will take for them to get there, but I'm ready to get rid of the low expectations. And hey, if we don't make it, I'll be disappointed - nothing I haven't experienced with BG's teams in the past.