Yes, it was against the lowly Rams, and yes, it was a little too late as far as the season is concerned. However, it was comforting to know that Johnson still has that type of execution left in his barrel. That was Super Sophomore CJ out there, not Sluggish Senior CJ. Who knows if Dayton can recapture some of the magic that catapulted it to the top of the league standings early on, almost certainly not, but with consistent play from CJ anything seems possible (I’m really pouring on the optimism juice).

UD needed everything Johnson gave them, as the rest of the Flyers struggled to find offense throughout the contest. The lone exception was Josh Parker, invisible in the first half, who managed 14 points on the afternoon. Parker hit a pair of crucial threes in the second half and played rather flawlessly with the ball in his hands. Kevin Dillard penetrated into the lane to force overtime on a heady drive to the basket with just under 30 seconds to play in the game. Ralph Hill played twenty-four minutes. Twenty. Four.

A Matt Kav kicked ball along the baseline, picked up by Josh Parker, sealed the win for the Flyers. A missed violation by the officials was an appropriate manner in which to end the game, as the refereeing in this game was, to be kind, inconsistent.

The Flyers, now 15-9 on the season (just 5-5 in league play), come back home to the waiting arms of UD Arena to face down a modest Charlotte squad on Wednesday night. Feign excitement.

I’m going to keep this short and sweet because this game concerns me more than any game Dayton has played in a long time. The less said the better. Plus, let’s be honest. How much more of this season can we bear to watch?

Dayton leads this series 18-4, its last loss to the Rams coming in the era of Gregory (January 2006). Before that, UD’s previous loss to Fordham came in the 1999-2000 season. Bottom line, the Flyers don’t get tripped up against Fordham very often, and when they do, it’s a memorable experience.

Although this weekend’s game against Fordham isn’t a statement game in any sense of the word (unless it’s a statement on who is less turrible. In that case, strap it up, this is a biggie!), but it is a battle for this program’s presently delicate psyche. It goes without saying that regardless of the result, Dayton will still be on much better footing in the grand scheme of things. UD is experiencing some expected rebuilding during Kid Yuma’s inaugural season and will surely improve next year – which coincidentally coincides with Paul Williams’ graduation. But we digress.

It’s like living in Ohio. Sure at times it’s awful, but at the very least you know it could always be worse. You could live in Michigan or in whatever state No Country for Old Men was filmed.

Maybe your life hasn’t panned out exactly as you’d imagined, but there are people in Africa contracting AIDS by merely sitting on seesaws. That could be you or someone you pretend to care about.   

Participating in a conference call is a painful progress. Who hasn’t brought a gun to work, held in your hands and thought about swallowing a bullet to get out of it? However, while you are pretending to listen in on the call, doesn’t the fact that somewhere outside a derelict is behind a dumpster, asscheeks akimbo, taking a tuberculosis-laden shit, grant you a degree of healthy perspective? It probably should.

Hopefully, tomorrow’s game isn’t a testament to how far the program has slipped in just one season. A win over Fordham would be an unmistakable reminder that it could always be worse. And at the end of the day, isn’t that what our time on Earth is really all about?

Overview: You’ll be happy to know that nothing has changed, Fordham is still the worst team in the Atlantic Ten (Although Jim Baron seems prepared to cast aspersions on that sentiment this season). The Rams are 9-13 on the season; a mere 2-7 in conference play, including what could a vital tie-breaking victory over Rhode Island.

Tom Pecora’s biggest win this season came at home against Harvard. He also bettered Brian Gregory, but that’s not something to write home about. The parallels you could draw between Gregory and Tommy Amaker are plentiful, but I’ll let you connect the dots yourself.

Meet and Greet: Fordham goes about eight deep and relies on a three-headed monster of Chris Gaston, Branden Frazier and Bryan Smith for most of its’ production.

Gaston has no business at Fordham, but there he is, unapologetic. The junior forward is having another monster season, averaging 16 points and 10 rebounds per contest. He’s added a bit of an outside game to his arsenal and is one of the more active players in the Atlantic Ten. Gaston plays with a childllike enthusiasm and indifference I can respect, a trait necessary to survive four years at Fordham. 

Frazier and Smith form one of the conference’s more unheralded backcourts. This isn’t to say they are any good, just rarely talked about. The duo essentially takes shots, usually from behind the arc, when Gaston is ill-prepared to hoist one up. If the A-10 tracked poor shot attempts, Frazier and Smith would be near the top of the list. You can add lil’ freshman Devon McMillan to that list as well. It’s just a dreadfully subpar basketball team.

Prediction: The day I pick UD to lose to Fordham, even at Rose Hill, is the day I turn in my keycard to the BR offices. It’s not happening. Not today, not tomorrow, not ever. 

There really isn't much to write about in regards to this game. I missed the majority of the second half because I went to dinner/Fox Sports decided to have technical difficulties every 2 minutes, lasting about 5 minutes each time. The Flyers couldn't get anything to fall, which happens often when they visit the Lou. Chris Johnson and Kevin Dillard were the only ones to show up. Dillard went down at the end of the game and from what I saw...sorry...heard, it was not that bad. Paul Williams continues his senior shitshow by again failing to score baskets yet continue to shoot the rock with no regard for human life. Josh Parker had a solid 0 points in 19 minutes while Ralph Hill, yes RALPH HILL, logged 12 minutes (more than Devin Oliver). The only thing to come away from this disaster is that Dayton's defense played well, as witnessed by the Billikens' 24% from 3-point land. But alas, the Flyers had no answer for Brian Conklin or the referees.

The Flyers have a week off until Fordham they have to go to Blackburn's backyard in the Bronx. Here's hoping the Flyers salvage some sort of dignity and try to win some games from here on out. The NCAA Tournament is officially out of reach, but hopefully this team can build on something going into next year.

The Dukes jumped out to a sixteen point lead and sucked all of the energy out of the building early in the first half. UD managed to cut the edge to nine points at the break, a minor victory in and of itself. The Flyers went on a run of its own in the second frame, using a 13-3 spurt to close the gap to two points midway through the half. The Flyers actually took a 57-55 lead at one point, but Duquesne went on another run and closed UD out rather emphatically down the stretch.

Kevin Dillard did all he could, scoring a game-high 22 points and 7 assists. Matt Kavanaugh was like a drunken uncle at Thanksgiving, playing against his autistic nephews on a Nerf hoop in the basement. Kav could pretty much do whatever he wanted, whenever he wanted. Which is why his not getting a shot in the last thirteen and a half minutes of the game was kind of…odd? Nevertheless, the Boofer did manage to drop seventeen points on the night.

The Flyer season has been like a Wes Anderson movie. The beginning draws you in, the characters are intriguing, and the second act sets the stage for what should be a fantastic ending. Then, the close of the film drags until its uneventful end, leaving you with a feeling that the whole thing could have, should have, been so much more. Something that began with so much promise had no business ending on such an imperfect note (and please, I beg of you, please, no more Anjelica Huston).

Two big picture questions to consider:

• What do we lose by limiting Paul Willie’s minutes at this point? Williams is sort of like a moribund fifth-year senior QB on a college football team that just eliminated itself from bowl contention.  Time to give the underclassman some reps. There’s no point in furthering the Paul Williams experience. We’ve seen it, we’ve felt it, and we’ve somehow survived it. Not saying he should be buried on the bench, the team’s depth makes that impractical, but how about switching his minutes with Oliver? Archie has a lot more to gain by getting increased minutes for the sophomore than continuing the bleeding with PW.

• Who experienced a more disappointing senior season, Chris Wright or Chris Johnson? Granted CJ’s season hasn’t come to a definitive conclusion yet, but we are at a point in the season where it’s fair to draw a ballpark estimate. This isn’t to say that Johnson is having an appalling season, far from it. He is averaging around eleven points and grabbing approximately six boards a game. The senior from Columbus is shooting a more than respectable 44% from the floor, 41% from three and 82% from the line. That’s a statistically solid season, nothing to be ashamed of.  But you would be lying if you said you weren’t disappointed with CJ’s output this season. Personally, I expected him to finish his senior year with 15-17/7-8 production. Not going to happen. Chris Johnson, Chris Wright, Marcus Johnson, Tony Stanley – the curse of the Flyer senior season continues.

Bottom line, a thirty game season has a way of evening itself out. Dayton experienced some unforeseen highs and will more than likely close out the season experiencing some predictable lows (which would seem to include another loss down in Cincinnati). So with shifting expectations, what’s a realistic goal at this point? A home tournament game in the first round of the A-10 tournament is still very much attainable. Given Dayton’s conference tournament performance last year, and its apparent proclivity to get hot at a moment’s notice, it’s a worthwhile aim.

So Dayton lost to Rhode Island...again. Blackburn's recent post of "Five in Five" showed that while last Saturday's loss hurt, it didn't hurt as much as some. Some might not agree with the list, including myself. My #1 would be the Xavier away game the NIT Championship year. That was the year when I finally said, "We never are going to win down there, are we?" I would put Saturday's game into the "Five in Five Most Embarrassing Losses" article. Again, as Blackburn stated, this team could still make the NCAA Tournament. How they are going to do that is beyond my knowledge, but it still could happen if they win the games that they should and pull out a couple of shockers. I'm looking at you, Saint Louis and Xavier away games. Steve and I chatted about TJ McConnell being awesome, Ron Everhart being a quiet assassin, Pittsburgh being the Hollywood of the east, and why people from Pittsburgh talk funny. Enjoy.

First up in the "should win category" are the Duquesne Dukes. To help us add onto the preview that Rosceaux wrote up is Steve DiMiceli from Duquesne Sports Blog, the blogspot, not the UDPride-like message board attached to it. Steve and Co. have helped us out on several occasions and we are all pretty much best friends. If you can recall a post from last year, these guys do extensive research so we don't have to. That and what else is there to do in the brutal winters of Pittsburgh, PA?

(Snapping fingers)...Andre! Over here.Don Donoher: The Dukes come into the game with a 12-9 (3-4) record after losing their last two games. The Dukes were not predicted to have a great year, since Damian Saunders and Bill Clark graduated. How do you think this season has been there in Pittsburgh?

Steve DiMiceli: I think this is right around where most Duquesne fans would have put us coming into the season. Obviously there were some concerns about our size and the amount of playing time our still very raw 6'7'' center Andre Marhold would get, but I think a lot of us close to the program realized there was talent in the waiting. Most of us were confident that our guard play would carry us at least to respectability in the league and many Duquesne fans think TJ McConnell is just about as good as it gets as far as A-10 PGs are concerned. Really, he's proving us correct. Overall, the Dukes have lost a couple I think they should have won, but they've won a couple difficult match ups on the road to make up for it. Really, they could just as easily be 15-6 (5-2) right now.

I'm actually more surprised by where Dayton is. I honestly thought you would struggle mightily before the season, but you seem to be playing at the level you are accustomed to. I underestimated Kevin Dillard's ability to come in and replace Juwan Staten and I thought losing Paul Williams (editor's note, PW is clearly and unfortunately still here), Chris Wright, and Devon Searcy would hurt more than it has.

DD: As stated above, Saunders and Clark are gone which left a huge void in the scoring compartment. Junior Sean Johnson has been a pleasant surprise so far and BJ Monteiro is having a successful season. Throw in TJ McConnell improving on virtually every statistical category and this team seems to be just as good, if not better than last year (albeit last year's team struggled to be consistent too). Am I misreading something here?

SD: I think last year's team was a lot more top heavy in terms of talent but this year, we're deeper. I think that's why you saw us blow a lot of teams out last year where this year the games are closer. I expected Sean to to take steps forward this season, but I didn't expect him to come this far. I don't think it's out of the question that he'll get some votes for A-10 most improved player. BJ was really turning it up before he got cut on his left hand by shrapnel in a South Side bar fight. Eric Evans is healthy and though his scoring and 3 point shooting is not where I'd like it to be, the rest of his game is strong. Mike Talley's been relegated to the bench after starting last year. I'd argue that any of Duquesne's 3 point guards would be an upgrade for about a quarter to a third of the league. Jerry Jones has stepped forward to become a valuable bench player and likely replacement for Monteiro next year. They've also gotten some good minutes from freshmen Kadeem Pathophlet and Mamadou Datt. For the first time in a long time, we've got some talented players who simply can't break into the rotation.

DD: Defense is not a strong suit of this Dayton Flyers team and it appears the same goes with Duquesne. Has Everhart commented on his team’s lackluster defensive efforts? If so, what sort of things has he tried to do to fix the problem?

SD: Ron doesn't speak in detail about flaws publicly so I haven't heard him comment much on the problem. If someone asked why the team is playing bad defense, he'd respond by talking about what the team does well on defense. That being said I'm sure he understands there is something wrong, and is trying to address it in practice, but he answers questions publicly like he's on a job interview or trying to sell you a mattress.

My take, the Dukes have been tremendously inconsistent on defense. They force a ton of turnovers but when they gamble for a steal, sometimes they end up paying by conceding an easy basket. They've had some brilliant performances like Marhold shutting down Andrew Nicholson for the last 15 minutes of the Bona game and the job they did on Chaz Williams. They've been soft inside, in part due to their overall lack of height and bulk but also because of how often they switch in man coverage. Ron runs a defense like Dutch soccer played in the 1970's where any man on the court can play any position.  Basketball isn't soccer and when 5'11 Mike Talley has to play post defense against Kenny Frease, guess who wins that battle? For the most part the Dukes do play decent defense on the first shot.  If anyone grabs on offensive board, a shot is blocked or a steal is missed, Duquesne defenders look like they've been giving a serum that causes paralysis and confusion until a basket is scored.  Good ball movement can break them down too.

Good movieDD: I want to piggy back on a question that Blackburn asked last year with you guys in regards to movies. Since I am the resident movie buff of the BR, I wanted to run by my list of "Best and Worst Pittsburgh Movie List" to you. Like you mentioned last year, it feels as if Pittsburgh and it's surrounding areas are always featured in random movies. Feel free to add or dispute.

1.) Wonder Boys...Perfect writing, perfect casting, perfect soundtrack. It makes me almost like Tobey Maguire…almost.

2.) Sudden Death...Pure cheese. Not Van Damme at his finest but damn (pun) close.

3.) The Fish that Saved Pittsburgh...Also very cheesy but has it’s moments. Dr. J and Meadowlark Lemon to go along with Stockard Channing? Sign me up!

4.) She's Out of My League...Surprisingly funny (a Hall and Oates cover band?) to go along with Adam's big time crush, Alice Eve.

5.) All The Right Moves...Not really Pittsburgh, but they mention it several times in the movie. Plus, it is a preview of Craig T. Nelson's calling as a football coach.

And the bad...

Bad movie1.) Zack and Miri Make a Porno...I have always been a Kevin Smith apologist and have tried to stick up for him to Blackburn, who is the resident anti-Kevin Smith of the BR, on several occasions but it's very hard to do after this piece of shit.

2.) Rockstar...Mark Wahlberg is bad. Epic bad. Jennifer Aniston not looking hot? Even worse. And to call this movie "based on real life" is a joke. Judas Priest fans will kill Wahlberg if they get the chance.

3.) Stigmata...Good premise with horrible acting and horrible directing. What else do you expect from the guy that gave us The Fog and Blank Check?

SD: One of the things that people outside of Pittsburgh don't realize is how many movies film here. A few years ago it was generally big news when one would come to town. Now it's gotten to the point where it's pretty mundane with a few exceptions. I've had at least 4 films shoot within a few blocks of my house and The Next Three Days filmed a scene at Duquesne, IIRC. I'd say there are 5-10 movies made in Pittsburgh every year, now. The next Batman installment was produced here last summer instead of Chicago and that was pretty cool. They shot a winter scene in July, covering Pitt in fake snow and you could here random explosions pretty late into the night from downtown. Everyday, someone on my friend feed on Facebook posted a picture of the Batmobile street parked somewhere. And if you were really quiet, you could hear Christian Bale throwing temper tantrums. 

Kevin Smith is no stranger to filming in Pittsburgh. Mooby Corp was headquartered in the Steel Building in Dogma. Most people around here really took to Zack and Miri because Smith makes a lot of subtle jokes I feel were intended just for us locals, like the mascot of "Monroeville High School" being the Rovers.

Still, most movies filmed here are somewhere between crappy and semi-watchable. Nothing I would consider a masterpiece. Silence of the Lambs doesn't count since that was filmed an hour north of town. Below are my top 5:

1. Wonder Boys

2. Smart People

3. Zack And Miri

4. Love and Other Drugs

5. The Dark Knight Rises (Trailer alone is better than everything else)

DD: Ok, back to basketball. What is the best thing that the Dukes do which leads to them winning games? What is one thing that crushes them? I would imagine it is rebounding?

SD: Up until the last couple of games, the Dukes were elite in two areas, Assists to Turnovers and Turnover Ratio. They take very good care of the ball and have the ability to make opposing point guards look JV at times. Check out the box score for the UMass game. Don't get me wrong, the Minutemen helped us out considerably, but Duquesne was responsible for a lot of it. Clearly, this is not the level they normally play at, but it does illustrate what they can do if they are consistent and if they execute the way they are capable of executing. Another thing they've done well is fight back after being defeated. Until the Lasalle game, they were 7-0 following losses.

Rebounding has been killer but overall inconsistent effort and finishing has been the biggest problem. They've done a great job creating open looks but simply blow too many easy baskets that great teams wouldn't.

A translator for you all to useDD: Time to wrap it up. The Dukes haven't beaten the Flyers in Dayton in 4 years. Please give us a prediction for the game, speaking in Pittsburghese please.

SD: "Let me say somethin abat Dayton first. Yinz ain't nothin. Yinz didn't even fly the first plane. They did that dahn North Carolina near that beach haas where I  fall sleep on beach an get sunburnt every summer on the outer bahnks.

Everytime we go dahn Dayton we give yinz Flyers a game. Yinz dohn act like it but yinz were gettin lucky. What abat that jag off Jason Duty missin three free throws at the end of the game, an last year we couldn't score for the last 5 minutes. Dohn try an tell me Bri'n Gregory had something do with that. Everybody at Georgia Tech must be stupid or something. I'm gonna say Duquesne 115 Dayton 9." 

I'm sorry. The spirit of Pittsburgh really took hold of me there. Honestly, I think it's going to be very difficult for the Dukes to hand you two defeats in a row at UD Arena. Don't get me wrong, I think the Dukes are capable of winning, but I think the Flyers show up hungry and ready to play. I predict a loss on Wednesday probably by about 4 points but I think the series will split again this year with the Dukes taking the return trip to Pittsburgh.

There you have it, Steve agrees with Rosceaux. I see the Flyers coming out strong and leading from start to finish. If the Flyers lose this game, I would imagine that an at large bid would almost be impossible. The Flyers cannot afford anymore losses at home. So be loud. Wear red. Go Flyers!

There are very few straight lines in the development of a basketball program. Every win isn’t going to be as big as a road victory at Temple, and no loss can ever be as bad as the scrotum-tightening defeat at the hands of the Rams.

Improving a basketball program is like toilet-training a toddler. Every once in a while, they’re gonna shit the bed.

Things aren’t as easy as they appear in the movies. There are no Freaky Friday scenarios, or diabolical scientists who can swap brains and personalities to make an immediate and irrevocable change. But if there were…I wonder what that would be like…I wonder…Hmmmm…

[dissolve fade out]

[fade into a rocking UD Arena]

The full house is chanting "Char-lie! Char-lie! Char-lie!" for Matt Kavs. Of course, Charlie Gordon was the lead character in Flowers for Algernon who increased his IQ score and functional abilities threefold. Charlie eventually gets his retribution against those who were previously condescending of his limited abilities (In all honesty, I have to say that I stopped reading that book about halfway through and never finished it, but I’m sure that it must’ve had a happy ending.).

Students are lining up to sit in the Klown Korner, all wearing rainbow wigs and basketball hats. Commutes to road games, or any venue outside of bumbledy-fuck Ohio, would be much easier with 26 students all piling out of one little Klown Kar. There would be halftime shooting contests to see who could deflower his delicate blossom. Kavs would be king. Quite frankly, he’s made some significant strides already.

On the downside, the poor Kav-In-Awe kid (“KIA” or "Dan Cox") would be near suicidal. Certainly, he would have been happy at first, seeing his idol receive universal adulation. But then what? The entire student section would be wearing the Kav-In-Awe shirts and would be giving each other high fives any time his name was addressed over the P.A. KIA would find himself marginalized and lost among more popular, funnier, and more intelligent masses (much like DiSab in the comments section of the BR). Our poor kid would find himself alone and ostracized in the very club that he had founded, with no unique identity. I suspect he’d be found hanging in the closet like David Carradine, with his Flyers program opened to the page touting the “Ivory Towers” (copywrite Timmy Wabs).

This brings up an interesting philosophical point. Is it better to treat the handicapped with lessened demands placed upon them, or is it better to have them strive to the extent that they wish to strive? Many people would say that it is the former, and that those in custodial roles should, with compassion, create an easier life filled with lowered expectations. I find little resonance with this line of thinking. For example, I see this kid every day in my town who has never developed any substantial skills and is happy to spend his days collecting the shopping carts at the local Wal-Mart. He’s a likable enough kid and always gets the starting assignment from his job coach. Sure, he could be assembling pens and making an extra 5 cents an hour, but this kid has the “intangibles.” No need to expect him to do more than take up space, not get in anyone else’s way, and collect wayward carts. Poor Kurtis, his job coach was content to praise him for being a happy idiot.

[dissolve fade out]

[fade into an evil scientist’s liar]

In a more nefarious experiment, Paul Willie’s basketball ability has been swapped with a steaming pile of dogshit. Relax, it's science fiction...OR IS IT?!?!?!?!?!

Meet and Greet: Duquesne coach Ron Everhart is now in his sixth year manning the helm at Duquesne. He took over a program as awful as Rhode Island’s (still hurts, doesn’t it?), and fashioned it into a completely mediocre team, including one NIT appearance and two CBIs. Last summer, he interviewed for the vacant head coaching job at Penn State. (This was in pre-Sandusky times, when getting anally raped was just a figurative term for a PSU education.) He seemed like he was a hard charger for the opening and then suddenly “withdrew” his name from consideration. He realized that Duquesne was a “special place.” That’s kind of like me passing up blowjobs for life from Mila Kunis because I am so in love with my wife. It sure saves face and is a great justification, but really…who’s gonna believe that?

The Dukes are sitting at an RPI of 96 and a 3-4 record in conference. On the plus side, they’ve beaten UMass and the Bonnies, who are the current conference leaders. They’ve also been edged twice at home by three points and shellacked on the road at X and St. Louis. Tons of missed opportunities during conference and OOC play.

It’s a team that has no identity. Defense has continued to pressure the ball, but there is no help on the interior. None. They are 13th in the conference in getting rebounds, and 13th in giving up rebounds. That ain’t lucky. The post position is unmanned by a very active and foul-prone Andre Marhold at 6'7" and freshman Momadu Datt, who at 6’8” has the grace and coordination of a newborn giraffe still covered in afterbirth. The defensive core is softer in the middle than NJ Gov. Chris Christie.

Senior BJ Montiero (at just 6’5”) is usually the next biggest guy on the court. He can be a mercurial offensive weapon and averages around 15/5. In many ways, he is a garbage man, always grabbing a loose ball or rebound and finding a way to get it into the basket. He will play along the baseline and suddenly appear from nowhere if the Flyers go into zone, or he will slash in and out of the arc looking for an opening. Jerry Jones, a 6’5” sophomore, does all that plus grabs rebounds and hit treys.

Sean Johnson has taken over as the scoring leader on the team. He’s averaging 15.5 ppg and hasn’t seen a shot he isn’t willing to force. Johnson is a slashing guard who will penetrate the lane with no intentions of dishing. He’s also shooting 38% from behind the arc. Johnson is also a tenacious defender. At some point, Dayton fans will think “Why are they keeping that little pug on the floor?” just as he runs off 7 consecutive points.

The team, though, is really sophomore TJ McConnell’s. You remember him, right? He’s the A-10’s version of Tim Tebow, meaning that he has spent time condemned to Mr. Blackburn’s spank bank. McConnell has always been pass first while at Duquesne, although the last few games have seen him taking on more of the offensive burden. In the recent game against LaSalle, he scored 19 points on 8-of-11 shooting, including 3-of-4 on treys. TJ is shooting 50% on threes for the year, but he is so selective that he’s only had 60 attempts so far. That’s a crying shame. He is again averaging three steals per game, which ranks him second in the nation (after finishing fourth in the nation as a freshman).

Like the defense, there is little offensive cohesion and far too many plays end with a forced shake and bake jumper as the shot clock sounds. Mike Talley and Eric Evans round out the guards. They are both good on the defensive end, and Evans is a sometimes contributor on offense. As far as shooting, Talley has been Paul Williams-esque as of late. If anyone other than the starting five plus Jerry Jones score on the Flyers, UD might have to invest in Tampax Supra tampons to stem the bleeding.

Prediction: Are you kidding? How could anyone make a prediction about this game? I have no idea what the Dukes are going to do, and you have no idea what the Flyers are going to do. I think it might be best to ask for an exemption from Commissioner Bernadette McGlade to see if we can hold a three-on-three contest. Dillard, Chris Johnson, and Kavs for Dayton versus McConnell, Sean Johnson, and Montiero for the Dukes. That’s basically what the game will boil down to anyway. Do you really have an interest in seeing LuKKKe play defense against a 6’5’’ slasher?

If the Flyers can feed the post, I expect Marhold to run into foul trouble early. This should be a game that Kavs dominates.

Mythbusting: The comments section has been bursting with thoughts that PW has been tapping the white poison. That is a racist and erroneous piece of bunk. Given his recent shooting percentages, we must scientifically conclude that his wang has been clanging off the labia of his intended targets. He hasn’t been taking to the hole with any more success.

Dayton’s performance on Saturday was turrrible. UD was a 13.5 point favorite against a hapless Rhode Island squad still looking for its first conference victory. After falling behind early, Dayton battled back and looked like it would pull out an underwhelming, yet crucial, win. As soon as a Kevin Dillard layup pushed the Flyer lead to 75-72, Jim Baron burned a timeout and rallied his troops. Following the stop in play, and after what must have been a resounding pep talk, the Rams scored the game’s next nine points and closed UD out on the road. When reflecting on the season it may just be the straw that broke the camel’s back

I was asked more than a few times this weekend: was this one of the worst losses in recent memory? Not even close, dear friends.

When evaluating the dreadfulness of a defeat, one must consider not only the overall beating itself but the importance/implication of the loss as well. It’s a sliding scale.

So here you go – my personal, yet completely infallible, list of UD’s five worst losses over the past five seasons (please leave any omissions in the comments). Why five years, five losses? I didn’t want to do substantial homework, that’s why. 

(2/13/08) Duquesne 63 Dayton 61: Brian Roberts’ senior season was full of highlight victories – including wins over Louisville and Pittsburgh, a pair of games we will still be hearing about twenty years from now.  The Flyers ran out to a 14-1 record before hitting some setbacks in conference play (since known as the “Gregory Special”). UD was 4-5 in the Atlantic Ten entering their home clash with the Dukes in mid-February. With seven league games remaining, and a stellar resume to that point, UD still had a lot to play for. Certainly a home game against the middling Dukes would surely have been the catalyst to a 10 win conference record and a probable NCAA bid.

Not so much. Dayton toyed around with Duquesne for 35 minutes, or maybe it was the other way around, but was never able to land a knockout punch. The Flyers had a chance to win or tie the game on the last possession of the game, but an Andres Sandoval three-pointer at the buzzer came up woefully short. UD would eventually finish 8-8 in league play, 21-10 overall on Selection Sunday. 

(3/6/10) Saint Louis 71 Dayton 66: Dayton was an eleven and a half point favorite as the Bills visited the Arena in early March. The game was the conference closer and the Flyers were coming off a close loss at Richmond. A victory over Rick Majerus’ squad would mean a 9-7 finish in the league. The Flyers came out slow, going into halftime down 34-19. UD managed to cut the margin down to just four with over two minutes left, but couldn’t get any closer. It was a capper on a very frustrating season in which the Flyers managed to lose eight conference games by an average of just 3.5 points per game. But fret not; as the t-shirt you are probably wearing right now indicates, UD went on to win the NIT Tournament. 

(3/2/11) Saint Louis 69 Dayton 51: Almost the same exact situation as the previous game on the list, UD once again came out flat and fell behind 35-19 at the half. Unlike the aforementioned contest, the Flyers were never able to get back to within striking distance. Petey Zestermann came in with two minutes left, a breakfast burrito still churning in his stomach, and the season was all but done. A game Dayton absolutely had to win ended in appalling fashion. It was both Chris Wright and Brian Gregory’s last game at UD Arena, how apropos.  

(11/30/11) Buffalo 84 Dayton 55: Archie’s first undressing. Not a season killer by any means, but a shocking result nonetheless. Dayton was still riding some good vibes after winning the Old Spice Classic. After a two-hour pregame commemoration ceremony, in which Archie was awarded a gold-plated blazer and the Old Spice trophy was passed around the entire Arena, the Flyers came out rather flat. The Bulls jumped out to a 32-11 lead and the universe’s best fans hit the exits at the break. It was the first indication that maybe allowing the other team to score on every possession wasn’t the best strategy. Revolutionary? Yes. Effective? Hardly.

(11/27/10) Cincinnati 68 Dayton 34: The “Doubled Up” game. The Flyers scored 19 points in the first half, 15 in the second. Statistically speaking, the game was over with 14:30 still left to go in the game. I’m not a UD basketball historian, although telling girls that I am has led to oral favors in the past, but this defeat must rank near the top of the worst losses in Dayton’s 100+ years of semi-competitive basketball. Supposedly in 1907, back when UD was known as St. Mary’s Institute, the school lost 65-6 to the Oakwood Albino Academy. The Albinos, as legend would have it, were just very light-skinned black guys. Unfortunately, this charge cannot be substantiated (nor denied). Suspicions, however, were raised during the postgame showers. 

In March, G.C. Cager fans will have either one of two recollections of tonight’s defeat:

1. “Once we lost to Rhode Island, I totally knew the season was over, bro.”
2. “Dude, I thought the season was over once we lost to Rhody. Can’t believe UD made the tournament. How horrible is college basketball this season? Still shocked that Obama came out of the closet.”

81 points, on an average night, should be more than enough to beat the likes of Rhode Island. The Rams were 0-9 in games when they allowed 75 points or more. Make that 1-9.

URI was averaging 68 points per game coming into the game tonight. They blew past that number with five minutes to go – eventually eclipsing that mark by 18 when all was said and done.

The fuck?Dayton doesn’t have to play defense like Ohio State to contend in the Atlantic Ten. In fact, just mediocre defense alone would likely have the Flyers at 16-5/17-4 overall, probably 5-2, maybe even 6-1, in the league. Instead, UD is allowing 77 points in conference play. Seventy…seven. The Washington Generals think the Flyers have a long way to go defensively.   

The loss muddies solid performances from both Chris Johnson (20 points, 12 rebounds) and Kevin Dillard (12 points, 13 assists). Even ol’ Luke Fabrizius managed to kick in 17 points on the night. Usually, these factors equal a victory.

What else can you say about Paul Williams? PW followed up one of the worst performances these gorgeous bedroom eyes have seen with yet another bed-shitter. In 29 minutes, Paul Willie shot 1-for-6 from the floor, finishing with three points and three turnovers. There isn’t a white woman alive who could do that much damage to a black man. Maybe an underage girl? I don’t want to speculate.    

Dillard, so consistent during the season, had a bit of a breakdown during the closing minutes of the contest. Two turnovers on back-to-back possessions gave Rhody all the breathing room it needed to take down the Flyers. Luke Fab’s two late three-pointers merely put some fancy wrapping on an otherwise unsightly gift.

Rosceaux adds his two cents:

That was a shitty loss. The thing you have to remember about Baron and his A-10 Coach of the Year awards is that he got them by shitting the bed in OOC play each year, and then stringing together great conference runs. He is the anti-Gregory in those regards. He lowers his own expectations, and then his teams come on strong.

How does this relate to tonight’s fiasco? Baron teams take a long time to gel. He just got his two best players onto the team in December. They’ve been playing better each successive game. Just as UD was lucky to catch a break with Eric out for Temple, they were unlucky to catch Rhody after the team began to play better. They just took the Bonnies to OT in their last game for Christsakes.

Is Coach Archie the new BG? Absolutely not. Is he the new John Wooden? Not. Would I love to bang his wife? Totally.

And yes, this is awesome:

The Flyers get back to business on Wednesday when the Dukes come into town. We don’t like to use the phrase “must-win” around here (ahem), but let’s just say a win against Duquesne is vital to UD’s fluttering postseason hopes.