Recap: Murray State Drubbing

I'd like to think that most teams would come out with a chip on their shoulder and a spring in their step after getting embarrassed by 30, at home, to Buffalo. That was not the case as the Flyers came out sluggish and got flat out beat by the Racers of Murray State. In true Blackburn Review fashion, there were very few pros to talk about so we will focus on the cons.

Pros 

• Josh Benson might have had one of his most productive games as a Flyer. The big man poured in 17 points on 8-8 shooting, including two sexy looking 17 foot jumpers. If he can prove to be consistent with the mid range jumper, that will be an important weapon come A10 play with the zone defenses that are likely to be seen.
• Devin Oliver looked to be one of the few Flyers that really knew what he was doing on the defensive end. He is easily one of the top defenders on this squad, with his combination of quickness and length. While he converted on his two attempts from the field, Oliver will need to continue to develop his offensive repertoire if he wants to see more playing time.
• Ralph saw the court for 2 minutes, IN THE MIDDLE OF THE GAME!!! I know I'm really reaching here but there were very few positives in this game, let alone moral victories. I would like to see Ralph getting more of Fab's minutes if Fab continues to be beyond awful.

Cons 

• Can someone please keep the white girls away from Chris Johnson? CJ went a dismal 1-8 from the field including 0-6 from 3pt.  His touch was clearly not there today and instead of trying to attack the basket, he tried to shoot his way out of a slump.  
• The defense was atrocious at best. We all know that this team did not have any decent on-ball defenders, but it wasn't until watching a team like the Racers, one that had their defensive pressure dialed up to 10 the entire game, that it became glaringly apparent. The guards can't close out on three-point shooters, the big man hedge and can't get back quick enough, guards going under on screens when shooters are hot, the list goes on and on. Isaiah Canaan got going early and rode that hot shooting the entire night. When big men tried to hedge, Canaan would pull from the NBA three-point line. When guards went under screens, Canaan would pull up and knock down the open jumper.  While the box score will say 7 steals and 4 blocks, that either is some generous stat keeping or they all happened in the last 3 minutes of the game when I turned it off.
• Luke Fabrizius should get 3 minutes every game that dictate his amount of play for the day. If he knocks down a three within his first three attempts, and doesn't completely shit the bed defensively, he will see the court again. If he doesn't hit any of those three shots, his ass should be screwed into the bench. Luke was 0-4 from the field on wide open looks. Not only was he not contributing anything offensively, he was a complete liability on the defensive end.
• Despite the fact that I have been longing for the day that someone other than Brian Gregory was on the sidelines for the Flyers, I was very disappointed with Archie today. The discipline of the team was just not there this afternoon. Between everyone picking up their dribble with no where to go, hoisting up three-pointers coming out of a timeout when no one is hitting, and not adjusting to the Murray State offense, Archie had a terrible game from the bench.
• Did I mention that the Flyers were horrendous from beyond the arc? Well in case I didn't, they shot 14% from deep connecting on just 3 of 21. Canaan connected on 2 more threes than the entire Flyer team and he had 15 less attempts.  
• A few other areas that the Flyers were beat in today: Turnovers (17-13) Bench Points (13-27) FG Percentage (49-54) Assists (10-19) and Cool Names (Zay, Poole, Latreze, and Jewuan- N/A).

The Flyers have now lost their last 2 games by an average of 23 points. With the 12th ranked Crimson Tide coming to UD Arena this week, one can only hope that Kid Yuma lights a fire under everyone.

Mid Major Basketball - Feel the Excitement!

Fuck it. A win's a win, right? We'll take it and shuffle on to our drubbing in Norwood. But, man, is it hard to watch the struggles between two terribly mediocre teams. And barring some revelation from BG, this is precisely the type of dysfunctional basketball we'll see for the remaining 13 games. Sure, there will be some bright spots, and not a few disasters, but ultimately we'll be a middling basketball squad heading for a second rate tournament, or, at best, a first round exit .

The pride of the Widener PrideThough the stats don't bare it out, that was an ugly win against a pretty shitty team, on our home court no less. The last 30 seconds were particularly painful. After whispering, "It's winning time, you magnificent sons of bitches", BG sends his charges out to the floor, where Staten slips and unloads it to Benson, who manages to fumble it out of bounds. Time out by Martelli, followed by a 26-foot airball from Crosgile. Time out, six men on the floor for St. Joes. How's the for a climatic ending!

We shot it about as well as we can (44% from the field, 41% from three). We distributed and took care of the ball nicely (21 assists to only five turnovers). Strangely, though, we were outrebounded by a pretty poor rebounding team (34 v. 28). No real standout individual performances. Fourteen and 10 for the Savior, 13 for CJ, and 9 a piece for Staten, Parker, and PWs. Staten added six assists for good measure. That's really all there's to glean from the box score. It was as if ESPN's Accu-Score just played this one out for us, everybody just hovering around their average.

I realize we have no surplus of scorers, but I still find myself wondering why we run set plays that result in CJ hoisting from deep. He's a 35% shooter. It's generally after he misses another three that I try remembering the last time we went down low looking for offense. When you lack scorers, what do you really have to lose by dropping it down low a couple times a half? I know this is all well worn territory, but when the same issues continue to present themselves, I can't help but respond with the same tired questions.

How much more rope does Phil Martelli get on Hawk Hill?  They've been godawful for the past two years, and have finished no higher than fifth in the A-10 since 2004-'05. I realize he had every mid-major fan's wet dream of a season in '03-'04, but how long can he keep cashing that check. And regardless of how many times Derrick Dukes talked up the phenomenal youth on that team, I don't see a whole lot of improvement in the cards. That said, he's available for your next speaking engagement.

I'm tired of hearing people complain about the "weave" offense. That's no weave offense. It's some bastardized variation of the dribble-drive offense popularized by Calipari's Memphis Tigers. Why is it so ineffective in Dayton, you ask? Because the talent isn't there. We're a collection of raggedy mis-matched players who ultimately aren't capable of scoring regularly. Are we maximizing ability with the offense? Hard to say.

Juwan Staten will be a nice player for us down the road. He's the catalyst for any offense that doesn't come off of the offensive glass. He'll need to work on his shot and develop a semblance of a left hand, but he's so quick and has such a good understanding of a point guard's duties that even if those areas don't develop he'll likely be an all-conference player. A few games into the season I wondered if the statisticians were being generous with his assist numbers, but after watching a handful of games, I've realized the numbers seem legitimate. He has good vision and a knack for delivering the ball in a shooter's pocket, not skills typically seen from freshman. Also of note, after throwing down that dunk against New Mexico, once he finished flexing, he made a motorcycle revving motion. Hadn't seen that before, extra credit for creativity.

Anybody else a bit underwhelmed with junior year Chris Johnson? He's playing 25% more minutes, but getting a scant .4 points more a game. His rebounding numbers are actually down, as are his field goal and three point shooting percentages. Maybe Blackburn was onto something with his white girl theory.

Like I said, I know all this shit has been said before, but watching Flyers games has started making me feel old and curmudgeonly. It feels like the same shit year-in, year-out. A few rays of sunshine, minimal improvement from the roster, same struggles on the road, same playing to the competition. It's about as routine as a 9-5. Barring some miraculous close to this season, it feels like it's time for some new blood in the program. Not sure how you call for the coach's head when your team's 14-4, but I think we all know pretty well how this season's going to play out.

Look out Xavier. This is the year things change.

St. Joe's @ Dayton

 

A Belated Ole Miss Recap

Actual Ole Miss Girls #1Your Dayton Flyers went down to the real Oxford (fuck you, Donny) and pulled out an improbable win. Down 16 in the second half, the Flyers had a chance to win it in regulation before eventually closing it out in overtime. While Ole Miss isn't heading to the Final Four, it's these victories that leave us befuddled when later in the season we're losing on the road to the Duquesnes and St. Joes of the world. Is familiarity that big of an equalizer?

Fuck it, let's fire off some bullet points about a game you've probably already filed away. (Disclaimer: I followed this game on a friend's cell phone at a bar, on my way to passing out by midnight. You can goddamn bet there's going to be some serious insight ahead.)

• Good to see Chris Johnson is awake. 20 and 11 and a half-dozen Phi Mus (talk about an unfortunate name for a sorority). I'm still a bit queasy about his reliance on the three ball, especially since he appears to be around a 35 percent shooter from distance. He probably more than makes up for it with his blue collar work on the glass though. We'll also consider this Exhibit A in disproving the Blackburn Theorem (basketball players have been working white women since James Naismith invented the cheerleader).
• Ole Miss Girls #2Chris Wright is still the same Chris Wright we know and love. 3-13 from the field, 5 boards, and 5 fouls. Thanks for playing, bub. I hope the NBA takes notice of these types of performance. When athletes of his own caliber are the order of the day, he's likely to struggle. Somewhere, Chris Wallace is salivating, nonetheless.
• Nice to see that Josh Parker is going to be filling the D.J. Stelly/Rob Lowery role and will be firing indiscriminately for the next two seasons. B.G. apparently finds appeal in the spark off the bench/Microwave Johnson role. Be prepared to simultaneously loathe and want to make love to Josh Parker over the next 16 months.
• I've often wondered if we really do play the vaunted defense that is so often bandied about. I've considered that other teams note our atrocious shooting and then realize how truly difficult it is to throw a basketball into a hoop 20 feet away. Poor offense via osmosis, kinda like how hitting is contagious in baseball. But the regular returns seem to beg otherwise. All those stats on opposing field goal percentage and rebound differences that Bucky and Larry love to drop clearly speak to the Flyers commitment to defense. And though it makes for some eye-bleedingly painful basketball at times, it sure has hell keeps us in games.
• We got some nice punch off the bench from Josh Benson. He's got as much raw ability as anyone on the team. If B.G. can flip the light on for him, he'll be All A-10. If not, expect the occasional brilliant flash amidst lots of being tossed around like a rag doll.
• Ole Miss Girls #3I think it's officially time to start worrying about Juwan Staten's shot. While, he certainly looks the part of a consummate point guard and he distributes quite well, he's currently shooting 29 percent from the field and has missed his only two attempts from 3. Is this just a rough start, or is his shot really that shaky? All prior accounts would lead us to believe the prior as there was little talk of him not having at the very least a passable shot. There's still plenty of time for our newest Messiah to give us reason for our devotion.

A couple of cupcakes ahead (Seriously, fucking Savannah State and Florida A&M? Rensselaer Poly Technical not available?) before heading to U.S. Bank arena to take on Mick Cronin's final iteration of Bearcat basketball. The rest of the non-conference schedule is fairly manageable with the only tough games before Christmas-time being the annual pillow fight with Charlie Coles and his half-functioning heart and Old Dominion. If we continue to play like we did down south, there's fairly good chance we're 11-0/10-1 heading to South Orange to take on a Seton Hall team that just lost to X 57-52. Then a couple of non-conference tests before we piss our pants in conference.

Recap: The "Original Postseason Tournament" Champs

Lets have it all you Marcus haters.  I’ve been defending my guy all year long when you all would write that he is the biggest disappointment this season.  Were the injuries disappointing? Of course.  Was Marcus not meeting the lofty expectations for his senior season disappointing?  You betcha.  Regardless, he came to play to salvage a disappointing year.  When everyone was expecting Marcus to be a star on this team, they were setting him up for failure.  Are his numbers down from last year?  Slightly. Two things to take note of though is the increase in CJ’s numbers and the implementation of the zone defense.  Despite what anyone thinks, Marcus Johnson is not a jump shooter, he is a slasher.  CJ’s increased productivity did not take touches away from CW but it took touches away from Marcus.

We’re going to take a look at Marcus’s numbers last year compared to this year.  Last year he averaged 28 MPG, 12 PPG, 3 RPG, 1 APG, 1.5 TO, 1 STL, 45% FG, 63% FT, 36% 3PT.  This year he averaged 25 MPG, 9 PPG, 3 RPG, 2 APG, 1.6 TO, 1 STL, 44% FG, 63% FT, 26% 3PT.  The only statistics that are noticeably different are his PPG (directly correlated to CJ doubling his PPG average) and 3PT shooting.  

Putting injuries aside, this Dayton team was figured out by most of its opponents and often times faced zone defenses.  For everyone to expect Marcus to produce more against zone defenses as he did in a man-to-man setting is ludicrous.  If you don’t believe the zone defense had anything to do with it, explain why Marcus averaged 14 PPG, 4 RPG, 2.4 APG, 52% FG, 58% FT, and 33% 3PT against predominately zone defenses in the NIT.  So instead of blaming Marcus for “being a disappointment” blame yourself for setting unreasonable expectations. 

Now that I’m done with my Marcus rant, lets move onto the recap…

This victory is bittersweet to say the least.  I am still disappointed that this team played their way out of the NCAA tournament but once you’re in the NIT, you might as well win the whole fucking thing.  The first half of basketball might have been one of the better half’s this team has played all year.  They were making smart passes, hitting mid range jumpers, fastbreaking like its their job, and forcing a lot of turnovers.  For once the Flyers were not the most frustrating thing in the game, but better yet the announcers calling Fab-Kurt, P Dub-Marcus, and Big Dog-Benson.  Surprisingly enough, I didn’t take notice of them mixing up Big Shot Rob and London at all.

For all of you Kurt lovers out there, you may now remove your head from his ass.  Last night was the culmination of his suck.  When Kurt is absolutely useless.  I am glad to see him leave and the only regret I have in terms of Kurt is that he ate up way too many of Big Dog and Benson’s minutes.  How is BG blind to see the game changing abilities of Benson.  I don’t even need to say anymore about Kurt, everyone can just watch this on repeat: 

You know it is bad when you talk to people during a game when your team is up by double digits at half, and they say, “well that’s looking good” and you have to immediately correct them and say, “Yeah but we’ll manage to blow that lead in the 2nd half”.  I think the Flyer Faithful collectively thought, this can’t possibly happen again, when UNC opened the 2nd half with a run.  Unlike during the regular season, the Flyers were able to knock down the big three when they needed it.  As much as the BR has dogged him all year, it is encouraging to see P Dub suddenly find his jump shot, as long as he continues that into next year.

As I stated previously, no one should be happy that “we” were in this position.  This team was slated to win the A-10, finish in the top 25, and have a solid 6-10 seed in the NCAA tournament.  This year has been a disappointment, but once you enter the NIT you might as well take home some hardware.  Congrats to the seniors.  Underclassmen, take notes and don’t fuck up again next year.  The only question left to ask now that the games are over is, who’s resignation letter will come in first: Donoher or BG?

Dayton vs. North Carolina

Effective Field Goal Percentage (eFG%): adjusts for the fact that a 3-point field goal is worth one more point than a 2-point field goal.
Turnover Percentage (TO%): is an estimate of turnovers per 100 plays.
Offensive Rebouning Percentage (OR%): measures a team's ability to get offensive rebounds.
Free Throw Rate (FT Rate): is a measure of both how often a team gets to the line and how often they make them.

		S	MIN	PTS	FGM	FGA	FG%	2PA	2PA	2P%	3PM	3PA	3P%	FTM	FTA	FT%	OR	DR	REB	AST	STL	BLK	TO	PF	+/-	RR
	L. Drew II	*	33	12	5	12	41.7	4	7	57.1	1	5	20.0	1	2	50.0	0	5	5	8	0	0	6	0	-5	1
	M. Ginyard	*	33	2	1	3	33.3	1	3	33.3	0	0		0	0		2	4	6	2	3	0	0	3	-6	-1
	D. Thompson	*	31	13	5	9	55.6	5	9	55.5	0	0		3	5	60.0	5	5	10	0	1	0	0	3	-6	-1
	J. Henson	*	21	5	2	4	50.0	2	4	50.0	0	0		1	5	20.0	1	0	1	3	1	1	2	3	-3	5
	W. Graves		30	25	8	17	47.1	1	4	25.0	7	13	53.8	2	2	100.0	0	3	3	0	0	0	2	4	0	11
	T. Zeller		23	11	5	11	45.5	5	11	45.4	0	0		1	1	100.0	0	0	0	1	0	0	1	3	-13	-15
	D. Strickland		17	0	0	1	0.0	0	1	0.0	0	0		0	0		0	1	1	1	0	0	2	1	-11	-11
	L. McDonald		9	0	0	2	0.0	0	1	0.0	0	1	0.0	0	0		0	0	0	0	0	0	1	1	-11	-11
	T. Wear		2	0	0	2	0.0	0	1	0.0	0	1	0.0	0	0		0	0	0	0	0	0	0	0	0	11
	UNC		199	68	26	61	42.6	18	41	43.9	8	20	40.0	8	15	53.3	11	23	34	15	5	1	15	18
		S	MIN	PTS	FGM	FGA	FG%	2PA	2PA	2P%	3PM	3PA	3P%	FTM	FTA	FT%	OR	DR	REB	AST	STL	BLK	TO	PF	+/-	RR
	UD		199	79	29	60	48.3	18	29	62.0	11	31	35.5	10	16	62.5	11	30	41	22	8	3	11	19
	M. Johnson	*	30	20	7	13	53.8	4	6	66.6	3	7	42.9	3	7	42.9	0	2	2	3	2	0	1	1	11	11
	C. Wright	*	28	14	5	11	45.5	4	8	50.0	1	3	33.3	3	4	75.0	1	8	9	4	1	1	1	3	11	11
	K. Huelsman	*	19	6	3	5	60.0	3	5	60.0	0	0		0	0		3	0	3	0	0	0	1	2	-3	-17
	C. Johnson	*	17	14	5	9	55.6	3	3	100.0	2	6	33.3	2	2	100.0	3	6	9	0	0	0	1	2	16	21
	R. Lowery	*	16	0	0	4	0.0	0	0	0.0	0	4	0.0	0	0		0	2	2	5	0	0	2	3	9	7
	P. Williams		26	16	5	8	62.5	1	1	100.0	4	7	57.1	2	3	66.7	0	2	2	1	3	0	1	1	15	19
	L. Warren		24	2	1	2	50.0	1	2	50.0	0	0		0	0		1	3	4	7	2	1	1	2	2	-7
	D. Searcy		18	2	1	1	100.0	1	1	100.0	0	0		0	0		1	0	1	1	0	1	1	0	8	5
	L. Fabrizius		12	3	1	6	16.7	0	2	0.0	1	4	25.0	0	0		0	3	3	0	0	0	1	1	10	9
	M. Perry		5	0	0	0		0	0	0.0	0	0		0	0		0	0	0	1	0	0	0	1	-3	-17
	J. Benson		4	2	1	1	100.0	1	1	100.0	0	0		0	0		0	0	0	0	0	0	1	3	-8	-27

Mailing It In

The 16,000,000,000,000 ManWelp, all the doom and gloom around here has finally come to fruition. Teams that lose the 5 of their last 7 don't go dancing (but they do get pizza parties!). SOS does not matter. RPI does not matter. You just don't get to go to the big boy's tournament when you shit your pants in the homestretch. That goes doubly for mid-majors.

I don't know about you, but it's almost a relief. The resignment is official and lasting now. As much as we enjoyed yelling about MUST WINS and waiting with baited breath for Smilin' Joes freshest brackets, we can pack that shit up and concentrate on the ensuing baseball season and finally get around to cataloging our porn collections.

Honestly, I don't know what to chalk this disappointment of a season up to. I think we were incredibly lucky last season and played well above our heads, thus leading to our present outlandish expectations. As the season wore on, and the detachment allowed us to view the team a bit more objectively, it become obvious we weren't all that talented of a team. We've got two very nice players in Chrises Wright and Johnson (though the cool kids swear Johnson is the better of the two, we know that's not true) and a bunch of inconsistent dreck. Some probably wouldn't in Brad Brownell's rotation (Mickey Perry, I'm looking at you). There's hope for some of that dreck, but for the most part you didn't have a clue what they were going to bring to the table night in, night out this year.

In the spirit of the Flyers 1st half performance, we're going to mail the rest of this one in bullet-style.

• Paul Willie put up a 16 trillion tonight. That is more astonishing than you think. Walk-ons across the country give PW much respect tonight. They'll be whispering about it for years to come, Jordan-lore style well into the future.

• Kurt saw the scouts in attendance and brought it tonight. 13 and 7. TANGIBLES! He also was 3-10 from the free throw line which makes me all the more confident I could take him in a game of HORSE.

• Big Dog and Benson combined for 8 and 5 in 14 minutes. Saint Louis could use some size.

• Not sure what to make of Pop-A-Shot. Is he going to be this fragile his whole career or was this some freakish lingering injury? Anyways since the Rhody game he's contributed 6 points on 2-16 shooting and 3 rebounds, albeit in very limited time.

• When you allow the other team to go on an 18-0 run, you can pretty much head to the showers. 10 minutes without scoring, go ahead and check your messages and start making plans for the evening.

• Willie Reed is averaging 12 and 8. Against the Flyers, he's averaging 3.5 and 6.5. Clearly, frightened by the color red.

• We pounded them on the boards 37-25 and surprisingly didn't give that advantage back in turnovers. We did, however, manage to shoot the ball poorly enough to negate it.

Hater. I want to get this out there, I'm already opposed to Jesse Berry. SAT style: Kavanaugh: Donny::Berry:myself.

Word is leaking out now that  the reason he was suspended for a game earlier this year was a run-in with the police. He was charged with "conversion," which to the best of my knowledge is a euphemism for theft. There's also plenty of internet chatter about his character and what type of kid he is (which needs to be taken with a double helping of salt). He happens to be the most loathsome of player-types as well, the volume scorer. He's getting a hefty 22 a game on 46% and 35%, but he's also tallied only 23 assists to 61 turnovers. I would like nothing more than for Mr. Berry to make me look like I fool, but I remain dubious.

NCAA Basketball Stats

Effective Field Goal Percentage (eFG%): adjusts for the fact that a 3-point field goal is worth one more point than a 2-point field goal.
Turnover Percentage (TO%): is an estimate of turnovers per 100 plays.
Offensive Rebouning Percentage (OR%): measures a team's ability to get offensive rebounds.
Free Throw Rate (FT Rate): is a measure of both how often a team gets to the line and how often they make them.

		S	MIN	PTS	FGM	FGA	FG%	2PA	2PA	2P%	3PM	3PA	3P%	FTM	FTA	FT%	OR	DR	REB	AST	STL	BLK	TO	PF
	K. Cassity	*	37	11	4	7	57.1	1	2	50.0	3	5	60.0	0	0		1	4	5	5	1	0	2	1
	K. Mitchell	*	35	20	5	9	55.6	1	2	50.0	4	7	57.1	6	9	66.7	0	5	5	2	0	0	3	3
	C. Ellis	*	28	10	3	8	37.5	1	2	50.0	2	6	33.3	2	2	100.0	0	3	3	0	1	0	1	3
	C. Salecich	*	22	8	2	3	66.7	0	0	0.0	2	3	66.7	2	2	100.0	0	1	1	2	0	0	1	1
	W. Reed	*	19	5	2	5	40.0	2	5	40.0	0	0		1	4	25.0	1	5	6	1	0	2	1	4
	J. Jordan		23	11	3	5	60.0	2	3	66.6	1	2	50.0	4	4	100.0	1	0	1	4	1	0	2	0
	B. Conklin		16	2	0	4	0.0	0	3	0.0	0	1	0.0	2	2	100.0	0	1	1	0	0	0	2	3
	C. Remekun		11	1	0	3	0.0	0	3	0.0	0	0		1	2	50.0	1	1	2	0	0	0	1	3
	J. Smith		9	3	1	1	100.0	1	1	100.0	0	0		1	1	100.0	1	0	1	0	1	0	0	0
	SLU		200	71	20	45	44.4	8	21	38.0	12	24	50.0	19	26	73.1	5	23	28	14	4	2	13	18
		S	MIN	PTS	FGM	FGA	FG%	2PA	2PA	2P%	3PM	3PA	3P%	FTM	FTA	FT%	OR	DR	REB	AST	STL	BLK	TO	PF
	UD		200	66	25	55	45.5	20	40	50.0	5	15	33.3	11	21	52.4	14	24	38	11	5	3	14	19
	C. Wright	*	32	15	7	13	53.8	7	13	53.8	0	0		1	4	25.0	4	4	8	0	2	1	1	4
	K. Huelsman	*	27	13	5	7	71.4	5	7	71.4	0	0		3	10	30.0	5	2	7	0	0	0	5	0
	L. Warren	*	24	8	2	3	66.7	2	3	66.6	0	0		4	4	100.0	0	3	3	3	0	0	1	5
	M. Johnson	*	23	3	1	5	20.0	0	3	0.0	1	2	50.0	0	0		1	2	3	0	1	0	2	2
	R. Lowery	*	20	11	3	7	42.9	1	3	33.3	2	4	50.0	3	3	100.0	0	4	4	4	0	0	1	4
	M. Perry		20	5	2	7	28.6	1	3	33.3	1	4	25.0	0	0		0	2	2	3	1	0	2	1
	C. Johnson		18	3	1	5	20.0	0	2	0.0	1	3	33.3	0	0		0	3	3	0	1	0	2	1
	P. Williams		16	0	0	0		0	0	0.0	0	0		0	0		0	0	0	0	0	0	0	0
	J. Benson		8	4	2	4	50.0	2	4	50.0	0	0		0	0		2	3	5	0	0	1	0	0
	D. Searcy		6	4	2	2	100.0	2	2	100.0	0	0		0	0		1	0	1	1	0	1	0	0
	L. Fabrizius		6	0	0	2	0.0	0	0	0.0	0	2	0.0	0	0		0	1	1	0	0	0	0	2
		S	MIN	PTS	FGM	FGA	FG%	2PA	2PA	2P%	3PM	3PA	3P%	FTM	FTA	FT%	OR	DR	REB	AST	STL	BLK	TO	PF

Same Old, Same Old

Caveat emptor, Mr. Wabler.Where to start with this game?  Everything about this one was pretty predictable: Kevin Anderson got his (22 points, 4 assists, 3 rebounds), David Gonzalvez was clutch down the stretch, UD out rebounded a team (43-25) but turned the ball over too many times (20) to make it count.  You cannot expect to win a tough road game when you shoot 34% from the field and turn the ball over 20 times, it is as simple as that.  With that being said, I'm gonna go ahead and list out my observations from this game.  I know that most of these are going to be very profound, original ideas to everyone, so here they are:

1.) Kevin Anderson is really fucking good at the game of basketball.  If it weren't for a guy by the name of JC, Anderson would definitely be in the running for POY in the A-10.  The guy is one of the purest shooters in the league and can beat the quickest of quick (London) off the dribble at will.  The shots that this guy was creating, you cannot even get mad about.  There is hope that between Parker and Staten we'll have a PG that is a legit scoring threat, isn't there?

2.) Screw the zone, teams should be putting full court pressure on the Flyers the entire game.  This team is constantly trying to go 100 mph and as a result averages almost 15 turnovers a game.  As we have seen with most games, the Flyer's backcourt does not take care of the rock and seems to panic when faced with a full court pressure scheme.

3.) Dan Geriot is eerily similar to the old, sweaty guy that tries far too hard during a pick up game at the local Y.  I mean between the hiked up shorts, the baggy white undershirt, and being white, he has that role pegged to a T.  It really is a shame that he blew out his ACL because that old man used to be able to play.

4.) Did Chris Wright miss the bus to Richmond?  I'm not sure where he was for this game, because he for damn sure was not out on the court.  For being the leader of this team, he needs to realize that his teammates are relying on him to take charge in a must win game on the road against a formidable opponent.

5.) The Big Dog is soon to be emaciated because no one will let him eat.  I lost track after about 4 or 5, the amount of times that Big Dog was waving his hands in the air, as to say, "Hey guys, I'm wide fucking open, pass me the damn ball."  This team must have a phobia of passing the ball in to the post, because it never happens.  You cannot expect the perimeter to open up if you only swing the ball around the top. Dump the ball into the post every once in a blue moon and see what happens, I think you'll be happy with the result, BG.

6.) I've been weary about taking my shots at BG all season because I think no matter what, it is the players on the court that prosper or fail.  There were two things that I didn't like from him this game. One being his inability to draw up successful sets coming out of a dead ball, and two being at the beginning of the last Flyer timeout, the camera zoomed in on the UD huddle and you could visibly see BG say, "Alright, who's in?"  Less than a minute left, down three and you don't know who you have on the court?  Remove your head from your rectum, Mr. Gregory.

Artist rendering of Geriot7.) I did not know that it was possible to have uglier cheerleaders than UD.  I think Richmond might take the cake on this one.  If I'm not mistaken, there was one, MAYBE two, respectable looking girls.  Kudos to the perv camera man who did an up-skirt shot of THE attractive cheerleader.

8.) How long until it comes out that For-three-zius' knee injury is far worse than any of us thought and has to go under the knife?  Once we are officially invited to the NIT or scrap him now?  Clearly this is far worse than originally reported.  With the Flyers seeing zones left and right, you would think that The Lukeness Monster would be out there for more than three minutes.  Put the lack of defense and athleticism aside, the kid can flat out shoot and needs to be out there against these zones.

9.) The Flyers got JC'd against a team that does not start with X.  Just as Crawford did to London Warren at the end of the game at the Cintas Center, there was nothing that MJ could do to stop David Gonzalvez as he hit fadeaways with a hand in his eye.  Gonzalvez decided to find his jumper at halftime, and coupled with Anderson's stellar play, that was enough to spur the Spiders on to victory.

10.) 20 offensive rebounds is quite impressive.  The announcers kept marveling at this statistic.  The thing that they did not focus on was what caused these rebounds: missed shots.  So yes, Kurt and CJ were crashing the offensive glass, but its pretty easy to snag 5 offensive boards when your team only shoots 34% from the field.

The sad part about this Flyer team is that when they showed the graphic of the A-10 tournament bracket, I could not even convince myself that they have a chance of snagging the A-10 auto bid.  No matter where the Flyers end up in the bracket, I do not see them beating any of the top four teams in the second round.  Sure they are capable of it, but with a team that is so wildly inconsistent it's hard to expect the right team to show up.

I can't wait for this team to blow SLU out to get their 20th win of the season so that BG can add another twenty-win season to his resume, and make the university and some fans alike think that BG is a great coach and the right coach for the future.  If anyone is interested in the NIT pizza party, please send your information to Mr. Donoher as he will be organizing the event.  

I'm not sure which is a bigger surprise to me, that the Flyers are likely not going to be in the NCAA tourney after returning 10 guys or that I was able to come up with 1,100 words after that painful loss.  I guess its perfect timing for Spring Training to start...

Dayton vs. Richmond

Effective Field Goal Percentage (eFG%): adjusts for the fact that a 3-point field goal is worth one more point than a 2-point field goal.
Turnover Percentage (TO%): is an estimate of turnovers per 100 plays.
Offensive Rebouning Percentage (OR%): measures a team's ability to get offensive rebounds.
Free Throw Rate (FT Rate): is a measure of both how often a team gets to the line and how often they make them.

		S	MIN	PTS	FGM	FGA	FG%	2PA	2PA	2P%	3PM	3PA	3P%	FTM	FTA	FT%	OR	DR	REB	AST	STL	BLK	TO	PF
	C. Wright	*	32	6	1	7	14.3	1	7	14.2	0	0		4	4	100.0	4	3	7	2	1	2	4	2
	L. Warren	*	25	4	2	3	66.7	2	3	66.6	0	0		0	0		0	2	2	2	0	0	4	4
	K. Huelsman	*	24	7	2	5	40.0	2	5	40.0	0	0		3	5	60.0	5	5	10	0	0	0	1	2
	M. Johnson	*	19	10	3	9	33.3	2	7	28.5	1	2	50.0	3	4	75.0	2	2	4	0	2	0	2	3
	R. Lowery	*	19	9	2	7	28.6	1	3	33.3	1	4	25.0	4	5	80.0	0	1	1	1	1	0	4	2
	C. Johnson		26	13	5	10	50.0	2	4	50.0	3	6	50.0	0	0		5	4	9	0	1	0	2	0
	M. Perry		17	2	1	6	16.7	1	2	50.0	0	4	0.0	0	0		0	2	2	3	0	0	1	3
	P. Williams		16	3	1	3	33.3	0	1	0.0	1	2	50.0	0	0		0	0	0	1	0	0	0	2
	D. Searcy		13	0	0	0		0	0	0.0	0	0		0	0		1	2	3	0	0	0	2	1
	J. Benson		6	2	1	2	50.0	1	2	50.0	0	0		0	1	0.0	3	2	5	0	0	0	0	0
	L. Fabrizius		3	0	0	1	0.0	0	1	0.0	0	0		0	0		0	0	0	0	0	0	0	0
	UD		200	56	18	53	34.0	12	35	34.2	6	18	33.3	14	19	73.7	20	24	44	9	5	2	20	19
		S	MIN	PTS	FGM	FGA	FG%	2PA	2PA	2P%	3PM	3PA	3P%	FTM	FTA	FT%	OR	DR	REB	AST	STL	BLK	TO	PF
	RICH		200	60	20	47	42.6	14	29	48.2	6	18	33.3	14	20	70.0	6	19	25	11	14	3	12	18
	K. Anderson	*	38	22	6	14	42.9	5	11	45.4	1	3	33.3	9	10	90.0	0	4	4	3	0	0	1	1
	D. Gonzalvez	*	37	14	6	11	54.5	4	5	80.0	2	6	33.3	0	2	0.0	1	1	2	3	0	0	2	2
	R. Butler	*	36	7	1	5	20.0	1	2	50.0	0	3	0.0	5	6	83.3	0	4	4	2	6	0	5	3
	J. Harper	*	31	13	5	8	62.5	2	5	40.0	3	3	100.0	0	0		1	2	3	0	2	0	1	2
	D. Garrett	*	9	0	0	0		0	0	0.0	0	0		0	0		1	1	2	0	0	0	1	2
	K. Smith		17	2	1	4	25.0	1	3	33.3	0	1	0.0	0	2	0.0	0	3	3	2	2	3	0	1
	D. Geriot		16	2	1	4	25.0	1	3	33.3	0	1	0.0	0	0		1	2	3	1	1	0	2	2
	F. Martel		14	0	0	0		0	0	0.0	0	0		0	0		2	2	4	0	3	0	0	5
	D. Brothers		2	0	0	1	0.0	0	0	0.0	0	1	0.0	0	0		0	0	0	0	0	0	0	0

Let's Pretend We Love Hockey for Three Hours!

So I was doing what all good Midwestern Hayseeds do best last night, eating dinner at Outback Steakhouse, when I got a text from Blackburn.  It said, "Hey fucktard!  Pull your weight on the blog or you are fired."  I texted him back and said, "Fuck off and let me enjoy my vegetable medley (steak is for pussies)."  He then said, "Seriously, you got the recap."  So as I sat there watching my wife eat a Bloomin' Onion by herself, I tried to figure out how I was going to write a recap of a game that I would not see one minute of and would most likely have to rely on Doogie or the Ice Road Trucker to get information.

What can one really say about a 28 point blow out for the Flyers?  They were playing a home game that they had to win (WE WILL NOT LOSE AT HOME!!!) versus a team that had only won 10 games all year.  Dayton had a season high six players in double figures and shot 55% from the field.  Granted the Flyers lost the turnover battle but when you almost double your opponent in rebounding, you will be in very good shape. 

What I watched instead of Villanova/SyracuseHonestly, I really don't know what to say about this game.  I've been told by friends and family that were in attendance that it was a boring game, but they did see a nice white out at the end of the game.  I also got a text from a friend that said, "Flyer fans are so racist!"  I asked him what he meant and he said, "They go nuts for Luke Fab when he shoot 3's (and misses) but they HATE Rob Lowery when he misses 3's."  My friend is just NOW realizing this?  Dayton probably has a fucking statue of Kurt being made as we speak to put out in the middle of the West Concourse so the fans can drink beer under it and remember the intangibles he brought -- like my grandpa saying that Huelsman doesn't block many shots but alters at least 10 a game. 

Let's not dwell on this game too much.  Dayton needed to win and I think everyone assumed they would win big.  Despite what John says, Thursday's game against Richmond is a MUST win.  If the Flyers somehow beat the Blackburn Spiders, they could win one game in Atlantic City and make the tournament.  If they lose, the Flyers need to go all Major League on us and "win... the whole... fucking thing."  John, I love ya buddy, but you haven't really been the most accurate/realistic fan this year.  Who do you all trust more?  John/Swampy Meadows who predicted a 14-2 conference record or the men here at the Blackburn Review that predicted a minimum of 5 losses with a minimum of a 3rd place finish (except for O'Brien who foolishly picked them to win the league)?  That's what I thought. 

So why is Thursday so important?  I crunched some numbers and went back to the 1999-2000 season (10 years ago) and looked at Dayton's record in the Atlantic 10 Tournament.  The Flyers went 13-9 in that A10 Tourney over that span.  Pretty good right?  Well, take away the two years (2003 and 2004) when the tournament was at UD and the Flyers are 8-8.  In the past 10 years, the Flyers have never made an A10 Final unless playing at UD Arena.  I will make a prediction here and if I am wrong, you all can rip me all summer long.  But unless the Flyers beat Richmond, they are not making the NCAA Tournament.  Heck, they won't even make the A10 Finals.  I am 95% sure that the only team that has ever won four games in the A10 Tournament is Xavier (of course they did!), so don't expect Dayton to do the same.

So that's the "recap" for ya.  I wanted to point you all toward a surprisingly excellent article written by Marc Katz in today's DDN.  Now you all are probably too young to remember the Jim O'Brien years (except that Neville commenter who is 21 years old but claims to remember being 4 years old and watching the Chip Hare era).  The article at first made me feel kind of sad that O'Brien does not follow Dayton basketball (the program that gave him his first big time coaching chance).  The article makes you think that O'Brien was not angry when he got fired and saw it as "business" but I remember him storming off the court after a loss, refusing to come back out on the court for his post-game radio show, and then throwing a temper tantrum in the locker room.  I know this because my grandfather was close with the Frericks family and knew what went down that last season for O'Brien.  Then something struck  me.  Take a look at Don Donoher (the real one, not me).  Since Donoher is a classy guy, he doesn't talk shit about Dayton, but he really does not want to have anything to do with the school that unceremoniously fired him.  He has almost all together separated himself from UD.  So in a way, I don't feel sorry for O'Brien, I just totally understand.  Should he have been fired after 2 horrid seasons and the way he acted at the end? Of course.

Don't forget to pretend you care about hockey today!  Go USA and all that jazz.

Massachusetts vs. Dayton

Effective Field Goal Percentage (eFG%): adjusts for the fact that a 3-point field goal is worth one more point than a 2-point field goal.
Turnover Percentage (TO%): is an estimate of turnovers per 100 plays.
Offensive Rebouning Percentage (OR%): measures a team's ability to get offensive rebounds.
Free Throw Rate (FT Rate): is a measure of both how often a team gets to the line and how often they make them.

		S	MIN	PTS	FGM	FGA	FG%	2PA	2PA	2P%	3PM	3PA	3P%	FTM	FTA	FT%	OR	DR	REB	AST	STL	BLK	TO	PF	+/-	RR
	R. Harris	*	34	9	3	15	20.0	2	9	22.2	1	6	16.7	2	4	50.0	0	2	2	1	0	0	3	2	-26	-24
	F. Riley	*	26	12	4	6	66.7	0	0	0.0	4	6	66.7	0	0		0	1	1	0	0	0	0	2	-26	-24
	T. Vinson	*	21	16	6	10	60.0	5	8	62.5	1	2	50.0	3	4	75.0	2	0	2	3	0	0	2	5	-14	0
	J. Farrell	*	21	9	3	7	42.9	3	7	42.8	0	0		3	4	75.0	1	1	2	0	2	0	1	5	-21	-14
	S. Carter	*	20	0	0	5	0.0	0	5	0.0	0	0		0	2	0.0	3	3	6	0	0	1	0	3	-24	-20
	S. Carter		25	10	3	6	50.0	3	6	50.0	0	0		4	6	66.7	3	3	6	0	3	0	0	2	-15	-2
	A. Gurley		23	10	3	9	33.3	3	5	60.0	0	4	0.0	4	4	100.0	0	2	2	1	0	0	2	0	-6	16
	G. Correia		16	0	0	1	0.0	0	0	0.0	0	1	0.0	0	0		0	1	1	3	0	0	0	1	-2	24
	M. Hill		10	0	0	0		0	0	0.0	0	0		0	0		1	3	4	0	0	0	0	0	-6	16
	T. Lang		3	2	0	0		0	0	0.0	0	0		2	2	100.0	0	1	1	0	0	0	0	0	3	34
	L. Mongo		1	0	0	0		0	0	0.0	0	0		0	0		0	0	0	0	0	0	1	1	-3	22
	MASS		200	68	22	59	37.3	16	40	40.0	6	19	31.6	18	26	69.2	11	19	30	8	5	1	11	21
		S	MIN	PTS	FGM	FGA	FG%	2PA	2PA	2P%	3PM	3PA	3P%	FTM	FTA	FT%	OR	DR	REB	AST	STL	BLK	TO	PF	+/-	RR
	UD		200	96	34	62	54.8	21	34	61.7	13	28	46.4	15	22	68.2	14	30	44	25	4	3	11	22
	C. Wright	*	26	14	5	10	50.0	5	8	62.5	0	2	0.0	4	5	80.0	0	6	6	3	1	1	3	3	17	6
	R. Lowery	*	24	13	5	8	62.5	2	3	66.6	3	5	60.0	0	1	0.0	0	2	2	5	1	0	2	2	12	-4
	K. Huelsman	*	18	4	2	4	50.0	2	4	50.0	0	0		0	0		4	1	5	0	0	0	2	3	22	16
	L. Warren	*	17	6	2	2	100.0	2	2	100.0	0	0		2	4	50.0	1	7	8	8	1	0	0	1	28	28
	M. Johnson	*	17	11	5	7	71.4	4	5	80.0	1	2	50.0	0	1	0.0	0	3	3	5	0	0	0	3	20	12
	C. Johnson		21	11	3	9	33.3	1	1	100.0	2	8	25.0	3	3	100.0	1	1	2	1	0	2	0	0	5	-18
	M. Perry		19	15	5	7	71.4	0	0	0.0	5	7	71.4	0	0		0	1	1	1	1	0	2	2	11	-6
	P. Williams		18	6	2	3	66.7	0	1	0.0	2	2	100.0	0	0		0	3	3	1	0	0	1	2	15	2
	D. Searcy		14	10	3	5	60.0	3	5	60.0	0	0		4	4	100.0	5	1	6	0	0	0	1	3	15	2
	J. Benson		11	3	1	1	100.0	1	1	100.0	0	0		1	2	50.0	0	4	4	0	0	0	0	1	12	-4
	L. Fabrizius		4	0	0	2	0.0	0	0	0.0	0	2	0.0	0	0		1	0	1	0	0	0	0	0	-4	-36
	D. Fox		3	0	0	0		0	0	0.0	0	0		0	0		0	0	0	0	0	0	0	1	-5	-38
	M. Kavanaugh		3	2	1	3	33.3	1	3	33.3	0	0		0	0		1	0	1	0	0	0	0	0	-1	-30
	P. Zestermann		2	0	0	1	0.0	0	1	0.0	0	0		0	0		1	1	2	0	0	0	0	0
	L. Hendrick		2	0	0	0		0	0	0.0	0	0		0	0		0	0	0	0	0	0	0	1	-5	-38
	L. Nourse		1	1	0	0		0	0	0.0	0	0		1	2	50.0	0	0	0	1	0	0	0	0	3	-22
		S	MIN	PTS	FGM	FGA	FG%	2PA	2PA	2P%	3PM	3PA	3P%	FTM	FTA	FT%	OR	DR	REB	AST	STL	BLK	TO	PF	+/-	RR

NIT pizza party still on!

So fucking randomWhile waiting for the UD game to start, I found myself watching High Fidelity on TBS.  It is one of my all time favorite movies and I've probably seen it way too many times.  Everytime I watch, there is one scene that gets me each time.  In this scene, Rob Gordon (John Cusack) is talking to Marie DeSalle (Lisa Bonet) after they hooked up the night before.  They start talking about their exes and Rob asks how she can sleep with someone even though she is not over her ex-boyfriend (and he is not over his ex-girlfriend).  Marie says that even though her boyfriend is an asshole, she still loves him but "would never let an asshole come between her and a good fuck."  It got me thinking today.  This has to be the most random character in the history of cinema.  I mean, Lisa Bonet was a Cosby child!  They would have never uttered an f-bomb and they certainly would never have a one night stand.  So if Lisa Bonet's character is #1, who (in honor of Rob Gordon) are the remaining 4 in the Top 5 All Time Random Characters?  Before we get to the recap, here are my remaining top 5.  Feel free to leave your own comments. 

#2: The father from "Boy Meets World" was the racist dad in American History X.  So fucking random and weird. 

#3: Elizabeth Berkley in Showgirls.  Kelly Kapowski being a stripper?  Believable.  Lisa Turtle?  Possibly.  Jesse Spano?  No fucking way! 

#4: Mike Myers in Inglourious Basterds.  I knew he was going to be in the movie before I saw it but nothing prepared me for his scene.  It was weird, out of place, and to be honest, was quite pointless. 

#5: Katie Holmes getting topless in The Gift or her character in Thank You For Smoking.  When she starred in The Gift, she was still super innocent and the girl next door.  When she was in Thank You For Smoking, she was married to Tom Cruise and in full robot mode.  Plus, she was supposed to get naked in that movie but Tom said no way.  Fucking asshole.  So yeah, there you have it.  A random list on this random big game Sunday in February.

First Half Highlights

• Got a text from "winteringand" at the start of the game who said, "Who let the midget on the floor?"  If Lucas Newton is 5'10" (according to ESPN.com) then I am 6'5" and black.
• Chris Wright was doing his best LeBron James impression by scoring Dayton's first 11 points.
• Chris(t) Johnson then went all Dwyane Wade and scored the next 8 points for the Flyers.
• Agreed with O'Brien's top five Winter Olympic events but he forgot Ski Cross (not snowboard cross).  I watched a guy from Jamaica tear that shit up during a commercial break.
• The announcers took the words right out of my mouth when they said that Saunders needs to stay closer to the basket rather than shooting 3 pointers.  Dayton was getting a gift from Damian with him chucking up the trey after trey.
• Dayton as a team was jacking up 3 pointers like there was no tomorrow and, of course, were not making them.  At least they were counter-balancing out those misses by going 9-for-9 at the line.
• Dayton holding Saunders to 4 points gave them the opportunity to lead by 3 points at halftime.  Dayton shot 44% from the field but fired an embarrassing 18% from beyond the arc.

Second Half Lowlights

• At halftime, BG told Paul Willie to picture the Blackburn Review guys in his head and make them pay.  Back-to-back threes gave Dayton a bigger cushion.
• In fact, BG told the entire team to imagine the BR crew and make them eat shit.  The team responded by nailing 4 of their first 5 three pointers to start the 2nd half.
• Duquesne was doing what they always do.  Hang around and let the other team make the mistakes.  Saunders started going off right away.
• Invitations will be sent soon.Random note about college bball, big win for Ohio State today.  I can't quite put my finger on that team though.  Sweet 16?  For sure.  Final 4?  I don't know.
• It hurt Dayton big time when Chris Wright picked up his 4th foul with 10 minutes to go...
• ...But Chris Johnson nailed some clutch 3's to put Dayton up by 6...
• ...But then Damian Saunders went off again to give the Dukes the lead with just 8 minutes left.
• Just when Dayton was letting Duquesne run away with it, Paul Willie nailed a HUGE three to keep it close.
• Chris Johnson hit an even bigger 3 to tie the game at 69 (hehe!).  Chris Johnson is a fucking assassin.  More on this later.
• Dayton's season in a nut shell.  Bolding misses 2 FT's but Dayton can't get the rebound and it goes out of bounds.  Dayton forces a turnover but then turns it over right back and commits a foul.
• Sure, Duquesne tried to give the game away by missing a shit ton of free throws, but Dayton didn't help themselves as seen by the 20 turnovers.
• I believe it has been mentioned on this site (and most definitely UDPride), but the jump ball rule in college is bullshit.  I know I have said this before so don't point your finger and say, "You are just saying that because Dayton got fucked by the rule."  Make it like the NBA and actually have a jump ball.
• Down by 2, let's have Chris Johnson shoot a fadeway going out of bounds 3 pointer.  Good call Gregory!!!

Final Thoughts

Dayton shot 9/16 from 3 in the 2nd half which was fine and dandy except they turned the ball over way too much.  I don't want to point fingers and blame coaching, but let's just say that Brian Gregory is not making any friends this year.  At this rate, I will be STUNNED if Chris Wright comes back next year.  Granted this team will have some solid guys coming in, but I think CW is tired of this low grade donkey show.  Don't worry, this site will still be up and running the next few weeks.  It's the start of a fun 3 week stretch.  Tough loss today but as we have said all year (and my entire life), it's Dayton on the road...don't get your hopes up.

Dayton vs. Duquesne

Effective Field Goal Percentage (eFG%): adjusts for the fact that a 3-point field goal is worth one more point than a 2-point field goal.
Turnover Percentage (TO%): is an estimate of turnovers per 100 plays.
Offensive Rebouning Percentage (OR%): measures a team's ability to get offensive rebounds.
Free Throw Rate (FT Rate): is a measure of both how often a team gets to the line and how often they make them.

		S	MIN	PTS	FGM	FGA	FG%	2PA	2PA	2P%	3PM	3PA	3P%	FTM	FTA	FT%	OR	DR	REB	AST	STL	BLK	TO	PF
	K. Huelsman	*	31	10	2	3	66.7	2	3	66.6	0	0		6	8	75.0	3	3	6	0	0	0	0	1
	C. Johnson	*	28	21	6	16	37.5	0	3	0.0	6	13	46.2	3	4	75.0	1	5	6	2	0	0	1	4
	C. Wright	*	27	15	7	7	100.0	7	7	100.0	0	0		1	1	100.0	1	5	6	0	1	2	4	4
	P. Williams	*	23	12	4	8	50.0	0	1	0.0	4	7	57.1	0	0		1	1	2	1	0	0	0	2
	L. Warren	*	15	4	2	3	66.7	2	3	66.6	0	0		0	0		0	1	1	6	0	1	4	5
	R. Lowery		23	7	2	6	33.3	1	2	50.0	1	4	25.0	2	2	100.0	0	2	2	6	1	0	6	2
	M. Johnson		18	0	0	2	0.0	0	0	0.0	0	2	0.0	0	0		0	3	3	2	1	0	1	1
	M. Perry		17	2	1	3	33.3	1	2	50.0	0	1	0.0	0	0		0	0	0	0	0	0	2	1
	D. Searcy		8	0	0	0		0	0	0.0	0	0		0	0		0	2	2	0	2	0	1	2
	L. Fabrizius		6	0	0	2	0.0	0	0	0.0	0	2	0.0	0	0		0	0	0	0	0	0	0	0
	J. Benson		4	0	0	0		0	0	0.0	0	0		0	0		0	1	1	1	0	0	2	0
	UD		200	71	24	50	48.0	13	21	61.9	11	29	37.9	12	15	80.0	8	26	34	18	5	3	21	22
		S	MIN	PTS	FGM	FGA	FG%	2PA	2PA	2P%	3PM	3PA	3P%	FTM	FTA	FT%	OR	DR	REB	AST	STL	BLK	TO	PF
	DUQ		200	73	27	59	45.8	25	41	60.9	2	18	11.1	17	31	54.8	15	20	35	15	9	1	11	17
	D. Saunders	*	32	20	8	17	47.1	8	14	57.1	0	3	0.0	4	7	57.1	2	3	5	1	3	0	2	4
	E. Evans	*	28	14	6	9	66.7	6	6	100.0	0	3	0.0	2	2	100.0	0	2	2	4	0	0	2	1
	B. Monteiro	*	27	8	3	6	50.0	3	5	60.0	0	1	0.0	2	4	50.0	0	2	2	5	1	1	2	1
	J. Duty	*	24	5	2	2	100.0	1	1	100.0	1	1	100.0	0	0		0	1	1	2	1	0	0	2
	M. Williams	*	17	6	2	3	66.7	2	3	66.6	0	0		2	5	40.0	2	2	4	2	0	0	0	1
	B. Clark		25	12	3	9	33.3	2	5	40.0	1	4	25.0	5	7	71.4	0	4	4	0	1	0	1	3
	M. Bolding		23	6	2	9	22.2	2	5	40.0	0	4	0.0	2	4	50.0	1	5	6	0	3	0	2	1
	S. Johnson		14	2	1	3	33.3	1	1	100.0	0	2	0.0	0	0		0	0	0	0	0	0	1	2
	R. Peggau		5	0	0	1	0.0	0	1	0.0	0	0		0	2	0.0	2	0	2	0	0	0	1	2
	L. Newton		5	0	0	0		0	0	0.0	0	0		0	0		0	0	0	1	0	0	0	0

An Unsatisfying But Necessary Win

Last night was like taking that nasty yellow Triamenic as a kid; we needed it, but it wasn't at all enjoyable. With the outcome decided before the Explorers laced up their sneakers, Dayton withstood a second half rally to pull away and sink LaSalle  68-54.

We had quite a few things working in our favor. 1 - LaSalle is godawful. 2 - WE DO NOT LOSE AT HOME!!11! 3 - Rodney Green had an off night. And for the Explorers, a night without Green is akin to bringing your gun but forgetting the bullets. Shit just isn't going to work.

Front court doing work. The Big Dog was hungry and JBen (yeah, I did it) was effective. They combined for 18 and 8 (though all 8 of those boards were the Big Dog's). Huelsman managed zero points on a single shot. I think it's safe to say Kurt's mini-hot streak (two games!) was less an announcement than the passing yelp of a stranded puppy. As an avowed Huelsman-ite it pains me to say this, but it's time to get us some more Big Dog & Benson. As an offensively challenged team, we need the buckets likeLucy Pinder has natural talent. Blackburn needs his coke. It's time for BG to don some silly getup (I suggest cowboy) and sit down the pride of Small Town Ohio and explain that he'll continue to start, but we need him to bring his intangibles closer to Billy Schmidt where they can really be savored. He gets 10-15 minutes a game, runs away with the consecutive starts record, and we split the remaining minutes between Benson and Searcy.

Aaric Murray did his best Rob Lowery impression, single handedly shooting his team out of the game. Granted he's shooting 43% from deep, but 1-11 from 3 is gag worthy. I'd trade a kidney for Murray (12.5/6.6/2.5 blocks as a 6'10" frosh) and he has been effective from deep, but I prefer my uber-talented big men to not avoid the lane like it's got the clap (people still get Chlamydia, right?).

Fine PR. I realize it's how things are done and primarily it's just considered sportsmanship, but in post-game interviews the Flyers really let loose a double barrel blast of clichés and compliments.

“It was a hard win. It was a hard fought game. We knew we had to come out and execute our game plan," Josh Benson.

“They are a really talented team," Benson again.

“In this league every team and every night you have to come to play. If not, they are going to beat you. La Salle is really talented. We were able to stay focused and come away at the end,” Goddamned Mickey Perry.

“You take it like you would take any other game. We just have to build on it and not make the same mistakes again," Christ Wright.

Again, I realize that's how shit's done. Be complimentary, bury any personality, and hide behind clichés, but what would you pay to hear some honest post-game appraisal? I'd give my other kidney.

Exalting of the Christ. I imagine most of you have seen the Chris Wright puff piece (is he an Olympian?) by now. But for those of you who haven't, I went slumming for you at the Pride and return with this little treasure.

Lots of gold in there, but my favorite is the snippet with his old AAU coach. My lord, you can't tell me they didn't find that man sleeping on a bed of newspapers under a park bench and mumbling about his lost pocket watch. I could see the bits of twig and debris in his beard. When that's an authority figure or role model in your life, you know times are tough.

Up next. We travel to Pitssburgh to take on the Duqs this Sunday. And to the bane and incredulity of the rest of America, it will be televised on ESPN2. You can't like our chances. It took 2 missed free throws by a career 79% free throw shooter to save our ass in the first game. This one's on the road where it would  be safe to say we're uncomfortable. A loss and Wabs can start arranging our first round NIT game at the Arena.

La Salle vs. Dayton

Effective Field Goal Percentage (eFG%): adjusts for the fact that a 3-point field goal is worth one more point than a 2-point field goal.
Turnover Percentage (TO%): is an estimate of turnovers per 100 plays.
Offensive Rebouning Percentage (OR%): measures a team's ability to get offensive rebounds.
Free Throw Rate (FT Rate): is a measure of both how often a team gets to the line and how often they make them.

		S	MIN	PTS	FGM	FGA	FG%	2PA	2PA	2P%	3PM	3PA	3P%	FTM	FTA	FT%	OR	DR	REB	AST	STL	BLK	TO	PF	+/-	RR
	R. Green	*	37	16	7	23	30.4	6	18	33.3	1	5	20.0	1	3	33.3	3	5	8	5	2	0	6	1	-12	-10
	A. Murray	*	35	9	4	16	25.0	3	5	60.0	1	11	9.1	0	0		1	4	5	1	2	1	3	4	-17	-20
	P. Grant	*	31	1	0	1	0.0	0	0	0.0	0	1	0.0	1	2	50.0	0	1	1	2	0	0	4	1	-18	-22
	J. Williams	*	25	9	3	6	50.0	3	5	60.0	0	1	0.0	3	4	75.0	8	3	11	1	0	0	4	5	1	16
	D. White	*	19	4	2	4	50.0	2	4	50.0	0	0		0	0		1	3	4	0	0	4	2	2	-1	12
	S. Weingarten		32	7	3	9	33.3	2	6	33.3	1	3	33.3	0	0		5	7	12	0	1	0	2	2	-11	-8
	T. Carey		21	8	3	5	60.0	1	2	50.0	2	3	66.7	0	0		0	2	2	0	0	0	0	0
	LAS		200	54	22	64	34.4	17	40	42.5	5	24	20.8	5	9	55.6	19	25	44	9	5	5	21	15
		S	MIN	PTS	FGM	FGA	FG%	2PA	2PA	2P%	3PM	3PA	3P%	FTM	FTA	FT%	OR	DR	REB	AST	STL	BLK	TO	PF	+/-	RR
	UD		200	68	27	57	47.4	21	42	50.0	6	15	40.0	8	14	57.1	7	27	34	20	11	5	13	7
	C. Wright	*	29	12	5	11	45.5	5	11	45.4	0	0		2	4	50.0	0	4	4	0	3	3	2	0	20	26
	C. Johnson	*	25	9	3	10	30.0	0	2	0.0	3	8	37.5	0	0		2	2	4	4	1	0	1	0	0	-14
	L. Warren	*	20	2	1	4	25.0	1	4	25.0	0	0		0	0		0	2	2	6	3	0	0	0	16	18
	K. Huelsman	*	19	0	0	1	0.0	0	1	0.0	0	0		0	0		0	5	5	1	0	0	1	0	-3	-20
	P. Williams	*	13	3	1	2	50.0	0	0	0.0	1	2	50.0	0	0		0	2	2	0	0	0	0	2	-4	-22
	M. Johnson		28	16	7	11	63.6	7	9	77.7	0	2	0.0	2	2	100.0	2	1	3	2	2	1	1	0	17	20
	R. Lowery		20	2	1	1	100.0	1	1	100.0	0	0		0	0		0	0	0	5	1	0	5	2	-3	-20
	D. Searcy		19	9	4	8	50.0	4	8	50.0	0	0		1	3	33.3	2	6	8	1	1	1	0	1	19	24
	M. Perry		16	6	2	4	50.0	0	1	0.0	2	3	66.7	0	0		0	1	1	1	0	0	1	1	14	14
	J. Benson		11	9	3	5	60.0	3	5	60.0	0	0		3	5	60.0	0	0	0	0	0	0	2	1	-6	-26

Blue Horseshoe Loves Anacott Steel

“Life all comes down to a few moments. This is one of them.” – Bud Fox

Bud Fox understands the Flyer's plightBud Fox’s words from Wall Street (in my mind, the most quotable movie of all time, and certainly one of the only redeemable things to come out of the eighties) are certainly as applicable to the current Dayton basketball season as they are to life. Going into the season, most Flyer fans were aware how fortunate the Flyers were to make the Dance last season. Others were confident that the Flyers would steamroll their out-of-conference competition, dominate the A-10, and earn a trip to the Sweet 16, completely ignoring the logic of probability.

Last year, we witnessed a Rob Lowery coast-to-coast drive that eked out a victory against lowly Fordham, a Marcus Johnson put back at George Washington (the “sixth man” game) in the last seconds to steal a victory from the Colonials, and a MJ dunk at the buzzer to seal a win against La Salle. These were the fortunate moments that allowed UD to claim one of the last, if not the last, at-large bids from the NCAA Tournament committee.

Things have a way of evening themselves out. They say that you make your own luck, and to a certain extent that is true, but sometimes you put someone else in a position to take advantage of a fortunate circumstance. Kwamain Mitchell, by all accounts, hit a lucky banker from thirty feet out to send yesterday’s game into overtime – where the Billikens eventually triumphed in double-overtime. But, that doesn’t happen without Paul Williams choking not once, but TWICE, at the foul line. Mitchell’s desperation shot is one of the moments that will define this season. Add it to Rhode Island’s Marquis Jones hitting a buzzer-beater to beat UD at the Arena, and a block on Rob Lowery’s drive at the end of the St. Joseph’s game, and you get an impression of what kind of moments will define the 2009-10 season.   

Bud Fox (Brian Gregory):"Why did you need to wreck our season?"

Gordon Gekko (Rick Majerus):"Because it was WRECKABLE!"

Gekko, clearly represents the BCSThere are so many questions from yesterday’s game, but I would just like to focus on a couple. One, why was Chris Johnson, UD’s best foul shooter, absent from the game for the last 4:17 of regulation (BG did put CJ into the game with a second left, which was about a minute too late)? Why was Kurt Huelsman, who played so horribly, even for Kurt (ZERO points, three turnovers, but goddamn did he bring those intangibles!), getting the majority of playing time in both overtimes, given the fact that Devin Searcy was having a career day? We can argue about whether or not UD should have fouled at the end of regulation and whether there was even a play drawn up at the end of the first OT, but I think we can all concede that yesterday’s game was one of the more poorly coached games of Brian Gregory’s tenure.

A season comes down to a few key moments. Last year, everything fell UD’s way and people made the understandable mistake of thinking things would fall neatly into place again this year.  That’s unfortunately not how things work. Good fortune smiled on this program time and time again last year, this year is just an evening out of karma and luck. If/when Dayton is left out of the tournament this March, there won’t be any consternation or lingering doubts. The moments that defined this season, though few, will serve as a reminder of what could have been, what should have been.  

Gordon Gekko: You could've been one of the great ones Buddy. I looked at you and saw myself. Why?

Bud Fox: I don't know. I guess I realized that I'm just Bud Fox. As much as I wanted to be Gordon Gekko, I'll always be Bud Fox.

Dayton vs. Saint Louis

Effective Field Goal Percentage (eFG%): adjusts for the fact that a 3-point field goal is worth one more point than a 2-point field goal.
Turnover Percentage (TO%): is an estimate of turnovers per 100 plays.
Offensive Rebouning Percentage (OR%): measures a team's ability to get offensive rebounds.
Free Throw Rate (FT Rate): is a measure of both how often a team gets to the line and how often they make them.

		S	MIN	PTS	FGM	FGA	FG%	2PA	2PA	2P%	3PM	3PA	3P%	FTM	FTA	FT%	OR	DR	REB	AST	STL	BLK	TO	PF	+/-	RR
	C. Wright	*	41	16	8	16	50.0	8	13	61.5	0	3	0.0	0	0		1	3	4	1	3	1	1	4	-5	-7
	C. Johnson	*	36	8	3	12	25.0	3	8	37.5	0	4	0.0	2	3	66.7	2	10	12	0	1	0	2	3	-5	-7
	P. Williams	*	32	5	2	6	33.3	1	3	33.3	1	3	33.3	0	2	0.0	0	5	5	1	0	0	2	1	-5	-7
	L. Warren	*	24	3	1	2	50.0	1	2	50.0	0	0		1	3	33.3	0	2	2	3	1	0	3	1	-16	-29
	K. Huelsman	*	14	0	0	1	0.0	0	1	0.0	0	0		0	0		1	3	4	0	0	0	3	3	-11	-19
	M. Johnson		27	4	2	3	66.7	2	2	100.0	0	1	0.0	0	1	0.0	0	2	2	0	0	0	1	2	-9	-15
	R. Lowery		27	4	2	6	33.3	2	4	50.0	0	2	0.0	0	0		0	0	0	3	0	0	2	2	13	29
	D. Searcy		21	16	6	6	100.0	6	6	100.0	0	0		4	6	66.7	2	3	5	0	0	0	0	3	1	5
	J. Benson		12	5	2	3	66.7	2	3	66.6	0	0		1	3	33.3	0	4	4	1	0	1	1	2	6	15
	M. Perry		11	2	0	0		0	0	0.0	0	0		2	2	100.0	0	0	0	0	1	0	0	1	7	17
	M. Kavanaugh		5	2	1	3	33.3	1	3	33.3	0	0		0	0		2	1	3	0	0	0	1	0	7	17
	UD		250	65	27	58	46.6	26	45	57.7	1	13	7.7	10	20	50.0	10	35	45	9	6	2	16	22
		S	MIN	PTS	FGM	FGA	FG%	2PA	2PA	2P%	3PM	3PA	3P%	FTM	FTA	FT%	OR	DR	REB	AST	STL	BLK	TO	PF	+/-	RR
	SLU		250	68	21	55	38.2	10	28	35.7	11	27	40.7	15	25	60.0	4	27	31	12	7	5	11	17
	K. Mitchell	*	45	21	5	16	31.2	3	7	42.8	2	9	22.2	9	12	75.0	1	4	5	3	1	0	2	3	11	19
	K. Cassity	*	43	14	5	11	45.5	1	6	16.6	4	5	80.0	0	2	0.0	0	2	2	0	3	0	2	1	-5	-13
	C. Salecich	*	40	5	2	5	40.0	1	3	33.3	1	2	50.0	0	1	0.0	0	1	1	4	2	0	0	2	6	9
	C. Ellis	*	37	11	3	11	27.3	0	2	0.0	3	9	33.3	2	2	100.0	0	7	7	3	0	1	1	1	11	19
	W. Reed	*	28	2	1	3	33.3	1	3	33.3	0	0		0	0		0	7	7	0	1	1	3	4	6	9
	B. Conklin		29	6	2	5	40.0	2	5	40.0	0	0		2	4	50.0	2	3	5	1	0	2	1	1	-10	-23
	J. Jordan		18	8	3	4	75.0	2	2	100.0	1	2	50.0	1	1	100.0	0	1	1	1	0	0	1	0	-2	-7
	J. Smith		7	1	0	0		0	0	0.0	0	0		1	2	50.0	1	0	1	0	0	1	0	3	1	-1
	C. Remekun		3	0	0	0		0	0	0.0	0	0		0	1	0.0	0	0	0	0	0	0	1	2	-3	-9