Podcast: Towson Fall Out

After narrowly beating a bad Towson team, the sky is falling here at UD FlyerNation. Tim tells you what it will take for the Flyers to get an at-large bid, Secaur compares Marcus Johnson to Jim Furyk, and we both speculate on the return of Rob Lowery. Plus much much more...

Listen to the latest podcast here.

Your Requisite Towson Recap

The University of Dayton Flyers played one of those classic "get healthy" games that all teams need from time to time during a season. A vastly inferior opponent + at home + coming off a tough loss or two = a recipe for a blowout win and a much needed confidence boost. The Towson Tigers, however, did not receive the memo on this. They gave your Flyers everything they wanted and then some this afternoon.

In the end, UD managed - and I'm still not totally sure how - to squeak out a 74-69 win. Honestly I feel worse after this game than I did after both the 'Nova and K-State losses. Letting a piss poor Towson team dominate you for 30 minutes only to turn it on with ten to play and eek out a victory is just asking for trouble. Games like these make you glad nobody outside the Miami Valley actually watches the Flyers play. I have no idea what emotion to feel right now. Anger? Relief? Disbelief? Here's a schizophrenic recap:

• Mickey, Marcus, CJ, Wright and Kurt started the game. Chris Johnson got the nod because of his play in San Juan, Mickey because LW was late to a meeting this week.
• Remember when the Flyers were a team renowned for their defense? When any bucket against that stout D was cause for celebration from an opponent? Not anymore, folks. TU came in shooting 28% from deep only to go 4-5 to start the game and 9-14 in the first half from downtown. Even after missing a bunch of desperation 3-pointers late, the Tigers still shot over 50% from three for the game. At one point in the second half, Larry H said Towson was shooting 75% from the field for the half. I honestly think this was more a case of them crapping the bed than UD storming back and winning it.
• Is there a difference between a two-fisted jam and a two-handed one? Larry kept saying two-fisted, which sounds dirty.
• Bucky's ability to identify a defense is just plain comical at this point. He gets it wrong more often than right anymore. You know your broadcast team is solid when they can't even agree if your opponent is Towson or Towson State.
• At what point does Chris Wright outgrow the "catch the ball and take two steps before dribbling" move? It was cute when he was a freshman, now it's just annoying.
• Trailing by as much as 18 to Towson is straight up embarrassing. Right now, this team is on the NIT bubble.
• Watching UD play so far this year has been painful, and it's not just because they fall behind every game. The play is so sloppy and full of turnovers (again, the last ten minutes notwithstanding) that the games never seem to have any rhythm. Against K-State, I chalked it up to the number of fouls called. Not this time, though, it was just a matter of poor play.
• London Warren played like ass today. Let's hope it's his sore back and not something more serious. With no Lowery, he becomes one of, if not the, most valuable guys on this team.
• Right now Marcus Johnson couldn't throw the ball in the ocean while standing on a beach in Puerto Rico. Normally, I'd say it's a slump and that he's a senior and will work his way out of it. The problem, however, is that London already can't shoot to save his life and UD's 5 spot is no threat to score either. With MJ slumping, this means the other team only has to defend TWO guys. I don't care how outmatched you are athletically, five guys can stop two from scoring all day every day.
• HOWEVER, the turning point came when Towson missed a wide open three and Marcus grabbed the board. He took it coast to coast for the and-1. The made free throw finally got the deficit back to single digits. After a Tigers bucket, Mickey and CJ then hit back-to-back threes to cut it to five. That was the first time I actually let myself think UD would win since late in the first half.
• Nice reminder that Mickey Perry is a SG playing out of position. He knocked down two huge 3-balls when UD was making its big push.
• How about not one but two passes that didn't come within 15 feet of a teammate? That's how you completely dominate a game for the first 30 minutes and still find a way to lose. Thank you, Towson, thank you much.
• CJ's three to give the Flyers the lead was huge. You think he'll go pro after this season? P-Will's three on the ensuing possession was arguably just as big. That kid deserves to be in games during crunch time. Plus, I'm pretty sure he missed that last FT on purpose just so UD could be perfect in games decided by five points or less.
• From 62-45 down with 10:00 to play, UD closed the game on a 29-7 run. Big time finish.
• CW's line: 20 points on 5-7 from the field and 10-11 from the line and 9 boards. Ah, if only the Puerto Rico Tip-Off was played at UD Arena.
• Chris and Marcus combined for 8-20 shooting and 3-9 from three. Thing is, it was waaaaay worse until both hit a couple key buckets down the stretch. If those two are going to take almost 40% of the team's shots, UD's going to need more out of them than it got this afternoon.
• Time for me to ask Tim if he's ready to concede a loss on our preseason point/counterpoint article.

Now, if you'll excuse me, I'm going to try to find someone to punch me in the stomach so I'll start feeling better.

Just Flyers being Flyers

Kettering Hospital must treat more heart related illness than anywhere in the country. Why must the Flyers torture us like this? Why must they bring us such pain after maximizing joy? Why must they turn around, maximize said pain only to in the end bring us joy?

Hopefully someone has a formula for this.

Much more to come on this game later - after heart surgery.

Paradise Lost

First thing's first, a recap of the action in Puerto Rico almost 72 hours after it ended is weak. I grant you that, and I apologize. Full refunds for all of our readers. But sometimes in life you find yourself with the following dilemma: Stay out until 6:00 AM drinking, gambling, and who knows what else in a city you know nothing about and will likely never be in again OR go back to the hotel room and blog up a storm. When I found myself drunk as a skunk and searching for a cab in a dangerous looking part of San Juan as the sun was starting to come up Monday morning, I could tell I'd made the right choice.

I was trying to think of who or what to blame for UD's 1-2 record in Puerto Rico, and I could find only one culprit: AC/DC. Confused? Well it's all too obvious if you think about it, my young friends. See, you probably noticed that games in this tournament were on Thursday, Friday, and Sunday. No Saturday games? What gives? The reason for no Saturday games was that the Coliseo Puerto Rico had been booked for a concert by none other than AC/DC. On the surface, this seemed great because it gave the fans on the trip an extra day of vacation. But I now firmly believe AC/DC cost the Flyers a W against K-State.

In the first half of the KSU game, UD put on one of the all-time lackluster performances I've seen in my time following the team. It looked like a team on vacation ... one which had been enjoying a little fun in the sun, playing blackjack in the hotel casino, visiting Mickey Perry's mom, or even was already on Thanksgiving break. The Flyers did what they've done in three out of four games now and dug themsleves an early hole (trailing by as much as 15 at one point). Only against Creighton were the Flyers able to come back and get a win.

It looked to me like Villanova was just a better team than UD. Though I don't think Dayton matched up particularly well with KSU, I'm not sold that the Wildcats are the better squad. I think if this game is played on Saturday with a focused Flyers team, the outcome might be a little different.

As far as the games go, the free throw and outside shooting were abysmal. How a team of scholarship Division I athletes cannot make two out of three free throws on a consistent basis is still beyond me. 104 of UD's 232 field goal attempts have been threes; opponents of the Flyers have taken 64 in 214 attempts. And UD is the team that CAN'T shoot. I wish it had taken ten games to get to 104 3-pointers attempted.

Does Dayton practice its offensive sets against a live defense? Obviously I'm not the first person to ask the question, but I'm actually serious. How many lazy, telegraphed passes did this team throw over the weekend? Those who watched the games on TV, could you tell where every dribble/pass was going before it happened like we could in the gym? It's one thing to have turnovers; they're inevitable. It's another thing to watch a team full of upperclassmen lob lazy pass after lazy pass and watch those TO's turn into dunks and lay-ups on the other end.

Not sure about you, but I envision a practice where the Flyers run plays against no defense for a half hour scoring bucket after uncontested bucket. Then they break out into two groups. One of the groups has a dunk contest (in lieu of practicing free throws) while the other group is just Luke Fab on the other end of the floor bombing 30-footers while the walk-ons chase down his rebounds.

K-State's guards got absolutely worked by Ole Miss on Friday. I think Pullen and Clemente had something to prove on Sunday and they took it out on the Flyers.

At halftime of the game, the braintrust from the Puerto Rico Tip-Off was charged to select two fans to shoot against one another in a free throw contest. They picked the loudest and most obnoxious-looking fan from each team's representation. Naturally, Tim was chosen. He went out on the court and proved he was a true Flyer by missing two free throws. The Wildcat fan, who looked like he was barely sober enough to stand, followed suit so I suppose the contest ended in a draw.

K-State's students represented hard. I have never felt better about a possibly crushing loss than I did about 15 minutes after the end of that game. Those dudes came to P.R. to party and accomplished their goal. I know it means absolutely nothing, but they made four dudes from Ohio into KSU fans - and not just because it'll help the Flyers in the RPI.

Not going out on a huge limb when I say the Flyers get healthy with a blowout win over Towson. But did you ever think the Miami game would be this important? A loss there would drop UD to 3-3 and possbily cripple its chances for at-large bid come March. Welcome to fandom of a mid-major team with a razor thin margin for error. I have a feeling the roller coaster ride that will be the 2009-'10 season has only just begun.

Day Off in San Juan

Saturday is a day off for us (and boy did we work hard to earn it). Yesterday we (there are four of total - two buddies who are both UD class of '07 and Tim and I) drank an entire bottle of rum at the hotel pool before the Flyers game. This is noteworthy for two reasons:

1) As we were quite literally pouring our last drink from the bottle, one of the hotel employees came over and told us there was no drinking in the pool area. We begged to differ using the previous hour and a half as evidence.

2) I'm trying to party like I did in college and failing quite miserably. I really can't drink liquor anymore, and I'm only 25, which means I'm pathetic. It also means I don't remember yesterday's game against 'Nova in much detail. Flyers got down big, mounted a furious comeback late and fell just short. Luke Fab played well, Marcus Johnson needs to channel Stella and soon, the better team won, but it was an encouraging effort from our Flyers. Love that this team never says die even if it didn't squeak out a W yesterday afternoon.

Friend of the blog Glen Rice was kind enough to pose for a picture with me as GT was closing out a win against Mason. That will be my new profile picture on facebook on Monday. (And yes, I'm THAT guy.)

There is a happy hour during games at the arena here in PR. During games! Three dollar Coors Lights during halftime only. Our crew bought two apiece, walked down to our seats, set them down and immediately bought two more. If you want to get people from Dayton, Ohio, to spend their money, have a happy hour during halftime of a UD game.

We've been asking different local people where to go and what to do in San Juan, and at least four have recommended a strip club called Frenchy's. Now, I see three options here:

a) Frenchy's is the best strip club on the entire island, if not the planet.

b) Puerto Rican people think that all Americans love to go to strip clubs.

c) We just look like a bunch of perverts.

It's probably C. We haven't been there ... yet.

Went to a bar in old San Juan last night. They noticed four Gringos in there, and what song did they play for us? The electric slide. Puerto Ricans actually think Americans dance to that song. The kicker was when they played the local version of the electric slide. The dance steps are the same, but the music most definitely is not.

There was also a congo line featuring someone from the bar pouring shots of some unknown liquor concoction straight into our mouths. From what I recall, it was delicious.

Today we split our time between the beach (it looks nothing like the picture above, but still) and the pool. Tim said it best; this place is absolutely paradise. I said I wanted to buy a bar and move here, and I was only kinda joking.

A couple Flyers came to our hotel in the afternoon. Apparently, Mickey Perry's mom is staying here, and Mickey, London and Paul Williams came to see visit her. P-Will was playing a couple hands of blackjack and LW was just wandering aimlessly around the casino.

More updates to come tomorrow before, during or after K-State. We plan on doing a super sweet podcast (as if there were any other time) when we get back to the mainland and recuperate. Keep it tuned here in the meantime.

VillanOVER

So we have our third must win game of our four game season Sunday. Am I dramatic or is that actually true? Vote on the poll.

The Game
Well, we lost. I’m not gonna talk a lot about it because I’m still in the “I’m pissed off” zone. Maybe Secaur will give a rundown later. However I do have a few bullets.

*We need to get buckets when we needed them and we didn’t. Did that make sense? The first ten minutes of the second half were brutal. When you play the #5 team in the country, you cannot wait until the last five minutes to make your run.

*Nova is a solid squad. We spoke with an older gentleman in front of us from NY who remembered a man named Arlen Bockhorn playing in Madison Square Garden. I pointed out Buckey for him sitting next to Larry across the court. He liked it.

*In general, Nova fans were nice. I commented in the bathroom, to a priest, that we both hate Jesuits. He laughed. You can't beat a good priest joke ... ever.

*That last run was nice. Swing of the game for me was when CJ missed that three and they scored on the next possession. Not sure of the timing, maybe around two minutes left to go. Needed that one and badly.

*Luke haters, where are you? We don't win without him yesterday and we aren't close today if he's not on the floor. Is it just cool to hate on the kid, even if he does well? BG had him on the floor in the final minutes of the game at the 5 over Kurt - look for that to be a trend, especially if we're down.

OK, game analysis is over, time for sweet stuff that happened in PR.

*We ask the bartender where we should go for the night, and he told us about a bar called Lupis. Naturally we ask directions and he gives us the following answer: “You go up two blocks and take a right, and about one block after the cock fighting arena you’ll see it”.

Your reaction reading that was this same as ours. Ummm, COCK FIGHING ARENA?!?! Seriously?!? We then asked him for the details and we’re determined to place a hefty wager on the finest cock in Puerto Rico (take it easy, perverts). Not really sure if “our type” are welcome inside Cock Fighting Stadium but we’re ready to test the waters. They fight tomorrow and we’ll be there.


*So yesterday we played Ga. Tech. You remember when Favors missed the free throw early in the first half? During his free throws I was screaming, and I mean screaming at him about how he was too concerned about the NBA draft. I was asking, “What pick are you Favors? Too concerned about the draft, Favors?” His mother was not happy with me in the least bit. She turned around, looked me in the eye and screamed in my face, “SPOT HATIN'!! STOP HATIN'!!!” When Favors (and his mother) are rich, I guess I’ll have a story to tell.

*UD students, weak effort. Kansas State has about 15 dudes who just rock and roll every night. They’ve skipped class (before they even knew what classes they were taking) so that they could rock out in San Juan. It’s a giant sausage fest but it’s freaking hilarious. I’m now a Kansas State fan unless we play them.

*There really aren’t rules in Puerto Rico. Seriously. You can drive wherever you want without consequence of traffic offenses. Traffic rules here are suggestions only. Drinking beer in the cab is not frowned upon. No meters in the cab, all prices are negotiable. Drinking/gambling age is 18 (more to come on this next). This place is Paradise.

*We found out last night that an individual can drink and gamble here when they are 18 years of age. When my parents were calling other parents to make sure they supervised me at an overnight party, I could have been drinking and gambling in Puerto Rico. I guess I was doing that anyway, minus the Puerto Rico part, however I regret never taking advantage of an underage vacation here.

*I was really loud at the game tonight. My brother texted me to say that he could hear, “Call the charge both ways, sir” on the radio broadcast. Larry and Bucky were sitting cross court from me so I was proud. At halftime I was complimented/insulted by several Villanova fans about my antics. One lady said, “You are loud, we don’t’ like you, but we wish we had a fan like you here tonight.” Greatest compliment I’ve ever had in my life. I'm a Bengals fan and it's kinda how I feel about Hines Ward.

*Good night at the craps table last night for UDFlyerNation.

*We’re still looking for Blackburn and Fieldhouse. We’re thinking of having a blog party, just as long is it doesn’t sound like any of Blackburn’s podcasts. I’m guessing the party would be filled with awkward conversation of Ray wondering why he’s the best writer while Blackburn wonders why most readers are offended by everything on his blog. Advantage still stays with UDFlyerNation.blogspot.com

UD - Ga Tech Recap

Greetings again from Puerto Rico. In case you were wondering, 85 and sunny here this afternoon and it felt even hotter with humidity. Just thought our Ohio readers might like to know.

We are, at present, sitting in the hotel lobby/bar enjoying two hours of free drinks. Dayton fans and free alcohol = a recipe for trouble. I'm pretty sure the employee who came up with this idea has already been terminated. Now, if I can put down my rum and Coke long enough, some thoughts on today's W over Ga Tech.

*Absolutely had to have this game, and the Flyers got it. I'm still not entirely sure how it happened, but they got the job done. With this team it is rarely, if ever, pretty, but we'll take it.

*Can't say enough about P-Will's play down the stretch. Seven points in the final minute of the game, including a huge go-ahead 3 and 4-4 from the foul line. Great poise out of a kid who's only a sophomore.

*Speaking of sophomores, Chris Johnson with 19 points and 7 boards. Team high in both. Ho hum.

*I thought this was a great game, especially the last ten minutes of it. UD fans to put the Ga Tech supporters to shame. This may be an exagerration, but it seemed like there was about a 10:1 ratio in our favor. The Flyer fans wanted this win badly too, and I'm happy to say they got it.

*If I told you that Chris Wright would have 7 points and 6 turnovers and MJ would have no points, 5 turnovers and 4 fouls and the Flyers still win, you'd have called me crazy.

*Luke Fab - 4-7 from 3, 12 points in just 7 minutes of play. The problem remains that BG just can't play him down the stretch in close games because of his D. Not complaining though because his and CJ's 3-point shooting (8-15 combined) won this game (along with P-Will's clutch play down the stretch) for the good guys.

*Turnovers have the potential to absolutely kill this team. Six from CW, 5 Marcus, 4 Mickey Perry (who played awfully by the way). Can't have that from your upperclassmen. Luckily for the Flyers, GT turned it over a whopping 26 times.

*You think BG was sending Benson a message when we saw Kav not once, but during two different stints in the first half?

*Favors is gonna be nasty, but he's still a freshman. He didn't seem to be aware of who was guarding him at different times. Twice he took turnaround and/or fadeaway jumpers when Luke Fab was guarding him. I guess he didn't know he could have just taken one power drill and went up and dunked on him.

*Kurt played solid. 1-1 from the field and it looked like a solid post move. Five boards including two on the offensive end. And one major mental blunder. Saving that ball underneath your own hoop and basically gifting the Jackets a dunk is unforgiveable. Good thing it didn't come back to bite UD hard.

*My buddy Scott and I were walking up toward the concourse at halftime when he looked at me and said ,"Is that Glen Rice?" It turns out that it was, and he was on hand to watch his son (Glen Rice Jr.), who plays for Ga Tech. Scott and I actually went up and talked to him for three or four minutes during halftime. (Yeah, we're those guys.) He was genuinely a nice guy and really hid his digust for having to talk to two white kids from the Ohio really well. He also had a smoking hot broad on his arm who looked to be about 15 years his junior.

When we got back to our seats, I told Tim about the encounter. His response: "You know why he was happy to talk to you? Because nobody's recognized him in five years." I'd argue with that if I could. My only regret is that I didn't tell him how awesome he was on NBA Jam.

UD 63 - GT 59. Bring on 'Nova (who squeaked past George Mason by a single point) tomorrow.

The Journey

4:25am - Wake up call from Kevin - time to get this thing started.

5:10am - Kevin's mom drives us to Cincinnati/NKY airport (yes, we are grown men).

6:00am - $8.58 for a sketchy breakfast sandwich and milk. The Gold Star Chili was open. Riddle me this? Who eats chili cheese coneys at 6am?

6:40am - And we're set for take off - nasty morning here in the tri-state area.

8:00am - Nice, quick easy flight into Charlotte - time to wait for the big one.




8:30 - Our good friend Mike (and by good friend I mean a random guy who approached Kevin and I because of my UD hat) stopped by in the airport to say hello. Flyer fans are the friendliest in the country. Dude literally came up, introduced himself and shook our hand.

Quick note on this: I had an extra ticket for the Creighton game and went over to the ticket line to give it away. I had to literally wait in a line to GIVE away a ticket to the game because so many people were doing the same thing - none of which were asking for a dime. Flyer fans are fantastic (sounds like a Secaur headline).

9:00 - Judging by this giant plane display in the airport, these fools think that North Carolina was the birthplace of aviation. Have they ever seen an Ohio license plate? Have they not heard of the Dayton FLYERS? Kevin and I are going around to people one by one and informing them about the REAL birthplace of aviation.



Dayton > Kitty Hawk


9:10 - And they've called our zone. Time to board. We'll try to update on the ground but it's Puerto Rico, I may not touch my computer for the rest of the week.

9:40 - Nice big comfy plane is in the air with about a dozen folks in Flyer gear on board and no sign of Ga. Tech fans; we've already won. Forget the fact there are direct flights from Atlanta to San Juan, Ga. Tech fans travel horribly because there weren't any on a flight from Charlotte.

10:30 - Two ladies in Secaur's row offered him a snack. He first refused but they insisted he take some of their peanut butter crackers, and he happily obliged. What did they offer me you ask? A freaking apple! I declined and I think they were genuinely insulted.

1:15 - This bird has landed. Unfortunately the San Juan airport has one person handling all bags for all airlines. Which leads me to...

2:15 - We get our bags and hop in the car. Below was the reaction when the locals realized UDFlyerNation had descended on their native soil...


2:20 - If you ever fly into San Juan do not wait in the cab line. Apparently there's an option of blowing right by everyone in the line and getting your own cab. Secaur, being the conformist that he is, made us wait in the line (he may argue with this).

The lady in front of us said she was going to our hotel, so we politely offered her a share of our cab. Turns out she's on business and paid for the whole thing. People are being too nice to us ... I feel like this cannot end well.



2:25 - Meet Pablo. Don't bother asking Pablo anything about Puerto Rico. After telling us there was no beach I inquired about the weather, asking if it was on and off sun and rain. Pablo replied, "Ya, sun rain, rain sun".

2:40 - Hotel is tight. Casino downstairs, two bedroom suite. There are two giant clear glass elevators that face the common area. Secaur and I have set the over/under at Thursday at midnight for when our buddy will unveil the full moon to the poor saps in the common area.

That's it folks - time to rock PR style. We'll check in tomorrow.

The Kurt Conundrum*

Game one of the 2009-'10 UD basketball season is in the books, and what does that mean? It's time to overreact and make sweeping generalizations about an entire season based on a mere forty minutes of play.

Chris Johnson is a sure-fire First Team All-A10 performer and will average a double-double this year. Chris Wright has moved from late second rounder to lottery pick in next spring's NBA Draft. Freshman Matt Kavanaugh is resigned to a career riding the bench as Flyers fans hopelessly wish for his scholarship back. Kurt Huelsman needs to stay out of foul trouble and be on the court more if UD is to have success this year.

Wait ... what?

Many followers of UD hoops may think that last sentence is the most ludicrous of all. Perhaps, but it is, at present, the only one I actually believe to be true. Kurt Huelsman, he of the 0 points and 1 rebound in the season opener, needs to be on the court more. And the reason for that is simple: his defense.

Josh Benson struggled in the opener, especially on the defensive end. This has been well documented. Devin Searcy is a really solid player, and I hold high hopes for the last two seasons of his career as a Flyer. Also, I'm just as sick of the whole tangibles vs. intangibles debate as you are. That's why I wanted to bring the topic of Kurt's playing time back around to something that is, in my mind at least, very tangible. And Huelsman is, simply put, Dayton's best interior defender.

To me there were two key differences at the beginning of the second half when the Flyers made their run against Creighton. Those were the presence of London Warren and Huelsman, both of whom were forced to sit out much of the first half with foul trouble. With those two guys on the floor, UD is lightyears better as a defensive squad.

Huelsman's weaknesses have been discussed ad naseum at this point, and I've been one of his bigger critics especially last season. The fact that a guy who is (allegedly) 6'10" can only grab four rebounds a game still boggles the mind, but I've come to grips with Huelsman's limitations. And I'm of the opinion that what he brings to the defensive end outweights his lack of offensive output for this particular Dayton team.

So what does all this mean? Basically, I think Kurt needs to start, defend the opposition's best post player, and play 20-24 minutes a game ... which is convenient because that's exactly what's going to happen. Brian Gregory has been fiercely loyal to his senior center and seems hellbent on starting Huelsman every single game of his college career no matter how well or poorly the big man plays.

I'm embracing Gregory's stubbornness because I've convinced myself it's what's best for the Flyers. I also think Kurt slows down Georgia Tech's heralded freshman big man on Thursday (notice I said slows down, not shuts down) and helps lead the Flyers to a W. I also think a part of UD's game plan is to go inside to Kurt on offense and maybe pick up a quick foul or two on Favors early in the game.

In the podcast, I said UD wins 82-77. I'm amending that pick because I don't know that the Flyers can really score 82; I got all caught up in the excitement of scoring 90 against CU. I'm still going Flyers by five, 76-71.

Wright named co-player of the week
According to daytonflyers.com:

University of Dayton junior Chris Wright has been named Atlantic 10 Co-Player of the Week after his 25-point performance, including 18 in the second half, to lead the Flyers to a 90-80 win over Creighton in the season opener for both teams.

Wright shared this year's first A-10 Player of the Week award with Duquesne junior Damian Saunders. This is the second time that both players have been named players of the week, and in an odd coincidence, they also shared co-player of the week honors last season when they were named on November 30.

Wow, that is a whacky coincidence.

Perry struggles in opener
I had high hopes for Mickey Perry entering his senior season, but he had a rough afternoon Saturday against Creighton. I really thought an entire offseason of playing the point coupled with his strong performances in two exhibition contests meant he was ready to take the reins of UD's offense behind London Warren. Instead, he turned the ball over three times and the offense just doesn't seem to flow when he's in charge. If LW gets into foul trouble in Puerto Rico, it could be a long couple of games for the Flyers. And Rob Lowery can't get healthy soon enough for me.

Miami (OH) might be good?
Or it might not. I watched a good chunk of the Kentucky-Miami game last night, and the RedHawks gave UK everything it wanted and then some. Miami led by as much as 18 in the first half, but the Wildcats clawed back and John Wall hit the game-winner with 0.5 left. Could have been a fluke, though, as MU shot a ridiculous percentage from three. Some dude named Winbush hit eight himself. He hit four or five in a row to start the game prompting UK's announcer to exclaim, "A windfall for Winbush!" (I'm Mike Hartsock and I approve this call.) This is the same Miami team which lost by 11 to Towson -- another team on UD's schedule -- in its season opener, so take that for what it's worth.

Here's how Charlie Coles reacted - hilarious.



*During my senior year at UD, I was the assistant sports editor for the award-winning Flyer News. One of the things the sports editor and I would do is try to write the most atrocious headlines possible for our stories. The worse the headlines, the better as far as we were concerned. We especially loved to use alliteration, as in "Dominant Dayton defense downs Drake." (I'm not sure why we were so easily amused by this. College kids.) All things considered, "The Kurt Conundrum" is a pretty weak effort. Here's a classic one that I wrote featuring puns!

Viva Los Flyers

18 points and 15 rebounds from Chris Johnson? 25 and 8 from Flyers Jesus? 0 and 1 from Kurt Huelsman? It all happened Saturday. The Flyers overcame a pretty poor first half of play, outscored a game Creighton team 49-34 in the second half, and came away with a win in the season opener. Tim's last post highlighted (overstated?) the importance of getting that W against the Blue Jays.

Riding high from UD's 1-0 start, Tim and I got together for a little podcast. During it we discuss Chris Johnson's beastliness, the blueprint for beating the Flyers, a Puerto Rico preview and much much more.

Download and listen here.

And don't forget to follow us on twitter under the name UDFlyers.

Let's get it on!

So remember when I sarcastically joked about UD having real actual media people who make videos? We'll those clever sons of guns are at it again. This got me all fired up.



Check out daytonflyers.com for more. They've posted several really good videos about the 2010 recruiting class as well. Kudos to you, New Flyer Media Department.

Programming notes: we plan to do a podcast after the Creighton game before we leave for Puerto Rico (can't wait for that 6:00am flight). We'll tweet like mad men from PR with hopefully an article/day and cap it off with another podcast once we're back.

Go Flyers!

This one could make the difference

Well folks, here we go again. Tip off to the most anticipated season in Flyer memory is upon us and I’m nervously excited. Saturday, University of Dayton Area welcomes the pesky Creighton Blue Jays to town as the Flyers will be looking to avenge last year’s 19 point beat down in Homerha. When focusing on the following statement; “the ranked UD Flyers open up their season with a team that beat them by 19 points last year,” one can find the “nervous” part of that nervously excited feeling.

The importance of this game is magnified when you consider the Blue Jays are our only scheduled opponent in the non-conference (outside Puerto Rico) who finished in last year’s RPI top 50 (GMU 53, New Mexico 69, ODU 81). My point: the Flyers don’t get many RPI boosting opportunities this season and will have to make the best of the few they get. Consider last year Dayton was one of the “last 4” teams in the tourney while racking up 14 OOC wins including BCS scalps of Marquette and Auburn. Our only OOC loss you ask? Those pesky Blue Jays of Creighton. In the eyes of the committee, this qualified the Flyers as a bubble team.

Assuming we lose one game and one game only in Puerto Rico, this Creighton game still has enormous implications on our tournament resume. I can already hear people calling me crazy but refer to the previous paragraph and reread the part about Dayton being a BUBBLE team with a 26-7 record and an almost perfect OOC run. The committee will look for any and all reasons to exclude a team like this so that a mid-level Pac 10 team can sneak in instead.

While it’s fun to start a season like this, when you live in mid-major land, these games become exponentially more important. Conference records matter much less on Selection Sunday for teams like UD.

For argument’s sake let’s say we lose to Creighton and then lose one game in PR. We then lose only one more game in the OOC; let’s call that the game at New Mexico. That leaves the Flyers with an 11-3 OOC record with the biggest win being either Ga. Tech or (gulp) Old Dominion. Let’s further assume we do a little better in conference when comparing to last year and we go 12-4. Throw in two wins and a loss in the A-10 tourney final and we’re looking at 25-8. A 25-8 Dayton Flyer basketball team that enters Selection Sunday with the above criteria will have a really good seed ... in the NIT. A 23-7 Dayton Flyer basketball team that enters the A-10 tourney needs to win it to dance.

Now do you see how important this game is? Win against Creighton and I think it’s plausible to escape the OOC schedule with only 2 losses (Ga. Tech/Villanova and New Mexico). Run the same scenario (12-4 A-10, 2-1 tourney) and I think the Flyers are one of the last 4 teams in the dance yet again.

Or we could beat Creigton, win the whole thing in Puerto Rico, and I’ll pretend this post never happened.

Look someone in the eye and tell them the Creighton game will make or break UD’s NCAA chances and they’ll laugh in your face. Break this bad boy down, game by game, and that statement isn’t too far from the truth.

My prediction: This game is the difference maker on Selection Sunday. It’s the reason we’re in or the reason we’re out.

Exhibition Game #2: The Norse

Some Division I college basketball players come into a program, underperform from day one and prove to be a tremendous disappointment. Still others are over-recruited and never should have been brought in in the first place. Eventually, those player are given their walking papers so that scholarship can be used by someone who is not a complete waste of a roster spot. There is place these players go when this occurs. That place? Northern Kentucky University.

Our very own Dayton Flyers scheduled an exhibition game with James Cripe's alma mater Monday night. The Flyers managed a 71-61 win. I watched the game, and here are some thoughts in bullet point form.

• London, Perry, Chris Johnson, Searcy and Huelsman started the game. Larry H. tells us that Wright and Marcus Johnson were on the bench not because of the very minor injuries that kept them out of the Ferris State game, but because -- in Brian Gregory's system -- you "have to earn your job back."
• Flyer TV has the technology to produce a live event? And on location, to boot? I'm furious that this capability did not exist when I was an undergrad.
• On the alley-oop to Searcy, there was an NKU defender underneath. London threw it up there anyway, and Searcy went up and got it. Nasty. Later in the first half, Searcy hit a wide open 14-footer on the baseline; that's a good sign. Bucky called it the "toughest shot in all of basketball;" that's not a good sign.
• Luke Fab's first three was such a brick that it almost got wedged in between the backboard and rim.
• About 12 minutes in, I found myself googling Scott Bibbins. He is not a D-I transfer (read: reject), but rather an NKU lifer. Still trying to decide what's worse.
• LW took a shot with one foot on the three-point line and almost banked it. That's about enough of that.
• Late in the first half, I think NKU had cut the Flyers lead to 35-32 (wasn't paying that much attention). Then UD answered with six straight down the stretch to extend the lead back to nine. It would've been an 8-0 run had C. Johnson's tip-in with 0.4 to go counted. The follow-up was ridiculous and it didn't look like an over-the-back foul when I saw it live. The Flyers led 41-34 at the half.
• I thought the defensive intensity in the second half went way up, which was good to see. A couple of steals led to back-to-back breakaway dunks for UD early in the period.
• The technical foul on MJ for hanging on the rim was a joke. So was the intentional foul called on NKU against Searcy.
• I'd be shocked if Chris Johnson doesn't lead this team in offensive rebounding.
• Anybody else's video feed keep freezing all throughout the second half? Coincidentally, I finally gave up right around the time Monday Night Football started.
• Eleven points and five boards in 22 minutes of action from Wright is fine. 3-10 FG shooting is a big worrisome though.
• Mickey Perry looked really good in the first half (8 pts, 4 rebs, 2 assts, 0 turnovers). If he can put up that kind of line per game, I'd be thrilled.
• Kavanaugh tied for a team high in rebounds with five in just seven minutes. Huelsman had two in 19 mins. Kav is a frosh and will experience growing pains all year but he's going to be just fine.
• Nine assists to just one turnover from London? Yessir.
• After the Flyers shot 5-9 from three and 6-7 at the line in the first half, I was encouraged. But I still don't think this is a very good 3-point shooting team. 15-18 FT shooting is something you have to like though.
• A ten point win over a D-II school is nothing to do backflips over, but it was a fine performance. The formula is there: stifling defense and get out in transition.
• It feels weird how much the Creighton game and the P.R. trip seem to mean. I always get nervous when games in November seem to take on this much importance.
• Check out the blog all week as well as the twitter feed (UDFlyers). Look for the next podcast shortly after the Creighton game.

Podcast #4

Your Dayton Flyers knocked off a pesky Ferris State squad last night in the exhibition opener to the 2009 season. Micky Perry led the way with 16 points, and Chris Johnson had a big night with 14 points and 9 boards. Check out Tim's thoughts on the game below.

Before that game, though, FlyerNation had the chance to talk with Matt Schwade, the publisher of FlyerHoops.net. Matt was kind enough to give us a ring as he drove down to the UD Arena, and we were smart enough to record that very conversation. Tim and I got Mr. Schwade's thoughts on:

*every recruit in the 2010 class
*if Flyers fans should worry about Juwan Staten backing out of his commitment
*what the future might hold for Brian Gregory
*the odds that Chris Wright will be a Flyer at this time next year, and much more

Click here to listen to our soon-to-be award winning work.

Check out Matt's site flyerhoops.net here.

The Good, The Bad, and The Ugly

sThe Good

Chris Johnson – This guy is going to have a great year. He is straight clutch. I’ve said it before and I’ll say it again, he just has a nose for the ball. That phrase is very cliché but he’s the only person I’ve ever used it for. CJ looked solid on the offensive end too and is the complete player we need. 14pts, 9 boards, 4 assists, 2 steals and a block. Not sure if he’ll start but I bet you he’ll be on the floor to finish.

Paul Williams – I didn’t even think he’d play tonight but Paul turned in a very solid effort. He shot the ball well and didn’t do anything cancerous. 11 pts on 3-4 from down town. We need big efforts out of our sophomores this year.

Kurt – Looks much much stronger on the offensive end. I heard that happens when you play a team who doesn’t run out a defender over 6’6”. Still, I’ll take it. 6-7 from the field is what a center should shoot. We’re definitely going to need better than 3-8 from the foul line though.

We played without Wright and Johnson and we survived. This barely made the Good category.

The Bad

Luke – He wasn’t that bad, but to get minutes he needs to improve defensively and just shoot smarter. I’m a Luke fan as opposed to a lot of the message board blog world, I want him to shoot, he just needs to improve decision making at the position.

Kav – Keep in mind the kid’s still a freshmen. He’ll develop but it won’t be overnight. I don’t see him playing more than 6 mins a game this year.

The Ugly

Are you telling me that when Marcus Johnson can’t go we have to play Dan Fox for significant minutes? That was just because it was a fake game right? Right?

The broadcast – One of these days Larry and Bucky will figure out that everyone who watches the game online can hear what they say during the timeouts. It’s literally going to take a Buckey F-bomb before anyone tells them this.

Gotta love the broadcaster/production vs. sales department relationship in Radio. Apparently WHIO sales dept overbooked commercial time and the dude talking in Larry’s ear wasn’t happy about it. I’m a sales guy and Secaur is a broadcasting guy – I’m on the sales side of this - no matter how wrong they are.

Mickey Perry – Not a good outing whatsoever. The stats say he shot the ball well, which I guess he did, but he was not under control as our backup point guard. I dismissed his sloppy play after the Red & Blue game because it was a scrimmage, I’m trying to dismiss his sloppy play tonight because it was an exhibition game. Here’s to hoping we don’t start a pattern here.

Speaking of which, we are a London Warren injury away from being a middle of the road A-10 team. Until January 1 when Lowrey is back, London Warren is the most important player on this team. We simply cannot be successful without him.

Inability to bust it open: While we never really let the lead get to 6 or so, we couldn’t put these guys away. Inability to play D will do that for you. This has always been a problem under BG’s teams (unless we’re playing Pitt) and will bite us in the ass if we don’t fix it. We’re not gonna be able to win every close game again this year. Inferior teams, especially those who play in division II, need put away early and kept there.

Free throws – 57%. Really guys? Really? Another season of this? Come on!

Ball handling – sloppy, sloppy, sloppy. Bad passing, bad dribbling, unnecessary charges. We don’t come close to Creighton if we play anything like this. 23 turnovers is about 12 too many, especially for an exhibition game.

Did we really give up 73 points to Ferris State?

-------------------------------------------------------------

I’m not going to go crazy, it was a practice game and we didn’t have Wright or MJ. With that said, we didn’t look good but I guess that’s why they play these.

I’m still wondering who our starters will be. Will it be Searcy at the 4 with Wright at the 3 or will it be CJ at the 3 with Wright at the 4? Interesting to see who suits up when everyone’s healthy.

I put on for my city

With the season starting this evening, I'd like to share my favorite Flyer video ever made. I could watch this daily.



Secaur and I are recording a new podcast tonight - it's going to be a good one. Look for it up sometime tomorrow.