Who cares if a storm is a-brewing in Oklahoma City?

The NBA Season has begun, and while for many sports fans that is as exciting as a poopy-flavored lollipop, for the people in Oklahoma City, it is a thrilling prospect.

Their team, the Oklahoma City Thunder, lost the Western Conference Finals in six games to the eventual champion Dallas Mavericks. Despite the disappointment that always accompanies having your season ended with a loss, the Thunder had plenty to look forward to. They were the youngest team in the league, with two of its best young players and a nucleus of talent that seemed to genuinely enjoy playing with each other and would continue to improve. Things got even better after the lockout ended. The Thunder saw the Mavericks lose the defensive player that gave them fits in the postseason (Tyson Chandler), saw the Lakers get royally screwed by the NBA in the Chris Paul debacle, and watched the Spurs get another year older. Those were the three teams seeded higher than them in last year's Western Conference. Imagine the lofty expectations for 2012.

So imagine my surprise when, after a 4-0 start for the Thunder, all I am hearing about on Sportscenter and reading about online is whether Russell Westbrook and Kevin Durant can get along. Come on. Of course we still remember Westbrook taking bad shot after bad shot against the Mavs, but he wasn't the reason they lost. Have you forgotten that Dirk Nowitski was scoring 65 a game and shooting 99 percent from the foul line throughout the playoffs? The Thunda's fate was sealed, whether Westbrook was hitting those shots or not.

And yes, I am aware of the arguing on the sidelines that happened during the Thunder's win at Memphis in the team's third game of the season. But guess what? Westbrook was polishing off an 0-for-13-er on the night. Who wouldn't be pissed off during and after a game like that? And now, after Westbrook made several big plays down the stretch against Dallas and Durant hit a game-winning buzzer-beater, while half of Twitter was celebrating the shot, the other half could only find time to comment on the "half-hearted" hug the two players shared afterward in celebration. Get a life.

Maybe Westbrook isn't as happy as he could possibly be in Oklahoma City. But I'm not buying into some seething hatred he holds for Kevin Durant. The guys have grown up in the NBA together. They've shared immense amount of success at a young age by feeding off each other. Together. Whether or not Scott Brooks blames one for the team's failures is moot. That might represent a problem in the coach-player relationship, but the not the one between teammates.

And beyond all that, we shouldn't be worried about Westbrook leaving until at least after this season is done. The Thunder are one of four teams I would say have a legitimate shot at a championship this season (Heat, Bulls and Lakers are the other three. Really, the Lakers would need a full 58 games of good play from Andrew Bynum to be legit. That remains to be seen). Westbrook would be crazy to leave before this season is done. Even if he wants to be the alpha dog, or play in a bigger market, there is no place he could go that would give him a better title shot that OKC this year. So there's not point until after the season.

At any rate, it would be great if we could stop hearing about the discontent on the Thunder's sideline and in the locker room. I'm not buying it, and doesn't their play so far (especially KD's shot last night) deserve a bit more airtime?

Drew Brees: an Appreciation

Drew Brees broke Dan Marino's passing yards in a season record last night. He did it with a game still to play. In the process, the Saints clinched their division, and so Brees might not play depending on how Sean Payton feels about how the 49ers will do in week 17, but let it not be forgotten how unbelievable of a performance Brees has turned in this season. Despite sometimes rocky play in the first half, Brees has delivered the goods time and again in 2011; just like Montee Ball's soon-to-be touchdown record over Barry Sanders should not exist or at least have a monstrous asterisk by it, so too should Bree's passing record if he doesn't play an entire four quarters next week.

Aaron Rodgers will probably win the MVP this year, because that's how the MVP works. He and Brees' stats will finish at relatively similar levels, with each guy taking a few of the key categories that we look to for verification on quality of quarterback play (completion percentage, yards per attempt, touchdowns, interceptions, quarterback rating, Total QBR). Even as a Packers fan though, I can't argue with Brees as the MVP of the 2011 season. It wasn't even close early on, but Rodgers has opened the door in the last three or four weeks, and Brees has walked in. And above anything else, he has set a record this season. Four weeks ago, we were hearing about the possibility of Rodgers breaking the single-season completion percentage record set by Brees two years before while at the same time hearing about the impossibility of Brees keeping up his incredible passing yards-per-game pace. Now? Brees is almost three percentage points closer than Rodgers to breaking his own record, and has not missed a beat in the yards department.

It is truly one of the great accomplishments in modern sport. Despite the pass-heavy offenses we are growing accustomed to in this day of NFL Football, Brees' mark stands alone. He has thrown for 5,087 yards in 15 games this season. That's 339 passing yards per game. I don't care what happens in the NFL for the next 50 years, I'm not betting on a guy averaging 340 per game. The statistic is mindboggling. When Peyton Manning broke a record, he was the MVP. When Tom Brady broke the same record a couple years later, he won the MVP. Heck, when LaDainian Tomlinson and Shaun Alexander set records, they were MVPs. How does Brees not qualify? For a season in which his stats are more or less as good as his top competitor, he set an NFL record. To me, with a not-quite undefeated Packers team, that is the difference. Brees was transcendent, Rodgers just barely missed transcendence.

Since we won't get to see which one of them will represent the NFC in the Super Bowl before the award is given out, I'm going with MVBrees.

The Xavier Conundrum

Let me start this column by saying I can't believe it came to me to defend Tu Holloway, Chris Mack and Xavier. But some of the things that have been said about the situation are really starting to aggravate me, and I just couldn't sit idly by anymore.

First, a quick recap. Xavier and Cincinnati fought at the end of their game last week. Yancy Gates cold-cocked Kenny Frease with an absolute haymaker while Frease was in the middle of it all, seemingly trying to break things up. Frease was also stomped on after the punch. The fight spawned from Tu Holloway and a Cincinnati player talking trash to each other in a 23 point game with 9.4 seconds to play. Then Xavier freshman Dezmine Wells came over and shoved the UC player, and chaos ensued. The nation was shocked at the ugly scene after the fact. When I first saw the video of the fight shortly after it happened, I was not surprised at all to see Holloway at the root of it, nor was I surprised to see Mark Lyons screaming and gesturing throughout the fracas. I've seen the two talented guards up close plenty of times to know they are in-your-face, confrontational-type players. They talk trash. They delight in their opponents' downfall. Up til now, most of the nation gave them a pass for it, because of their prodigious talents on the court.

That is, up until their press conference after the UC game, when both Holloway and Lyons came off as unapologetic and shrugged their shoulders, saying that's who Xavier is, that's the way they play, they won't back down. The quote that has lingered in the media is Holloway describing the Xavier locker room (and therefore team) as full of "gangsters". I, like most people I know and read content from, thought Lyons and Holloway came off sounding foolish, like they had no idea what they were talking about, and that Xavier should never have let them speak to the media.

Since then, weak suspensions have been handed out. Gates' 6-game hiatus was the largest of all, and Holloway received one game. Despite his role in getting the fight going (supposedly cursing at the UC bench throughout the game, and obviously being one of two guys talking to get the melee started), I didn't see much room to argue Holloway's suspension. He didn't actually do anything other than talk. No thrown punches or elbows that I saw in the video.

At any rate, the suspensions (in particular Holloway's, because he is by far the highest-profile player affected) have been under a great deal of scrutiny since. Then Chris Mack spoke with Doug Gottlieb on ESPN radio. Among the things they talked about were Holloway's comments about gangsters and Xavier "zipping it up" at the end of games. Mack was, as one would expect, defending his player. In particular, during his interview with Gottlieb, he described Holloway as a "good kid". I had a problem with that word choice, as did many people, which I discovered later in the day. Mack was being ripped for labeling Holloway a "kid." Up til now, I had been in the same camp as most other people. But I have no problem with the use of the word "kid." I disagreed with the word "good."

Quick (maybe) sidebar: Tu Holloway is my least favorite college basketball player ever. It should be noted that as a UD fan, I have been bred to hate him, and so perhaps I am not worth listening to on the matter. But during my time with the UD paper, I sat on the sidelines and in the postgame media room, watching and listening Holloway up close for several games. I spent time in the stands watching him before that. I feel more qualified to write about him than many of the things I write about on this blog. I've seen him constantly talk trash, try to get a rise out of his opponents, act smugly on the court and act smugly after games are over. The guy is not a "good" dude in any sense of the word I can think of beyond his basketball skills. Having said that, I can completely understand why Chris Mack thinks he is a good guy, and I can even see how Holloway would come off as good if you just sat down and had a conversation with him. He is confident, talkative, charismatic--what wouldn't you like about speaking with a guy like that? Don't be fooled though, his attitude will be his downfall if he ever makes it to the next level.

So imagine my surprise when nobody had a problem with "good" but rather "kid." Certainly, Holloway is legally not a child at 22 years of age. I'm just guessing here, but I don't believe when Mack referred to him as a kid, he was thinking about any legal definition. I think what he meant was that Holloway is more immature than what most Americans expect out of an adult, just like 98 percent of 22-year-olds are. When speaking about it with my dad, I told him I had no problem with Mack calling him a kid, because I'm a kid too (same age as Tu and everything!) He told me, "No, you're an adult, you're responsible for what you say and do." Hard to argue with that. But once again, not the point that was being made. The point was, Holloway was speaking off the cuff about a high-intensity situation, and he used an unfortunate word. Young people do that. Do all you 40-plus people out there really think 20-25 year-olds are as mature as you? Holloway even corrected himself immediately afterward, saying "Not thugs, but tough guys on the court." He didn't mean gangsters with baseball bats and guns looking to commit crimes or intimidate court witnesses, and anyone who didn't get that wasn't listening. Of course Holloway is responsible for using the words he did, but he isn't trying to back down from them. He regrets using them, just like any of us regret making any bad decisions in life.

One more point about the "kid" debate. Whenever I get into a discussion with my parents about some real-life issues like finances or politics (admittedly a rare occurence), and am unwilling to back down from my position, their response is predictable. It goes something like, "Nate, you just don't understand, you don't have the experience, you haven't been in the real world, you don't get it." Essentially, because I'm young and haven't been in the world for as long, what I have to say is not as valid. (In fact, that's probably what the old-timers are thinking right now as they read this: "This young guy. He just doesn't get it.") And that's fine. (Not really; I hate that argument, but it's probably true). But that sure sounds like a "kid" to me. No, I'm not (and Tu Holloway's not) a kid in the sense that we believe in Santa Claus or are still working on our multiplication tables, but you better believe I'm still a kid when it comes to the real world. I have no idea what I'm doing. Just read this blog for evidence.

Probably even more so than me, Tu Holloway is a "real-world kid". He has gotten things his way since high school at least, because schools are always trying to please the star basketball player. That's the way it works in this world. Holloway is still going to be one of my least favorite athletes of all time when this situation blows over and the next big one comes along. But even then, I'll know, and I think you should try to understand, he's still a 22-year-old kid (or young man, whatever you prefer, they're the same thing), like me.

Mid-Major Report: 12/12

We're a few weeks into the college basketball season, and most teams have played 10-ish games. That means I feel like I have enough information to talk about the best mid-major teams in the country. Everyone has played enough games that I will believe a bit more in the various computer-ratings around the country and can see what they've done against a large enough variety of competition to attempt to compare teams from small conferences across the country that will not be playing each other at any time during this season.

A quick couple of caveats before we get into the top mid-majors in the country. On ESPN.com, Myron Medcalf's mid-major report, certain conferences, like the Atlantic 10 and Mountain West, are not included because they are not mid-majors in the sense that conferences like the Sun Belt or Patriot League are mid-majors. That is true, but I will still be including every conference aside from the Big Six. I will not be including certain teams from those conferences however. Xavier, Gonzaga and Memphis will never appear on this list despite being from mid-major conferences. Those programs recruit and play like Big Six teams, and everyone in the country is aware of them. The point of this list to clue people in to some of the teams they haven't seen on TV and who they should pay attention. Also, this list is not necessarily a reflection of which teams would win if they played head to head. In fact, in this week's list, there will be teams that have played head-to-head with the loser being higher ranked. The ranking is more a reflection of which team has earned it more so far. A team who has gone on the road and won games, or beaten tough opponents will be given more love than a team that is 11-1 with half of its wins against D-II schools. Without further ado, my top 10 so far.

10. Kent State (7-1, 61 in Ken Pomeroy rankings)
The Golden Flashes perhaps sneak into my first at number 10 because they haven't really beaten anybody this year. Unlike the other teams contending for the back end of this ranking who also haven't beaten anybody, however, Kent State has gone on the road and won, which gets you some major points in my book. The Flashes are 3-0 in true road games this year, including a 10 point win at West Virginia to start the year. They haven't played a tough schedule, but they've done the best possible with it.

9. Wichita State (7-2, 29 Pomeroy)
The Shockers came into the season with high expectations (the Missouri Valley Conference favorite) and for the most part have not disappointed. Their two losses are in neutral court games to Alabama and Temple (in overtime), two pretty good teams. Unfortunately for Wichita State, those games make up two of the three strong opponents they have played so far (the other being an 89-70 win over UNLV at home). If the Shockers were starting the week with a win in either of those games, they would almost certainly be top-five on this list, maybe top three. But you've got to win the big games. Aside from Bama, Temple and UNLV, Wichita hasn't played a team worth mentioning, and only has played one true road game. The Shockers still have plenty to prove.

8. Brigham Young (8-2, 17 Pomeroy)
BYU is the WCC's lone representative this week (Gonzaga is exluded, but probably wouldn't have cracked the top 10 anyway). The Cougars' two losses are at Utah State (when the Aggies were still looking good to open the season) and on a neutral court against Wisconsin. Both forgivable. Unfortunately, similar to Wichita State, the Cougars have played just about nobody otherwise (259th toughest non-conference schedule in Pomeroy's rankings). Still, they are by far the highest-rated team in Ken Pomeroy's rankings, and that does count for something to me after 10 games, so they edge the shockers out for the eight spot. BYU will have a chance to show what it's made of in a big game against Baylor December 17. After that, it is smooth sailing into the conference season.

7. UNLV (9-2, 24 Pomeroy)
UNLV was the undisputed top mid-major team a couple weeks ago. At that point, they were 7-0 and had just upset then-No. 1 North Carolina, and done it with relative ease in the second half. How had we all overlooked this team so egregiously? What we had failed to realize at that point was the Rebels had yet to play a true road game. Since then, they've played three. After a 2-overtime squeak-by over UC Santa Barbara, UNLV was beaten by 19 at Wichita State and 11 at Wisconsin. They scored just 51 points in Madison, despite averaging better than 80 per game this year. With their recent results taken into consideration, and the major concern about their ability on the road, UNLV drops significantly, into the seven spot.

6. Cleveland State (10-1, 69 Pomeroy)
The lowest Ken Pomeroy-ranked team in this week's poll, Cleveland State comes in at sixth because of its superb performance on the road this year. In 11 games, the Vikings have played three home games, two neutral site games, and six (!) true road games. They have won every one of those true road games, including a 61-57 decision at Vanderbilt to start the season. Vandy is typically extremely tough at home and extremely weak on the road, so the win is all the more impressive for Cleveland State. This team does have plenty of concerns, however. It is 259th in the country in scoring per game, 316th (!) in rebounding, and 172nd in field goal percentage. The rest of the country's scoring will probably come up in the coming weeks, and Cleveland State will likely trend toward the middle of the pack, but the rebounding and shooting numbers cannot stay where they are if the Vikings expect to keep winning.

5. Saint Louis (9-1, 23 Pomeroy)
The Billikens have tons of experience and looked very poised to threaten Xavier for the A-10 title early in the season. Then they lost at Loyola Marymount, and we realized that they don't have any real quality wins, despite beating big-name teams like Washington, Boston College, Villanova and Oklahoma (all those teams are down this year). Still, St. Louis is 9-1 and has some great shooters in addition to a seemingly vastly improved inside game with Brian Conklin. If they hold form in the A-10 season and turn in a 12-4 type performance, they could be looking at an at-large bid to the NCAAs.

4. San Diego State, (9-2, 58 Pomeroy)
The Aztecs figured to be in a rebuilding year after their best season ever in 2010-11. That is looking like anything but the case given what they've done so far. San Diegot State has raced to a 9-2 start, with losses coming at Baylor and a two-point decision against Creighton (see below). In the meantime, SDSU has won three true road games (including at Arizona) and beaten another top-25 ranked Pac-12 foe with a one-point victory over California. Looks like it's going to be another season with SDSU in the NCAA discussion (and my mid-major top five) all year long.

Murray State (10-0, 56 Pomeroy)
The Racers are the lone unbeaten of the bunch, and the team Ken Pomeroy says has the best chance of going undefeated this season (a result of the fact that they play in the weak Ohio Valley Conference more than the Racers being an amazing team). Whether or not that happens, Murray State has cemented itself as one of the top mid-majors in the country with a win over Memphis last night. The Racers have also won four true road games and are an excellent three-point shooting team. Like many undersized mid-major teams from the past, this one will almost certainly lose games due to poor shooting nights. But make no mistake; it's tough enough to go 10-0. These guys are the real deal.

2. Harvard (9-1, 34 Pomeroy)
Yes, Harvard. It may seem like this team is coming out of nowhere, but that's not the case. They lost the Ivy League regular season championship on a last-second shot to Princeton last year. And the Ivy League doesn't have a conference tournament, the regular season winner gets an automatic bid. Thus, Harvard had to sit around and fall out of everyone's minds while conference tournaments ran rampant across the country. The result? No at-large for the Crimson. This year, they're back with a vengeance. With the program's lone loss coming at UConn (a Final Four contender), a win over Florida State and four true road wins, Harvard is looking to seal up an at-large bid early this year. With the country taking notice (they cracked the top-25 for the first time this year), Tommy Amaker and crew appear to be in good shape.

1. Creighton (7-1, 49 Pomeroy)
Hate to have my number one team coming off a loss, but there was just no better option than the Blue Jays this week. Despite a head-scratching 80-71 setback at Saint Joseph's Creighton has been as good as any mid-major (and most teams in general) this season. They are averaging 85.1 points per game (fifth in the country), 20.5 assists per game (first) and shooting better than 51 percent from the field (fourth best). Sure, Creighton has not played the toughest competition, but in their toughest test of the year thus far, they passed, with an 85-83 win at San Diego State. That's an extremely difficult road game to play, and the Blue Jays showed they were up to the task. Since most of the other top teams in this poll had recent losses as well, Creighton tops my first mid-major top 10 of the season.

Moving Madness

Earlier in the week Jose Reyes made a crazy-expensive deal with the Marlins. As a New York Mets fan, it was sad to see Reyes go, but something I had been preparing for. On a bigger-picture scale, it was the type of signing all sports fans today have to get accustomed to. Players don't stay with the same team for their entire careers anymore; Michael Jordan and Brett Favre made sure we understood that. And teams are often more interested in moving a hot commodity who they think they can get good rebuilding value for. Sometimes, teams just don't have the money to make a move for a top-tier athlete. Whatever the reasons are, the fact remains: the professional sports landscape today is one of big business in which everybody is looking to make a move.

Still, knowing that about sports couldn't have prepared you for last night's whirlwind. December 8, 2011 is an afternoon and night I'll remember for a long time, as I read about Albert Pujols signing with the Angels in baseball, enjoyed Bill Simmons' unrest about the Celtics pursuing Chris Paul, scratched my head over Tyson Chandler likely heading to the New York Knicks, watched one of the best comedy episodes of TV I've ever seen in Community's "Regional Holiday Music" (probably the show's last shot at getting renewed for a fourth season), read that the Angels had also managed to grab pitcher CJ Wilson, heard Chris Paul was heading to the LA Lakers, and finally, found out the deal had been put on hold by the NBA because supposedly some owners thought the NBA was up to no good making another superpower team.

Not to mention there was an NFL game going on (luckily not an especially important one), college football awards being handed out, and the best hour of TV happening on FX from 10-11 p.m. Whoa.

First, take a look at the Angels. They went 86-76 last year, lost the AL West by 10 games and the AL Wildcard by 5. Signing the best position player and pitcher this offseason has got to improve their team by at five games you would think. I would figure it puts them into the discussion of the best teams in baseball. Their pitching rotation will now boast Jered Weaver, Dan Haren and Wilson, while their lineup will now boast Albert Pujols (whoever else is there doesn't really matter. They could bring up an entire Triple A roster and so long as those guys got on base every once in awhile, Pujols would make sure they came home). It is insane how much the Angels would appear to have improved with the addition of two men. What's more, is how (relatively) inexpensive it was for them. Pujols' $250 million is of course through the roof, but everyone knew that would be the case. Take a look at Wilson's deal though: 5 years, $77.5 million. AJ Burnett and John Lackey each signed deals for 5 years, $82.5 million, with the Yankees and Red Sox, respectively. Read that again. The Angels managed to sign Wilson for $5 million less than two pitchers he is better (significantly better?) than. Well done.

On the other hand, the St. Louis Cardinals are done. They lost their manager (one of the best in baseball history) to retirement, and then the best player in baseball during the offseason. Even with Adam Wainwright back in the rotation, counting on Lance Berkman and Matt Holliday to drive home at least 220 runs does not strike me as a sustainable model. But hey, St. Louis fans, you guys have enjoyed a pretty good run for awhile. Two World Series titles and seven NL Central titles since 2000 is a lot to be proud of. But it might be a bit to have anything more to cheer about.

As for the moves (or lack thereof) in the NBA, I was really surprised to hear about Tyson Chandler going to the Knicks, because signing Chandler would definitely knock the Knicks out of the running for Chris Paul. They wouldn't have the cap space or the trade fodder to make a deal for Paul happen. Perhaps the Knicks had heard through the grapevine that they were no longer in the running the for Paul, and went for the best they could get. Whatever the Knicks' reasoning, as I thought more about the signing, the more I thought it was a decent move, simply because having Tyson Chandler in the paint will make things way easier on Amare Stoudemire. Chandler will now be the guy guarding opponents' big men, and he will likely be the guy who is guarded by the opponents' center. This mean's (a)Stoudemire will be able to focus more of his efforts on offense (b) his won't have to bruise in the paint as much at either end, and (c) he'll be taking it much easier on his weak knees. That makes for a competitive Knicks team this year. Maybe not a title contender, but top 3 in the East? I could see it, especially if Dwight Howard moves and the Celtics get even older with a pissed off Rondo.

Then came the most wild news of the night. Chris Paul was traded to the Lakers, while Pau Gasol was going to the Rockets, while Lamar Odom, Kevin Martin, Luis Scola, Goran Dragic and a first-round pick were the Hornets' prize. It seemed like a fair enough trade. The Lakers get the player they wanted, the Rockets get a player they like a lot to replace Yao Ming and clear some cap space, while the Hornets get about as good a deal as they are going to get for Paul, who will be leaving at some point during or after this season.

But then the unthinkable happened. David Stern did his best Foghorn Leghorn impression and nixed the deal. "Now, hold on, I say hold on just one cotton pickin' moment!" The NBA technically owns the New Orleans Hornets right now, but was planning on allowing them to take care of themselves. Not so fast, evidently. The initial reports were that several owners had complained that the league was trying to create another superpower team at one of its signature franchises. Stern has since said "All decisions are made on the basis of what is in the best interests of the Hornets. In the case of the trade proposal that was made to the Hornets for Chris Paul, we decided, free from the influence of other NBA owners, that the team was better served with Chris in a Hornets uniform than by the outcome of the terms of that trade." Whatever reason is true, they're both moronic. First, if owners can really hold that much sway in what's going on, then the NBA is the most corrupt organization in sports. And Stern's quote is correct, but it is short-sighted. Of course the Hornets will be better with Chris Paul as their point guard. That's not the reason for this trade, though. The reason for the trade is that Chris Paul does not plan on resigning in New Orleans, so the Hornets understand it is better to move him now and get as much as possible than to have him sign elsewhere after this season and get absolutely nothing. Does Stern not get that? What the hell is going on here? What is really going on behind the scenes, because it doesn't make any sense.

Now, the news has come today that Dwight Howard is looking to go the Nets, but he had an illegal meeting with the Nets that his current team, the Orlando Magic, is protesting. Gaaaaaaahhh! But Howard says there was no meeting. Gaaaaaaaaahhhhhhhh! Whatever the case is, it sounds like Superman is going to end up in New Jersey. And Mikhail Prokhorov will have the NBA's best center and second best point guard on his team's roster. Does this make the Nets an Eastern contender? Probably not? But I'd say it makes them a playoff sleeper. Howard carried the Magic to the NBA Championship series with nobody close to as good as Deron Williams as a teammate. You can't underestimate how good those two guys are.

A whooooooole lot happened yesterday. But also, a whole lot didn't happen. Whatever ends up happening, if the NBA season is half as exciting as December 8, I won't be able to stop watching.

UD vs. Alabama: Wooooooooooooooo!

That's the type of fire I've been dying to see from CJ all year.

This will not be a normal recap, cause it's coming the day after the game, but I was shocked (and pumped) to look at my phone and see that Dayton had beaten Alabama by 12. It was not a game I was expecting them to win at all. But in typical Flyer fashion, UD got itself up and played a great game, winning 74-62. Maybe with that type of win, they'll put themselves back on track.

First things first: this performance by UD will be an anomaly for the rest of the season, for a few reasons. Dayton might not shoot 60 percent from the field again, will rarely shoot 50 percent from the three again, and my two keys to the game from yesterday's post actually coming through and being keys to the game will almost certainly never happen again. But it was nice for UD to out-rebound Bama (26-20) and for Chris Johnson to have by far his best game of the season (8-9 fg, 20 points) and make me look like I know what I'm talking about. The best part about CJ's game last night appears to be that of his nine shots, just four of them were threes. So even if he had an off night from beyond the arc (say 1-4) he would have finished with 14. It's pretty simple. When the guy gets inside, he scores more.

Despite the ridiculous shooting percentage, there are things UD did this game that are sustainable, some things that they are perfectly capable of continuing the rest of the season. First is the rebounding margin. They won it. And while neither team grabbed many rebounds in total (a byproduct of UD's 60 percent shooting and Alabama's 50 percent), UD won the battle on the glass. That's important. That's what they need to be doing all the time, especially when A-10 season comes around and they aren't playing teams that are as big as Alabama. The other stat that was great to see was Dayton's 18 assists on the game. Once again, this is a slightly inflated total due to the Flyers' high shooting percentage, but when a team has 18 assists, that means it was moving the ball well all game long. So whether or not the shots are dropping at such a high clip, the offense is working well. You have to be encouraged by a stat like that.

I wasn't expecting Dayton to win this came, and yet, it feels like I should have seen this coming. I mean, isn't this the way UD has been since I can remember? Play well, play poorly on the road, have a good stretch, have a horrible stretch that causes you to scratch your head and wonder why you ever thought they were any good, then win a game against a great opponent. Yeah, that sounds about right. I'm used to that. I wish I wasn't, but I am. After this Bama win, a fan can't help but wonder why Dayton couldn't play like it did against Alabama when it was playing Miami or Buffalo, because 60 percent shooting would not have been necessary to beat either of those teams, and UD would be 8-1, looking great so far. Alas, that's not the way it's been with the Flyers for a long time, and, for now, it looks like us fans are going to have to endure that inconsistency for at least one more year.

From here on out, the non-conference is pretty weak. Dayton plays USC Upstate, Florida International, Seton Hall, Illinois-Chicago and Ole Miss. UD's record in those games absolutely cannot be worse than 4-1, with the one loss allowed against a Seton Hall team that looks...not bad this year. Really, it needs to be a 5-0 stretch. Get through that, then we're into what really matters for Dayton. A huge first game against Saint Louis, the team that has dominated them in recent years. With play like last night, Dayton can continue to make it happen against all these teams.

Dayton vs. Alabama

Fitting that while I'm at work Dayton will be playing the most important game of its non-conference season. So instead of doing a recap, I'm going to try and capture this game before it happens.

First, to make one thing clear. This game wouldn't be the most important for UD if it were not for recent events. Dayton comes into its home contest against Alabama the losers of a surprising two consecutive (bad) games. After an 84-55 loss against Buffalo and a 75-58 loss at Murray State, UD will be playing its marquee non-conference game with its season looking tenuous at best. A win over a top 15 opponent and maybe the Flyers have stopped the bleeding and are getting back on track. A loss? Well, that would mean UD has lost three straight, fallen to 5-4 and officially qualify for "reeling" status. At 5-4 nine games in, nothing short of a spectacular performance in the Atlantic 10 regular season and A-10 Tournament would have Dayton playing in any sort of postseason.

What needs to happen
Dayton's work on the glass needs to improve. Currently Dayton is 226th in the country in rebounds per game. That sits in stark contrast to what we've been accustomed to for Dayton for a long time. They have hung their hat on their rebounding for years. But that has not been the case this season. Alabama, meanwhile, is ranked 42nd in rebounding. UD is going to have to really pick up its effort on the glass if it doesn't want to get run out of the gym giving up offensive rebounds.

Chris Johnson's got to step up. CJ has been lackluster all season long. Even when he's scored, it hasn't been great. CJ has shot 36 percent for the season (34 percent from three), and he's only pulling down five boards a game. In the past, CJ has stepped up big in important games. It would be excellent if Dayton could get another 26 point, 20 rebound-type performance out of Johnson like he delivered against Duquesne two seasons ago. CJ has hit some clutch shots in big moments in the past. That hasn't been a factor this season. He has the talent to be the best player on the court tonight, but he's going to have to play a completely different game than we've seen from him this season. He's going to have be aggressive at all times: on the glass, going to the basket and occasionally hitting open shots when they are good ones to take.

Tonight's game is a huge one for the Flyers. They've got to bring their best possible game to the table. We need to see a vs. Pittsburgh-type performance. I'll be hoping to come home to some good news. I'll be rooting for Chris Johnson above all, because he's got to be dying about the way he's been playing so far. Have a good Wednesday, and go Flyers

Heisman heresy

The five finalists for the Heisman Trophy have been announced, and while I realize the Heisman doesn't seem to mean anything to anyone anymore (anyway, anytime, anywhere, anyhow), I still care about the award, if only for the reason that the voters get it wrong about as often as they get it right. Way too often, the Heisman goes to a player who was the leader on the best team in the country (Eric Crouch, Jason White, Troy Smith, to name a few). In pro sports, I believe an MVP voter should take the success of a candidate's team into more consideration. A guy from a playoff team should have a slight edge over a guy who missed the playoffs, because in the pros (for the most part), everyone is good. In college sports on the other hand, we come across all sorts of amazing players on teams that are not quite so amazing. And maybe they don't play as tough of competition as the Jason Whites of the world, but I would still prefer to see them recognized over him.

So I've been excited to see that Robert Griffin III of Baylor is projected to be the winner of this year's Heisman race. RG3 is the quarterback for the Bears, which in most years would be enough to count him out of the Heisman running before the season began. Not in 2011, though. Griffin's numbers are just too gawdy too ignore. RG3's stats this season: 3998 yards, 72.4 completion percentage, 36 touchdowns and six interceptions. Yikes. From looking over the finalists, in my mind there is no question Robert Griffin should win.

What's even more amazing though? If not for injuries, RG3 would have lost my Heisman vote to Oregon running back LaMichael James. James certainly benefits from playing in a high octane offense at Oregon, but even with missing a couple games this year, his numbers are unreal. On just 222 carries (70 less than last year), James rushed for 1646 yards. That is 7.4 yards per carry. That is ridiculous. To add to an already ridiculous running line, James averaged 12.4 yards per reception on the season. You can't help but wonder what those lines would look like had he been around for an entire season. Really, it's a travesty James wasn't invited to the ceremonies, considering his numbers are certainly better than fellow running back Trent Richardson, who had 40 more carries to make his mark.

Really, though, all of that is unimportant. All that matters in this Heisman vote is that Stanford QB Andrew Luck finishes no higher than third (fifth would be my preference, but that won't happen). Luck was a Heisman finalist last year but lost to a guy who deserved it, Cam Newton. As Luck has been lauded as the greatest NFL quarterbacking prospect since Peyton Manning ever since, his status as a great college football player has been inflated. Many "experts" have claimed that Luck is a shoe-in to take home the trophy. If that happens, it would be a disaster. Luck has been worse this season than last in every statistical category to measure quarterbacks other than TDs (35 this year, 32 last). If his season wasn't good enough to win last year, how can it be good enough this year.

If we're getting serious about it, Luck probably shouldn't have even received an invite to New York. Kellen Moore and Russell Wilson have both put together more impressive seasons at the quarterback than Luck has in 2011. They have better completeion percentages, higher yards per attempt fewer interceptions and higher quarterback ratings.

Andrew Luck may be all he's cracked up to be at the professional level. He may give the Colts 15 more years of unbelievable quarterbacking. But in 2011, at the collegiate level, he doesn't stack up. I don't have a vote, but hopefully those that do will use theirs wisely.

Tebow Up

I hated Tim Tebow when he was playing college football. It seemed like he was the only person I heard about on ESPN (when it wasn't time for Brett Favre to come out of retirement again, anyway). I heard about his great leadership, his great faith, I had to listen to the speech he gave to the media after Florida's one loss his senior year, and listen to the halftime scream-fest he laid on his teammates during the national championship game. I was sick of the guy, about as much as I've ever been sick of a sports entity. I was happy when college football ended after Tebow's senior year, because I figured I wouldn't have to hear too much about the guy again. He wasn't a big draft prospect and was not expected to have an impact on the NFL.

Well, it's happening again. All we're hearing about is how great Tebow's leadership is, how his presence has his teammates working and playing harder, how what Tebow and the Broncos are doing right now (five straight wins) is defying everything we thought we knew about being successful in the NFL. You know what, though? This time I'm enjoying it. For whatever reason, Tebow's impact on the game of football this time around is not rubbing me the wrong way. Maybe it's because every Broncos game since he took over has been fun to watch in some way, mainly because they've all been down-to-the-wire type football. If nothing else, Broncos games are exciting. Even when they're low scoring, defensive struggles, with poor offense they manage at least a couple minutes of excitement that Alabama-LSU never could (I shouldn't have brought them up. It's just going to get me upset). Maybe it's because it is immensely enjoyable to watch Merrill Hoge, Trent Dilfer, Trey Wingo and Tim Hasselbeck just sit in the studio and blather on about nothing football related when they try to explain Tebow's winning ways. The fact that he has those clowns tongue-tied is providing some classic entertainment.

Whatever the reason is, I'm on the Tebow Train as it's making its second journey across America. And I gotta say, in an AFC that has exactly zero teams I like, I'll be rooting for the Train to have an extended trip into 2012. Maybe even with a final stop in Indianapolis (no farther though, that place is still reserved for the Pack).

UD at Murray State

I can remember in my freshman year of playing intramural basketball I put together a team of high school friends and a couple guys on the floor. We were not very good, but signed up for the non-competitive league and I figured we'd be a .500-ish team with a shot at winning a game or two in the tournament.

When the season started, things weren't going well. We were a decent enough defensive team (with a little trouble on the glass due to lack of size) but beyond poor offensively. It stemmed from the fact that we were shooting something like 18 percent from the field on the season (if you can believe it, we did not have a statistician on the bench keeping track of things, so I'm guessing at the exact percentage). Sometime during our third or fourth game, Big Rob came up to me and posed the question, "Nate, what can we do man, what can we change up?" To which I responded with something like, "Well, we've got to start hitting some shots, and if we can do that, we'll be okay." This answer aggravated Big Rob, because he had heard it from me more than once before. He told me that there had to be something else, I couldn't just keep blaming our inability to score on our poor shooting. I couldn't come up with anything else good for him on the spot there, because, plain and simple, in basketball, if you aren't getting good shots and just not making them, there's not much to be done about it, I thought. Later on I came up with the brilliant solution: stop shooting. Take it to the hole, try and post up some, maybe get a foul call (an excellent idea in intramurals especially, whose officials are dreadful). Did we end up winning the championship that season? No, not even close. But with an offense that scored every now and again, we were competitive in our games and enjoying ourselves. All because of a simple thought: teams that don't shoot well shouldn't shoot the ball.

I couldn't help but revisit this thought as I watched Murray State pull away from Dayton in the second half of their game Sunday. As UD put up brick after brick (with a few airballs sprinkled in for good measure), it became painfully obvious what needed to happen; Dayton needed to have been goign to the hoop all game long. By the time anyone figured that out (Josh Benson), it was too late. Thanks to another poor effort defensively, Dayton went down badly on the road, 75-58.

The Good
Josh Benson. The big man was the only positive to take away from Sunday afternoon's game. Not even the blue away jerseys could make up for what was happening on the court. But Benson played a nice game, and had an especially good second half. The redshirt junior was 8-8 from the field, 1-1 from the foul line and finished with 17 points and six boards. Benson did most of his work around the rim, but also stepped away from the basket and hit a couple mid-range jumpers. He was the only Dayton player that had an interest in going inside, which was a good thing, because Benson knew he had a mismatch in the paint. Murray State is a good team, but severely lacking in size, and Dayton needed to take better advantage of that throughout. Benson did, so he gets some kudos. UD will need Benson to be aggressive on offense like he was in this game, but to be able to do it against better big men as well.

The Bad
Chris Johnson. One of Dayton's biggest problems as a team right now is that it only has nine scholarship players. That means that guys who are doing nothing on the court, like Luke Fabrizius, Josh Parker and yes, CJ, still have to get some playing time for sheer lack of bodies. I don't even recognize Chris Johnson anymore. He isn't shooting well, only shoots threes (1-8 from the field Sunday, 0-6 from three with an airball), does not hustle like he used to, does not rebound like he used to, isn't getting to the foul line, and when he does, not shooting them as well as he has throughout his career. It's mind-boggling. Really, it's sad, because CJ was one of my favorite Dayton players ever. Great athlete, hustles like crazy, decent scorer, makes plays all over the court that take your breath away (I never said "wow" about somebody's rebounding til I saw CJ. I imagine him at UD was like watching Rodman in the prime of his career on the glass), plays with no regard for his own body and is a quiet guy who is not looking to show the other team up when he makes a good play. Aside from the quiet part, CJ is none of those things anymore. I don't know what to do about it. I hope Archie Miller has a good idea soon.

The Defense. UD gave up 75 more points. They've now let up 75 to Murray State, 70 to Minnesota, 72 to Miami, 76 to Wake Forest and 84 to Buffalo. Part of Sunday's problems came from the fact that the Racers were on fire in the second half. But UD's defense was bad all the same. They didn't hustle to get out on shooters, and they got buried by long-range shooting in the second half. The real problem is that this seems to be the rule rather than the exception. UD's defense is just not very good, and the players aren't talented enough on offense to consistently score in the 70s and 80s. If the D doesn't improve, UD's losing streak will grow.

The Coaching. In the first half, the Flyers were a not-too-shabby 10-22 from the field. They were 2-10 from the three point line. That means they were 8-10 from inside the arc. How did Archie Miller not show that stat to his players in the locker room at halftime, circled about 1000 times, and scream, "Get the damn ball inside!"? I'll never know. What I do know, is that UD decided to take that information and shove it right in our faces, as they came out and put on a clinic in the second half, going 1-11 on three-pointers. This is a very simple concept. When you aren't shooting well, you don't keep shooting. Dayton hasn't been poor from beyond the arc this season, but its last several games have started a declining trend in shooting percentage (only against Minnesota has Dayton shot three-pointers well in its last four games).

Quitting? While watching Murray State pull away in the second half, I started rationalizing out loud with my dad. Murray State is a pretty good team, after all. They will have a great shot at an NCAA Tournament berth out of the Ohio Valley Conference, like they do every year. It was an away game, and UD is typically bad away from home. And Murray State shot well, making this a loss that was not really unexpected. It still didn't feel good, but I could understand it. Then, as Murray State scored an easy basket to make its lead 17 or 19 in a game that still had about eight minutes left, my dad muttered, "This team quits." Those words have been killing me since. Is he right? In the last two games, he has been. UD quit in the first half against Buffalo, and definitely shut it down in the second half at Murray State. In case you didn't know, that's not a quality to be excited about. It's a quality to be abhorred. The Brian Gregory/Chris Wright version of Dayton basketball had tons of flaws, but heart was never one of them. I'm not willing to say this teams lacks heart already, but that thought has entered my mind (thanks, Dad). Next time UD has a slow stretch that ends up in a big lead for its opponent, keep your eyes peeled. Dayton didn't care for the final 10 or so minutes against Murray State. That kind of shit can't ever happen again.

UD vs. Buffalo: Ouch

Can you see how PW's not happy? Well that's because UD just lost by 29 at home.

In my last post I touched on how sometimes a team can look really good and despite how excited you might be about how well they played, that will not be case for most of the season. Well, if Wednesday's game against Buffalo (AT HOME) was any indication, then we may have seen the best UD is capable of in the Old Spice Classic Finals against Minnesota. Even if that game wasn't UD's best effort, let's hope this one was the absolute worst.

This game was, in every sense of the word, ugly. Similar to Duke at Ohio State the night before, UD was dismantled and embarrassed in every facet of the game, from start to finish. The only differences between UD and Duke were (a)Duke did close the gap once in the first half, UD didn't, and (b)Dayton got stomped AT HOME.

The Good
Yeah...uh...

The Bad
The defense. UD gave up 85 points to Buffalo. The Flyers gave up 46 points in the second half on 60 percent shooting. They were outrebounded by 21. They gave up 15 offensive boards. They were out-hustled to loose balls. They were lazy all game long, and never got out to defend Zach Filzen, who was on fire, but benefited from having open look after open look.

The offense. Dayton scored 11 points in the first 15 minutes of the game. Kevin Dillard was 4-10 from the field, and he was a bright spot. Matt Kavanaugh went 3-8, Josh Parker 2-8, Josh Benson 1-5, Chris Johnson 4-15 and Paul Williams 0-3 (3 shots! All game! From your starting two-guard!).

Chris Johnson. It probably doesn't seem like there could be any more bad from this game if the offense and defense were bad. That makes up just about the entirety of a basketball game. But CJ is getting special treatment tonight, because I don't know what the hell is wrong with him. He led Dayton in scoring with 12 points tonight, that doesn't sound terrible. Until you realize that he was 4-15 from the field in scoring those twelve points. Which must mean...you guessed it! All of CJ's 12 points came from behind the three-point line. He was 4-10, which is actually an okay percentage (for now let's not worry about the fact that 10 threes is waaayyy too many for him to be shooting in one game, especially if he's not on fire). "But wait," you're probably thinking, "if he was 4-10 from three and 4-15 for the game, that must mean..." Right again! CJ managed to go 0-5 from inside the arc, including a couple missed layups. He's not even getting it done on the glass these days (three rebs against Buffalo), which used to be the go-to part of his game if he was struggling offensively. I can't tell if CJ is just in a funk to start the season, he doesn't like Archie Miller's system and is playing poorly because of it, or has decided that being an English teacher is more interesting to him. Whatever the problem is, CJ's game needs some major work right now. And after watching that performance, so does the entire Dayton team.

A Word of Warning to Thad and the Buckeye Faithful

Last night Ohio State absolutely destroyed Duke in basketball. Duke played so poorly that Coach K gave up on his starters and opted to play Quinn Cook, Josh Hairston and Michael Gbinije for essentially the entire second half. But make no mistake about that; Ohio State looked good. Unfortunately, it's not going to last.

In fact, Ohio State probably just played its best game of the season. Remember last year, when Wisconsin (at that point the second best team in the Big 10) visited OSU and got romped by 30, as Jon Diebler and crew banged home three-ball after three-ball after three-ball? Gus Johnson was absolutely beside himself. Well, that type of performance had not happened for the Buckeyes up to that point in the season, and they never repeated it. Despite hitting 312 threes and scoring 93 points against Wisconsin (I know that doesn't seem like it adds up, but you're just going to have to take my word for it), OSU struggled shooting in its final game of the season, losing 62-60 to Kentucky in the Sweet 16.

What's the point here? That the game against Wisconsin was an anomaly, even amid the incredible season Ohio State had last year. So was last night's game against Duke. Last night, William Buford shot the worst percentage of any Ohio State player to see the floor (not surprising). He went 8-15. Everyone else was better than that. Sorry, that's not happening again. DeShaun Thomas will not go 8-12 more than one more time this season. The performance, while impressive, is simply not sustainable.

And I'm not just hating because it was Duke that Ohio State beat and I'm mad about it (I am). I've seen the same type of scenario play out at Duke before. I know it can't last. In the 2005-06 season, Duke had one of its greatest regular seasons since I've been alive. Led by J.J. Redick and Shelden Williams, Duke went into the NCAA Tournament with 30-3 record and had been unbelievable to watch all year. They had the national player of the year in Redick (averaging 26.8 points per game that year) and the best center in the country in Williams (first team All-American, 18.8 ppg, 10.7 rpg, 3.8 bpg). Around those guys Duke had a bunch of role players who contributed enough on offense and weren't liabilities on defense, so Duke kept winning. If you think about it, that is essentially Ohio State's makeup this year, with them having maybe three big offensive threats (definitely Sullinger and Buford, maybe Craft) and then good rl players. In 05-06, Duke was tearing people apart to start the year, but none of them was like the 97-66 thrashing Duke administered to Texas (ranked No. 2 in the nation at the time) in its ninth game of the season (this was OSU's seventh). I can still remember watching that game and thinking, "Duke is unreal. How are they ever going to lose?" But you know what? They did lose that season. And they never quite looked the same as they did against Texas. Because that was just one of those games where everything was falling. Redick was pulling up in transition from 30 feet away and hitting any shot he took. Williams was unstoppable inside on both ends of the court. It just wasn't the way anyone could possibly play for 35-or-so games in a row.

Here's where the similarities between that Duke team and this Ohio State one get scary. During last night's telecast, Dan Shulman made mention of the fact that with about seven minutes to play, Craft and Buford had not come out of the game, and Sullinger had sat for just a minute. Head coach Thad Matta had only used seven players up to that point. In 05-06, Redick averaged 37 minutes per game and Williams 33 (this number would have been higher if not for Williams' bad habit of getting into foul trouble). Basically, those guys were out there all the time. And by the end of the year? They were worn out. Plain and simple. Redick worked harder than any player I've ever seen to get open. His motor never stopped. by the end of the season though, he didn't have the legs to drain the threes like before. Williams' body had taken a beating for an entire season inside the paint, and it wasn't in the same shape it was months before. That year, Duke had just seven players average more than six minutes a game (sound familiar?). The result was a phenomenal regular season, a 1-1 record against North Carolina, an ACC Tournament Championship, and then a 62-54 loss in the Sweet 16 to Tyrus Thomas, Glen Davis and an energetic LSU team. Duke had completely run out of gas. Those 54 points were the team's lowest offensive output of the season by 10.

There was nothing left in the tank for Duke in 05-06. With the way Aaron Craft never stops hustling, the way Jared Sullinger takes a beating on the interior, and the way William Buford is running around on offense, getting open or creating his own shot, the same will happen to them. The Buckeyes looked as good as a college team can Tuesday night, but if Thad Matta doesn't start giving them some breathers, it will all come to a screeching halt.

UD vs. Minnesota: Where did this come from?

After a disappointing loss at Miami, it has been good, good, and more good for the Dayton Flyers, who took home the Old Spice Classic championship with a relatively easy 86-70 win over Minnesota. This was a game I was expecting Dayton to lose, so what happened that they were in control? For starters, it was one of those games that UD seems to have every year where they play to their full potential and look phenomenal (think like their 28-point win over Charlotte two years ago or the 30-point victory over Pitt from four years back). But there was more to it than that. Let's look a bit deeper.

The Good
Kevin Dillard. Kevin Dillard. Kevin. Dillard. Dillard delivered the best game from a UD guard since Brian Roberts was running the show at UD, and from a pure point-guard perspective, it was probably better than what Roberts could muster (B-Rob always had to be looking to score more, so this isn't to take anything away from him). Dillard tallied 19 points, 10 assists, seven steals (SEVEN!) and three blocks, and was efficient doing it, going 6-12 from the field. What's more, is Dillard was in complete control of the game while he was on the court. It really was pretty amazing to watching him from the second portion of the first half on. He was just so calm and smooth, doing what he wanted, much in the same way Chris Paul or Steve Nash manage a game. From watching, you got the sense he was going to score or find someone for an open shot every possession. It was amazing.

Devin Oliver. Oliver's line from Sunday: 14 minutes, 0-1 from the field, zero points, seven rebounds, one assist, one steal, one turnover, four fouls. So why was he good? Because Oliver appears to understand and accept what his role on the team is currently: come in as a seventh or eighth man and hustle his ass off. Don't be a defensive liability, and grab some rebounds. And if you watched the game Sunday, you would have seen Oliver all over the place. He gave maximum effort at all times (probably why he managed the four fouls in just 14 minutes). He deferred to his teammates on offense, and it resulted in him playing good minutes in the second half. Perhaps there will come a time when UD needs Oliver to step up on offense, but for now, what he's doing is great.

The blue uniforms. I'm hoping I get to see these blue unis more over the rest of the season. I thought it was so cool to see UD playing in the school's color blue. There was nothing special about those unis as far as color scheme or design, but they looked great, and Dayton ran the table in them while in Florida. It is reminiscent of their run through the 2010 NIT wearing the black uniforms. Keep those coming back on the road, Archie.

The Bad
This is somewhat of a nit-picky bad since UD didn't really need him to be great in this game, but Paul Williams only scored eight points against Minnesota, going 2-9 from the field. So far, PW has been UD's best player (with Dillard probably taking that spot over after this tournament), but he has been inconsistent this year. Williams' scoring so far this year: 15, 20, 5, 18, 5, and 8. It should be noted that two of his single-digit performances came in games where UD didn't need him as badly, but still, it is important for the senior to be delivering in double figures just about every game. And if he doesn't score 10 or more, it needs to be because he took less shots, not because PW put up a line like 2-9.

So UD will come back to town an encouraging 5-1 to a very appreciative fan base. Things will not get any easier for Dayton, though. After a home game against Buffalo, UD has its two toughest (and therefore most important) non-conference games: at Murray State and at home against No. 12 Alabama. The nation took notice of UD after this weekend, but a 2-0 stint in those games would really turn some heads. With the fact that the A-10 is looking pretty strong in the early season, UD is going to need to keep on playing strong basketball to keep up. Still, there is plenty of reason to be excited about what Dayton has done so far. The players have bought into Miller's system, are playing hard and winning games. You can't ask for much more.

Smörgåsbord Saturday: Dayton Flyers, NFL and the NBA returns

Given my work schedule this week, there was a lot I wanted to write about today, so this will be the first Smörgåsbord Saturday, a column where I write shorter bits about a bunch of different things. If all goes according to plan, I'll produce a smörgåsbord every Saturday. There will at least be one every couple. Right, let's get to it.

Dayton survives again
First things first. The UD basketball won another game in the Old Spice Classic, advancing to the finals of the early-season tournament with a 56-49 win over Fairfield. Fairfield the winner of the MAAC last season, is a team that many casual fans have never heard of, but make no mistake. This is a good win for UD, even though it won't show up on any late-season resumes of what UD has done so far. I was unable to watch the game, much to my disappointment, but the texts I received about the proceedings indicated that UD did not play especially well. The fact that they scored just 56 points would appear to support that opinion, since it is UD's lowest offensive output so far by 11 points. Chris Johnson played another poor game, scoring just five points and attempting just two two-point shots (again). Paul Williams had his worst game so far. The bright spots for Dayton were Matt Kavanaugh (again!) grabbing double-digit rebounds and (sigh) Josh Parker. Parker (who I'm working on a nickname for) scored 13 in the first half and was the reason Dayton was in the game. This is the type of performance we'll see from Parker three to five times a year, much like Charles Little before him. A few times a year, all the bad shots he puts up will drop, and he will have an excellent game. Hopefully, those games continue to come for Parker when the other players are struggling like they were Friday.
Next up for UD is Minnesota, a game that I think will be extremely difficult for Dayton to win. Minnesota is nothing special this season, but the Gophers boast plenty of size that I believe will bother UD on defense and not be stopped on offense. Kavanaugh and Josh Benson will need to have career days defensively to keep up on the glass and in the low-post.

Turkey Day Football
There were some interesting games happening on Thanksgiving Day in the NFL, and the one that seemed the least interesting going in ended up being the most interesting. So what did we learn? The Lions are not a threat come playoff time, even though they will still probably make the postseason. They were dismantled by the Packers. The Cowboys are almost certain to win the NFC East now, but are also almost certain to lose in the Wildcard round of the playoffs to some inferior team. They just aren't that good. The 49ers are not explosive enough to win unless they win the turnover battle significantly. And the Ravens? They are my new pick to win the Super Bowl. Because despite losses to Tennessee, Jacksonville and Seattle, the Ravens have shown that those were instances of them just shutting it down because they don't care about weak opponents. When they get up for game (which they will in the playoffs) they're incredible. The defense is absolutely ravenous. I think it's good enough to beat Green Bay.

Congrats to members of the 2011 NBA Draft
Can't help but feel happy for guys like Nolan Smith, Norris Cole and Kyle Singler. They were all drafted into decent-to-good situations, and then had to sit by and do nothing while waiting for the NBA to come up with a new CBA. What were guys like Cole, a Cleveland State grad and late-first round pick, doing during all that time? He wasn't collecting any money from his contracts, we know that much. Well, Norris, you can get excited, finally. The NBA appears to have a deal set, and that means you can start collecting some big-boy checks, as well as begin your campaign for the Miami Heat starting point guard position (which you'll probably have on lockdown before season's end). Have fun throwing oops to Lebron and D-Wade. Bring back the flat top with that awesome fade, and try to get the rest of your team to employ it on their domes as well. That's just the type of thing that could get the public back on the Heat's side. How could we not root for a team that is all rocking the 80's flat top?

Happy Saturday. Ohio State is actually playing Michigan close. A nice surprise for all the Ohio people I know on a nice Saturday.

UD vs. Wake Forest

In its first game of the Old Spice Classic, UD matched up with Wake Forest, a team from the ACC that has been stuck in struggsville ever since Chris Paul left. And in a very winnable game that would also look decent on a resume for the Flyers (at a neutral site), UD picked up an 80-76 win and improved to 3-1 on the year. It was an important win for Dayton to get, and even had Paul shaking his head afterwards. Is it just me or is it kinda cool that CP3 was watching that game, and still actually cares about what's going on with his former school?

Reaction
This was a big one for UD. After a poor performance in their only game away from UD Arena on the season, I was a bit nervous about what the Flyers might do. What they did was not great, giving up 76 points, but in the end you've got to be happy with a nice win. If UD can consistently beat team's of Wake's caliber, they're going to have a pretty good record come the end of the year and will be top 5 in the A-10. UD outrebounded Wake 43-31, meaning Dayton has won the rebounding numbers in every game this year. That's a good stat to see. Controlling the glass is extremely important.

The Good
Matt Kavanaugh. Who saw this coming? Kav, after being on of the softest, slowest big men I can remember seeing (maybe he would beat Kenny George in a foot race?), has now had two great games this year for UD. He led the way for Dayton today, scoring 15 points and 13 rebounds. He went 3-3 from the foul line. He had three assists to go with three turnovers (not bad for a center). I didn't think Kavanaugh was ever going to be a guy that was delivering significant numbers, but he just may be proving me wrong this year (I hope so). Kav's line against Wake is more exciting than his numbers against Western Illinois, because Wake boasts a bigger set of big men, who would therefore (theoretically) offer up more resistance. But he still delivered.

Paul Williams. P-dub has been UD's best player through its first four games and continued his high level of play. After a forgettable first half, PW stepped up big in the second and started knocking down shots. He finished the game 5-15, but was 0-7 in the first half. So when the Flyers needed him, he was there to deliver. Paul also had three assists to just one turnover, and had two steals to add to his line as well. Without Williams, UD is certainly 2-2 on the year, and the loss to Miami would have looked much worse. If a couple other players (read below) can get up a bit closer to PW's level right now, UD will really start clicking on offense.

Josh Parker only playing 13 minutes. This is an extremely encouraging sign from Archie Miller in the early stages of the season. Simply put, Parker had been the worst Dayton player on the court through three games, so Miller cut his time back. He still managed to go 0-5 from the field in those 13 minutes, so don't expect him to get much more PT anytime soon. And UD will be better off for it.

Foul Shooting. UD went 15-17 from the charity stripe in this game. Wait a second, that can't possibly be correct. Let me check that again (consulting box score...). Huh. Supposedly UD went 15-17 from the foul line in this game. And 2012 is just around the corner? Uh oh.

The Bad
Chris Johnson. I am getting dangerously close to giving up on CJ as a threat to score inside the three-point line. CJ went 3-10 from the field and 2-8 from beyond the arc. How can that guy only be attempting two two-point shots in an entire game? He wasn't in foul trouble, so he got his normal minutes. He went 4-4 from the foul line in this game to get him to 12 points. Why is he only attempting four foul shots in a game?!?! He is a borderline 90 percent free throw shooter in his career, CJ needs to be doing everything he can to get to the line. He can get so many free points there! And I hate to break it to you CJ, but you're going to have to start slashing, cause there just aren't as many shooting fouls on the perimeter.

Not much else bad is coming from this game. The defense of course needs significant improvement, but we've all heard enough about that already. Next up is the semis of the Old Spice Classic, against Fairfield of the MAAC, a pretty weak-looking conference so far this year. Fairfield beat Arizona State in the first round, which is the type of result we can't glean anything from. ASU looked horrible.

A duo of playoff trios?

We're past all the bye weeks in the NFL; from here on out, every team will play in each of the next six weeks, and their playoff fates will be decided. The final third of this year's season presents a very unique playoff scenario: a real chance to have three teams representing the same division on both sides of the playoff bracket. A funny coincidence that adds to the potential rarity of this situation is that both divisions happen to be the North division in their respective conferences. As the standings sit today, post week-11 results, the Packers, Bears and Lions would all make the playoffs from the NFC North, and the Steelers, Ravens and Bengals would all make the playoffs from the AFC North.

Now, how rare is this, really? Turns out, it's happened once before, in 2007. That year the Cowboys, Giants and Redskins all made the playoffs from the NFC East while the Colts, Jaguars and Titans all made the playoffs from the AFC South. Despite the fact this has happened so recently, it is the only instance I was able to uncover of this happening. Will it happen a second time this year? Unfortunately, probably not.

At 6-4, the Bengals are the least likely of the AFC North teams to make the playoffs, especially having lost their first matchup against both the Steelers and Ravens despite being competitive in both games. Standing in their way for the wildcard spot other than the one the Ravens are assumed to get are the Jets (5-5), Titans (5-5), and Broncos (5-5). The other AFC West teams have an outside shot at a playoffs spot as well. Unfortunately for Cincy, their schedule closing out is pretty tough. They still have games in Pittsburgh, and at home against Houston and Baltimore. If they don't win their other three games and at least one of those, their playoff chances are kaput at 9-7. According to ESPN's playoff machine, the only filter in which the Bengals will make the playoffs is if home teams win the rest of the season (not very reliable). The Jets look like the best bet to make the playoffs, with a weaker schedule than the other teams involved, and a team that really should be the best of the group (but often hasn't been, as evidenced by that Thursday night loss to Denver). Their only remaining game against a team with a winning record will be at home against the Giants. The Jets do have to get through two trap games at Philly and at Miami to close the season, but bet on seeing them still playing come January.

As for the NFC playoffs picture, it is a bit more murky. You can write the Packers and 49ers into the 1 and 2 seeds right now, assuming a key player does not get injured in the next few weeks. The Saints look like a good bet to win the South, and either the Cowboys or Giants ought to claim the East division. That leaves the Cowboys/Giants loser (currently both 6-4), Bears, Lions and Falcons, with a way-way-way outside shot for the Eagles, Buccaneers and Seahawks. The Lions and Bears are the best two teams in that group, and that is why they have the best records of that group at 7-3 each. Unfortunately, both teams are dealing with injuries right now. The Lions haven't had Jahvid Best for three weeks, and the Bears just lost Jay Cutler for the rest of the regular season (or maybe not, the doctors say he might be back sooner. I have no idea what the hell is going on with all of that nonsense. I don't even get why a broken thumb requires surgery. Can't you just set it and take it easy for several weeks? Someone who knows more than me about this, enlighten me please). That leaves a huge question mark, especially for the Bears, who still have to travel to Oakland, Denver, and Green Bay before the year is over. Can they win those with Caleb Hanie? He played decent in the playoffs game last year, but it was mostly the Bears defense that dominated. They are going to have to really step up for a six-game stretch now.

The Best injury doesn't concern me for the Lions quite as much as their schedule does. Detroit still has two games to play against Green Bay as well as games at New Orleans, at Oakland and home against San Diego. I don't think 9-7 will cut it this year for a wildcard in the NFC, so the Lions will have to finish 3-3. With those teams comprising five of their six remaining games, it will not be easy.

Meanwhile, the Falcons have a tough remaining schedule as well traveling to New Orleans and Houston, as well as a game at Carolina that should be tough, given that the Panthers play just about everybody tight. The big advantage Atlanta has is they beat Detroit in week seven. If the Falcons can manage to finish the season at 10-6, they would likely beat out the Lions for a playoff spot (or obviously the Bears could just disintegrate making that tiebreaker meaningless. The point is an NFC North team would be gone.)

As for the Giants and Cowboys, they still have to play each other twice. The Giants' other games are much tougher, with matches against Green Bay and at the Jets still to play. The Cowboys' toughest remaining game aside from the Giants ones figures to be a home game against Philadelphia. Dallas is certainly the favorite to win the division right now, but I don't see the second place team in the division being a factor for the playoffs. It is extremely unlikely both of these teams make it to 10-6, and if they do, the Lions have a tiebreaker on the Cowboys due to their head-to-head win in week 4.

In the NFC, three from the North in the playoffs is still very much in play. It appears to rest on the shoulders of Caleb Hanie and whether he can keep the Bears afloat. He and Matthew Stafford both have a game's advantage on the field. They need to treat the rest of this season like both men should be treating every snap in a game: protect the ball, protect the lead, don't turn it over, play a steady, solid game. Their teammates are good enough to get them the rest of the way there.

A UD In-betweener

A rough weekend work schedule kept me from being able to see Dayton play in their game against UNC-Wilmington. It also kept me from getting much writing in, so I'm not going to focus as much on that game, but more what it could mean going forward for the Flyers.

Reaction
When I got home from work on Saturday after the UD game and spoke to my mom about it (she had attended the game) all she could do was shake her head. Evidently UNCW was about as bad as can be. A look at the box score doesn't make them look much better than she indicated. They scored just 49 points, shot 35 percent from the field, attempted just nine free throws all game, and had 19 turnovers to 11 assists. All this coming against a UD defense that could be generously called a work in progress. So lets get that out of the way first: UD's two wins have been against teams that they absolutely had to beat. And they did. Badly. The encouraging aspect of this game was that Chris Johnson finally showed up, scoring 19 points. Of course, 15 of those 19 points came from beyond the arc, which is not where CJ should be spending most of his time. What was discouraging about this game is that it seems if UD had been able to play as well against Miami as they did against both UNCW and Western Illinois, they would be 3-0 right now. A team has got to be able to bring it's "A" game every time. Especially these Flyers, who are not going to be able to survive in the Atlantic 10 if they turn in lackluster performances on the road.

Looking Ahead
As Dayton moves forward, we ought to get a look at what we'll see the rest of the year. They have a neutral-site game against Wake Forest (very winnable, Wake Forest should be bad again), home against Buffalo (better be a W) and an away game at Murray State (a perennially tough mid-major school that should be a tough test) and then their premiere non-conference game of the year, at home against no. 15 Alabama.

Dayton could easily go 1-3 in that stretch; two games away from UD Arena, and one against a strong opponent they are not expected to beat. The games against Wake Forest and Murray State will be a key primer for the rest of UD's season. Will the Flyers be able to take care of business outside of Dayton? The past couple years the answer has been no, and it has meant mediocre results and disappointment for Dayton. If UD can manage to come away from this four-game stretch with a record of 5-2, then perhaps UD fans will have something to be excited about. If they play poorly like they did against Miami, then things will be set early for Dayton this year: no NCAA, no NIT, no CBI, maybe no A-10 Tournament.

Buckle up, it's going to be a big couple weeks.

Lockout angst: When did baseball become the good example?

It doesn't feel like all that long ago when baseball had an awful strike, missed a ton of time, and alienated many of its fans into jumping ship because they didn't want to deal with these rich guys' "problems" anymore.

For a modern example of what happened to the MLB in 1994-95, look no further than what Netflix has done the past five months, or what the NBA is trying to do as we speak. Both are excellent emulations of that less-than-excellent situation from 16 years ago in baseball.

So after all the messy news about the NFL lockout and among all the messy news about the NBA lockout (which is looking about as bad as Jared Leto's face in Fight Club), it was almost impossible to believe that I could be reading this.

According to the report, Major League Baseball has reached a verbal labor agreement between the players and owners for when their current deal runs out in...DECEMBER. Wait, What? They're allowed to negotiate and be productive before the current deal runs out? That's so weird, cause I would have thought if that was the case the NFL and NBA might have taken advantage of some negotiating sessions before they actually entered the lockout phase.

Since when did the MLB start setting the good example? This post comes on the heels of what I wrote about yesterday, when they made more good moves (adding more teams to the playoffs and moving the Astros to the AL). Sure, basketball and football were facing bigger issues that needed working out when they came out of their most recent labors deals than baseball is. But come on. This is the way this stuff is supposed to go down. Some smart people get together who understand what is going on, talk it out, and come up with a new deal. You don't get petty and take potshots at each other in between negotiations, offer deals that you know aren't going to be accepted because they are unreasonable, and wait forever to actually negotiate in earnest. If you'd have told me five years ago that in 2011 we would have three separate labor negotiations happen, that two of them would go poorly and one would go well, I would have never guessed the good would have come from baseball. If you'd have told me baseball would do a better job than the NBA or especially the NFL, I would have called you an idiot.

But here we are, in 2011, and the MLB appears to have done a good job making sure it can hang onto the momentum it gained from a phenomenal close to the regular season, phenomenal playoffs and PHENOMENAL World Series. NFL, NBA, you should be ashamed of yourselves. Your ne'er-do-well older brother just got called into the game and won the town over because you two were unavailable. Make sure you don't do this again, or Hockey just may slip on by you as well.

Major MLB Moves

Alliteration aside, there are some crazy changes coming to Major League Baseball.

ESPN.com is reporting that the Houston Astros will be moving to the AL, two more wildcard spots will be added to the playoffs, and interleague play will be extended, all within the next two years. This is all coming on the heels of the sale of the Astros being finalized, and is going to make baseball look lot different, but not necessarily better.

The Houston Astros will be moving to the AL. This one actually makes sense. What doesn't make sense is why one more team hadn't been in the American League for all this team. I never understood why the AL had 14 teams to the NL's 16. It really didn't work out well for interleague play, during which two NL teams would still be playing a regular game. It was just weird. Now, theoretically, the MLB can schedule 15 interleague matchups at a time. Presumably, the Astros will join the currently-four member AL West, and that will be a good division for them, potentially creating a rivalry between them and the Rangers (if the Astros can improve a lot, obviously) in the future.

Fast forward really quickly to the third thing I mentioned, the extension of interleague play. This is the only real negative aspect of the Astros moving to the AL: it forces the MLB's hand in having interleague play throughout the season. An odd number of teams in each league (15) won't work for having all the games be AL-AL and NL-NL. Still, this is a small and necessary evil. More interleague play will not effect the outcome of the season for teams. Baseball will still be a sport in which if you are winning more than your division opponents, you will beat them to the postseason.

The second move doesn't make as much sense to me. One more wildcard spot will be added to each side of the playoffs, giving us 10 total teams to make the playoffs. While the idea of adding more teams to the playoffs is exciting to me, thinking about creating a fair playoff system for five teams on one side of the bracket makes my head hurt. Evidently, it made the MLB bigwigs' heads hurt as well, because supposedly the most likely playoff scenario is to have the two teams from each league that do not win their division (the two wildcard teams) play a one-game, winner-take-all playoff, and then the rest of the playoffs looking like they do now. Basically, its the same as the NCAA's former "Opening Round game" between the 64 and 65-seeds of the tournament.

Unfortunately, baseball is the worst game imaginable to have one game decide so much, and the reason for that is simple: in every other sport, everyone a coach expects to play in a playoff series would play in game one. In baseball, that is not the case. In baseball, the most important player on the field on a given day is the pitcher, and only one of them can play at a time. A one-game playoff would not prove anything about which team was better. And this is different than deciding which team will make it to the playoffs when two teams finish with the same record at the end of the season. In the new format, both teams would have been deemed playoff teams; in the old one, neither of them were. In the old format, it was considered a regular season game; in the new one, its a postseason game. And to let so much ride on which team has a better ace, or which pitchers is feeling better that particular day, or which infielder makes an error on that particular day, is ludicrous. To make matters worse, the team that won the series would be at a significant disadvantage heading into their divisional round matchup. Presumably, they would have started their ace in the play-in game, and then would not be able to start him twice in a five-game divisional series. It would effectively be a penalty game for "being good enough to make the playoffs, but not good enough to win your division."

"We believe after a lot of study and a lot of thought that the addition of two wildcards will really help us in the long run," was what commish Bud Selig had to say of the move. And while the thought of Selig thinking for a long time about anything makes me nervous, I agree with him in this case. Just not if he's going to make a joke out of bringing those extra two teams in by screwing them and the other wildcard teams over.

UD at Miami (Ohio)

After a pretty damn encouraging win over Western Illinois where a whole lot more looked good than bad, UD made sure not to let any of its fans get their hopes up with a 72-67 overtime loss to Miami.

Reaction
Ugh pretty much sums it up. Despite playing without Chris Johnson for the entire first half, UD was holding a five to seven point lead on the Redhawks for most of the frame. They extended it to five (and trust me, five points felt like a significant amount for some reason) but could not put Miami away. In the end, Charlie Coles and crew got away with a W that should have been UD's by 10 in regulation. Dayton's players and coaches did not execute down the stretch, so they are riding the bus home a disappointing 1-1.

The Good
Paul Williams. The player everyone at UD has been waiting to take off didn't necessarily do so tonight, but he had a great game. Williams was 8-13 from the field and 4-6 from three, with some of those shots coming in big moments in a close game. He finished the game with 20 points to lead all scorers. Perhaps most shocking of all, he was aggressive on offense, looking for his own shot. It was like PW knew the Flyers needed him to carry them, so he obliged. You watch a game like this from Williams and wonder why he doesn't score 14 a game. I know he's not going to go 4-6 from three every game, but the way he went to the basket at times and created open looks for himself on the perimeter? He displayed an arsenal tonight. It would be great if that arsenal didn't just show up every now and again throughout this season.

The Bad
Kevin Dillard after the first few minutes. Yeah, there wasn't much good to this one. Dillard was looking like a star in the early going, converting two and-1s early on and managing the game well. He made a couple nice plays late going to the bucket, but a quick glance at his stat sheet shows that it wasn't Dillard's greatest night. He scored 11 points, but went just 4-12 from the field (two bad shooting nights in a row for him). He had six assists, but six turnovers to go with them (unacceptable for a starting point guard. Even if he had 20 assists, six TOs is too many). Not to mention he made the final turnover of the game, icing it for the Redhawks. I still like this guy, and think he's going to be good for UD, but Tuesday night he brought more negatives than positives to the table.

The big men. Against Western Illinois, Josh Benson and Matt Kavanaugh combined for 36 points and 12 rebounds. Against Miami? 12 and nine. It should be said Miami's big men presented a much bigger challenge for those two than Western Illinois' did. But when a team has two starters combine for 12 points, 9 boards, and have absolutely no answer for the opponents' big man on defense down the stretch, it's time to be worried. Julian Mavunga had a bad game, and still finished with 17. He abused Kavanaugh badly enough to cause Archie Miller to sub him out at the end of the game. When Benson stepped up to guard Mavunga, he was abused as well. Last year Chris Wright guarded Mavunga down the stretch and kept him from scoring for the most part. This time, the Flyers had no one with the right combination of strength and quickness to shut him down. And that's before you factor in the seemingly endless parade of moving screens set by Kavanaugh and Luke Fabrizius. I don't know how a college basketball player can play for 13 years and not know how to set a screen, but neither of those two do.

Archie Miller. Dayton's coach, who I believe has brought a better system into Dayton than the previous one used by Brian Gregory, still made some huge mistakes in the game's final five minutes that could have made the difference in a contest like this one. Dayton got the ball after trading baskets with just over a minute left in a tie game at 59-59, and held onto it for the entire shot clock before not scoring. Miami was able to rebound the ball and then had an opportunity for the last shot of regulation. Miller needed to have his players work more quickly on the possession and put up a shot in the 50-45 second range. That way, UD would be in the driver's seat for the final possession of the game. There is something to be said for getting a good shot, but there's more to be said for your chances of scoring one basket on two possessions instead of one. Then, with UD down two and under a minute left in overtime, Miller was content to play defense. The Redhawks worked the ball to Mavunga, who scored easily and Dayton never recovered. Dayton had to foul in that situation. Up to that point, Miami had been just mediocre from the free throw line. UD could have fouled and forced someone other than Mavunga to beat them. The big man had gotten hot at the end of regulation and in OT, so it was not the right move to allow Miami a chance to give him the ball.

There was plenty of other bad in this game from UD. Chris Johnson was in foul trouble throughout, and limited himself. He can't do that. Not only is he one of UD's better offensive threats, but the team is really poor on the glass without him. CJ needs to be in the game whenever he's not scheduled to be on the bench for a rest. I'd rather the player he's defending score than he pick up a foul to prevent a basket early in a game, like he did Tuesday. Josh Parker continues to be a cancer to UD. He "only" committed five turnovers in this game, but most of his passes were deflected or did not reach the intended target. In an offense that is supposed to flow, Parker brings things to a screeching halt more often than not.

This game was a sad reminder of what UD fans hate to think about: Dayton doesn't have a whole lot to work with this season. Things are going to be tougher than normal for them. In years past, these type of mistakes might have flown more under the radar because UD would have rebounded better or had more players on the bench to step up and contribute. But with so few players available, small mistakes are going to be magnified and more costly. After some high spirits following Western Illinois, it's back to the drawing board after Miami. There is still plenty of time for the Flyers to improve on what they need to, but if they don't improve, that sixth-place preseason projection for the A-10 is going to be way too high.