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.
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