UD vs. Western Illinois

College basketball season is here! And while I'm sure most of the country is more interested in hearing about North Carolina or Kentucky or Ohio State, I don't care about what they're doing at the beginning of the season. It will mostly consist of dismantling weak teams. No, I'd much rather write about my University of Dayton Flyers, the band of lovable underachievers that have (mostly) tortured me since I decided on attending UD. And while my hope is for UD's early season to consist of mostly blowouts based on the team's they'll be playing, that's not likely. Even if the games do play out well for UD, it will be very interesting to see, because UD is sporting a new coach, new offensive system, and a very different cast of players from what they've had in the past. That's why I'll be writing some sort of reaction to every UD game this season (unfortunately I don't get to attend many of them, so these reactions will occasionally have to be based off the radio casts and box scores). And it began today with an 87-58 win over Western Illinois.

Reaction
The game started with UD looking like typical UD: Sloppy at the beginning of the season, playing down to its competition, not playing great defense, getting involved in a closer game than they should be in. The Flyers trailed for much of the first half, but finished strong and took a 41-38 lead into halftime. Obviously giving up 38 points to Western Illinois is horrible, but Dayton corrected a lot of errors in the second half and absolutely dominated, outscoring the Fighting Leathernecks (awesome nickname, by the way, West Ill definitely beats UD out in that category) 46-20.

The thing that kept running through my mind in the second half was how different this seemed from the way UD usually starts the season. As far back as the daytonflyers.com archives go back on men's basketball (the 2004-05 season), this was UD's highest margin of victory in its first regular season game. UD only beat Wofford by three and East Tennessee state by four in a couple recent season-openers. So as far as starting strong, a job well-done by Archie Miller and crew. Now, let's not get carried away. Western Illinois was picked in the preseason to finish ninth in the Summit League, a conference that will only produce one NCAA Tournament team this year through an automatic bid. So UD should have stomped the Leathernecks. But they did, and there's something to be said for taking care of business.

The Good
Josh Benson and Matt Kavanaugh. Is this the first year since Sean Finn that UD will get good play from its frontcourt? Maybe. Benson and Kav were Dayton's two leading scorers, netting 21 and 15 points, respectively (tying a career high for Kav). What's more, they actually looked pretty good doing it. Both displayed a couple post moves, and Kav was all over the offensive glass. I'm not willing to get too excited about these performances yet because (a) once again, the opponent was Western Illinois, starting 6-7 Terrell Parks at center and (b) Kav scored 15 at Seton Hall and looked phenomenal, then disappeared enough that you might not have known he was on the team the rest of the season. I'm excited for both guys, but a bit more optimistic about Benson, who showed more flashes last season. Maybe the new number he's sporting this year will help transform him into the big man UD needs.

Kevin Dillard. Dillard was only 2-8 from the field, but the Flyers' starting point guard (and probably the biggest key to their success this season) dished out nine assists and had zero turnovers in his 19 minutes. Whenever Dillard was running the offense, he looked like he was in complete control of the game as well. He pushed the ball well, penetrated, looked to set his teammates up, and never really got himself into trouble with the ball. I was impressed. If he can ratchet up his offense a bit and go something more like 4-8 in an average game, and still put good assist to turnover numbers, he'll be giving UD exactly what it needs. I'm excited to keep watching Dillard play.

The new offense. With Brian Gregory gone most UD fans knew that the substitutions would drop off significantly. That was also going to be forced on Archie Miller due to his lower number of players this year. But it was still refreshing to see players play extended stretches in the game, and not have guys get yanked while they're in the middle of a hot streak because its their time in the rotation. Based on game one, it appears Miller is looking to use a core of seven players (Benson, Kav, Dillard, Josh Parker, Chris Johnson, Paul Williams, Devin Oliver) with two others filling the gaps and (hopefully) giving quality minutes and the Flyers a little bit different look (Luke Fabrizius and Alex Gavrilovic). I think that is the right way to go. Gavrilovic's minutes were a bit higher in the first game than I suspect Miller would have preferred, but that was more due to Benson getting in foul trouble. Overall, the Flyers' game seemed to have a bit more flow to it. And the weave at the top of the key was never run. Not once.

The Bad
Josh Parker. UD's No. 1 gunner did not look good in this year's debut, much like he didn't look good for the entirety of last season. He scored 11 points, but went 4-9 from the field and 2-7 from the three-point line (he played the most minutes on the team with 30). He doesn't bring much to the table as a point guard (don't let his six assists from this game fool you, that won't happen often) or on defense, so if Parker is not doing well on offense he's more a liability than anything else. I can stomach a 4-9 from him, if it weren't for the fact that most of the misses came from him jacking up a contested, perhaps off-balance three when there is still plenty of time on the shot clock. It sometimes seems like Parker is keeping a running tab in his head, keeping track of his attempts. "Let me think here, I haven't shot our last three possessions. I just got the ball, and I really need to shoot, so I'm not going to worry about passing or creating offense. Better to just duck and chuck. Brick? O well, at least I scratched that itch."

Chris Johnson. The guy who needs to be leading UD in scoring this year with about 16 a game did not play well to open the season. In 25 minutes, Johnson went 3-8 from the field (2-6 from three) and scored eight points. He still delivered a fantastic effort on the glass, leading UD with 10 boards. The real problem I had with Johnson's game today was that he did not make his presence felt in a big way throughout. He sat around the perimeter for too long (as evidenced by him only attempting two two-point shots). He didn't even attempt a foul shot all game, which is where CJ can really get points because he is so excellent at the line. He's got to be more aggressive than that. My heart skipped a beat at one point in the game when UD threw the ball to CJ in the post, and he made a good pass to an open Benson for a jump shot. The shot didn't go in, but it was good offense, and absolutely the type of thing UD needs to be doing with CJ all season. He's a great shooter, but a better athlete. Get him the ball closer the basket every now and again, where contact is more likely, and let him try to make a play. I liked seeing it once this game, and hope to see it more in the future.

Overall, it was an encouraging way for Dayton to start its season. The Flyers are one-for-one in having walk-ons play this season, which is a good indication that you played well. Next up is an entirely different animal. UD will travel to Miami, who they always seem to play terribly (but usually squeak out a win) against. Miami is not expected to be good this year (preseason fourth place in the East division of the Mid-American Conference), but their defense and dictation of pace in games has consistently given UD trouble. We should learn much more about the Flyers in their second game.