2018-19 Pre Season MBB Updates/News
 

Jablonski: UD's Neil Sullivan talked to me about state of @DaytonMBB, scheduling, the A-10, etc. On Anthony Grant, Sullivan said, "He has a maniacal focus on developing our current players and just relentlessly recruiting new talent to the program. He aims high."
https://www.mydaytondailynews.com/sp...mEWLbrEuixfdK/

In response to a tweet about the article. Jablonski says they are dotting the I's and crossing the t's on the schedule and that it should be released soon.

Finally, maybe now we can get on to the up-coming season and leave behind any further discussions about 2018 fellows coming in.

I think AG focus (as well as staff) is to seek out who they can nationally as the article suggests, for the openings in future recruit years (i.e. 2019 and 2020).

These are the players that we need to get inside their minds to start formulating UD BB. Have a time to reflect and listen.

Grant on Matos
https://www.youtube.com/watch?time_c...&v=hQy9yl6GJJQ

Grant on Cohill
https://twitter.com/DaytonMBB/status....5286%2Fpage-7

As Yogi said, It's never over till it's over.

As Flyer Faithful
 

following a 14-17 season we are in a "Show Me" mode rather than a "Tell Me" mode. We'll be hoping and watching.

Non conference schedule being released today.
https://twitter.com/DaytonMBB/status...83324678897664

https://daytonflyers.com/documents/2...n_schedule.pdf

Capital - (ex) UD Arena
North Florida UD Arena
Coppin State # UD Arena
Purdue Fort Wayne UD Arena
2018 Bad Boy Mowers Battle 4 Atlantis Tournament
Butler Nassau, Bahamas 7 p.m.
Virginia/MTSU Nassau, Bahamas 4/9:30 p.m.
TBD Nassau, Bahamas
Mississippi State UD Arena
Detroit Mercy UD Arena
Auburn Auburn, Ala.
Tulsa ^ Uncasville, Conn.
Western Michigan UD Arena
Presbyterian UD Arena
Georgia Southern UD Arena

After looking at the schedule it looks like I will only be attending one non-conference game at UD Arena. Mississippi St is the only team that even remotely excites me enough to make the 3 hour round trip.

Georgia Southern, not bad recently...rpi last 5 years: 2018-140, 122, 243, 111, 309.

Very nice video releasing the schedule.Over the last months I have noticed MBB has stepped up the quality of their social media presence .
https://twitter.com/DaytonMBB/status...93858669219845

Detroit should be much improved since they just hired Mike Davis... Guys this is not bad... B4A Loaded, a top 25 team at home and one on the road, a solid game on a neutral court, IPFW is always a decent mid major team as is Western.

What did you guys expect... we were coming off 14-17... What massive teams would come here this year? lol

Would have liked to have seen a new home/home started this year.

It just feels like the goalposts keep moving. We could have played a 16/15 this year, and we still would have gotten the requisite 16 home games, instead we schedule yet another buy game for 17 home games.

17 home, 14 away/neutral.

UDM had a bunch of guys transfer out so next year could be a tough one for Coach Davis.

So when we are bad they won't come, and when we are good they really won't come?

Think I've seen this movie before.

Who says the goalposts moved? The old adage, "it takes two to tango" could have come into play here.

News on OBI
https://twitter.com/DavidPJablonski/...85828481650689

People complained about the non-con last year too. Then we had a top-5 SOS.

Neil Sullivan is a scheduling genius and I trust him a lot more than any of you muppets.

Practice was open to the press Jablonski gives 7 "facts"
https://www.daytondailynews.com/spor...TfUZVttLxU9yM/

In fact #7 Here is the tweet he references
https://twitter.com/_ajawilson22/sta...98626620416001

Hawk could not agree with you more!!

#3 on the list- 3. New face: Meadowdale High School graduate Jabali Leonard worked out with the team. He is trying to make the roster as a walk-on guard.

I have not seen him play, but a friend who knows his hoops quite well (coached girls hoops at the college level) has seen him play. For what it is worth, he says the kids BB IQ matches his off the court IQ, and says Jabali will contribute this season and will see the court for the Flyers.

He led Dayton city league in scoring last season at 23 points per gam

It was also #118 according to KenPom with Auburn being the only team with an at-large caliber resume that we faced. Neil did a great job getting a bunch of buy games in 100-150 range and avoiding 300+ anchors, but there wasn't a lot opportunities for the signature wins we would need.

I realize all the numbers impact the schedule but I am simply looking at the schedule as a fan who needs to decide if he wants to make a 3 hour round trip to watch a game in person.

From that viewpoint the home schedule SUCKS.

I will be at every home game to watch the DAYTON FLYERS.

Dem are fighting words my friend.

Can you explain to me the reason for the very big difference between the KenPom ncsos ranking and the ncsos? 4 vs. 118.

The only difference that matters to me is that the selection committee uses the RPI SOS.

If I got the correct Twitter line Mr. Leonard was selected 1st Team SW Ohio and 3rd Team All Ohio Div 2

https://twitter.com/SWDOHoops/status/976275323313704960

20 photos from practice yesterday. (no paywall)

https://www.daytondailynews.com/spor...RE4VFYuhqL/#20

In the pics just posted, Matos showing his athleticism, and check out the guns on Ibi Watson!

Not true,



Bruce Rasmussen, selection committee chairman and Creighton athletic director

https://www.omaha.com/sports/blogs/m...1d32c13f9.html

The regular SOS only takes into account the win/loss records of opponents so it's easy to game

Bruce Rasmussen, selection committee chairman and Creighton athletic director

https://www.omaha.com/sports/blogs/m...1d32c13f9.html

The A10 needs to set up a yearly challenge with the American or Mountain West or maybe CUSA.

I understand that the scheduling environment is getting more difficult by the day due to the p5 move to 18 and 20 game league schedules, and I am sympathetic to that fact. But, we can't find anybody decent to agree to play one more home and home series? The A10 is getting weaker, not stronger, we need to compensate for that.

We had an extra game to burn this year, just roll the dice and take a chance on playing a home and home vs. a non-p5 school that might end up being good.

It is just going to be difficult going forward to get better than a 7 seed and consistently advance past the 2nd round, unless we start to dominate the A10 and become the next Gonzaga or Butler or Creighton, and I am not sure that is possible, due to the
A10 being a tougher league than those 3 leagues.

We had arguably the hottest young coach in the country for 6 years, and we topped out at a 7 seed, and only got past the 2nd round once.

We need to get down to about a 5 seed if we want to consistently challenge for the Sweet 16 or better.

Yes, the home schedule sucks. I can't imagine paying $1,000 per seat to witness maybe 3 decent teams (1 non-con and 2 league)

The MVC-MWC challenge ends after this year

Obi & Frankie look yuuuuge.

Compared to almost all other non-p5 schools, our schedule is generally very good. I just wish that we would take a flyer every now and then on an additional non-p5 home and home series.

Of last year's non-p5 top 100, I could only find about 4 teams IMO that really scheduled more than 5 decent, winnable away/neutral games, in order to get to 15 or more away/neutral games...Illinois State, Temple, New Mexico State, and Vermont.

It is slim pickens now, the p5 is destroying college basketball by trying to freeze everybody else out. The non-p5 schools need to start scheduling each other more, it is the only remaining option.

Wow. We play VCU, Rhode Island, St Joe, Richmond, George Mason, St Louis, UMass, LaSalle, and Duquesne. Only two of them are "decent?" I also wouldn't say there is only one "decent" team in the non-con.

I do not know how many of these are home and homes. I suppose that I would not be opposed to a 1 way road game if I felt like the game was winnable.

Playing at Duke or at Kansas is not winnable IMO.


-Illinois State...a/n with South Carolina, Boise State, Tulsa, Nevada, BYU, Mississippi

-Vermont a/n with...Harvard, St. Bonaventure, Northeastern, Marquette, Bradley, Richmond, Northern Kentucky, also Kentucky (not winnable) and Coastal Carolina (CC is not decent)

-Temple a/n with...Old Dominion, Auburn, Clemson, South Carolina, Georgia, GW, LaSalle, and Penn

-New Mexico State, a/n with...Saint Mary's, New Mexico, Illinois, Davidson, Miami of Florida, Southern Cal...UTEP and UC Irvine maybe a little questionable

Rasmussen says a lot of things. Not all of them necessarily true, which has confounded ADs all across the country about the annual moving goalposts. Rasmussen and others have stated emphatically that your resume' against the top schools are what matter -- in other words who have you beaten and who have beaten you. Did you capitalize on your chances. This was the entire point of creating the four Group win categories so they could better determine who is getting the job done against the tourney caliber teams on your schedule both home and away.

Creighton went 2-10 vs the Group 1 teams. They beat Nova at home and that whitewashed everything they else did or didnt do. And its not like they snuck into the bracket. They were a #8 seed.

2-10 is atrocious given their apparent talent. Didnt beat a single Top-50 team on the road.

The committee says one thing publicly, then do other things inside the war room -- and its not just UD taking issue with it. Schools like UD just want a straight answer so they can shoot at a fair target. When the target moves after you've pulled the trigger, it turns into a fairgrounds carnival game.

Perhaps Creighton was still a tourney team, but their seed and Rasmussen's connection to Creighton draws all kinds of frustration from others on the outside looking in. And Creighton is just one example. Next year, the metrics may once again change.

We've been in the mock selection room and listened to the discussions. There is certainly bias in there with sportswriters and they watch as many games as the committee members do.

All you have to do in order to refute any algebra is to simply say "well they pass the look test" or "they appear to be gaining steam" and your team suddenly has traction. Its up to the other people in the room to more or less vote your convictions down. If you're a smooth talker, it doesnt always happen. Definitely salesmanship going on. And I dont even begrudge some of it. Its human nature. You cant take human bias out of a product designed and orchestrated by humans. But there needs to be more accountability when the public statements contradicts the resulting brackets. That's the only leverage the public (and those left out of the bracket) have to ensure the race into the bracket is indeed a level playing field.

Obi claims to be 6’10” now. Based on those practice pics, I think he’s gotta be at least an honest 6’9”, and possibly the 6’10” he claims he is.

SO looking forward to seeing him hit the hardwood. Just a great attitude.
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Grant interview from Tues.
http://www.mydaytondailynews.com/spo...GqLzCPgfEFSTK/
Same article, no paywall https://www.springfieldnewssun.com/s...GqLzCPgfEFSTK/

Grant on Policelli
https://twitter.com/DaytonMBB/status...22696398163971

First team out on the Dance Card, yet averaged a 9 seed on the bracket matrix. That does seem to point to great inconsistency by the selection committee.

With what happened Middle Tennessee this year and St. Bonnie getting RPI doesn't hold much weight alone.

I think what he says it's on SOS was borne out in the selection process this year. It's about stacking up quad 1/2 wins. It's better to play to a Penn or Georgia State for a buy game but playing them versus Coppin State or Detroit is out on the margins for a program like Dayton

Buy games are on the margin, gaming the RPI by playing good teams for buys is worthy if you can do it but the supposed elite OOC SOS Dayton had last year wasn't fooling anyone but Dayton fans

Beat good teams, collect high quality scalps and get your reward in March

Obi is the one I'm anxious to see the most this year.

Very nice piece by Archdeacon about Greer and Matos
https://www.mydaytondailynews.com/sp...xasIFf45rp5HM/

Grant on Watson
https://twitter.com/DaytonMBB/status...93593445421066

Actions Speak Louder than Words
 

The beauty of non-conference scheduling is it expresses the confidence or lack thereof that the Coach and AD have in the team. While they did well with 6 of the 13 opportunities they selected the third worst team in the final Sagarin poll (Coppin State) the 12th lowest rated team (Presbyterian) the 39th lowest (Detroit Mercy) and the 64th lowest ranked team (North Florida). This seems to suggest that Dayton will not finish in the top half of the A-10 in the opinion of it's leadership.

They did not select Coppin State, CS was forced on us as the forth game in the B for A tournament. Please get your facts straight before you make judgements on the leadership. Agree some of the buy games leave something to be desired

Anyone believe quad 1&2 will mean anything once non p5 schools get these wins?

If we beat Butler, Virginia, Auburn and Mississippi State I'll take our chances

Grant on Chatman
https://twitter.com/DaytonMBB/status...78098131468288

Very small sample, but Chatman's handle seemed a bit sloppy, but his D on Landers was great.

wow. talk about quick feet and hands. sheesh.

Today's Hartsock podcast with Coach Grant
https://www.whio.com/sports/stay-rig...6oAz8i1gUWHCI/

AG is going to do great things here... I have zero doubt

A-10, C-USA each have a lot riding on a loaded Battle 4 Atlantis with Dayton, Middle Tennessee headed to the Bahamas

Two flagship programs riddled with question marks will look to make statements in a star-studded field.

https://www.midmajormadness.com/2018...all-tournament

Yes, losing an "experienced" X really hurt us. Overall though a pretty good article

It sure as hell hurt us last year. If we had sophomore-year-X our W/L total would have been pretty different IMO.

But we didn't and it wasn't. He did hurt us last year, glad we won't see a repeat of that this year.

your honor I rest my case. The selection chair isn't lying when he says OOC SOS doesn't matter

The only thing that proves is that it doesn't matter for P5 schools.

RPI is now a thing of the past.

https://www.ncaa.com/news/basketball...ts-new-ranking

moving target
 

Scheduling goal posts have been moved again.

One of the metrics is called offensive and defensive efficiency. “So my guess is, that’s a fancy way of saying, “the eye test. “ it’s just now officially baked in.
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If the FBI investigation of the shoe contract and payment to HS players gets wide spread amount the P5, the selection committee will include as part of the selection process, HOW much money was spent on the roster! The seeding will turn SEEDIER :eek:

I guess you keep starters in so you win by at least 10.

Considering the scheduling starts so far back, I would say most on this board were also “concerned” about how good we will be this year. Then Grant and staff went to work and things started to improve with players we brought in that can either play this year or help push the development of those players in practice as they sit out a year. Add in the off-season improvements by returning players and this year is looking way better that most thought. There aren’t many programs that have 3 players of our quality sitting out this year. I hope those 3 band together and drive the practice development of those that can play. Challenge them everyday in practice.

Time will tell with this new metric, but the RPI was 37 years old and very outdated

Any metric you use can be gamed, and those in the best position to game it are in the five power conferences. I don't think this will change the trajectory we're on. New metric, same results.

This was my first thought. The more you play the core players, the better your efficiency and score differential.

I hope there is going to be a lot of transparency around this. I'd be interested to know how much each factor weighted, at least initially.

NCAA and transparency, now there is a new concept. The non P5 school will be sucking wind under the "improved" method.

A giant step forward for the NCAA. Not perfect, but much better than the RPI.

Hopefully this translates into more Siberts, Sanfords, & Tshimangas coming our way.

https://www.daytondailynews.com/news...grOpCFqt7p5KO/
6 minute video of MBB from yesterday's BB Season Tip-Off BBQ. Anthony speaks and each player introduces himself. So if you want to hear the players... (maybe there will be one of the women later. They did a great job too.)

Toppin and Tshimanga look similar in height

A highlight was when Tshimanga introduced himself, first in French, then in English.

Wow, Jordy is a character. Great sense of humor and it looks as if he already fits the program like a glove. And yes, if Jordy is 6-11 as listed, then Obi really has sprouted to about 6-10. They ought to update that on the roster.

Jordy and Obi are giants compared to Josh Cunningham. It is not only the 4-5 inches, but the wing span. Getting the post passes will now be more of a reality. It will be nice to see Obi at center and Josh at forward.

However I am sorry to see that UD has the same audio-visual team as in past years.

Jablonski was there and probably took that video with his phone.

I haven't seen this many UD players with NBA bodies since...since...well, since last season!

:confused:

Article on the picnic.
https://www.mydaytondailynews.com/sp...KEPrtLCS46AFN/
“I’ve been doing this for a long time,” Grant said, “and I don’t think I’ve ever seen a group that has been able to bond as quickly as these guys have. It’s a combination of the character we have in our veterans, starting with our captain, Josh Cunningham, to all the guys returning off last year’s team and the new guys that looked at all (the fans) and what we have at Dayton and said, ‘I want to sign up for that. I want to be a part of what Dayton has got going on.’ ”

https://www.instagram.com/p/Bm_7GnUl...n-by=daytonmbb
First workouts of the year

Family on 3! Love it!

I thought Toppin had good potential last year. He looked athletic in practice. I was told yesterday that he has really improved in a number of areas.

Watch to see what he does this year.

Those two look huuuuge (jordy and OBI).

Wow. We have some bulk and size... finally.
very grateful. Seems like a good mix of players and personalities!

Worth noting: Donoher signs the Alumni Board.
https://www.facebook.com/DaytonMBB/p...type=3&theater

Thank you, Don Donoher, for everything you have done for the University of Dayton especially the 437 victories in 25 years!

David Jablonski
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Not a surprise, but I was able to confirm there will not be a Red and Blue Game for second straight year because of UD Arena renovations. No word yet on what, if anything, will replace it. They had a meet and greet with Dayton men’s and women’s teams last year at Welcome Stadium.

Ditto! DD was looking pretty dapper! ;)

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Great team talk!

Sights & sounds from Practice!

https://twitter.com/DaytonMBB/status...73021129031681

Radio Interview with Grant
https://soundcloud.com/dayton-radio/...-grant-10-2-18

Cunningham looks lean and mean in that video.

https://twitter.com/DavidPJablonski/...64139742150656

UD to play Pitt in Secret scrimmage on Oct. 27 at Denison

Pretty neat... UD"s photo (big poster board) presence at the airport featuring our hometown guy
https://www.instagram.com/p/Bo7qXKpF...aytonprezspina

In that picture, Trey is saying "dang, I wish I would have elevated another foot". :D

I'm shocked the MLK Day Gem City Jam group hasn't posted this
 

New AP poll is out.
Number five Virginia
Number 11 Auburn
Number 18 Mississippi State
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