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06-08-2017, 11:48 AM
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The year ahead
I have never followed the program where there has been such a year. We really have no idea what is in store for 2017-18
Cunningham - got injured and wasn't the same player. Will he bounce back? How good will he be? Anyones guess as to the answer.
Williams - he should be pretty good. Excellent defender and shooter. He is the one sure thing.
Antetokounmpo - How good is he? How strong is he? How will he play? No one knows. My guess is that his skill level will go a long way to determining their success.
Davis - Good shooter, good defender. Does not finish near the rim. Will he get better at it?
PG - Crosby? Crutcher? Bueller? Your guess is as good as mine.
The reserves
Landers - how good is he? Has an NBA ready body but Archie required defense and he could not crack the rotation. Will be interesting.
Miller - injured now. Will he get better on defense?
Mikesell - injured now. Unlikely to play in 2017-18.
Davis, Pierce, Toppin and Svoboda(maybe) are coming in. They may not play much but who really knows. I am intrigued by Jordan Davis. He can shoot, can he defend?
Part of the reason is style of play. Grant made VCU a pressing team, will he make UD a pressing team? Don't know what to expect.
I was glad they hired Grant. Archie gets a passing grade but not much more. He really didn't go for guys he was unlikely to get. Will see if Anthony gets better players.
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06-08-2017, 12:59 PM
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Originally Posted by Sea Bass
Part of the reason is style of play. Grant made VCU a pressing team, will he make UD a pressing team? Don't know what to expect.
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AG may have to ease into the pressing style defense. That style of play requires depth. If he wants to do it this year he needs to be able to go 10 deep - which this year requires significant minutes from the Freshmen. Maybe they will be ready for that as conference play rolls around...maybe not.
If they are ready - I love the athleticism and length we can throw at teams. That would be a very difficult press to play against.
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06-08-2017, 01:20 PM
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With the youth that we have and as I would expect the inability to create shots in the half court offense. Might not be the worst idea to press so we can get some easy buckets in transition. Especially with the length that this team has.
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06-08-2017, 01:36 PM
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I don't know that I expect a pressing team, but I do expect an up-tempo team. Turnovers will probably be an issue, but that can be offset by our length and creating our own turnovers and better rebounding. It's more a question of who's going to put the ball in the bucket. No one has any consistent PPG to rely on, so a couple guys are really going to have to step it up.
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06-08-2017, 01:54 PM
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There were many games this past season that I thought the Flyers would have improved their chances for winning if they employed a pressing/trapping defense and a push/run type of offense. I thought the Flyers' personnel this year favored an upscale game. So I would be all for an upscale game as long as the personnel is there to pull it off.
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06-08-2017, 02:50 PM
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Your analysis is spot on. Last year we had four very good veteran players. This year is basically a series of unknowns. The only thing I feel positive about is that Williams will play a lot. Who will play point guard? How good is Kostas?
Is Cunningham all the way back? Davis is the only senior and will he regain his touch. Landers played very little mostly with the walk-ons. Mikesell injured.
I think the freshmen have a real opportunity to play significant minutes. I live in North Carolina and can't wait for the Charleston Classic. Should be a fascinating year for flyers.
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06-08-2017, 03:11 PM
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Think the press will be a selective weapon in AG's defensive bag, but we don't have the proven guard depth to turn into a Havoc style of play the whole game. Change of pace option.
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06-08-2017, 03:14 PM
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0% chance we run some sort of "Havoc," in case you forgot we have Sam on this team lol
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06-08-2017, 03:39 PM
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Originally Posted by lhsgolf19
0% chance we run some sort of "Havoc," in case you forgot we have Sam on this team lol
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Yes, but. There is a bad kind of Havoc that can happen to a program. And we have the ingredients for that kind if things don't go our way. Confident that most of our apparently good pieces will fit together, but it's not a lock and could get ugly for a stretch.
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06-08-2017, 03:51 PM
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I don't understand the number of people who are infatuated with pressing. Pressing means you are outnumbered 95% of the time. After the first pass it's always a 4 on 3 break. That's the main reason why almost nobody does it. It usually only makes sense when you're physically superior to your opponent, and it prevents the opponent from winning by being more technical / skilled. It also speeds up your opponent so if you have a rim protector you can scare your opponent into bad decisions.
UD is not physically superior to most of our opponents, and we don't have a rim protector. Williams will probably be our best player and he's not significantly more athletic than most of our opponents. Neither is DD. Crosby is athletic but lacks control. But hey, maybe the freshmen will be better than I'm giving credit for. Maybe our 7-footer will become a 1 man wrecking crew.
Having said that, Miller actually does a decent job of protecting the rim. Not world-beating, and a little foul prone, but not bad. He could play foul line to foul line and score some points trailing for 3's.
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06-08-2017, 03:52 PM
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The only time you'll see havoc at UD Arena is if they run out of beer at the concession stands.
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06-08-2017, 04:14 PM
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I love pressing and loved it as a coach, but you better have the athletes and the athletic edge to gain the advantage, otherwise as Gazoo said, it will not be pretty. Maybe in a year or two Grant will recruit guys who can press, but not this group. Do we really want to be VCU, a team with guys who can press and cannot make an outside shot?
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06-08-2017, 05:20 PM
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Sea Bass - why the 'maybe' comment on Svobada??
Is something going on behind the scene??
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06-08-2017, 06:34 PM
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Sea Bass your doubts certainly should be shared by all UD fans!!! As someone who has followed the program for over 60 years I can't recall such uncertainty?? But thing I am certain about is that every assistant coach I have been in contact with over the past 20 years have stated to me directly, Oh we cant get that kid he is above our level of recruitment!! I have contacted them about many players whom I had personal relations and it always ****ed me off that we are not considered top shelf but those are facts!
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06-08-2017, 11:19 PM
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Originally Posted by udflyerfan
Sea Bass - why the 'maybe' comment on Svoboda??
Is something going on behind the scene??
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Good question? Sea Bass, are we going to get an answer?
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06-08-2017, 11:54 PM
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I like the fact that the Flyers are a dangerous wild card team this coming year. I would not be surprised with either 25-5 or 15-15. It makes for an exciting adventure come November.
I think we will surprise a lot of folks. Kostas could be impressive, Williams could come into super-stud status, Cunningham should be healthy and hungry, Davis and Crosby could settle into solid performers, a couple of the frosh could surprise us all, and Miller could hold his own against other bigs, Huelsman-like.
And I, of course, lean more toward "what if everything goes right"? Could be an exciting, magical, overachieving, Dayton Flyers year.
Just stay healthy, and out of trouble - and stay lowd!
(I would love to hear a crowd chant of "L-O" - "U-D", like "We Are" - "U-D")
I'm already Flyered Up...
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06-09-2017, 01:42 AM
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Major General
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Originally Posted by lhsgolf19
0% chance we run some sort of "Havoc," in case you forgot we have Sam on this team lol
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So I don't thing Grant is contractually obligated to play his slowest player 40 minutes a game. So there's room for havoc. Especially on offense where we FOR SURE have the personnel capable of creating a turnover within the first 3 seconds of a possession.
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06-09-2017, 11:49 AM
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Originally Posted by udflyerfan
Sea Bass - why the 'maybe' comment on Svobada??
Is something going on behind the scene??
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Yes. He changed his name to Svoboda.
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06-10-2017, 06:53 AM
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I've said this in the past and I will say it again. Landers will be the surprise guy this year.
He has the physical tools and we have seen what he can do. He improved drastically last season and he lost his season long minutes under Archie early on. Basically...he D was so weak at the beginning, by the time he got up to speed, it was too late.
He is going to come in this year up to speed and will get a fair shake all season. He blew his chance last season as he was slow to get to where he needed to be.
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06-10-2017, 02:20 PM
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I don't believe any foreign player until I see him in a game. Look at Kostas and he spent 3 years in the US.
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06-10-2017, 02:33 PM
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Originally Posted by Sea Bass
I don't believe any foreign player until I see him in a game. Look at Kostas and he spent 3 years in the US.
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I'll agree with Sea Bass on this. You just never know how the NCAA is going treat the eligibility of foreign players. It's simply a crapshoot and you're never sure until they actually go in to a game.
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06-10-2017, 03:00 PM
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Originally Posted by shocka43
I've said this in the past and I will say it again. Landers will be the surprise guy this year.
He has the physical tools and we have seen what he can do. He improved drastically last season and he lost his season long minutes under Archie early on. Basically...he D was so weak at the beginning, by the time he got up to speed, it was too late.
He is going to come in this year up to speed and will get a fair shake all season. He blew his chance last season as he was slow to get to where he needed to be.
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I sincerely hope you are a prophet and agree with your assessment. Trey could play the wing position and give us a lift in rebounding and team defense. I think his development will correlate to what he does this summer. Additionally I believe the that Jordan Davis will be the freshman all fans will fall in love with. After some reading and viewing tapes I come to the conclusion that he possesses that fine John Wooden attribute "be quick but don't hurry"! Some of the articles on him maintain that he can play point.
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06-11-2017, 01:32 AM
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In the few moments where I saw landers, it wasn't really clear to me what position he fits in. He doesn't seem to be a shooter, or have that strong of a handle. So he has strength, but at 6'4" not a ton of length. Can anybody else tell me where/how they see him being used? Was he a shooter coming out of HS and just hasn't found his shot yet?
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06-11-2017, 03:32 AM
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Originally Posted by Flyer'95
In the few moments where I saw landers, it wasn't really clear to me what position he fits in. He doesn't seem to be a shooter, or have that strong of a handle. So he has strength, but at 6'4" not a ton of length. Can anybody else tell me where/how they see him being used? Was he a shooter coming out of HS and just hasn't found his shot yet?
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I don't recall seeing him in positions that relied on his perimeter game. I think he only hit one three all season but only took a couple. Most of his points were from attacking the rim.
I see him being serviceable enough from the perimeter to keep people honest on D, but quick enough to exploit that and get to the rim. He moves well without the ball and his shots are going to come from that versus creating on his own. I think he gets garbage buckets and transition points.
While he is only 6-4, I see him playing in an undersized Charles Little role that runs the floor better and can shoot when needed.
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06-11-2017, 05:47 AM
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The optimist in me sees Landers as a Kyle Davis type on the wing. Defensive specialist, points earned by attacking the rim, shooting not necessary.
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06-11-2017, 09:41 AM
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Trey shot 11/17 from the field. Better yet, 10/14 inside the arc. Hard to draw a lot of conclusion from that with the limited minutes he played. But in mop up duty he did show some game in the post and used his D-1 body to advantage.
He looks to be an honest 6'4". Pollard was generously listed at 6'6" but played bigger because he used his big booty to advantage and had long arms.
I could see Trey being a Pollard/Little/ Nate Green type player.
We could only pray that we will have another Kyle Davis. His unique court vision, quickness, hops combined to make a one-of-a-kind player. I doubt if we will see another one like Kyle.
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06-11-2017, 10:38 AM
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Originally Posted by Flyer'95
In the few moments where I saw landers, it wasn't really clear to me what position he fits in. He doesn't seem to be a shooter, or have that strong of a handle. So he has strength, but at 6'4" not a ton of length. Can anybody else tell me where/how they see him being used? Was he a shooter coming out of HS and just hasn't found his shot yet?
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If he was a football player, his position would be "ATH" for Athlete. It will be interesting to see where Grant and Co. can get him.
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06-11-2017, 10:47 AM
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I'm curious as to how much injury slowed down Landers last year. AG said it was something he dealt with all of the last season
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06-11-2017, 12:49 PM
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As detailed by Sea Bass in the initial post, this off season is just so full of variables. I think if the "feelings" about certain players are taken out of the equation, it is as easy to argue a 2nd place finish as it is a 10th place.
There are very few players where next season's success doesn't hinge on a statement starting with if....
With all the individual player variables, the question of how will their strengths and weaknesses mesh as a team. With the added challenge of it being in a system that none of them has any experience.
Every off season has questions. None recently with anywhere near the number this one has. I find it exciting although an excitement I could live without for next decade. Like most I am more hopeful than anything. I just know a whole lot less about how realistic my hopes are.
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06-12-2017, 12:53 PM
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Originally Posted by San Diego Flyer
I could see Trey being a Pollard/Little/ Nate Green type player.
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I think he will end up playing a little smaller than those guys but with greater flexibility to guard guys further out on to the perimeter, and also with the ability to draw defenses away from the basket. Nate had an acceptable jumper and I see Trey eventually dragging his defender out to 16 feet, maybe even develop a 3 point game.
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06-12-2017, 01:03 PM
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I've heard Kostas impressed in the reunion pick up game. Was this confirmed or in another thread?
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