Bad 2nd half, maybe a good thing? And my feelings on game.

[Smitty10]

There's no better time than the first game of the season to learn a valuable lesson. You can't rest on your laurels after a great first half. I'd rather them learn this with a 30 point lead than a 7 point lead. I hope AM goes hard on them this weekend for that sloppiness. Make them know that it serves them no purpose to let off the gas because you have a win in the bag.

It was fun to see some great play by one of our Freshman tonight, but I certainly don't feel all that great about the overall performance. I hope that Cooke's game was just from being overly excited and chomping at the bit to get in there after a long time away from real game action. I don't want to be too critical but I didn't like what I saw tonight from him. But his resume says that this is not what we'll see in the future so I'll relax for now.

I think that John Crosby has a lot of work to do before we can trust him in more competitive games. I think Baby D is still going to see a lot of time at the PG position for awhile. KD also will see some time there.

I was very impressed with Big Steve tonight. I thought at least two of his 4 fouls were very questionable. His presence on D is going to change everything for the Flyers. And in the future, he's going to be impossible to stop on offense. The distant future not near future.

I was also very impressed with BW tonight. When he got in there he showed a senior presence that is going to be very important this season. He played very smoothly also.

Baby D was impressive but he still has to be more careful with the ball.

Sam Miller better never hold that ball as loosely as he did when he stood there and got pickpockted in the first half. Hopefully a big lesson learned there.

Pollard, Scooch and KD, no worries there, they will be great. KD looks like he needs to shake some rust off or maybe he's a tad bit too aggressive on D knowing there's depth this year. Tighter games, we cannot afford to have him sitting with fouls.

Ryan Mikesell, absolutely perfect. I haven't been this impressed with a freshman debut since, well never. Can't wait to watch him grow.

Need to see more from XW, I'm sure we will.

Let's take lessons from this game and move on to Bama.

[flyhi524]

At times, I felt like we were watching very different games tonight....

Originally Posted by Smitty10 I was also very impressed with BW tonight. When he got in there he showed a senior presence that is going to be very important this season. He played very smoothly also.

Wehrli looked like he did not belong. I'd put him exactly where he was last year, a promoted player that needed to play, but wasn't a necessary piece. I wish Bobby the utmost luck and success, especially being an alum from the same high school, but he is not on the same talent level as any of the other scholarship players.

Originally Posted by Smitty10 I hope that Cooke's game was just from being overly excited and chomping at the bit to get in there after a long time away from real game action. I don't want to be too critical but I didn't like what I saw tonight from him.

Cooke is going to be fine. His defensive range reminded of Chris Johnson. He's going to be another long body out there that will make his mark on defense and will contribute on offense when needed.

Originally Posted by Smitty10 I hope AM goes hard on them this weekend for that sloppiness. Make them know that it serves them no purpose to let off the gas because you have a win in the bag.

I completely agree. This team decided at halftime that the game was over. If they have ever watched an Archie coached game, they should know that those walk-ons are not coming into the game until at least 2 minutes left. The timeout early into the second half was perfect timing and helped remind his guys that they needed to still play hard and show him what they are capable of.

Originally Posted by Smitty10 Ryan Mikesell, absolutely perfect. I haven't been this impressed with a freshman debut since, well never. Can't wait to watch him grow.

Ryan Mikesell became my second favorite player on this squad tonight. (If you know me, then you know that Kendall is easily my favorite) But, let us not forget the night that Darrell Davis had in his Flyers debut: 17 pts, 3-5 from 3pt, 6-6 FTM. He finished the year with 4.8 PPG. I just want us all to stay grounded in who Ryan can and will be. Kid showed a lot of grit and toughness out there, and I want him to be the next star to shine out of Dayton, but remember how Baby D's career started as well.


I really don't want to be a downer in this post, I am super excited for this team and I think they are the most skilled team we've seen in years. I just wanted to put a few of my thoughts on the game that were a little different from Smitty.

Go Flyers!

[priceg75]

Originally Posted by flyhi524 At times, I felt like we were watching very different games tonight.... Ryan Mikesell became my second favorite player on this squad tonight. (If you know me, then you know that Kendall is easily my favorite) But, let us not forget the night that Darrell Davis had in his Flyers debut: 17 pts, 3-5 from 3pt, 6-6 FTM. He finished the year with 4.8 PPG. I just want us all to stay grounded in who Ryan can and will be. Kid showed a lot of grit and toughness out there, and I want him to be the next star to shine out of Dayton, but remember how Baby D's career started as well.

I'd be fine with this, because I feel like Darrell Davis looked like a stud tonight. He was better than Cooke. He was attacking the rim more than he did at all last year, and showing a lot more strength. His defense was improved also. And he still has that sweet stroke.

We could do worse on a guy camping in the corner late in offensive sets to poach those corner 3's than Ryan Mikesell.

[Smitty10]

Not that much different, just on a few points.

Originally Posted by flyhi524 At times, I felt like we were watching very different games tonight.... Wehrli looked like he did not belong. I'd put him exactly where he was last year, a promoted player that needed to play, but wasn't a necessary piece. I wish Bobby the utmost luck and success, especially being an alum from the same high school, but he is not on the same talent level as any of the other scholarship players. Got to admit, I didn't see a lot of him tonight, but I didn't see any bad plays and it seemed to me he played well. Cooke is going to be fine. His defensive range reminded of Chris Johnson. He's going to be another long body out there that will make his mark on defense and will contribute on offense when needed. Was told for 2 years now that he's going to step in and be Sibert's replacement. Offense what was emphasized. And offense is what we're going to need out of him. This isn't a Brian Gregory team, we cannot have a team that's defense first with a little offense. Big Steve is going to be the one who's there mainly for defense and then comes KD, Cooke will not help us if he's not putting up points. I'm guessing it that turns out to be the case, Mikesell will pull a Pierre and steal the position away in his Freshman season. He better get it together because if he doesn't he's going to be looking over both shoulders alot, with Baby D over one and RM over the other with Pierre maybe coming in later on to unseat him I completely agree. This team decided at halftime that the game was over. If they have ever watched an Archie coached game, they should know that those walk-ons are not coming into the game until at least 2 minutes left. The timeout early into the second half was perfect timing and helped remind his guys that they needed to still play hard and show him what they are capable of. Ryan Mikesell became my second favorite player on this squad tonight. (If you know me, then you know that Kendall is easily my favorite) But, let us not forget the night that Darrell Davis had in his Flyers debut: 17 pts, 3-5 from 3pt, 6-6 FTM. He finished the year with 4.8 PPG. I just want us all to stay grounded in who Ryan can and will be. Kid showed a lot of grit and toughness out there, and I want him to be the next star to shine out of Dayton, but remember how Baby D's career started as well. Big difference between Baby D's debut and RM's. Baby D showed us pure outside shooting, nothing else. And his strong point continued to be his outside shooting and nothing else throughout the season. 8 rebounds, 4 assists and some very good defense says that's not the case with RM. Yes, a hot shooting day is one thing, but fluky all around games don't usually happen, or it's a might big coincidence that it happens in a debut. I really don't want to be a downer in this post, I am super excited for this team and I think they are the most skilled team we've seen in years. I just wanted to put a few of my thoughts on the game that were a little different from Smitty. Go Flyers!

[maddog07]

Tough to take much away from this game as our opponent was "terrible". Couldn't even shoot ft's. Reserving judgement until we play a real team, but am impressed by development ofDD and play of RM. Scoochie is a wizard. Cooke and Crosby need to let the game come to them.
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[maddog07]

Tough to take much away from this game as our opponent was "terrible". Couldn't even shoot ft's. Looks like an absolute RPI crusher. Reserving judgement until we play a real team, but am impressed by development ofDD and play of RM. Scoochie is a wizard. Cooke and Crosby need to let the game come to them.
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[CE80]

Crosby's play reminded me of Josh Parker playing point.

[Gazoo]

Originally Posted by maddog07 Tough to take much away from this game as our opponent was "terrible". Couldn't even shoot ft's.

Neither could we. 59%?? Come on guys, this is silly. Pollard starts off the year at 40%, Cooke at 33%, and Stills / Nash / Young (as I will refer to him if he keeps playing this badly) at 25%.

[FLYER5]

We scored over 80 points. We managed to do that in between many, many whistles. Hard to build, let alone keep tempo up when the refs want to be the center of the show. I saw a Semo player step out right in front of the refs on the baseline and missed it. Terrible officiating throughout. It really was.

[Whacker]

Just a few random thoughts from last night's game:

Starting five is easily the best defensive unit. Scooch, Kyle, Cooke, Pollard and Steve are going to be very tough to score upon. Scooch and Kyle are going to get a few picks every game and both played great on ball defense last night. Steve, Pollard and Cooke are going to finish 1-2-3 in blocked shots this year. Every player in the starting five is disruptive on defense.

However, without a stretch four in that lineup it's important that the guards/wings provide enough three-point shooting to space the floor.

Knowing Scooch can knock down threes (but only 1 3FGA tonight), I'm hoping Cooke shakes off the rust from behind the arc, which should give that first unit just enough deep firepower to keep defenses honest.

Kyle didn't get in much of a rhythm with 4 fouls - almost all hand checks on the perimeter. He passed up a few open triples and missed the one he did attempt badly. He was aggressive in the 2nd half attacking the rim.

Scooch didn't hunt any shots last night. He worked really hard to get everyone involved and set the defensive tone early with a couple of steals and run-outs. We know he can get elbow jumpers and open threes whenever he wants. Flyers didn't need him to dial it up on O so he didn't.

Mikesell and Baby D off the bench were 1st and 2nd leading scorers. That's a lot of firepower on the second unit. Agree with everything posted on Mikesell's game. He moves with great purpose off the ball, quick release, good court vision and aggressive on the glass. He's going to draw much more attention from defenses in the future, especially on the perimeter, but he's going to make plays. First collegiate game and you put up 21-8-4 on 7-9 shooting and 0 turnovers. 'nuff said.

Baby D attempted 7 FTs last night after only getting to the line 23 times last season. He's going to be a much more well-rounded scorer this year showing a more confident off-the-bounce game.

Don't think we saw one small-ball lineup last night with Pollard at center. For now Archie appears committed to Steve & Sam platoon there.

Flyers had a typical Archie-Ball offensive showing last night: 23 assists on 27 FGM and 22 FTM to opponents 23 FTA. We can bark all we want about Flyers needing to make more freebies, but they were relentless in attacking, which is what Archie wants.

Interesting that Dayton committed 26 fouls - had to be more than any game last season when they average only 15/game.

Agree with previous comment on Crosby that he'll need to slow down. His speed is a major asset, but he doesn't have to beat just one man anymore. He has to beat a team defense. He went to a spin move more than once last night right into the teeth of the defense. Should be great film to study.

Sam is very skilled, but will need to catch up to the speed and strength of the college game. He was active on the glass, but I noticed he didn't have the strength to corral a few. Bucky had a funny comment on the pre-game about Sam not being in college-shape and throwing-up a lot in early workouts. His ability to stretch the defense is going to be invaluable and as he adds strength he'll be a consistent low post threat.

I love Z's energy. He showed a nice handle in transition. He should be able to give Dayton defense and rebounding off the bench. Probably the least polished of the frosh, but easily the most athletic.

Archie has a lot of flexibility with this roster.

[jack72]

Glad you pointed out the defense Whacker. That D by us in the first 8 minutes was as good as we have seen in a long time. No easy shots and most were forced.