After a string of season opening pop quizzes the Flyers faced their first real exams over the past week. With success in the exhibition season and the first two games against competition from the MAC, many Flyer fans had hopes of being no worse than 3-1 heading into a Saturday date with Morehead State. But, in what can only be described as a pair of recurring nightmares, the Flyers blew a 15-point second half lead against Villanova, and the Bearcats inflicted their annual “butt-whipping” upon the Flyers.

With failing grades on the first two exams, can we draw any conclusions on the final grade? Well, it is too early in the season for that, but it is clear that much work needs to be done if this year’s edition has hopes of extending the run of post-season play to 3 in a row.

Coming into the season a key concern was play at the point guard. Would David Morris revert to his sophomore form, or would Mark Jones prove ready to step in and run the team? The preliminary responses looked positive as Morris appeared to have regained a step and Jones was solid in the preseason games and against the MAC teams. But the real tests over the past week show Dayton continues to suffer from deficiencies at the point. In the second half against Villanova, and throughout the Cincinnati game, Jones and Morris did not get the Flyers into the offense. Finding shots proved difficult, and when the offense broke down neither was capable of creating off the dribble. Most troubling for the long haul is the inability for either to score in the half court. Cincinnati and Villanova both sagged off in half court sets, betting they would not consistently convert 17 foot jump shots. If the Dayton point guard can’t draw his man out of the lane, running offensive sets will only get more difficult.

Another issue facing the Flyers was the health of Brooks Hall. After suffering through an injury plagued sophomore year, would Hall become the “go-to” man on offense? Off-season surgery to remove calcium deposits has resulted in Hall still working his way into top playing condition. Perhaps that is a factor in his sub-par play in Philadelphia and Cincinnati. Whatever the reason, tough aggressive defense has resulted in Hall being passive on offense, on defense and on the glass. The Flyers need a Brooks Hall that can create and convert a shot under defensive pressure to be successful. What they have against top competition right now is a spot-up shooter, a player teams might bring off the bench to bust a zone.

But the greatest concern is the Flyer’s continuing struggle to value the basketball. In all four games the Flyers have turned the ball over at least 16 times, and are now averaging more than 17 turnovers a game. Points off turnovers accounted for almost the entire scoring differential in the UC game, with Dayton turning it over 17 times to Cincinnati’s 6. You aren’t going to beat many teams if they get 11 more possessions with an opportunity to score and you give them easy baskets by giving the ball away. The Flyers have to make better decisions with the basketball. Given the Flyers style of play more than 12 turnovers is an unacceptable number. Before concluding that nobody turns it over just 6 times a half, consider that Ball State committed just 3 in 40 minutes against UCLA and averaged 11 while playing Kansas, UCLA and Duke. Temple routinely averages 9 to 11 turnovers per game every year.

And lastly, the Flyers need to find a leader on the court. Someone who can grab the team by the throat, demand attention to detail, and stop a run by getting a big steal, a key rebound, or hit a shot in the middle of an opponent’s run. Currently it would appear that there are 5 people on the court looking for somebody else to assume that role. Perhaps a player will step forward and assume that responsibility, and instill a mental and physical toughness in his teammates.

The lack of mental and physical toughness has been apparent in all four regular season games. UD allowed both Toledo and Central Michigan to cut 15 point leads to 10 or less, but because they were at least as physically gifted they were able to recover and restore their working margins. However, even a bottom-feeding Big East opponent like ‘Nova was able to use stronger and quicker athletes to snatch a victory from what should have been a 20 point home loss. The disparity in physical and mental toughness resulted in Dayton never being in the game at the Shoemaker Center.

While it is far too early to decide the fate of this season, it is clear that if Dayton hopes to be able to defeat teams like Cincinnati, they need to recruit or develop quicker, stronger, tougher players.