BEVERLY HILLS (MI) — The Dayton Flyers make their return to the hardwood with a glossy 6-1 record and a #25 ranking in the AP poll. It’s easy to look back at the Maui Invitational and say that UD woulda, coulda, shoulda, beat the Baylor Bears and then had a shot at upsetting #4 Syracuse in the Championship game. But it didn’t happen. However, it does not mean that a heartbreaking loss like that cannot be instructional.
When I talked to Flyer legend Johnny Davis over the weekend, the very first UD tilt he mentioned was the triple overtime loss to Bill Walton and UCLA in 1974. He marveled at what a back-and-forth game it was and at the performances of Donald Smith and Mike Sylvester. I reminded Johnny that when the team returned from out west there were 2,000-3,000 of the Flyer Faithful gathered in UD Arena to welcome them home. Yeah, they had lost but we were proud of the way they represented the U. Unfortunately, that was the last Flyer game of the season and the lessons learned couldn’t be applied on the court.
One only has to look at my other favorite sports team, the Boston Red Sox for further illumination. I attended a grand total of one Sawx game this year and unfortunately for me, it was the June 20th contest vs. the Detroit Tigers at Comerica Park. The Carmines had a 3-2 lead after Big Papi drove in a run in the 8th. Koji Uehara pitched a nice bottom of the inning. And when Boston failed to score in the 9th, Manager John Farrell elected to replace Koji with closer Andrew Bailey. I told my wife immediately that this was a very bad idea and exactly what was going to happen — Bailey was gonna give up a walk-off homer and sure enuf, two batters later he did.
Thankfully for the Red Sox, this disaster happened in the middle of the season. Bailey was replaced and eventually had surgery; Uehara became a lights-out closer and the rest is history. What was (for me at least) a crushing defeat allowed Boston to learn and adapt. It all worked out pretty well in the end, no?
The key for the Flyers going forward is to apply what they learned in Maui about themselves and their capabilities as a unit in each and every game for the rest of the season. Only then will be able to look back on the crushing defeat at the hands of the #18 ranked Baylor Bears and say “hey, maybe it wasn’t such a bad loss after all.”
Elsewhere in hoopdom:
— Here are some Maui Takeaways, courtesy of Pickin’ Splinters:
http://networkedblogs.com/RxDoE
— Favorite line from “Winners and Losers from the AP Top 25” according to Bleacher Report:
Loser: Everyone Who Didn’t Vote for Dayton
— RushtheCourt.com checks in on the Atlantic 10:
http://rushthecourt.net/2013/11/28/checking-in-on-the-atlantic-10-44/
— Here are some NCAA Tournament Bracketolgy predictions by conference:
http://www.teamrankings.com/ncaa-tournament/bracketology/by-conference/#atlantic-10
— Some articles on future Flyer adversaries:
Ole Miss and the victory over Brian Gregory University:
Ole Miss’ controversial star Marshall Henderson:
5 questions with UMass
UNIVERSITY OF MASSACHUSETTS
Established: 1863
Location: Amherst, MA
Enrollment: 27,420
Type: Public Land Grant Research
Affiliation: None
Nickname: Minutemen, Minutewomen
Colors: Maroon and White coach Derek Kellogg:
— This First Four Hoopla promotion is a great idea: buy a ticket and they will donate 2 ducats to the Airmen at WPAFB:
http://collegechalktalk.com/2013/12/01/first-four-hoopla-ticket-program-a-community-slam-dunk/
— My wife and I saw Chi Chi Rodriguez give a trick shot exhibition on our honeymoon in Puerto Rico. I’m guessing this is one shot that Chi Chi would like to have back:
http://www.cbssports.com/golf/eye-on-golf/24249106/gif-chichi-rodriguez-gets-hit-by-ball-in-groin
— “The Sweet Tweet of the Week” comes to us from Jay Bilas, revealing what made ESPN’s coverage of the Maui Invitational possible:
https://twitter.com/JayBilas/status/405250550695882752/photo/1
That’s it “From the Swamp.”
You can email me at: [email protected]
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