Here it is, the beginning of practice for the upcoming basketball season and I’m in a funk. For the first time in a number of years, I’m not climbing the walls waiting for the first jump ball. Is it just me, or is it greater than that?

My initial thoughts center on the fact that UD has not made it to the NCAA Tournament the last two seasons. The Flyers certainly lost some talent after the NCAA season of 1999-2000, but not enough to keep them out of that elite group of 64. We have been down Heartbreak Highway the last two years with the inability to win the big games when needed. The lack of a real give me the ball and let me win this game” type of leader has certainly played a major part in those failures.

Going into each season, I give it my best to take a look at each of the games and try to predict how many we will win. I try to do my best at looking at match-ups, where we are playing, and time of the year. I try to stay away from the “well, it’s Toledo, so they really don’t have a chance to beat us” type of prediction. I look at each team, how they did last year, who is returning, and who they have added. In each of the last two years, I have overshot our win total by either two or three victories. If those games had been won, I probably wouldn’t be having this discussion.

One of the problems that we have encountered during the last several years is the fact the UD is no longer invincible at home. If they had won winnable games at home that turned into losses, we would have seen Dayton on the big board on Selection Sunday. The won-loss record on the road has improved significantly during the Purnell years to where we can count on being a .500 or better road team. I hear message board posters complain that the fans sit on their hands during home games, but it is my feeling that we are there when it is crunch time.

I firmly believe that the talent is there. No, the Flyers do not bring in Top-50 players and every big guy ever signed is a “project”, but every year we see several teams that don’t have Top-50 players make it to the Sweet 16. The more that I watch the recruiting game, the more I realize that UD will never bring in those types of kids. Unless Purnell gets lucky with a hometown kid, the possibility of bringing in one of the top players in the country is virtually non-existent. I looked at a Top-10 recruit listing the other day and saw the usually suspects such as Duke and Michigan State. The only school with two of these Top-10 kids was Memphis. We all know why they are going there and neither one of them will be there in two years.

It all comes down to getting the most out of what you have. Blending talents together and motivating individual players to know when to be a team player and when to be “the man” is Oliver Purnell’s job. For us to be a Sweet 16 type of team, he will need to do a better job. He has gotten us over that horrible period of time in the mid 1990’s that can only be viewed as a nightmare. But he will now need to step up his game as they say, if he wants to get over that hump called the NCAA bubble.

He has put together a nice team. You notice the word, “nice.” This is not an overpowering team. This is not a team that opponents will be overly concerned about when they look at the schedule. I doubt that there are any Duke fans that have UD as anything other than a “W” on their picks for the season. This is a team that can win 20+ games, but it is also a team that could lead us to a third straight NIT.

More than ever, the Flyers will need excellent guard play. This is a team that is loaded with perimeter talent. When you get to the big men, you have a good deal of unknowns. Waleskowski will give us 10 points and 8 rebounds, but is he capable of more now that he knows he will be more of a 4 than a 5? Can Finn develop into a 30 minute a game player? To me, the number of minutes he stays on the court will be more important than the raw number of points and rebounds. Green will have good games and games that he will spend talking to the rest of the players on the bench. Cripe may be red-shirted and Frank Iguodala is as much of an unknown as UD has had in years.

Gone is a four-year point guard. The play we received from his backup last year, Mark Jones, left something to be desired. Jones’ defense was suspect and the ability to distribute the ball came and went. The word that I am getting about Warren Williams tells me that he will not be the answer this year. Who knows what the rest of the freshmen will bring?

If this team is to go anywhere, either Ramod Marshall or Brooks Hall will have to put his hand up and offer to put the team on his back. This is not typical Oliver Purnell basketball. He loves team play and seems to feel that it is the best way to succeed. I have no real problem with that, but it seems to me that teams that go far have at least one guy that they can ride when needed. We need to create an offense that can do just that.

I hate to be critical of my beloved Flyers, but I really need something to get out of this funk. Purnell has put together his ninth team. This is his program now and it is his responsibility to show that Dayton is a Top-40 team year in and year out. Nothing less will do. Everything is in place and there are no more excuses. If Xavier can do it, so can Dayton. It is time to get it done.