Observation from A MD couch ....

[Taj79]

That has got to be the worst Dayton team I have ever seen in my life. Not so much talent-wise, but Dillard and Benson are not Archie Miller guys and have seemed to quit on the coach. Benson was benched because he was not really rebounding or pushing his game as a senior should be. There were times in the first half where you could see him arguing/disdaining advice with the bench as he returned to his defensive position. Yes, he went hard to the hole and kind of had the attitude of "fuok you" and did score 12 but he was indeed a cancer as I think Pistol pointed out.

Dillard was a non-entity. Just like Clarke Thursday night. Again, you cannot expect one man to be both a scorer and a distributor. One or the other but not both. Announcers were saying how Dillard seemed to be auditioning for his "next" job --- hinted at NBA but doubted it and decided Europe I think. They said he was trying to show he's more of a true point for NBA types. Yeah, Benson out-assisted him two to one.

I was communicating with two YouDee friends of mine as the game played out and their only positive comment was "Archie Miller's not going anywhere" when I stated YouDee had quit on him but it wasn't"his" guys. Damn straight --- the only place he'd be going to is oblivion because he has done nothing to suggest his resume is any good to begin with.

It was a nice burial and the whole broadcast turned into a SLU/Majerus publicity piece. They had to talk about something. As larry72 noted, the color man, when pushed,said he'd take Butler as his team from the A10 "when everyone is hitting on all cylinders." He'd be a fool ---- because if we play defense like this past week every night, and Mike, Kwam, Cody,Rob and Jake are raining threes,and Dwanye,Cory and Grandy control the boards and we make all free throws ---- Butler is dead. Just lie Thursday night.

Then the guy parlayed over and selected VCU. Again, no way in my book. He did not select us. The bottom line in this week and in week's to come is our ability to impose our will and our style on opposing teams.

My only disappointment is we didn't have 10K in the house. Damn!

[Pistol]

Benson's body language was pathetic. He's got some real talent, hit some nice jumpers, made a couple nice drives. But he takes off for long, long stretches. His pity party during the timeout at the XU game was embarrassing, like some petulant kid on a poorly coached high school team.

And the worst part for Dayton is that the rest of them gave up way earlier in this game than they should have. I'm glad I'm not a Dayton fan because as fun as the game was for me to watch, it had to be hard for them to watch. Losing is one thing; seeing their guys cash out mentally in the first half is another.

[TRN]

That has got to be the worst Dayton team I have ever seen in my life. Not so much talent-wise, but Dillard and Benson are not Archie Miller guys and have seemed to quit on the coach. Benson was benched because he was not really rebounding or pushing his game as a senior should be. There were times in the first half where you could see him arguing/disdaining advice with the bench as he returned to his defensive position. Yes, he went hard to the hole and kind of had the attitude of "fuok you" and did score 12 but he was indeed a cancer as I think Pistol pointed out.

Dillard was a non-entity. Just like Clarke Thursday night. Again, you cannot expect one man to be both a scorer and a distributor. One or the other but not both. Announcers were saying how Dillard seemed to be auditioning for his "next" job --- hinted at NBA but doubted it and decided Europe I think. They said he was trying to show he's more of a true point for NBA types. Yeah, Benson out-assisted him two to one.

I was communicating with two YouDee friends of mine as the game played out and their only positive comment was "Archie Miller's not going anywhere" when I stated YouDee had quit on him but it wasn't"his" guys. Damn straight --- the only place he'd be going to is oblivion because he has done nothing to suggest his resume is any good to begin with.

It was a nice burial and the whole broadcast turned into a SLU/Majerus publicity piece. They had to talk about something. As larry72 noted, the color man, when pushed,said he'd take Butler as his team from the A10 "when everyone is hitting on all cylinders." He'd be a fool ---- because if we play defense like this past week every night, and Mike, Kwam, Cody,Rob and Jake are raining threes,and Dwanye,Cory and Grandy control the boards and we make all free throws ---- Butler is dead. Just lie Thursday night.

Then the guy parlayed over and selected VCU. Again, no way in my book. He did not select us. The bottom line in this week and in week's to come is our ability to impose our will and our style on opposing teams.

My only disappointment is we didn't have 10K in the house. Damn!

I was watching the Butler game yesterday and the color analyst there picked SLU as the best team in the A10, FWIW.

[The Wiz]

I still have Dayton as a good team (B+) that looks good on our resume though their numbers are weakening. Are they that bad....no....we were that good. I think the key for them will be their next game against St. J. If they can bounce back and win they will stay at the B+ level... if not they may fade away for the season. Like all our past opponents we want them to do well. It helps our numbers.

As for VCU, I have always thought they were the team to beat and still do. If our game with them were held today it would be Bills by 2 over VCU. A win over VCU and Butler later this month would lift us from A- to A.

But for now ....focus on Fordham....remember the trap.

[Schasz]

We need both the Fordham & Richmond game to keep the streak and good karma.

[Taj79]

I agree that Fordham is a trap game as well --- all mediocre teams will be that way as we progress. If weren't their "super bowl" before, we are now. We have righted the ship and while we still have found no consistent interior option to offset Conklin's play, we seem to have "found" that good defense works almost every night. With this defense, finding a Conklin replacement is not as key as I originally thought it would have been. Rather, we have replaced his scoring by using our defense to instigate our offense. Nice compensation.

For Fordham, Chris Gaston again missed yesterday's game "due to injury." I don't know if this is a new one but he did have to undergo arthroscopic knee surgery late this November. Gaston last played 31 minutes against Charlotte on January 16th, this coming after 34 minutes on January 13 against Umass. He was deemed out for about a month after that surgery and came back as noted but hasn't made an appearance since that Charlotte game where he went 1-for-12 from the field. Anybody know anything? W/o Gaston, Fordham is Brendan Frasier and prayer.

Richmond is scarier. Overall 14 and 9 but with a home win against VCU (based on VCU's inability to close it out at the line). They are small so it will take our collective defense to task once again. Momentum and stuff says we need to win both to remain a national conversation piece.

Currently moved up to tie for second in A10. One team is Charlotte and they won't be able to hold up over time. That will leave VCU, Butler, us and a fourth from La Salle and St. Joe's as we move forward. Must maintain the mojo this week on the road. Road is tough but this week is doable.

[pretty_ricky]

hopefully the fact that it's on cbssports will encourage our guys even more to make sure not to embarrass themselves on national TV

[billiken_roy]

i noticed on a number of out of bounds situations, dayton players wouldnt take the ball out of bounds. i.e. didnt want to spend the effort to walk to the inbounds point. benson as stated above was arguing with everyone. teamates, coaches, refs, slu players, he is a problem. dillard was mccall and jett's b!tch. he was pretty much worthless. i think a big part of it was another dominating defensive performance by our guards, but as taj stated, i agree the worst performing dayton team i have seen since can in the great midwest days. just terrible performance. my wife said she felt sorry for the the sweatervests making the trip. i just laughed.

[David King]

With this defense, finding a Conklin replacement is not as key as I originally thought it would have been. Rather, we have replaced his scoring by using our defense to instigate our offense. Nice compensation.

Conklin has been more than replaced by committee. Dwayne Evans, a much improved Rob Lowe, and Grandy Glaze, as well as Remekun. and even Ellis is stepping it up inside.

Someone else can look it up, but I'm sure that the Billiken's scoring in the paint is a much higher % of their overall offense than it was last year; especially in the last two games, and most notably against Butler.

[Prairie Bill]

As larry72 noted, the color man, when pushed,said he'd take Butler as his team from the A10 "when everyone is hitting on all cylinders." He'd be a fool ---- because if we play defense like this past week every night, and Mike, Kwam, Cody,Rob and Jake are raining threes,and Dwanye,Cory and Grandy control the boards and we make all free throws ---- Butler is dead. ...Then the guy parlayed over and selected VCU. Again, no way in my book. He did not select us. The bottom line in this week and in weeks to come is our ability to impose our will and our style on opposing teams.

I saw that too, and similar stuff from other pundits. They have decided that Butler and VCU rule the new A-10, and any evidence to the contrary is to be deprecated. I say these games showed that if this team plays the RicMa style defense they learned with at least six of our cylinders working at full capacity every time out, we can play anywhere - which is your "bottom line", and apparently what Crews is tying to do.

[bonwich]

i noticed on a number of out of bounds situations, dayton players wouldnt take the ball out of bounds. i.e. didnt want to spend the effort to walk to the inbounds point. benson as stated above was arguing with everyone. teamates, coaches, refs, slu players, he is a problem. dillard was mccall and jett's b!tch. he was pretty much worthless. i think a big part of it was another dominating defensive performance by our guards, but as taj stated, i agree the worst performing dayton team i have seen since can in the great midwest days. just terrible performance. my wife said she felt sorry for the the sweatervests making the trip. i just laughed.

Hey, did anyone else notice that there were few, if any, actual sweater vests in the place?

[Cowboy]

Hey, did anyone else notice that there were few, if any, actual sweater vests in the place?

-lot of Dayton fans and I did not see one sv

[White Pelican]

Thought the same thing. Did not actually see a single sweater vest. I did the see the two gals in the red frizzy wigs and the clown suits that seem to show up every year.

[AMDG]

Thought the same thing. Did not actually see a single sweater vest. I did the see the two gals in the red frizzy wigs and the clown suits that seem to show up every year.

me three. a lot sweaters with sleeves. kinda disappointed.

[Clock_Tower]

No. I saw a red sweater vest/white long sleeve shirt sitting in the middle of the section just behind their bench. Was going to take a picture and post but too far from my seats.

[Billikenbooster]

Yes. Spotted him too.

mhg

[slu72]

I agree that Fordham is a trap game as well --- all mediocre teams will be that way as we progress. If weren't their "super bowl" before, we are now. We have righted the ship and while we still have found no consistent interior option to offset Conklin's play, we seem to have "found" that good defense works almost every night. With this defense, finding a Conklin replacement is not as key as I originally thought it would have been. Rather, we have replaced his scoring by using our defense to instigate our offense. Nice compensation.

For Fordham, Chris Gaston again missed yesterday's game "due to injury." I don't know if this is a new one but he did have to undergo arthroscopic knee surgery late this November. Gaston last played 31 minutes against Charlotte on January 16th, this coming after 34 minutes on January 13 against Umass. He was deemed out for about a month after that surgery and came back as noted but hasn't made an appearance since that Charlotte game where he went 1-for-12 from the field. Anybody know anything? W/o Gaston, Fordham is Brendan Frasier and prayer.

Richmond is scarier. Overall 14 and 9 but with a home win against VCU (based on VCU's inability to close it out at the line). They are small so it will take our collective defense to task once again. Momentum and stuff says we need to win both to remain a national conversation piece.

Currently moved up to tie for second in A10. One team is Charlotte and they won't be able to hold up over time. That will leave VCU, Butler, us and a fourth from La Salle and St. Joe's as we move forward. Must maintain the mojo this week on the road. Road is tough but this week is doable.

Taj Mahal 79, I have to disagree on the BC comment. We're doing it by committee; DE, RL, GG, and CR. I'm pretty sure I'm right here but in the last two games we've been outscoring our opponents by a pretty good margin in the paint. RL's stepped it up, DE's getting about all his points inside as is GG and CR. While I'd still like to see them kick it out a little more for an open 3, I've got no complaints about our inside game.