Alter vs. Centerville
Beckett Park nearly finished
Marshall vs. Valley View
Home > Blogs > Flyer Connection: University of Dayton sports > Archives > 2009 > November > 03 > Entry
Gregory sees areas to work on after exhibition
Rebounding and defense are expected to be strengths again this season, but to keep its status among the Top 25 teams in the nation, Dayton will need to knock down shots and find consistent sources of offense.
While it’s difficult to glean much from an 88-73 exhibition win over Ferris State since leading scorers Chris Wright (knee) and Marcus Johnson (ribs) sat out with minor injuries, the Flyers did show some positive signs.
Chris Johnson played with his usual energy. Paul Williams just has a knack for scoring. London Warren seems poised to contribute more offensively with his ability to get to the basket. And Luke Fabrizius and Mickey Perry can flat-out bomb from outside.
UD’s play, though, was spotty. Points were wasted at the foul line (13-of-23), and the 23 turnovers left the crowd groaning in dismay at times.
“The turnovers, a little bit, were due to just impatience,” UD coach Brian Gregory said. “You can still play fast but be patient and poised. That’s something we need to get a little better at.”
The Flyers had some trouble with Ferris State’s zone. Gregory pointed out, though, his team hasn’t gotten to its zone-offense phase of preseason practice — something they’ll do in the next 10 days before the season opener.
UD also experimented with a two-post lineup with Wright and Johnson out. And while Devin Searcy fed Kurt Huelsman on two nice high-low plays to start the game, the offense wasn’t crisp.
“We did a poor job today of making the extra pass,” Gregory said. “We took some poor shots. You’re not allowed to shoot just because you’re open. … You’ve got to be ready to shoot and prepared to shoot. And sometimes you can give up a good shot and make an extra pass and get a great shot. We had been doing that. Maybe more than anything, I’m most disappointed with that.”
The Flyers will get one more dress rehearsal before playing for keeps. Their final exhibition game is Monday against Northern Kentucky.
Permalink | Comments (7) | Post your comment |
Comments
By Doug
November 4, 2009 6:06 AM | Link to this
What is it Harris ankle or knee with CW. You say ankle in the article and knee in the blog, come on lets get the facts straight
By Brian
November 4, 2009 8:37 AM | Link to this
Concerned with the front line play in general last night. Flyers may have a lot of taller bodies now but none of them could stop their ‘big man’ from posting 20+. He’s a D-II pre-season AA, but I expected more from the D-I Flyer bigs. Flight Wright can’t do it all. KH looked a lot like he did last year, soft, with the exception of 1 strong baseline spin move. They need more of that. Kavanaugh needs some stick-em on his hands too. (And some of those cheerleaders need larger skirts…ugh.)
By Sleepyhead
November 4, 2009 8:54 AM | Link to this
Brian was right on.The Flyers big men looked VERY soft. They need alot of work on catching the ball and gripping it. What ever happened to the art of rebounding??? Matt K. and Josh B. looked like fish out of water.
By barryUD67
November 4, 2009 1:18 PM | Link to this
I thought Matt K. and Benson looked strong last night. It could be a replay of the Chip Hare…Marko Pikar era.mmmmmmm.
By Brian
November 4, 2009 2:21 PM | Link to this
Ahh … Free throws again ?
By Michael
November 5, 2009 9:35 AM | Link to this
“Gregory pointed out, though, his team hasn’t gotten to its zone-offense phase of preseason practice” He better get on it. This team is not a great outside shooting team and will get zoned a lot.
By bub
November 6, 2009 12:37 AM | Link to this
Actually, I think the potential is clearly there for this to be an outstanding outside shooting team. Luke, CJ, Mickey Perry, Marcus Johnson, even Chris Wright—they are all right on the edge of being “consistent” outside shooters. AND, they have all proven their ability to make critical shots. It depends on the balance of the offense…and this year, with an inside threat—multiple, it’s likely that there will be more and higher percentage outside shot opportunities.