Bringing it all back home

11/3/2009 - Dayton 88, Ferris State 73

Falling out of touch with all my
friends are somewhere getting wasted,
hope they're staying glued together,
I have arms for them.

***

As you get older, it gradually gets easier and easier to let old affections die. It's rarely anything overblown or dramatic, as pop culture might wish you to believe. Old loves and crushes and friends and foes are hardly ever shotgunned to a million pieces in the mind's eye; they simply regress back to the mean and are more or less just... there.

This isn't news to anyone in the post-college crowd. Geography, carelessness, and the obliviously callous work of time make the dissolution of the things we once thought most important far too easy. Nobody likes to acknowledge their own neglect, which is why we ignore it until the process is virtually through so we can skip right ahead to ruing the result and our poor, poor luck.

It takes a certain kind of person or place or what-have-you that we consciously refuse to let leave our peripheral. Your fancies and focuses may waver, but those things are never far outside your sight. If you came back after all these months, I imagine the Flyers are that sort of passion for you.

For twenty-somethings like myself, this month is hardly ever about Thanksgiving itself and more about the night before. Many of us have long ago left our high school towns, and with the passage of time the extremes are the only things that remain. The very good and the very bad are still there, and the petty people and moments that wandered through in between are just that -- the dull, utterly meaningless in-between. And so you go back with those extremes in the forefront of your mind, equal parts excited and reluctant. You only hope the good is as good as you remembered it to make the whole venture worthwhile. And then something happens, whether it be an old friend walking in unexpectedly, a forgotten inside joke, or an picture-perfect alley-oop in transition -- thank you, Josh Benson -- and you remember why you came back in the first place. After changes upon changes, we are more or less the same.

Welcome back.

***

Before we get ahead of ourselves, let's get one thing out of the way: FERRIS. STATE. That's the team we just played. And thus, nothing of predictive worth can be gleaned. You hear me? I swear I'll rabbit punch the kidneys of the first person calling for Dan Fox to see more time. Not that I have anything against Dan Fox. Not in the least bit. But if a walk-on plays significant minutes in a game that matters -- and especially this season -- we're probably watching the flaming ruins of basketball Chernobyl.

That said, it was damn good to see the Flyers back out on the floor no matter the circumstances. After the long, uneventful offseason, they could have aired a feed of them playing NBA Live on PS3 and I'd have tuned in. You can mask an addiction with progress, but it only takes the smallest hit to whip you right back into the vortex.

***

Abbreviated bullets from a glorified pick-up game:

• This blog has been predicting a second-year breakout for Chris Johnson since it saw him in the Red & Blue scrimmage last year, so it was really wasn't a surprise to see the newly swole CJ get nice. His body should no longer prevent him from muscling into the lane on the offensive end, and it should only aid his already incredible instincts on the defensive end. Raw talent can get you about 75%, but conditioning and experience will often take you the rest of the way.
• And this is where we nominate Josh Benson to play the role of 2008-09 Chris Johnson. The mechanics need some major work but holy hell look at that paint job. Yes, his brain way ten steps ahead of his body for half the night. Yes, you can still watch him digest a Tic Tac. But JB Smoove is going to be absolutely freaknasty in one year's time. Book it.
• Another year of technology has raced past the WHIO production team. And that year is 1990. I'm done complaining about the lack of a scorebox in one of the four corners of the screen. If you're not going to give us that, for the love of everything holy DO NOT compound the problem by giving us full-screen updates WHILE THE GAME IS GOING ON. We missed several baskets and turnovers while staring at a rudimentary PowerPoint screen last night. They might as well have given us checkerboard slide transitions to complete the full seventh grade Social Studies report effect.
• Our Trillion Watch is off to a humdrum start, but Luke Hendrick came close with four minutes and only a solitary rebound. The prize for the most remarkable trillion this season: set of steak knives.
• We'll chalk this up to exhibition play being the laissez-faire business that it is, but you chuck one up from 30 feet again, Luke, and we're having some words in the parking lot. As friend of the blog Andy astutely pointed out, too often he resembles Phillip Seymour Hoffman in "Along Came Polly." RAIN DANCE!

• Yes, the free throw shooting. Again. As Samuel L. Jackson once said (to a dinosaur, I think), "Hold onto your butts."
  

Keep pushin'

Winning is a funny thing. This team has exceeded every reasonable expectation I could have had for them this season. And yet I only want more more more. Once you get the taste of flesh between your teeth, the bloodlust only intensifies tenfold. I want to shatter America's bracket and dance over its crumpled remains. I want to laugh in the face of Vegas. I thirst for more of this sweet nectar they call vindication.

There is no need for previewing Kansas; you already know Kansas. They are the defending champions. They own one of the most storied traditions in college basketball. The only reason their recruiting classes ever dip out of the top five is if the team is already full up on awesome.

And does any of that matter in a one-and-done scenario? HELL NAW. The prestige only heightens the potential reward. A mere 40 minutes of inspired ball can transform good teams into remembered teams; familiar faces into yarns for your grandkids; feel-good stories into relative legend. That path can be further illuminated by one victory over the mighty Kansas Jayhawks. Go out and get ya some of that well-earned glory, boys.

WE ARE. UD.

West F'n Virginia Preview

Your couch: DEAD.

Who: West Virginia Mountaineers (23-11, 10-8)
Where: Hubert H. Humphrey Metrodome (Minneapolis, MN)
When: Friday, 3:00 P.M. EST
RPI: 21
Spread: West Virginia -8.5
Other Previews: Throw a rock and you'll hit one.

Please don't die please don't die please don't die...

GUARDS

Bob Huggins is and has never been a guard kind of guy. There are technically only four guards on the roster and only one that plays. That one would be freshman point Truck Bryant, who will forever have my undying respect for that name alone. Truck took over the starting role for good in mid-December and has since averaged 9.4 points, 2.8 assists, and 2 turnovers. Not spectacular numbers by any means but he's certainly not killing them. He's also the only real option at point so it's this or nothing, bucko.

Truck isn't really the drive-and-dish type. If he's getting in the lane, chances are he's going to the rack. Despite the rather pedestrian stats, there's something I love about Truck. Probably the name. Yes, definitely the name. His game is equal parts Carl Krauser and Levance Fields, which is another way of saying he'll punk your shit if you look at him sideways.

FORWARDS AND CENTERS

Yes, this is a Bob Huggins team and, as expected, EVERYONE is a forward. I guess it behooves us to profile the guy with every analyst in America swinging from his pack: Devin Ebanks. Devin has nearly averaged a 13 and 10 in the second half of the season. When you do that in the Big East, it typically means you cannot be killed by conventional weapons. The official coming out party was the Big East tourney where he averaged 16 and 10 in the Mountaineers' three games. I'm looking for a weakness here, but, um ... ??? What do you want? He's a future lottery pick. He's going to be a load on Friday and, like slow creeping death, there's little anyone can do to stop it.

Just when you think you've kept the Ebanks at bay, Da'Sean Butler is across the paint to confirm the axiom that anyone with an apostrophe in his name is a sure thing. Butler led the Mountaineers in points at 17+ per night. He does it inside and out, averaging a respectable 36.5% from three, though the long ball only comprises 35% of his attempts. Once again: BEAST. If there's one negative to DB's game it's that he has the tendency to get in foul trouble. He fouled out of three games and carried four fouls in eight other games.

Alex Ruoff is the team's second-leading scorer, A1 outside threat, and just a swell guy (or so says every damn article about him I've ever read). Ruoff took a startling 62% of his total attempts from outside the arc which, like, whoa. Guy should be paying rent out there. He knocked down a team-leading 37.5% of his three attempts, so I guess it's justified. Interestingly, in West Virginia's ten games against teams in the RPI top 50 like us, Ruoff only averaged 12 points on 34% shooting, both significantly down from his season averages. Wait a minute -- top 50 teams like us? We're a top 50 team like us!

Other guys you can expect to see rotating in and out: Kevin Jones, The Honorable Wellington Smith, John Flowers, and Cam Thoroughman. Impact: negligible.

KEYS AND PREDICTIONS

I'm going to be honest, the prognosis is not positive. West Virginia does nearly everything well. 19th in the nation in defensive points per possession, 47th in offensive points per possession, 20th in rebounding percentage, 29th in turnovers per game. I mean, holy shit. Just a remarkably well-coached, efficient team.

So what do we have to do? Well first of all, believe that we're going to see a lot of the Mountaineers' 1-3-1 zone. Given that we're a truly awful shooting team and they're 13th in the nation in three-point field goal percentage, shooting out of it is not likely. The baseline and corners are always the weak link in the 1-3-1. MJ has become especially adept at attacking from the corner, whether it be from deep or driving. I hope to God he's on, otherwise we're pretty much effed.

The Mountaineers are very much an amped up version of the Flyers. They play a lot the same game, but like, better and stuff. We defend the three-point line well, so I'm not terrified of Ruoff going wild. It's Ebanks and Butler that terrify the everliving hell out of me. If CW is matched up on Butler, his penchant for flailing wildly on the defensive end could be huge. Get an early foul or two and it's a completely different game.

We can't play the same game we always play because our game is also their game and their game happens to be better than our game. So if they're us, and we're them, but they're a harder better faster stronger us ... what are you to do? You hope to God that we get the Flyers we saw against Marquette and Xavier 1.0, that's what you do. This is just an incredibly tough match-up with a virtual mirror image that is horribly underseeded and probably hungry for brains.

So what will it be? I don't predict losses because blind faith is what I do best. Marcus has 13. CW has a rough game by the numbers but is active enough to keep West Virginia honest. Chris Johnson steps up big and knocks down a couple threes from the corner in the first half. I think Blackburn is dead on: we'll either be laughed off the court early or it's going to be a war. Me? I'm ready for war. As Sherman once said, "We shall make this war as severe as possible."

I'm going to say 61-58 for the good guys. Because the alternative is far too painful to bare. If death comes, I only ask that it be swift.

The long hard winter

We made it. We have traversed the barren five-year stretch that left us shivering and hungry without even a morsel of March glory to sate us. Before you can move forward, you must reflect on where you've been. Let us look at the triumphs and travails of the Flyers to this point in the A.W. (Anno Waleskowski) period.

2004-2005: New beginnings and bitter endings

Keith Waleskowski: gone. Sean Finn: gone. Ramod Marshall: gone. Frank Iguodala: knee-deep in Philadelphia strange. The core Flyers I had come to know and creepily worship from the onset of my fandom have left for scattered parts of the globe. You are right to be fearful. For the first time in four years, this team feels unfamiliar and foreign.

ALAS! Hope springs eternal. Five fresh new faces are bounding around the floor and early word is positive. Despite being the least heralded recruit of the class, the most encouraging pub is on a scrawny two-guard from Toledo named Brian Roberts. This is good. We can build on this. The season may not necessarily be a success, but damnit it's going to be exciting!

Then we lose to Eastern Kentucky at home to open the season. The worst part of these types of losses is the walk through the parking lot. Grown men and women reduced to pathetic shells of their former selves, dutifully walking a listless zombie march to their cars so they can go home and eat a dinner without taste and ponder endlessly over a loss without explanation.

And the season sort of slowly bleeds out from there. There is promise, but little immediate satisfaction. We play well yet lose by ten to Cincinnati at home. We somehow claw to the top of the A-10 West, only to fall to third after a soul-crushing loss on Carl Elliott's heave against GW and an inevitable road loss at X.

The A-10 tourney ends on the lowest note imaginable against Temple. We score 16 points in the first half. Monty Scott and Brian Roberts, our top two scorers, combine to go 5-21 from the field. We shoot below 35% for the game. Temple fans are taunting us as we sink lower and lower in our dirty seats.

Trent Meacham soon transfers and the future suddenly doesn't quite so sunny.

2005-2006: Just looking to not get embarrassed

This is the year that we begin to let the Monty Scott dream die. We wanted him to be the player that we hoped would be the athletic, do-it-all wing and bridge the gap between the OP and BG eras. Perhaps that was unfair on our part. We may have expected too much on the court, and even more off the court. Some people just aren't born leaders and Monty was clearly one of them.

There is a group of players that you can sort of tell that BG is disgusted with putting on the floor. He obviously loves Marques Bennett for his hustle -- and who wouldn't? -- but he's also forced to play Purnell holdovers like Logan White and James Cripe. Even worse, the point guard he recruited left and he still must rely on Warren "Have you seen my baseball?" Williams.

The problem wasn't that Warren was necessarily terrible; it was that he was maddeningly inconsistent. His A/TO ratio rose gradually over the course of his career, but it's largely attributable to the rise in minutes. His turnovers per 40 minutes remained around four his entire career and that's just not good enough.

Anyway, the 2005-2006 season included our first win in Cincinnati in 15 years and a win at home against Xavier. Other than that, there were few smiles. Scoring 42 points at Miami, going 6-10 in conference, a seven-game losing streak in the middle of the year, and an unremarkable dumping by St. Joe's in the A-10 Tournament.

Dark times, indeed. Chris Alvarez and James Cripe transfer. Um, okay. Later.

Out of all of this, we see the beginnings of the type of player Brian Gregory would like to build this program around in freshman Charles Little, who picked Dayton over an offer from Tennessee. The only requirement is that you can perform an Eastbay Funk Dunk over a kindergarten classroom to get this scholarship. Young Chuck averages 4.6 and 2.6 in only a handful of minutes, but the dye is cast. This is the type of hyper-athletic tweener that we will become accustomed to. Once you get over just how crazy athletic he is and that he could pound you into a fine red mist, it's actually quite enjoyable.

Also, Brian Roberts confirms that he is sort of good.

2006-2007: Inklings

Have you noticed it's typically one of the less heralded recruits in each class that end up being the cornerstones? Most of the talk in the 2007 class surrounded Kurt Huelsman and the offers he got from schools like Purdue and Cincinnati. And yet Marcus Johnson immediately made it known who would lead this class, scoring 23 points in his college debut.

And that was indicative of the entire season. While the talent was still unpolished and the experience was still raw, you could tell the core of this team could be something special. The Flyers jumped out to a quick 10-1 before getting curbstomped by Pittsburgh and North Carolina by 30 points each. Looking back, it may have been a bit unfair to throw this young squad to the wolves like that. They were lucky they even made it 40 minutes without throwing up on themselves.

But hey! We beat Louisville. We beat Creighton. We were 10-3 heading into the A-10 season. Unfortunately, the A-10 season went about as you would imagine it would with a team stocked to the gills with noobs. Only once did we oscillate more than one game from .500 across the entire conference slate. We were totally and absolutely average in almost every sense of the word.

Despite the conference season being a bit frustrating, you could tell this team was about to go nuts go apeshit. Give it one year. Brian Roberts would be a senior. The recently-crowned A-10 Sixth Man of the Year, Charles Little, would be an upperclassman. All those freshman would have one more year under their belts. And internet legend Chris Wright, whose highlight I thought were CGI until I saw him, was about to step up to the mic.

We were on the cusp. Next year was would be the one where all the past follies would be washed away. Definitely next year. Has to be.

2007-2008: How to disappear completely

Nothing could have prepared you for the supreme mindfuck that was the 2007-2008 season. So much gained and yet so much lost that it left you a vacuous shell when the ride finally ended.

A win at Louisville and a trouncing of Pittsburgh put us back on the national map. This is what we had waited for. Finally! Vindication! And just as quickly as it began, Vengeful Flyers Ankle-Hating God showed his true might and struck Chris Wright down.

Chris Wright had proven to be exactly what coaches saw when they watched him, mouths agape. Powerful. Raw. At times dominant. Awe-inspiring. Inconsistent. Pants-tightening. He was the X factor that could push any good team over the top. You couldn't let him go for one moment lest you wanted crotch on your chin. He opened up the offense so that Brian Roberts could work and Marcus Johnson could go one-on-one. And with one nagging injury, it all came crashing down.

Brian Roberts sunk from 19.4 points on 55% shooting to 17.6 points on 46% shooting. Marcus Johnson was forced to shoulder a much heavier load than he was ready for. Charles averaged 13-5 until a foot injury put him back on the pine. It was basically one bad break after another and the committee deigned we weren't worthy of a bid without a healthy Chris Wright. Which I begrudgingly agreed with yet still wished a pox on everyone in that Indianapolis conference room.

And so we were back in the postseason and it felt strange. You felt greedy for feeling like we deserved more. The season ended on a thoroughly annoying note, losing to Ohio State and a fanbase who treats its basketball team like a kitten does a ball of string. The Buckeyes won the NIT and hardly anyone, which stung more. At least let someone who wants it carry home the hardware. Assholes.

And so with the devourer of worlds, Brian Roberts, leaving, we resigned ourselves to another year of getting the house in order. Not that we weren't used to this already. Just tidying up for another run, whenever it should happen.

2008-2009: Redemption

And despite all the questions heading into the season, something crazy happened: this team just flat out knew how to win. It was hardly ever pretty or the way it was drawn up, but Ws just happened.

And yet, the constant nattering of a certain subset of fans could not stop whining. With all the success that the team kept accruing, some were never satisfied. Some offered to help the team with free throws because they taught their stupid sons the correct technique in the driveway. Some went with the nuclear option and hit the panic button after a freaking win. Some chose to constantly bag on 19-year old kids because taking stock of their own lives would be far too depressing and it's just easier to yell at someone that won't yell back.

All season the rational ones begged for perspective. If you spent the majority of the season finding faults rather than enjoying what was going on around you, for shame. You watched one of the best seasons this program has ever had go by while you were too busy mashing your keyboard into a jelly.

To those that have stayed faithful even during the stormiest nights, a salute to you. You've earned the right to stay home on Friday and exercise the only thing you know: blind hope. It's been a longer than expected ride, but we're back. Recognize.

And we dance

After a five-year absence, the eagle has once again landed. Elation is inhibiting the part of my brain that should be pissed at the committee for the slap in the face, which is probably a good thing. This is no time for whining. Only dance.

Consider yourself officially on notice, Chuggins. Prediction: PAIN.

Richmond Preview

Who: Richmond Spiders (18-14, 9-7)
Where: The wirelessless Boardwalk Hall (Atlantic City, New Jersey)
When: 9:00 P.M.
RPI: 130
TV: A-10 says CBS College Sports, but I've yet find any confirmation of that
Web: Fa sho
Prior Meeting: Flyers, 69-63
Spread: Flyers, -4.5
Other Previews: Stat Sheet, DDN, WCPO
Live Blog: The always splendiferous CCT

Stupid bug. You go squish now.

GUARDS

The Spiders somehow trot out the best starting backcourt in the conference in Kevin Anderson and David Gonzalvez. Both are in the top ten in the conference in scoring. Both sit in the top 20 in offensive efficiency. Both are in the top 20 in steals. And to definitively prove that they are indeed all that is man, they both are in the top five in minutes played. Only a gas can full of purple drank could slow this duo's roll.

Kevin Anderson is quite the little waterbug at point. You absolutely have to keep him in front. Anderson is 53% on the season from 2-point range, which is rather remarkable for 6-foot-nothin' point guard. If he gets a shoulder by, he's at the very least getting to the line where he shoots a team-best 74.8%. Kid is all swole in the upper body and despite his relatively diminutive stature, he has no trouble getting his shot up in traffic. I can't stress this enough: dare him to shoot. KA took only 27% of shots from outside and only connected on 27% of those. We did not succeed in this regard last month, where he got to the line 12 times on the way to 24 points.

If you could draw up the perfect guard to complement, he would look a lot like David Gonzalvez. Maybe a little prettier. Maybe with one less 'V' in his name. But the same skill set. Gonzalvez shot it at the third-best clip in the conference amongst guards at 47.4%. Gonzalvez shot it pretty well from deep at 39.4%, but he certainly doesn't rely on it. That said, give him an inch and he'll take a yard from beyond the arc. DG had a pretty average game for himself against us a month ago with 16 points. Hopefully Marcus carb-loaded because he's going to be running all over the place tonight.

Those guys play over 90% of the guard minutes and typically guard-forwardish types fill in for spells. For simplicity's sake, we'll count all the others as forwards.

FORWARDS AND CENTERS

After losing four straight in conference, Ryan Butler was inserted into the starting lineup. The Spiders are 7-2 since. And obviously that means everything. Or nothing. Depends whether you're wildly or just moderately irrational. Since getting the upgrade, he's jumped 4.8 points and 2 boards to 7.4 points and 3.8 boards. That's probably attributable to the increase in minutes, but his efficiency has gone up a smidge. I don't see him wrecking house, but he's been moderately serviceable since he got his new office.

As opposed to that noob Ryan Butler, Jarhon Giddings has started every game this season and averages around 23 minutes. His offensive efficiency is somewhat icky for a guy that's 6'9" (second-worst on the team). He has been known to let the occasional three fly. If he tries this, LET HIM. Jarhon isn't going to beast anyone under the basket, but he has pretty decent footwork and can get his shot off if given a bit of space. It should be noted that he put up 0-0 against us last month before fouling out and staring at his hands for two hours.

Kevin Smith starts and used to be a hell of a director and writer before cashing in and becoming a one-trick dick-jokin' pony. He's also spectacularly inefficient on the basketball court. Charles is going to put points on his face.

Justin Harper was the odd man out when Ryan Butler entered the lineup and probably starts vicious rumors about him around campus. Despite the benching, he's been fairly useful this season, averaging almost 10 points and five boards per game. Coach Chris Mooney obviously wanted to play small ball, but don't sleep on Harper. The man's been known to do a little ballin' in his day. He put up 20 and 8 against Xavier last week, FWIW.

Francis Cedric-Martel is also a person.

PREDICTIONS

We absolutely have to do a better job on the guards this time around, states Captain Obvious. Anderson and Gonzalvez accounted for 64% of the team's points in our first meeting and that just can't happen if we want to feel at all comfortable coming down the stretch. Anderson got to the line far too many times and converted 11 of his 12 freebies. Let him shoot if he wants. Make him prove he's on from the perimeter before you go jumping out on him. David Gonzalvez? Well, he'll probably get his. Sad face.

The clear advantage is in the post. Our three starting bigs combined for 32 points and 21 boards last month and I expect more of the same tonight. The Spiders aren't terribly athletic down bottom and have the knack for getting a little handsy. We fouled out three of their forwards -- including two starters -- and took 39 free throws the last time out. Sure, we only made 21 of them, but opportunity always precedes success. Be aggressive, big people. B-E aggressive.

Richmond does not turn the ball over. Like, at all. They're first in the conference in turnovers per game and second in turnover rate (percentage of possessions that end up in turnovers). Annoyingly, they also got them grubby paws and force the highest opponent turnover rate in the conference. Those guards are just lightning quick and something we except as a sunk cost; they're going to make their presence felt no matter what you do. You just have to weather the storm and limit the contributions of everyone else.

Getting out and running early will be important. The Spiders are second-last in the league in possessions per game. They're also second-last in fouls per game. They'd much rather play a slow, smart game rather than a game that flies by them at warp speed.

A couple quick fouls should do the trick. I expect Chris and Charles to get beasty all over some Spider faces. Flyers get up early and maintain throughout. UD, 65-59.

SINK THE DAMN FREE THROWS.

Trouble busin' in from outta state

"Out here it's just winners and losers and don't get caught on the wrong side of that line."

Let me preface this by saying we're in. We're in we're in we're in. No need for hand-wringing and brow-mopping. We are in. This is the first season since 2003-2004 in which we're not in a do or die situation heading into championship week. So draw one last slow breath ... and exhale.

Good. Now ready yourself for the 120 miles per hour sprint that is the postseason. We are not playing out of desperation for the first time in five years. We are playing for respect. We are playing for a couple more inches on this conference's pedestal. We are playing to land a haymaker on the jaw of big conference honks.

Our team. Our town. Just like Bruce said, on the boardwalk they're getting ready for a fight. Wrap your knuckles, Flyers fans. The real season begins tonight.

Profiles in Courage: Drew Lavender

In this installment of our sporadic Profiles in Courage series, we welcome a man that fought valiantly against the A-10 liberation movement the past four years. This is not to be applauded, but merely recognized prior to sentencing.

Ray: Drew, thanks for taking a couple minutes of your time to sit down with us.

Drew: (eyes warily shift from side to side, fidgets in booster seat)

Ray: Now you were a key cog in the group of players that helped take the Xavier Musketeers program from a perennial A-10 contender to a national brand name. Was there any moment during the ride where you could sit back and gain a little perspective on how special that journey was?

Drew: Nah. (visibly agitated, gets denied admission to Kings Island ride)

Ray: Um. Okay. Well tell us how important it was to you to accomplish everything you did last year after some of the legal travails you experienced during your collegiate career.

Drew: (stands up, grabs crotch)

MAN FUCK THIS WHITE BLOG!

(storms out, represents Lollipop Guild)

Ray: Thanks for your time, Drew.