Date: Sun Jan 27 14:18:21 2008
Sender: David Smith AA
This thread will be devoted to preparing and breaking down the games for season
53. This first post will also cover training camp and the thinking behind the
final roster organization.
RECRUITING AND TRAINING CAMP
The Flyers brought in 4 scholarship players, 2 seniors and 2 freshmen and all
figure to play this season.
R.Watson C Sr 5 3 2 3 5 1 4 12 100 6'10" *S C C C
R.Watson C Sr 4 3 2 4 5 1 4 13 100 6'10" *S C C C
Watson had a 0 sum camp but as a senior we just needed him to hold on to key
abilities. His height is the biggest asset for the team and he should be able
to provide scoring in the post. He transfers from St Peters where he averaged
8 points the past 2 seasons.
N.Evans PF Sr 2 3 9 2 6 3 3 15 100 6' 6" *S C C PF
N.Evans PF Sr 1 3 10 3 7 2 3 16 100 6' 6" *S C C PF
Evans transfers from Mississippi State where he averaged 5 points a game over
the last 2 seasons. He is an undersized forward but should provide a solid
role scoring and rebounding the ball.
B.James C Fr 3 4 1 1 6 2 5 6 100 6' 9" -S C B C
B.James C Fr 4 5 1 1 6 1 6 7 100 6'10" -S C A C
James was our prize recruit this year. He was rated an A and had a good camp
improving his hands and defense while growing an inch. He will backup Watson
at center and could be the teams best player.
D.Soldner PG Fr 4 3 3 5 4 2 5 8 100 6' 0" -S C B PG
D.Soldner PG Fr 3 3 3 5 4 2 5 10 100 6' 0" -S D C PG
A bad camp for what we hoped would be the PG of the future. Went from #1 to #5
on depth chart after camp. Very uncertain right now and could play this year
in order to move him through the system in 4 years.
A.Bryant SF Fr 5 4 4 1 2 2 3 6 100 6' 7" -- D C SF
A.Bryant SF Fr 5 4 4 2 2 2 3 10 100 6' 7" R- D C PG
Day 2 non-scholarship recruit. Will redshirt
E.Haviland PG Fr 4 4 0 1 5 3 3 9 100 6' 3" -- D C PG
E.Haviland PG Fr 5 4 0 1 5 4 3 10 100 6' 3" R- D C PG
Day 2 non-scholarship recruit. Decent camp. Will redshirt
Overall camp was fair at best. Here are the overall gaines/losses by catagory:
Passing +1
Defense +1
Aggression 0
Inteligence +8
Scoring +4
Shooting -2
Stamina +6
Training +25
Height +1 inch
Overall Skill Improvement +18
The best individual improvement was Gambrell who moves up to the #2 PG job. He
had a +4 camp. Only 1 player lost and that was Soldner who lost a point.
Seven players had a zero.
ROSTER DECISIONS
CENTER - Watson was recruited this year with a PT promise and will start.
James was an A recruit this year and I have decided to play him right away.
Need his inside scoring to have any chance to compete.
R.Watson C Sr 4 3 2 4 5 1 4 13 100 6'10" *S C C C
B.James C Fr 4 5 1 1 6 1 6 7 100 6'10" -S C A C
A.Reyes C Jr 1 7 0 2 4 1 5 12 100 6' 5" -S D D C
POWER FORWARD - No real decisions here. Evans was brought in with a PT promise
and he will start.
N.Evans PF Sr 1 3 10 3 7 2 3 16 100 6' 6" *S C C PF
C.Alioto PF Jr 5 2 2 2 6 4 2 12 100 6' 9" *S C C PF
SMALL FORWARD - Big decision to play Gregory rather than redshirt him. Will
start and together with Rogers should be a solid SF combo.
G.Gregory SF So 2 5 4 4 6 1 2 11 100 6' 7" -S C B C
F.Rogers SF Fr 2 2 8 3 3 5 0 9 100 6' 7" *S D C SF
A.Bryant SF Fr 5 4 4 2 2 2 3 10 100 6' 7" R- D C PG
M.Levin SF Jr 5 2 3 3 4 1 8 13 100 6' 7" *S D D PF
SHOOTING GUARD - Big decisions here. Both of the top SGs are non-scholarship
players meaning they will want a scholarship to stay next season. I only have
2 available next year and will have them both for recruiting. So both players
would transfer. I have decided to play one and redshirt the other. Leverenze
had the better camp and shows the better long term potential and will therefore
be redshirted. Hatcher will play, demand a scholarship, and be let go.
C.Leverenz SG Fr 3 6 4 3 3 2 5 11 100 6' 6" R- D C C
C.Hatcher SG Fr 4 2 7 2 3 5 3 9 100 6' 6" -- D C SF
P.Avlon SG Jr 2 4 2 4 3 3 9 11 100 6' 2" -S D D PG
S.King SG So 1 4 1 3 3 4 3 6 100 6' 0" -S D D PG
POINT GUARD - More big decisions. Same situation as above. Best 2 players are
non-scholarship. But...the difference between them and the next 2 players is
very slight. Therefore the two will redshirt - White and Haviland.
A.White PG Fr 6 2 0 5 4 2 1 9 100 6' 1" R- D C PG
E.Haviland PG Fr 5 4 0 1 5 4 3 10 100 6' 3" R- D C PG
B.Alexander PG So 5 3 4 3 1 2 7 10 100 6' 0" -S D C PG
D.Gambrell PG Jr 6 2 1 5 1 2 3 8 100 6' 1" -S D C PG
D.Soldner PG Fr 3 3 3 5 4 2 5 10 100 6' 0" -S D C PG
Leverenze, White, and Haviland will play next year (depending on walkons and
recruiting) and with 5 scholarships available after season 54 they could be
used for these players if warranted.
The initial 4 year plan is being adjusted. Gone are the redshirts for Gregory
and James and probably Soldner. If I didn't play these guys then I would be
forced to play non-scholarship players that would then demand scholarships for
which I am unwilling to grant. Also I would be playing far inferior players
and this team is bad enough the way it is.
GOALS AND EXPECTATIONS
Coming off a winless season a year ago and with the worst talent in tier 1...by
a lot...the expectations are very low. Looking at the schedule, 5-6 wins in
non-conference play will be possible. However, it will be very tough to win
another 4-5 games in the A-10. It is very possible that Dayton
could go 0-18 in conference. Ten victories would be an outstanding
accomplishment for this group. The season kicks off tomorrow against Arizona
State in the Sun Devil Slam V.
I have decided not to say much about game planning or playing style against
human coached teams. I don't want to give any tips concerning any other
coach's team. I will talk about the game results. So with Arizona State
tomorrow, coached by Josh Sherlock, there will be no pregame strategy discussed
here.
Date: Mon Jan 28 09:18:42 2008
Sender: James Mathis
One small quibble/suggestion.
I might swap Evans' and Gregory's positions. Gregory is taller and better able
to defend big men, and PF is a bigger scoring position than SF (at least that's
my impression). Evans should still be a rebounding machine at the '3'.
Date: Mon Jan 28 10:31:32 2008
Sender: Jay Schlegel
Did you arrive at this by running the 15 scrimmages? I always run the 15
scrimmages, even if I don't have decisions to make, dividing my team into 1st
2nd and 3rd string and playing them against each other (each player gets 10
games worth of stats, or if you don't care about the 3rd stringers just run 1st
vs 2nd). Usually I do this after making reasonably-final position decisions,
so that I will be getting as accurate a picture as possible. Alternatively, if
I still have position questions, I run some scrimmages with players at one
position, then save the stats, change the positions, clear the stats and run
more scrimmages and compare the results. Granted, the scrimmage results are
not perfect (they are against your players, not against teams you will face)
and players' attributes can change at training camp, but I find it is a good
way to better understand the nuances of my team.
Date: Mon Jan 28 21:18:09 2008
Sender: David Smith
Game 1: at Arizona St 76, Dayton 70
A close game against a much better team. In fact Dayton jumped out to a 14-1
lead and held a 38-33 halftime lead. The Flyers upped the lead to 49-37 at
15:36. Then the killer stretch put us down 53-66. Thankfully the team played
hard to the end and had a chance down 74-70 with the ball and :44 to play.
My flip flopping about the long term strategy went down to the wire. I decided
to take Dagger Dave's advice and redshirted all but 1 possible player. I
decided that we were not going to win much this year regardless of who played.
So here are the 10 players that will have to get it done this year. The other
8 are redshirting.
R.Watson C Sr 4 3 2 4 5 1 4 13 100 6'10" *S C C C
C.Alioto PF Jr 5 2 2 2 6 4 2 12 100 6' 9" *S C C PF
N.Evans SF Sr 1 3 10 3 7 2 3 16 100 6' 6" *S C C PF
P.Avlon SG Jr 2 4 2 4 3 3 9 11 100 6' 2" XS D D PG
D.Gambrell PG Jr 6 2 1 5 1 2 3 8 100 6' 1" XS D C PG
A.Reyes C Jr 1 7 0 2 4 1 5 12 100 6' 5" XS D D C
M.Levin PF Jr 5 2 3 3 4 1 8 14 100 6' 7" *S D D PF
F.Rogers SF Fr 2 2 8 3 3 5 0 9 100 6' 7" *S D C SF
S.King SG So 1 4 1 3 3 4 3 6 100 6' 0" XS D D PG
D.Soldner PG Fr 3 3 3 5 4 2 5 10 100 6' 0" XS D C PG
I also took advice and changed Evans from PF to SF. I am hoping that today's
game is an indication that this team will be able to compete against most of
the teams on the schedule. We shot 46% from the field as did Arizona St. We
outrebounded them 33-25 and 9-4 on the offensive glass. Turnovers were a
problem and I knew they would be... 20-12.
Game 2 vs Syracuse 0-1
I think we match up well with this team and have a good chance to win. We will
again try to pound the ball inside and go after their inside defenders.
Defensively I am going to go with a 3-2 zone and set SF Long and SG Wesley as
key players, meaning if either or both of them are on the floor our team will
play a 3-2 zone which is a bit stronger against perimeter shooting. Both Long
and Wesley are "shooters" for Syracuse along with the PG Rhode. Rhode is a bit
more of a driver as his overall distance is 9.7 while his shots taken distance
is 7.2 so the 3-2 should be decent for him as well. My secondary defense is
going to be matchup zone so when neither Long nor Wesley are in Dayton will be
playing matchup zone, which should give us a bit more overall balance
defensively. PF Lichman concerns me as he is their best inside scoring threat
but his defense is only a 2 so I will "shoot against" him and set shooting to
inside Moderate and hope to get him in foul trouble, thereby limiting his
ability to hurt me in the 3-2 zone.
Date: Wed Jan 30 08:53:54 2008
Sender: David Smith
Game 2: Syracuse 82, Dayton 59
Well...that was a disaster, and probably more in line with what I expected in
game 1. I really thought there was a chance to compete and win this game. It
was never a game! So far I have 2 different lines of feedback. Game 1 we
compete with a much better team and lose a very close game. Game 2 we get
blownout by a team not as good as our first opponent. Of course almost every
team we play this year is going to be better.
Game 3: Oregon at Dayton
Date: Wed Jan 30 12:13:35 2008
Sender: David Smith AA
Game 3: at Dayton 68, Oregon 58
Dayton gets it's first win in 2 years!! Things did not look good in the first
half as we fell behind early and trailed by 9 at the half. But Oregon wore
down in the second half with only a 7 man rotation and the Flyers held them off
down the stretch. Dayton shot 57% and allowed just 35% behind a matchup zone
that was employed for the entire game. We were 15/27 inside and made a very
efficient 5/8 from 3. Both PGs got into early foul trouble and SG King was
forced into playing and had 4 assists and 5 turnovers. Turnovers continue to
be a problem as Dayton had 18. Our O/D rating improved to 299 from 313. O
improved to 292 from 310 and D improved to 292 from 312.
Next Opponent: 4: Dayton at N Illinois 1-1
N.Illinois is a solid tier 2 team and rank #127. They lost by 3 today to #19
LaSalle. Offensively they are more of a perimeter shooting team led in scoring
by their SF, SG and two PGs. PF Ethridge averages 10 points and 12 boards.
Overall their big men are undersized so hopefully we can take advantage inside.
I backed off the inside shooting for the Oregon game today from Moderate to
Slight to Moderate. I will keep the same setting for N.Illinois. We will stay
with the matchup zone on defense. This is a must win game for the Flyers!
Date: Thu Jan 31 12:39:18 2008
Sender: David Smith
Game 4 N Illinois 93, Dayton 67
Old fashioned butt whoopin. We were never in the game. Turnovers killed again
17-10. Rebounding was fairly even as was shooting. N.Illinois killed it at
the foul line making 35/36!! Dayton was 13/19 so foul trouble hurt us again as
well.
Up Next
Game 5 #314 IN Purdue 1-2 at #285 Dayton 1-3
Another winnable game that this team must win. They have 2 outstanding big men
that we will have to somehow counter.
Date: Thu Jan 31 17:01:30 2008
Sender: David Rogers
Boosting films will get the fouling under control BTW.
Date: Thu Jan 31 19:05:58 2008
Sender: David Smith
I currently have training set to 1 point for everything, except defense which I
have set to 2, and conditioning set to 0.
Date: Thu Jan 31 20:22:38 2008
Sender: David Rogers
That can work - though I generally run conditioning at at least one and often
2. That allows my team to play well in the second half (if I am not already
way out ahead that is).
Looking over your starters intelligence ...
In = {4,2,3,4,5}
But your free throws given up puts Dayton at #333. Ouch!
I might try turning up the films a bit. :-)
(Just an idea)
Date: Fri Feb 1 08:51:58 2008
Sender: David Smith AA
Coach Rogers has a great suggestion and I'm going to try it. So I have turned
the defense down to 1 and the films up to 2. I have never spent points on
conditioning. I remember way back several discussions about it's affect. If I
remember correctly it was determined to be very negligable, especially when
balanced out for the point being spent. Dayton has depth concerns with only
playing 10 players (the rest redshirting) and foul trouble magnifies it.
Stamina is the single best skill that the team has (42). With so many other
skill weaknesses I can't afford to not spend at least a point for them. So 0
points for conditioning and 2 for films. It will be interesting to see if it
has an affect over a few games. As I said when this project started I am more
than willing to use suggestions so if you have one don't be afraid to put it
out there.
Date: Sat Feb 2 10:13:00 2008
Sender: Dave Ayres
Doesn't look like increasing the film emphasis helped to decrease the free
throw disparity in Dayton's game on Friday versus Indiana Purdue (33 free
throws for IUPUI, 17 for Dayton). A tough Fearless Flyer loss, when Rogers
(ironically) commits a two-shot foul with one second remaining in the game and
Dayton actually clinging to a one-point lead. The shooter makes both free
throws, and Dayton goes down to another defeat!
Personally, I don't think that films have ever helped my team commit less
fouls. I have surmised that greater aggression (especially when combined with
low intelligence) is the largest single factor (aside from being behind and
fouling late in the game and/or being highly fatigued late in the game) in
causing your opponent to shoot more free throws.
The total aggression of the five IUPUI starters is only FIVE points (1.0 per
player). The total aggression of the Dayton starting five is 17 points (3.4
per player). As a result, I would always expect to see Dayton commit more
fouls in any matchup between the two teams.
Film training helps in other areas, but I really question its value in giving
your team any kind of a free throw advantage.
Date: Sun Feb 3 10:13:03 2008
Sender: David Rogers
Sounds like a job for statistics man ...
Date: Tue Feb 5 09:38:30 2008
Sender: Christopher E Smith
This is good stuff Dave & Dave! I'm hoping we have a lot of coaches following
along. Maybe I'll send out a message to the league in case some don't know of
this. If coaches would follow along closely, there is a lot to be learned from
this. And I already gave high marks to Dagger's opening week column.
Keep up the fine work guys!
Date: Tue Feb 5 12:41:41 2008
Sender: David Smith
Game 6 at Texas State 70, Dayton 65
Another disappointing loss to a team we could have beaten. The extra film
point may have helped in this one as Dayton had 19 team fouls and no player had
more than 3.
Game 7 Dayton: 83, New Hampshire: 73
Dayton wins their second game of the season over previously unbeaten New
Hampshire despite losing 2 players to injury during the game as well as having
a third player foul out. This put enourmous strain on an already thin
rotation. With a 3 point lead and 3 minutes to play the Flyers nailed 11/12
free throws to win the game by 10. Dayton made 32/34 FTs. The extra film
point (2 total) was still in play and may have helped again, although 1 player
did foul out...16 total fouls. New Hampshire had 24 fouls.
2 starters are injured for 3 and 5 games. Fortunately Dayton does not play for
2 strait days so both players will have time to heal some.
Date: Sun Feb 10 14:19:21 2008
Sender: David Rogers
If they were long term injuries I suggest removing the red-shirt but as it is
let them heal on their own. I have noticed a irritation in the sim that
rotations no longer work reliably when one of the players (or two) is injured.
I like to set up rotation groups to do the following things:
A. Keep a handler or two on the floor at all times.
B. Keep an inside scorer on the court at all times.
C. Keep an perimeter scorer on the floor at all times.
Date: Sun Feb 10 17:42:31 2008
Sender: Dave Ayres AA
and of course:
D) Keep a coach on the bench at all times
E) Keep a cheerleader on the coach's lap at all times
F) Keep a smile on the cheerleader's face at all times.
BTW, Smitty's five-day absence from the prying cameras of the paparazzi is
probably a direct result of Louisville's 11 point loss to Colorado and 18 point
defeat at the hands of Alabama this past week. Oh, oh! Has the pressure of
coaching at both Dayton and Louisville gotten to our stalwart Head Flyer?
Date: Sun Feb 17 12:47:23 2008
Sender: Dave Ayres
Where is Smitty? After seemingly disappearing into thin air for the past two
weeks, conspiracy theorists claim that he was a "LOST" stowaway on Oceanic
Flight 815 and has now returned to the Island with Jack, Kate, Hurley, and
Sayid.
Flyer fans are getting restless. Assistant coach Dagger Dave Ayres can only
hide out in the lounge of the local Hooters for so long . . .
Date: Tue Feb 19 11:05:45 2008
Sender: David Smith
Last week was a rough one for Dayton. Playing against better teams is tough
enough but when you are down a player or two like Dayton was it makes it
impossible. Here is the first week of A-10 play...
11: Duquesne 91, at Dayton 86
12: at Fordham 81, Dayton 61
13: at Lehigh 93, Dayton 90
14: Xavier 91, at Dayton 62
Duquesne is having a good year (currently 10-3, 4-1) and we had a chance to get
a big win. Fordham has the 3rd best talent in the A-10 but is struggling at
8-6, 1-4. Their talent superiority was way too much for our weak team.
Non-conference Lehigh from the Patriot League should have been a win but we
gave up 14 offensive boards and 16 more FGA. Xavier took it to us pretty good
and led 60-33 at the half.
So far I have to say that this is pretty much as expected. The team is 3-10
overall. Had I not redshirted players and played our best I think we could be
arguably 8-5 overall.
Date: Tue Feb 19 17:28:06 2008
Sender: Dave Ayres
Smitty,
Glad to have you back, Commander!
However, I do think that you may have spent some of your "away" time inhaling
lead-based spray paint from our Little Red Flyer Wagon if you really think that
we (Dayton) would be 8-5 by suiting up the redshirts!
Date: Wed Feb 20 11:33:57 2008
Sender: David Smith
Well, I can't say that it's not the paint but...
I base the 8-5 comment on the fact that the Flyers have lost 5 games by
6,5,5,3,1. We have several players on the redshirt squad that are better than
the players that are playing. Not only that but the foul trouble issues and
injuries in several games has forced an already thin bench (10 players suited
up for games) even thinner. I have to think that 6 points could be made up by
those facts.
Date: Tue Feb 26 11:38:19 2008
Sender: Larry Newdorf
Nice comeback today... I kept hoping the Colonials would pull away, but they
couldn't. After losing 7 straight I probably need to make a post called the
George Washington experiment. Really... I am not sure what to do with my team
anymore. 9-4 to 9-11 and a loss to Dayton... ouch!
Date: Tue Feb 26 12:55:48 2008
Sender: Jay Schlegel
nononono, it should be "the Minnesota Experiment". Lost by 12 today after
leading by 10 at the half. At home. To a team that had comparable 'looks' to
mine. 7-13 with #40 talent. Injuries now are a big factor (lost another key
player today -- Montenegro must have a 2X-strength voodoo doll at work here)
but not all of it. How do opponents get more shots when I am the one with the
high-tempo offense? Next experiment: slow it waaaaaaaaay down!
Date: Tue Feb 26 14:21:21 2008
Sender: David Smith
Larry - It was a very surprising comeback. I also thought you would pull away
but the Flyers just found a way to hang in and steal a win at the end. After
winning just 2 A-10 games the past 3 seasons this is a very welcome one. Now
the team will be back to full strength as our starting PG is finally healed
after missing 5 games. I have to give huge credit to our backup PG today as he
had 13 points (3/3 from 3)and 11 assists.
Jay - Injuries are very frustrating and they seem to go in cycles. Last year
my Louisville team didn't have a single injury. This year I have had 2 key
players miss 11 games (and one is still out for 3 more) contributing to 2 Big
East losses.
Next up for the Flyers is a chance to play spoiler within the A-10 with games
against 1st place LaSalle and 2nd place Duquesne.
Date: Mon Mar 3 08:14:55 2008
Sender: David Smith
Dayton had a solid 2 win week in the A-10. First win in the conference in 2
years!
21: at Ohio St 81, Dayton 63
22: Dayton 73, at George Wash 70
23: #21 LaSalle 84, at Dayton 63
24: at Duquesne 84, Dayton 61
25: at Dayton 69, NC Charlotte 68
The team still struggles for the most part but it is good to see a couple big
wins. We still have the 2 power teams coming up, UMass and St Louis.
Date: Wed Mar 12 16:15:17 2008
Sender: David Smith
Mercifully the first regular season of the Dayton Project is over. We finished
up the season with a big win against Rhode Island today 78-76 and lost by just
74-72 against Temple earlier in the week. It is almost inconceivable but this
team won 8 games and 4 in the A-10!
Final regular season record 8-21, 4-14 in the A-10
We got through the season playing just 10 players and redshirted every possible
player this season. We will lose just 2 players to graduation, our 2 leading
scorers Watson and Evans who averaged 12 and 13 respectfully. We will lose a
couple more players as we will look to trim the roster and hope for better
walkons. While this season kind of went into autopilot in terms of tweaking
the coaching settings the future looks bright based on the 8 wins. I thought
that 10 wins would be a great season and still argue that had I played the best
players rather than redshirting some of them that we could have won at least 6
more games as we lost them by very close scores. Six more wins would have
given Dayton a 14-15 record. I do not forsee this team getting a miracle upset
in the A-10 tourney and an invite to the DIT will not be forthcoming. However,
with a good walkon or two and two more solid recruits this team will be looking
to crack .500 next year! I look forward to the offseason.
Date: Wed Mar 12 19:16:14 2008
Sender: Dave Ayres
Dave,
Once Dayton is ousted in the A-10 tourney, would you be willing to provide all
our eager readers with your coaching preferences, primary defensive and
offensive settings, etc., and the reasons why you utilized these settings?
This will probably open the door for a lot more discussion!
Date: Mon Mar 17 10:40:24 2008
Sender: Darrell Johnson
You going to schedule games next year??
I'll give you a tourney 9-10 invite.
Date: Tue Mar 18 15:45:26 2008
Sender: David Rogers
I am sure you'll crack .500 next season - guaranteed if you schedule nicely
enough.
Date: Wed Mar 19 20:06:46 2008
Sender: Scott Kramer
Dave Ayres wrote:
Once Dayton is ousted in the A-10 tourney, would you be willing to provide all
our eager readers with your coaching preferences, primary defensive and
offensive settings, etc., and the reasons why you utilized these settings?
This will probably open the door for a lot more discussion!
I agress with Dave. This is probably what I am most interested in and what
would probably give me a better understanding of how best to run my team.
Date: Thu Mar 20 19:35:58 2008
Sender: David Smith
Will do...when I come back from vacation. Will be in Florida for a week.
Date: Sun Apr 6 14:17:02 2008
Sender: Jay Schlegel
I'll resurrect this thread before it all slips away. I would be interested to
know what coaching experiments Dayton conducted throughout the season, or how
they arrived at their various coaching options.
For myself, I conducted my own experiment at Minnesota as the #40-ranked talent
got off to a 7-13 start. Key injuries didn't help, but a switch from 2-pass to
4-pass and kicking up the press/trap settings led to a 10-4 run before another
injury did us in during the post-season.
Date: Tue Apr 8 07:28:54 2008
Sender: David Smith AA
Sorry for not posting for a while. Here are the settings that Dayton used for
the season. I thought I had posting these at the start of the year but I guess
it was just the training levels that I mentioned.
DEPTH CHART
Due to the redshirting strategy Dayton was forced to go with just 10 players
all season. That included some players that were not as good as those
redshirting. As a result we were 2 deep at each position and then the
remainder of the depth chart was filled as follows:
Center
R.Watson C Gr 4 3 2 4 5 1 4 13 100 6'10" *S C C C
A.Reyes C Sr 1 7 0 2 4 1 5 12 100 6' 5" -S D D C
M.Levin PF Sr 5 2 3 3 4 1 8 14 100 6' 7" *S D D PF
F.Rogers SF So 3 2 8 3 3 5 0 9 100 6' 7" *S C C SF
C.Alioto PF Sr 5 2 2 2 6 4 2 12 100 6' 9" *S C C PF
Bench Use: 3
PF
C.Alioto PF Sr 5 2 2 2 6 4 2 12 100 6' 9" *S C C PF
M.Levin PF Sr 5 2 3 3 4 1 8 14 100 6' 7" *S D D PF
A.Reyes C Sr 1 7 0 2 4 1 5 12 100 6' 5" -S D D C
F.Rogers SF So 3 2 8 3 3 5 0 9 100 6' 7" *S C C SF
R.Watson C Gr 4 3 2 4 5 1 4 13 100 6'10" *S C C C
Bench Use: 3
SF
N.Evans SF Gr 1 3 10 3 7 2 3 16 100 6' 6" *S C C PF
F.Rogers SF So 3 2 8 3 3 5 0 9 100 6' 7" *S C C SF
M.Levin PF Sr 5 2 3 3 4 1 8 14 100 6' 7" *S D D PF
A.Reyes C Sr 1 7 0 2 4 1 5 12 100 6' 5" -S D D C
S.King SG Jr 1 4 1 3 3 4 3 6 100 6' 0" -S D D PG
Bench Use: 3
SG
P.Avlon SG Sr 2 4 2 4 3 4 9 11 100 6' 2" -S D D PG
S.King SG Jr 1 4 1 3 3 4 3 6 100 6' 0" -S D D PG
D.Soldner PG So 3 3 3 5 4 2 5 10 100 6' 0" -S D C PG
F.Rogers SF So 3 2 8 3 3 5 0 9 100 6' 7" *S C C SF
M.Levin PF Sr 5 2 3 3 4 1 8 14 100 6' 7" *S D D PF
Bench Use: 3
PG
D.Gambrell PG Sr 6 2 1 5 1 2 3 8 100 6' 1" -S D C PG
D.Soldner PG So 3 3 3 5 4 2 5 10 100 6' 0" -S D C PG
S.King SG Jr 1 4 1 3 3 4 3 6 100 6' 0" -S D D PG
F.Rogers SF So 3 2 8 3 3 5 0 9 100 6' 7" *S C C SF
P.Avlon SG Sr 2 4 2 4 3 4 9 11 100 6' 2" -S D D PG
Bench Use: 3
PLAYER OPTIONS
All "playing distance" and "shooting distance" were set at their position
level...so centers played and shot at C depth and so on. No "shooters",
"rebounders", "key players", "use when ahead", or "use when behind" were set.
Gambrell, Soldner, and Alexander were set as ballhandlers.
SITUATION COACHING
Early in this thread I talked about some of the early game strategy decisions.
I played a couple different defenses vs a few teams and then just settled in on
matchup zone for the remainder of the season which included the entire A-10
schedule. I came to believe that it really didn't matter what defense I played
with this team due to the fact that we were so bad. Because our ballhandling
was poor (and turnovers killed us throughout the season) I set our "Pace" at 2
for every situation. I figured the fewer passes we made the less chance to
turn it over. Let's just get it down the floor and get a shot up and take our
chances. "Offensive motion" was set to normal for all situations. I felt
that if this team had anything to hang its hat on offensively it was inside, so
"shooting" was set to inside slight or moderate. Here are the full settings:
Early
Pace: 2-pass
Offense Motion: Normal
Play with Fouls: Normal
Press: Seldom
Trap: Seldom
Shooting: Inside, Slight-Moderate Emphasis
Defense: Matchup Zone
Defense 2: Matchup Zone
Late and Ahead
Pace: 2-pass
Offense Motion: Normal
Play with Fouls: Normal
Press: Seldom
Trap: Seldom
Shooting: Inside, Moderate Emphasis
Defense: Matchup Zone
Defense 2: Matchup Zone
Late and Within 3
Pace: 2-pass
Offense Motion: Normal
Play with Fouls: Most
Press: Never
Trap: Moderate
Shooting: Inside, Slight-Moderate Emphasis
Defense: Matchup Zone
Defense 2: Matchup Zone
Late and Behind
Pace: 2-pass
Offense Motion: Normal
Play with Fouls: Most
Press: Seldom
Trap: Moderate
Shooting: Inside, Slight Emphasis
Defense: Matchup Zone
Defense 2: Matchup Zone
Blowout Win
Pace: 3-pass
Offense Motion: Normal
Play with Fouls: More
Press: Seldom
Trap: Seldom
Shooting: Inside, Slight-Moderate Emphasis
Defense: Matchup Zone
Defense 2: Matchup Zone
Blowout Loss
Pace: 2-pass
Offense Motion: Normal
Play with Fouls: More
Press: Never
Trap: Seldom
Shooting: Inside, Slight Emphasis
Defense: Matchup Zone
Defense 2: Matchup Zone
GAME TRAINING
As mentioned early in the thread I changed our training a few games in. I
never set a point of training for conditioning. That was debated by a few
coaches early on in the thread. I originally had 1 point for all other areas
with a 2nd point given to defense (I think...check beginning of thread). In
any event, due to foul troubles which magnified the lack of depth I changed the
2nd point from defense to films to see if it would help the fouling. Hard to
say if it did. I have a sense that overall it did although it still reared
it's head in some games. Here is the setting:
Game Training
Shooting: 1
Passing: 1
Defense: 1
Conditioning: 0
Films: 2
Total Training: 5
DEFENSE MATCHUPS
Since Dayton did not play M-M there was no use of matchups. I used the "shoot
against" a couple of times. I never set a shoot against "No". I did find a
weak inside defender (c/pf) a few times and set shoot against "Yes".
CLOSING COMMENTS
This has been an interesting season for Dayton. The record improved from the
last few miserable seasons so progress was made in that respect...even with a
very talent deprived team. As I have said a couple times I think we could have
won a few more games by playing some of the guys that were redshirted but in
the end I think the strategy to redshirt will pay off. I knew this season was
going to be a give away and I expect next season to be better. As a result I
expect to be a little more hands on with the settings next year. I want to
thank Dagger Dave for his outstanding press releases and help in setting the
initial program strategy. His press has allowed the David Smith AA coach
rating to rise to 432 lifetime and 333 at current job. Both of these ratings
are higher than any other 1st year coach and higher than most 2nd and 3rd and
higher coaches. I have to think that the teams recruiting prestige will
improve from its current 10/20 for season 54.
NEXT THREAD
The next thread I will start will be one which talks about the offseason
strategy. What to do about scheduling, what to do about the roster...should
any players be cut to make room for walkons. Early thoughts on recruiting
needs. Once initialization begins what to do with the walkons...keep or cut.
And of course the all important decisions on recruiting. We will run some
scrimmages, set the roster for training camp and then a new thread will start
season 54.
Date: Tue Apr 8 08:15:45 2008
Sender: James Mathis
Wow, that was truly an awful defensive team. I would imagine adding more
defense to the mix would be an offseason priority.
Date: Tue Apr 8 10:45:26 2008
Sender: David Smith AA
Absolutely!! Defense must be a priority! Of course we lose our 2 best scorers
and best rebounder to graduation. But we can replace some of that with
previously redshirted players. The big addition comes from our top recruit
last year...better defender, better scorer...on paper:
B.James C Fr 4 5 1 1 7 2 6 7 100 6'10" *S C A C
He will replace...
R.Watson C Gr 4 3 2 4 5 1 4 13 100 6'10" *S C C C
Two more defensive minded redshirts that look to fill big roles this year:
G.Gregory SF So 2 5 4 4 6 1 2 11 100 6' 7" *S C B C
C.Leverenz SG Fr 3 7 4 3 3 2 5 11 100 6' 6" *- C C C
We could have a starting lineup that looks like this:
B.James C Fr 4 5 1 1 7 2 6 7 100 6'10" *S C A C
C.Alioto PF Sr 5 2 2 2 6 4 2 12 100 6' 9" *S C C PF
G.Gregory SF So 2 5 4 4 6 1 2 11 100 6' 7" *S C B C
C.Leverenz SG Fr 3 7 4 3 3 2 5 11 100 6' 6" *- C C C
A.White PG Fr 6 2 0 5 4 2 1 9 100 6' 1" *- D C PG
The defensive skill adds up to 21 compared to last years 14. Baby steps!
Every skill catagory will improve except for aggression and shooting (pending
camp).
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