Monday Recap Beats the Buzzer

This will be a normal article I post every Monday that recaps last week’s action. The “Beats the Buzzer” portion of the title will change based on what actually happened. Enjoy!

The Anthony Grant era got off to an unforgettable start last Friday at UD Arena. After coughing up a seven point lead with under 3 minutes to play, the Flyers trailed Ball St. by one with 2.6 seconds left. After an inbounds, a deflection out of bounds, an interminable replay review, and a BSU timeout Xeyrius Williams stood at halfcourt, ready to inbounds with only 1.9 seconds left. After his first option, Darrell Davis, was covered, he hoisted a prayer towards Josh Cunningham and two Cardinal defenders under the hoop. Cunningham skied for the ball, brought it in, and had the wherewithal to land, spin, and lay the ball into the hoop, giving UD an improbable victory.

For Cunningham, it capped off a career best night that yielded a brutally efficient 22 points on only 10 shots. He was backed up by 16 points from Darrell Davis, who confirmed his improved dribble drive game could work against D1 competition. A more surprising contributor was John Crosby, who had his best game in a Flyer uniform and scored 13, assisted 4, and only turned it over twice.

More thoughts below:

• Bipolar Kostas. Good things: He made an open three, showing some range we weren’t entirely sure he had. He also made a great play to save a ball from out of bounds on an offensive rebound. Bad things: He was practically begging for a moving screen call when he was setting picks. Also he heat checked a three from 3 feet behind the line after making his three. That seemed to irk Grant about as much as it did me, as Kostas didn’t return to the game after that. This has been your weekly update on Kostas, who only played 6 minutes and is still somehow my first bullet.
• Xeyrius forcing it. After starting the game 2–2 from three on open looks Xeyrius Williams shot a couple of contested ones and forced a few drives to the hoop that simply weren’t there (0–4 from two). I’m sure he’s itching to take a larger creative role in the offense, but I’m not sure if his game is quite there yet. Stay tuned.
• CROSBY?!?!?!? This felt like a sustainable turnaround. He looked in control for long stretches of the game. He completely excised the long two point jumpers I bitched about last week and had the ball on a string a few times. He still had some classic Crosby “dribble into a crowd at full speed with no plan whatsoever” moments (see below, he’s the one on the ground who nearly turned it over), but they were few and far between in this one. Honestly when Jalen Crutcher came in for him after the big run to open the game the offense seemed to lose some life. I wanted him back in, which was a weird feeling, but one I hope to have more of this season.

• Guards roundup. Crutcher clearly has more more trust from the coaches than Jordan Davis, and maybe even more than Trey Landers, as he closed out the game and played 26 minutes to Davis’s 16 and Landers’s 22. I didn’t necessarily agree with the decision to let Cructher close it out over Landers. With a 7 point lead you’d think having the superior defender, Landers, out there would be our best option. Especially when Crutcher was making defensive mistakes like the would-be game winning Ball St. bucket:

That is 100% Crutcher’s job to cut off Taylor Persons’s drive to the basket after Xeyrius gets beat. Instead of getting his body in front he just waves at him going by.

• Trey Landers == Kyle Davis. Landers is sophomore Kyle Davis, but taller. It’s a little eerie. In addition to his effectiveness driving to the hoop, he blocked the absolute shit out of Tahjai Teague, who is 6' 8". He also refused to shoot a three pointer and even missed a free throw after an and one. Athletic, shot blocking guard who refuses to shoot threes but shoots 60% from two? Sounds familiar.
• Darrell Iso. The 2nd to last play, when Dayton was up one looked to be an isolation play for Darrell. Cunningham not being involved in that possession at all is mystifying to me. A pick and roll or even a straight postup would’ve made more sense. Darrell has improved his game this year to be sure, but the guy isn’t Russell Westbrook. I’d prefer they give him some options or get him moving as he catches the ball instead of just straight isolation.
• Officiating. Seriously what the hell was this?

There is no way that should’ve counted. And then of course there is the 5+ minute review after UD gets it deflected out of bounds with 2 seconds left. If it isn’t immediately clear who it’s off of then just stick with the call on the floor. Reviews should never take more than a minute or two. The NCAA will never fix this and I am resigned to that fact.

Hell of a first game. UD will now take a shot at a mediocre field in the Charleston Classic, starting Thursday night against Hofstra. More on that later in the week.

GO FLYERS