Ohio Dominican Exhibition Notes

As we all now know Dayton took down Ohio Dominican 79–61. Here are a few thoughts on the game and new aspects of UD Arena.

• You the man now Josh. A monster outing from Josh Cunningham yielded 22 points and 9 rebounds on 10–13 shooting from the floor. That was all accomplished in just 17 minutes. Obviously the competition was substandard but I feel comfortable saying he is the best player on the team.
• Darrell Davis 2.0. Darrell looked to be a much improved player off the bounce, driving for three strong finishes at the rim and earning a couple trips to the line. None of the other guards showed the ability to consistently beat their man off the dribble, so this would be a welcome development. He picked up where he left off last year from three as well, going 2–3.
• John Crosby, probably still not great. Crosby looked a little more in control than last year, but he ended the night 2–8 from the floor including a ghastly 1–6 from inside the arc. A number of those were long contested two point jumpers from near the elbow, the worst shots in basketball. If he continues to take those shots I will claw my eyes out of my skull. On a more positive note he went 1–2 from three and had four assists to one turnover. So slight progress on that front, but if you look below average against ODU you probably aren’t going to be good against Ball St.
• Xeyrius Williams rebounding machine. 15 rebounds on the day for X, 14 of which were defensive. On a lot of those he was given the freedom to bring the ball up the court himself. He didn’t look super natural doing it, but was able to avoid any turnovers. Offensively he was quiet, but with Cunningham dominating he wasn’t really needed. Without Scoochie feeding him, his offensive production could dry up, but his rebounding and defense are so good that he’ll still be a vital member of the team.
• KOSTAS. MOTHERFUCKING KOSTAS. You saw the dunk, I saw the dunk, we all saw the dunk. Let’s watch it again.

On the bad side he got pushed around a little down low on offense and got into foul trouble, which will probably be an issue all year. There will be a ton of good things mixed with a bunch of bad this year. But his potential is enormous and in two years he could be an unstoppable monster, particularly in rim protection where he’s already a force.

• Trey Landers ~= Sophomore Kyle Davis. He’s not Kyle Davis, because nobody is, but he’s basically Kyle Davis. Strong defense and an incredible athlete who needs a little work on his jumper.
• The freshmen are allright. Matej Svoboda in particular will be a real contributor to the team. He was only 1–5 from three, including an airball on his first shot, but I’m going to chalk most of that up to nerves. Otherwise he looked good defending and rebounding, which I expected to be suspect coming in. He ended up a perfect 5–5 from two showing nice touch around the hoop. Jalen Crutcher and Jordan Davis both looked viable, although Davis had a rough shooting night. Again I think playing in front of 13,000 people for the first time contributed to that more than anything since his shooting form looks good. Crutcher looked at least as good as Crosby and it might not be long before he becomes the lead guy. Jordan Pierce on the other hand looked a little stiff, though he too is hilariously large and could become a rim protector in time. I would be surprised if he gets much time this year.
• Arena notes: The new center scoreboard is absolutely beautiful. Obviously the new seats are an upgrade. I thought they had done the right thing and gotten rid of those stupid “Are you the 6th?” signs but nope they’re just chilling on the side of the entrances now. They are at least more out of sight than before. New sound system was good and loud. I’d be fine with no music during breaks just listen to the band but I’m old fashioned like that.

Overall the team did what they were supposed to do against an inferior opponent. All the takes above come with caveats due to the weak opposition, so I’m excited to see what they can do Friday against legit competition.