By Aaron M Smith
DAYTON, OHIO – The end of the 2011-12 season brought on both highs and lows for the Dayton women’s basketball team. The Flyers captured their first Atlantic 10 Championship in their program’s history, guaranteed a fifth consecutive postseason appearance and punched a one way ticket to a third trip to the NCAA tournament. However the end of season also brought the culmination of the basketball careers for seven seniors, four of which were starters.
Such a large overhaul of any roster would almost certainly guarantee a transitional period the following year, allowing time for a new roster to jell and become acclimated to each other. Yet thirteen games into the 2012-13 season the Flyers are proving that theory wrong, as they are prepared to enter Atlantic 10 conference play with a 12-1 record. Dayton is currently ranked #22 in the AP Poll and #17 in the USA Today Coaches Poll.
So what has been the secret ingredient behind their hot start? A lot of the Flyers’ success can be attributed to the playing style put in place by Coach Jim Jabir and his coaching staff. A style that allows Dayton not to depend on one or two players for production, and emphasizes the expectation that each player on the roster is to excel in all facets of the game – scoring, rebounding and defense just to name a few.
“My philosophy is that you train everyone to do everything, so you have five skilled players that can pass, shoot and dribble. It makes it a lot harder to defend those people”, Coach Jabir explained. “I would hate to coach a team where you had one 25-point scorer and your whole job was to get her shots.”
In the first thirteen games of the 2012-13 season the Flyers have had seven different leading scorers and currently have five players averaging at least nine points or more a game. Of the first thirteen games, at least three players have scored in double digits in twelve of the games, and in three of those twelve games, five players have scored in double figures. The only time a Dayton player failed to score in double figures was in the 65-40 loss to Bowling Green on December 30, 2012.
With opponents unable to focus on one player to stop, the Flyers are able to attack from all angles. In three tournaments this season, Dayton swept all three with a different MVP being named each time.
In the Maggie Dixon Classic, freshman guard Amber Dean scored 27 points in the championship game in route to being named the MVP of the tournament.
Sam McKay was named MVP of the Arizona State Classic, scoring 17 points as Dayton rallied from a 14 point second half deficit to defeat the Sun Devils in the championship game.
Ally Malott was named the MVP of the Marriott Classic scoring 15 points and hauling in 13 rebounds in a 104-52 win over Eastern Illinois in the tournament finale.
On the defensive side of the ball, Dayton has also seen five different leading rebounders in a game this year and is currently out-rebounding their opponents 47-36 per game. Malott currently leads a quartet who average five rebounds or more per game.
But with any playing style put in place by a coaching staff, you need the players to execute it.
“ It (early season start) is a testament to the young kids. They have been able to come in and help us right away,” Jabir admitted. “But more importantly it speaks to the returning players who have had to step into new roles and become leaders. Kids like Olivia Applewhite, Cassie Sant, Sam McKay and Brittany Wilson – and the two sophomores Ally (Malott) and (Andrea) Hoover. Each one is out there doing their role and they are doing it admirably. The other most important thing with this year that sounds kinda cliché, but they love each other. They love hanging out. I’ve got seniors saying I am really sorry that I have to graduate, that I don’t want to graduate because I really love this team. That is the biggest thing, they get along so well, and they really care about each other. But people have stepped up and when everyone is sharing in the load there is less pressure on any one person.”
For the rest of the Atlantic 10 conference, this can’t be good news.
Dayton opens Atlantic 10 conference play on the road this Saturday, January 12th when they visit Hinkle Fieldhouse for a match up against the Butler Bulldogs. Tip-off is scheduled for noon.
Leave a Reply