By Paul Gotham
If one trend continues, the University of Dayton Flyers men’s basketball team will accomplish something they have not yet during Archie Miller’s tenure. Through 19 contests the Flyers have made more free throws than their opponents have taken.
Creating space on the floor and subsequent driving lanes, the Flyers have converted 309 of 463 attempts from the charity stripe this season while their opponents have managed 209 of 298.
It is hard to ignore the efforts of Scoochie Smith in this area. Surrounded by a lineup of talented scorers, the sophomore point guard has shown the ability to pick his spots carefully.
“Obviously, he’s playing for a great point guard in Archie,” Fordham coach Tom Pecora said. “He’s really tutored him well. He’s got him really quarterbacking a team.”
Smith ranks third in the Atlantic 10 with 4.2 assists per game. He dropped 39 dimes while committing just 10 turnovers during UD’s recent eight-game win streak. At the same time, Scoochie notched five double-digit scoring efforts in Dayton’s last seven games including a four-game stretch where he averaged 15 a game hitting 22 of 35 from the floor. The Bronx native scored 15 at Fordham.
“He’s become a much better perimeter shooter which obviously is a very important dimension to any player especially a back court man,” Pecora added. “He’s really showed a lot of maturity. He’s developed as a point guard. He doesn’t look like a sophomore out there.”
Creating another threat on the floor gives his teammates more opportunities and more chances to get to the line as the result of creating contact with the dribble.
“It’s a big, big number for as we continue to play,” Miller said. “Getting teams in foul trouble to me is as important as staying out of foul trouble.”
It’s a point of emphasis Miller thought the Flyers might have some challenges when their lineup changed recently.
“We’ve been pretty good all year at getting fouled,” Miller noted. “Once our team changed in December, we didn’t want to lose that physicality. Although we’re a little bit smaller, we’re also a little bit more physical than people realize just in term of individual one on one. We’ve still been able to maintain that physicality even though we’re a little bit under-sized in terms of attacking the rim. It’s been good to us.”
Dayton travels to Amherst to do battle with UMass on Thursday. In facing the Minutemen, UD comes up against an opponent who has made more free throws (331 of 475) over the course of the season.
UMass coach Derek Kellogg knows the Flyers will use the dribble to test his team.
“They’re playing a drive and kick attack game with four or five guys who can always put it to the floor and get to the rim,” Kellogg commented. “They do a nice job of spreading you out. When you’re playing a lot of guys like that, and the tendency as an attacking team is to get to the rim more often and you’re able to get to the free throw line.”
Kellogg pointed out Scoochie’s role in UD’s attack.
“He’s shooting the ball much better from three,” Kellogg noted. “He’s taken over some games and hit some huge shots for them. By him shooting the ball that way that’s opened up a lot of his driving lanes and his ability in the ball-screen offense.”
UMass will force Dayton and Scoochie to handle the ball 94 feet.
“UMass does a really good job of pressuring,” Miller said. “They extend their pressure. They make you make plays.”
It will be a test of knowing when to go and knowing when to not give into a team which wants a faster pace. As Pecora noted this has been a particular area of improvement for Smith.
“The one thing is Scoochie always played at one speed when I saw him in high school. He was a fine player on that level. Archie has got him playing now at various speeds.”
UMass pressures up to 94 feet. Dayton digs into half-court defense. The effect can be seen in the tempo of the game. Per Basketball State, UMass leads the A-10 averaging 70.7 possessions per game (down slightly from 73.8 a year ago) while the Flyers average 65.7. The difference may not seem like much, but when the Minutemen are on their game, they create a high-volume of touches and subsequent chances for mistakes.
“When you look at possessions, you have to look at a team’s style of defense,” Miller explained. “If we do a good job, teams are going to have to make more passes, take more time to score. To me possession really stops and starts with defense.”
UD hit 558 of 819 free throw attempts last year while opponents went 589-832. In 2012-13 UD hit 471 of 657 while opposing shooters went 437 of 620. During Miller’s first year UD hit 484 of 622 with opposing teams going 443-667.
The Flyers and Minutemen are set to tipoff at 7 pm. The game will be televised on ESPNU.
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