By Paul Gotham
The lack of communication said it all.
Archie Miller stood on the sidelines of the CONSOL Energy Center last Saturday, hands on hips watching as the Duquesne Dukes scored nine straight against his Dayton Flyers. An eight-point lead evaporated in little more than a minute.
A timeout would have been appropriate. The referees glanced his way. No signal came.
Miller let the events unfold as if he knew what was coming.
“I really can’t remember a game this year where our defense just didn’t have that many answers,” Miller stated in Saturday’s post-game comments. “We’ve pretty much seen everything. It’s disappointing, but at the same time it’s what happens when you play in a conference like this. You gotta battle the ups and downs of winning and losing, fatigue, adversity. You name it. I’m not going to sit here and apologize for our team today. We just weren’t very good.”
Duquesne ran their first-half advantage to five.
UD rallied, even took a one-point lead into the locker room.
It didn’t last long. Duquesne used an 11-4 run early in the second half to take a lead they never surrendered.
“To me this was probably the first time in a while where we were searching for answers,” Miller added. “We didn’t stick to our guns and say do what we do better. We just got to do a better job of what we practice. To me, we didn’t have it, so we were searching.”
The fourth-year coach had a scapegoat: the Flyers played Thursday night and had to turn around and go on the road to play a team whose previous game took place on Wednesday.
He didn’t make use of the opportunity.
“You can use that if you want,” Miller explained. “But we could have had ten days of practice, and if we came out and played with that type of energy and toughness, Duquesne was going to get the same result. They were better today, much faster, much quicker. We had a tough, hard-fought victory on Thursday with (Saint) Joe’s. Some of the same issues that we dealt with today, we had at home. We just found a way to win at home. It’s a lot easier when you have your fans, your people. Today, those breakdowns cost us early and it was sort of like a snowball rolling down hill. We just couldn’t get a grab on it. They were too fast.”
There was also the recurring question about Dayton’s short bench and the cumulative effect the grind of a season is having on a roster with only seven scholarship players.
“There is not a team in our conference or around the country that’s played 26 games that feels great.”
Miller reinforced that mindset during Monday’s Atlantic 10 tele-conference when asked about accepting the reality of the situation when considering the fatigue his team faces.
“I think that would be cheating them for all they have done,” Miller commented. “For the work that they’ve done, for the commitment they’ve made to one another, for how hard they’ve competed, for what they’ve refused to give up on. It would be just an absolute slap in the face to our guys to put that out there. We don’t use it. We don’t use it all. Our goal is to be ready on Wednesday and from there we’ll take it on.”
Dayton (20-6/10-4 A-10) hosts George Mason (8-18/3-13), Wednesday night. More than 96 hours since the conclusion of their most recent game. I’m not a betting man. Not that much will get wagered on this game, but it’s hard to see the Patriots escaping UD Arena with a win. Shevon Thompson (6-11/13.3 ppg/12.0 rpg) is a load in the paint. Pretty sure the Flyers will be ready to handle him.
As for the loss Saturday. Miller didn’t say it publicly – at least not in these exact words – but the Thursday to Saturday turnaround is like playing in the NCAA Tournament. And his guys will be ready for that.
“Judge us on how we finish the season,” Miller stated.
Those eight words said much more.
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