I watched Dayton play SJU in person on Saturday. My impressions:
Dayton loves to play at a breakneck pace. Every time they grabbed a defensive rebound Miller would exhort them to race down court. I think they will attempt this often against SU for two reasons: 1) to attack before the zone is set up and 2) to try to wear SU down due to lack of depth. I think it will be critical for SU to get back on defense and also important to try to control tempo. Lastly, JB will have to strategically blend the rotation because if it is fast paced then we might run out of gas in the critical stages of the game.
Dayton is not great at shooting 3s. Cooke is their best and Scootchie Smith is next. Smith has a funky release but somehow he makes his share. Dayton took several ill-advised long threes and missed almost all of them. I think JB will encourage them to take 3s until they hit a few. Another guard off the bench - Kyle Davis- does not want to take 3s. SJU left him open and he still tried to penetrate. One thing these guys can do is drive to the basket. Smith is quick as lightning with a dazzling array of moves. Our big guys will have to be alert and help because he will get to the rim. As I said above, the fast break is an issue and Smith is their main guy on the break.
The Dayton front line is not big but they are active and aggressive and play with high motors. Dyshawn Pierre is a man and will need to be boxed out. Cooke is probably only 6'5" but he can jump out of the building. Pollard is decent too. They have a big guy (McElvene) who is a freshman and is nearly 7' tall. He has potential to be good down the line but for now he is mainly a shot blocker although he had a few nice pick and roll buckets against SJU.
Overall offensively Dayton is not a great team but if they are allowed to run then it will improve their efficiency. If they have to operate against our zone it definitely works to SU's advantage. They have an average low post game at best but we can't sleep on their front court because they rebound ok despite their lack of size.
Defense is Dayton's strong suit. Cooke held Deandre Bembry to nine points which was the first time Bembry was held to < 10 points all year. Bembry is likely to be in the NBA next year so that was impressive and Cooke was in his pocket all game long. I would assume Cooke will cover G. Defensively Dayton plays primarily man and they do it aggressively. It will be a challenge to operate efficiently against these guys. Isaiah Miles a 6'8" forward for SJU had a huge game nailing threes as he shot over a smaller defender. It's possible Lydon could have some success like that.
In some ways this is a good matchup for SU because UD is not a powerful team down low in terms of low post game and rebounding dominance. To me that is by far SU's biggest weakness. My two main concerns would be matching UD's intensity and controlling the tempo in this game. SU doesn't always play with the level of intensity that UD is likely to bring to this game. I think we can control the tempo but that will require minimizing turnovers and converting efficiently. It will be key for Roberson to show up on the boards at both ends. I expect a very tight game.
Dayton loves to play at a breakneck pace. Every time they grabbed a defensive rebound Miller would exhort them to race down court. I think they will attempt this often against SU for two reasons: 1) to attack before the zone is set up and 2) to try to wear SU down due to lack of depth. I think it will be critical for SU to get back on defense and also important to try to control tempo. Lastly, JB will have to strategically blend the rotation because if it is fast paced then we might run out of gas in the critical stages of the game.
Dayton is not great at shooting 3s. Cooke is their best and Scootchie Smith is next. Smith has a funky release but somehow he makes his share. Dayton took several ill-advised long threes and missed almost all of them. I think JB will encourage them to take 3s until they hit a few. Another guard off the bench - Kyle Davis- does not want to take 3s. SJU left him open and he still tried to penetrate. One thing these guys can do is drive to the basket. Smith is quick as lightning with a dazzling array of moves. Our big guys will have to be alert and help because he will get to the rim. As I said above, the fast break is an issue and Smith is their main guy on the break.
The Dayton front line is not big but they are active and aggressive and play with high motors. Dyshawn Pierre is a man and will need to be boxed out. Cooke is probably only 6'5" but he can jump out of the building. Pollard is decent too. They have a big guy (McElvene) who is a freshman and is nearly 7' tall. He has potential to be good down the line but for now he is mainly a shot blocker although he had a few nice pick and roll buckets against SJU.
Overall offensively Dayton is not a great team but if they are allowed to run then it will improve their efficiency. If they have to operate against our zone it definitely works to SU's advantage. They have an average low post game at best but we can't sleep on their front court because they rebound ok despite their lack of size.
Defense is Dayton's strong suit. Cooke held Deandre Bembry to nine points which was the first time Bembry was held to < 10 points all year. Bembry is likely to be in the NBA next year so that was impressive and Cooke was in his pocket all game long. I would assume Cooke will cover G. Defensively Dayton plays primarily man and they do it aggressively. It will be a challenge to operate efficiently against these guys. Isaiah Miles a 6'8" forward for SJU had a huge game nailing threes as he shot over a smaller defender. It's possible Lydon could have some success like that.
In some ways this is a good matchup for SU because UD is not a powerful team down low in terms of low post game and rebounding dominance. To me that is by far SU's biggest weakness. My two main concerns would be matching UD's intensity and controlling the tempo in this game. SU doesn't always play with the level of intensity that UD is likely to bring to this game. I think we can control the tempo but that will require minimizing turnovers and converting efficiently. It will be key for Roberson to show up on the boards at both ends. I expect a very tight game.
