I think what Pitt faced coming to UD arena is similar to what Dayton will be facing the rest of the regular season. That game was hyped up big time and Pitt was blown out by an inspired Dayton team who had a hot hand elevated by having a ranked team at home and an extremely talented Pitt team had no answer.
Tuesday's we saw an inspired Dukes squad who had a chance to do something that they could tell their grand kids about. That elevated their game to another level. Unlike Pitt, Dayton was able to overcome that and pull out the win.
The question going forward is can Dayton overcome the likely hood of teams playing off of inspiration that elevates their game to another level especially away from UD arena. I think being ranked this high in the A10 is a harder thing to deal with than being ranked this high in a power conference. There you're not alone with others being ranked. The lower half of the conference will see ranked opponents all year so unless its a rivalry game the hype and inspiration isn't there. It's the exact opposite in the A10. Getting a ranked team at home doesn't happen much so it's a big big deal.
Can Archie motivate the team to handle this scenario every game and run the table the rest of the regular season? If so he should be National Coach of the Year and this team should be top 10 and nothing less than a 3 seed for the Big Dance.
Even if the basketball Gods decide to add number 4 to our loss column before tournament time we are still in the middle of what could be argued as the greatest era in Dayton Flyers Basketball history and I for one am cherishing every minute of it.
Tuesday's we saw an inspired Dukes squad who had a chance to do something that they could tell their grand kids about. That elevated their game to another level. Unlike Pitt, Dayton was able to overcome that and pull out the win.
The question going forward is can Dayton overcome the likely hood of teams playing off of inspiration that elevates their game to another level especially away from UD arena. I think being ranked this high in the A10 is a harder thing to deal with than being ranked this high in a power conference. There you're not alone with others being ranked. The lower half of the conference will see ranked opponents all year so unless its a rivalry game the hype and inspiration isn't there. It's the exact opposite in the A10. Getting a ranked team at home doesn't happen much so it's a big big deal.
Can Archie motivate the team to handle this scenario every game and run the table the rest of the regular season? If so he should be National Coach of the Year and this team should be top 10 and nothing less than a 3 seed for the Big Dance.
Even if the basketball Gods decide to add number 4 to our loss column before tournament time we are still in the middle of what could be argued as the greatest era in Dayton Flyers Basketball history and I for one am cherishing every minute of it.
