Toppin to Crutcher: Dayton Flyers ‘can be a great team; I can see it’
Flyers fifinished 4-1 in nonconference play as A-10 schedule begins.
Dayton Flyers guard DAYTON —
Jalen Crutcher tuned in to watch former teammate Obi Toppin’s NBAdebuttwodays beforeChristmas. He plans to watch every game, though Toppin hasmissed the last three games with a calf strain and couldmiss at least two more weeks.
Toppin scored nine points on 3-of-12 shooting, grabbed three rebounds and blocked two shots in his first game with the New York Knicks, who lost 121- 107 on the road to the Indiana Pacers on Dec. 23.
Without Toppin, the Knicks have won two of their last three games. In that time, Dayton (4-1) did not play a game, though Toppin has kept an eye on the team he helped lead to 29 victories a season ago and talks to Crutcher about what the Flyers need to do to improve.
“I just got offff the phone with him,” Crutcher said Monday. “I talk to him every day. In the beginningwhen we were starting offff slow, hewas like, ‘You all can be a great team; I can see it. You just have to be together.’ I think we’re getting it now.”
The Flyers (4-1) returned to campus Saturday and to practice Sunday in preparation for a game Wednesday against La Salle (3-5) at UD Arena. It was Dayton’s first of 18 Atlantic 10 Conference games.
In many ways, Dayton is still a work in progress because it has played so few games. A year ago, it played six games in November. This season, Dayton didn’t play a game until Dec. 1. After a flflurry of early cancellations by opponents, it was fortunate to play five nonconference games without any more COVID-19 setbacks.
“Likemost people, under the circumstances, we were trying to fifififigure ourselves out as we played those games,” coach Anthony Grant said Monday. “I think we were abletolearnaboutourselves. We played fifive games, and all fifive of them came down to the last possessions of the game. When you go through those experiences, youhope to learnfromthem. Wewere fortunate to win four of the fifififififive, andI’drather learnfrom winning than from losing. When you start conference, everyone’s 0-0, and you’re looking forward to getting in your league and getting things kicked offffffffffff. We’ve got a great challenge ahead of us.”
Before looking ahead, here’s a lookbackatDayton’s performance in December during nonconference play.
MVP: Ibi Watson has a slight edge over Crutcher, a two-time team MVP, at this point. Watsonleads the team in scoring (18.0) and 3- point shooting ( 13 of 27, 48.1 percent), with Crutcher trailing in both categories (17.2 and 11 of 28, 39.3).
Topnewcomer: The new Flyers got little playing time in the fifirst fifive games. R.J. Blakney, Moulaye Sissoko, Zimi Nwokeji and Elijah Weaver combined to score 17 points in 142 minutes.
Only Blakney, who averaged 2.2 points, made a signifificant impact, so he earns thenodas the topnewcomer through fifififififive games. Weaver played in only the last game against Ole Miss and likely will see his playing time increase in theweeks ahead. Another player to keep an eye on is freshman forward MustaphaAmzil, who joined the teamDec. 19 and started practice Sunday.
Crutcher andWeaverboth saidAmzilprovedtobe a fast learner in that fifirst practice.
“Obviously, there’s a lot he has to get up to speed with,” Grant said. “He did a really good job on day one of putting himself in a position where the guys felt that way. I thought he did a good job picking things up and fifitting in.”
Best stat: Dayton ranks 14th in the country in effffffffffffective field-goal percentage (57.6), which combines 2-point and 3-point shooting. It ranked fifirst in that category last season but maintained a lofty perch despite losing Obi Toppin, one of themost effifficient scorers in school history, to the NBA.
Worst stat: Dayton ranks last in the A-10 in turnover margin(minus3.0pergame). The Flyers average a leagueworst 18.0 turnovers per game. No one else averages morethan16.0. Daytonopponents have averaged 15 turnovers per game.
Best victory: Daytonbeat Mississippi 65-62 on Dec. 19 in its last game before the holiday break. That was the best victory by anA-10 team, according to the Ken Pomeroy ratings, until Ole Miss lost its Southeastern Conference opener Tuesday: 82-64 at Alabama. The Rebels fell from No. 33 to No. 43.
Worst loss: Dayton lost only one game in December: 66-64 to Southern Methodist on Dec. 5 at UD Arena. EmmanuelBandoumelmade a last-second jump shot to break the tie. SMU (5-0) fifinished nonconference play by beating East Carolina 70-55 on Dec. 16.
Best game: Dayton’s 85-82 double-overtime victory againstMississippi State on Dec. 12 inAtlanta ranks as the fififth- most exciting game of the season so far, according to KenPom.com.
Biggest milestone: When he records his next assist, Crutcher will become the first player in Dayton history to have 1,200 points, 500 assists and 200 3-pointers. Crutcher ranks seventh in 3-pointers (205), 11th in assists (499) and29th in scoring (1,256), two spots behind Scoochie Smith (1,289).