They called my name over the public address system at the airport in Newark, N.J., on Wednesday morning. That’s when I knew I had to run to make my connection to Providence. We waited more than an hour in Columbus and went through the de-icing procedure twice before finally getting off the ground, giving me little time to spare in Newark. When I heard my name, I sprinted through the terminal for maybe a quarter mile to get to my gate just in time.
» PHOTOS: Dayton vs. Rhode Island
Maybe a missed connection, a missed game in Rhode Island wouldn’t have been the worst thing. That was a hard game to watch at the Ryan Center. It was harder still to see my mentions on Twitter as fans melted down in disappointment. Dayton looked like a broken team in a 75-70 loss, its third in four games. One reader called me out for using phrase “downward spiral” in a headline, arguing negative words like that will make the Flyers targets of angry sports gamblers. I told him if I thought it would calm those people and make any difference I would go with the most boring headlines imaginable: “Flyers lose to Rhode Island,” for example.
Prior to the Rhode Island game, you could have argued, “Well, at least Dayton hasn’t lost to a losing team.” Everyone Dayton has lost to is on the right side of .500 except Rhode Island, which is 7-13.
First-year Rhode Island coach Archie Miller never had a losing record, even for a day, in six seasons at Dayton. He has had a losing record every day during his first season with the Rams. His team had just lost three games in a row but beat the A-10 preseason favorite mostly because of a 32-8 run in a 12-minute span in the middle of the game.
I didn’t get to talk to Miller or even see him at the press conference because I was waiting outside the UD locker room for interviews. That’s always a longer wait after losses. My main focus before the game was getting photos and video of Miller and Dayton coach Anthony Grant shaking hands. I positioned myself in the stands and had a good angle when they met at center court. Miller spent extra time at the end of the handshake line greeting the people who were at UD when he was there: trainer Mike Mulcahey; director of communication Doug Hauschild; and WHIO’s Larry Hansgen.
» VIDEO: Miller, Grant shake hands before game
Miller downplayed the Dayton angle after the game.
“There’s nothing special that got me really jacked up for this game. I have a tremendous amount of respect for the place. Always will. I’ve got a lot of respect for Anthony and his staff and his team. They’re very good. I think they have a lot of good things in store for them as they continue to get healthy. But this was about us tonight.”
Elvis happy to be back on court
Kobe Elvis was the last person I interviewed Wednesday in Rhode Island. It was worth the wait because I had not interviewed him since his knee injury on Nov. 25. As with Malachi Smith a week earlier, I wanted to know what the last two months had been like for him. Elvis had similar things to say in a story that went online this morning. When he learned he could return this season, there was never any thought about redshirting.
“As soon as I knew that I could come back,” Elvis said, “and just be a part of the group in any way, shape or form, I was going to work to do that.”
I did ask Elvis if he would elaborate on the specific nature of his injury. We knew it was a right knee injury. We knew he didn’t need surgery. Elvis said, “No comment,” when I asked if he could tell us any more.
‘They flat out played better than us’
Four days before my trip to Rhode Island, I flew to Washington, D.C., on Saturday for Dayton’s game at George Washington. I walked about a mile from Reagan airport and then rented a bike for a $1 and rode the rest of the way. That was a good deal. If you were a Dayton fan who paid to see the game at GW — and there were almost as many UD fans there as GW fans — you did not get your money’s worth. The Flyers trailed for all but the opening moments.
» PHOTOS: Dayton vs. George Washington
The worst part about this loss for Dayton was it finally had a fully health roster for the first time. The downside of that was any chemistry and rhythm Dayton had during its seven-game winning streak and even for most of the game in the 63-62 loss to Virginia Commonwealth disappeared in a 76-69 loss.
“It’s another rendition, right?” Grant said. “We’ve had maybe three or four renditions based on where we were in the preseason and guys that were out. Once the season started, the guys were out and then the guys came back and then they were out again. Now we got another rendition of ourselves. But I like the rendition now that we’ve got everybody available. We’ll get better.”
Dayton trainer an important part of the program for 10 seasons
I spoke to a sports media class at UD on Tuesday morning about my job. Haozhou Pu, an assistant professor in the Department of Health and Sport Science, invites me to speak to this class at Fitz Hall every year. I think this was my fourth appearance.
Knowing I had that talk on the schedule, I set up an interview with Mulcahey in the morning at UD Arena. We’ve mentioned Mulcahey in many stories over the past 10 seasons but have never written a piece focused on him. I didn’t want to ask about specific injuries. That’s up to the players and Grant to talk about. I just wanted to write something about how Mulcahey got into the business, how he approaches those awful moments on the court when a serious injury occurs and what it’s been like to be on this ride with UD basketball for 10 seasons. He’s the only person remaining from the Miller years on the UD bench.
I talked to two players who spent a lot of time with Mulcahey on Thursday on the phone: former Flyers Kendall Pollard and Josh Cunningham. Both said Mulcahey, who lives in Cincinnati, would often stay overnight in Dayton so he could treat them fast the next morning after a game.
“Mike is literally God-sent,” Pollard said. “He’s a selfless person. He puts everyone before him.”
The story on Mulcahey will run Feb. 12 in our twice-a-month Flyer Connection section in the Sunday newspaper.
Fast Break
Each week, I’ll spotlight news from around the A-10 or other news that might interest Flyer fans.
🏀 Legendary announcer Billy Packer died Thursday at 82. When he played at Wake Forest in 1960, he started in a game against Dayton at the UD Fieldhouse in which the Deamon Deacons held the ball for the first 6:34 without taking a shot. Packer scored 11 points in the game, but Dayton won 62-45.
🏀 While it appears VCU may have broken Dayton with that 5-0 run in the last 30 seconds earlier this month, the result has had the opposite effect for VCU, which continues to roll in the A-10. The Rams routed George Mason 72-52 on Wednesday to stay a half game ahead of Saint Louis. They have won 11 of their last 12 games.
🏀 Former Dayton star Obi Toppin continues to get little playing time in his third season with the New York Knicks. He had 14 points and made 4-of-5 3-pointers but played only 11 minutes Sunday in a loss to the Toronto Raptors. He’s averaging 15.6 minutes, which is just above his career average of 14.6 but fewer than he averaged last season (17.1).
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