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Starting my season with a play on the team I know most about.
Dayton pk 3 Units
Brian Gregory has put together a team that appears to be exactly what he wants. This is Michigan St south with the only difference being that the post players are slightly less physical than what his mentor has. Dayton has three super athletic wings (all 40+" verticals) who can also shoot it from deep (Wright, Johnson, Johnson). And they are combined with one of the better defenders at the point in London Warren. They also will be subbing in mass as if it was a hockey game. This allows them to wear down opponents and the competition for minutes causes the whole team to play fantastically hard for all 40 minutes.
In this game Dayton will have the edge on the wing and has the bodies to match GT in the post. Chris Wright will play some minutes at the 4 and it will be interesting to see how he matches up with Favors. I think that matchup could be a difficult matchup for GT. I expect Dayton to make it very difficult for GT to score early and the way that GT deals with the defensive intensity will tell you very early how they are likely to respond. I don't expect their young team who hasn't had success to deal with adversity well. Dayton on the other hand is experienced and their intensity won't be an issue. You have two teams with similar expectations, one that has proven itself (although it is overlooked by the mainstream) and a second with high profile recruits that hasn't ever really produced under Hewitt. I'll take the proven quantity.
Dayton pk 3 Units
Brian Gregory has put together a team that appears to be exactly what he wants. This is Michigan St south with the only difference being that the post players are slightly less physical than what his mentor has. Dayton has three super athletic wings (all 40+" verticals) who can also shoot it from deep (Wright, Johnson, Johnson). And they are combined with one of the better defenders at the point in London Warren. They also will be subbing in mass as if it was a hockey game. This allows them to wear down opponents and the competition for minutes causes the whole team to play fantastically hard for all 40 minutes.
In this game Dayton will have the edge on the wing and has the bodies to match GT in the post. Chris Wright will play some minutes at the 4 and it will be interesting to see how he matches up with Favors. I think that matchup could be a difficult matchup for GT. I expect Dayton to make it very difficult for GT to score early and the way that GT deals with the defensive intensity will tell you very early how they are likely to respond. I don't expect their young team who hasn't had success to deal with adversity well. Dayton on the other hand is experienced and their intensity won't be an issue. You have two teams with similar expectations, one that has proven itself (although it is overlooked by the mainstream) and a second with high profile recruits that hasn't ever really produced under Hewitt. I'll take the proven quantity.
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