Against Duquesne, Holmes had another double-double — 24 points, 11 rebounds. And he had two steals and three blocked shots in helping the Flyers ascend to 12-0 at home. (Press Pros File Photos)
As the University of Dayton Flyers prepare to meet Forlorn Fordham Saturday afternoon, all is good in their world. The 16th-ranked Flyers are back in first place. . .well, tied for first in the Atlantic 10. And it is not Richmond or VCU. They are tied at 10-2 with a sleeper team nobody is paying much attention to. . .Loyola of Chicago.
Dayton, OH. — As Meat Loaf sang it, “And some days you’re breathing fire and some days you’re carved in ice.”
That certainly is the case for the University of Dayton basketball team and for its most shining star, DaRon Holmes II.
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Fortunately for the 20-4 Flyers, the fire is more prevalent than the ice. And so it is with Holmes.
On Tuesday, though, it was a whole lot of ice before the fire prevailed. The Flyers fell behind Duquesne, 20-9, in UD Arena. And they were behind 57-53 with six minutes left. A 20-0 run thawed everything out, including the Flyer Faithful that rattled the rafters during the closing ceremonies.
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Once again, the Flyers showed they can adapt, do what is necessary to win. They are not one-dimensional. They are 3-D and you don’t need those sun glasses that movie-goers once needed in theatres to watch 3-D.
It is all visible to the naked eye and most of the time it is eye-opening. Against Duquesne it was a late-game all-court press during the 20-0 run that completely discombobulated the Dukes, who up to that time were imposing their will on the Flyers.
And there is much to rejoice on The Flyer Front. On Wednesday, UMass took down Richmond and that pushed UD back into a first-place tie, but not with Richmond. The Spiders are 9-2 to UD’s 10-2.
Watching Holmes work around the rim, with two and three guys draped on him like cherries on top of a sundae, is exhausting. . .
The tie is with a sleeper team, a team to which nobody seems to pay any attention. It is Loyola of Chicago, also at 10-2. And the Flyers only have one game against the Ramblers and it is in Chicago on March 1.
Holmes sometimes roams the court aimlessly, but not often. He was once again a factor Tuesday with a dead-even 12 points in the first half and 12 in the second half, helping the Flyers to a 75-59 victory.
Watching Holmes work around the rim, with two and three guys draped on him like cherries on top of a sundae, is exhausting. . .to him and the fans. On most days, the old diving horse in Atlantic City had it easier than Holmes trying to break free. It would be easier for Holmes to break out of Alcatraz.
But try role reversal. How exhausting and frustrating it must be for defenders to stop the 6-foot-10 junior from Goodyear, AZ., who is, indeed, having a good year.
Against Duquesne, Holmes had another double-double — 24 points, 11 rebounds. And he had two steals and three blocked shots in helping the Flyers ascend to 12-0 at home.
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Sometimes with all he does on the court it seem as if there is DaRon Holmes II, DaRon Holmes III, DaRon Holmes IV and Daron Holmes V on the floor. At times it is uncertain if he is animal, vegetable or mineral. . .or all of the above.
And he does everything on defense but pull quarters out of the opponent’s ears.
With his three blocked shots, he passed the 200 level for his career, a school record 201 return-to-senders to go with his school record 224 dunks. Some of his blocks and some of his dunks have made the opposition’s blood curdle.
The 6-foot-6 junior, Koby Brea shooting guard from Washington Heights, N.Y. has the perfect form, the same every time, most of his three-pointers never touch the rim and barely disturb the nets like a mild zephyr.
With so many teams in the Associated Press Top 25 crumbling on a daily basis, the 16th-ranked Flyers have another opportunity to climb the ratings ladder Saturday afternoon in UD Arena.
They play Forlorn Fordham at 1:30 and the Rams may be forlorn, but every Atlantic 10 team seems armed and dangerous and the Flyers are a targeted team, like a bull’s eye in a shooting range.
Fordham lost Wednesday to St. Bonaventure, so the Rams arrive at UD Arena at 4-7 in the A10, 10-14 overall.
When Duquesne coach Keith Dambrot was asked if UD’s national ranking was extra incentive for his Dukes, he said the crowd in UD Arena was more of a pump-‘em-up. And he should know after coaching LeBron James at Akron St. Vincent-St. Mary High School.
“Kids are different now,” he said. “There are 13,000 people out there and if you can’t get up for that, it doesn’t matter what they’re ranked. They just play now. They don’t put anything on the number 12 or number 16, I don’t think.
“I probably do, but they don’t,” he added. “They’re just ballin.’”
The best way the Flyers have found to relieve the pressure on Holmes is for when he is surrounded, somebody has to be on the loose.
Holmes is adept at finding that loose player and many times it is Koby Brea.
The 6-foot-6 junior shooting guard from Washington Heights, N.Y. has the perfect form, the perfection of a Picasso. If his shots were on a musical scale, they’d all be high-C.
Not only is his style statuesque, the same every time, most of his three-pointers never touch the rim and barely disturb the nets like a mild zephyr. He leads the nations in three-point percentage.
After hitting 4 of 5 against Duquesne, he is over .500 at 70 for 139 on the season.
“When we play with energy like we did at the end of the Duquesne game, we feel we’re unstoppable,” said Brea, who buried two massive threes during UD’s 20-0 run. “It’s just a matter of being connected on both sides of the floor and doing what we do.”
With his three blocked shots, he passed the 200 level for his career, a school record 201 return-to-senders to go with his school record 224 dunks.
What Brea does is hit threes from here, there and everywhere, some seemingly from the 400 level at UD Arena.
“I wouldn’t be able to do this without the trust of my teammates and the coaching staff,” he said. “They give me confidence by telling me that whenever I’m open to shoot it. So I can’t go wrong.”
Whenever he’s open? Brea is open when he walks out of the lockerroom and that’s his range. . .from the dressing room to the hoop.
“Deuce (Holmes) is such a great passer when he gets double-teamed,” said Brea. “And we have so many guys who can score the ball, it opens things up for everybody.”
So who does he pattern himself after and who does he watch to learn?
“Ah, man, I like a lot of guys,” he said. “I love watching J.J. Reddick and Clay Thompson. . .some guys I learn a little bit from. And the biggest thing I got better at this year is shooting off the ball. . .and it’s getting better and better every game.”
Already, there are little kids in tiny gyms and on outdoor courts trying to put up Brea-style threes with the hinged-wrist follow-through that is prettier than a beachfront painting.
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