Miller's 'hardest year in coaching' turning out pretty well at Dayton
When we’re looking at who should be honored as college basketball coach of the year, a few obvious names come to mind.
Like John Calipari, who has masterfully melded his collection of big talents and big personalities and has Kentucky hurtling toward a possible undefeated season.
And Tony Bennett at Virginia, who has taken a less-heralded group — zero McDonald’s All-Americans to Kentucky’s nine — and turned it into a juggernaut, dominant on defense and hugely efficient on offense.
And Gregg Marshall of Wichita State, who two years after a Final Four run and one year after entering the NCAA tournament undefeated, has the Shockers rolling again, a top-10 team heading toward another nice seed in the NCAA tournament.
But let me toss out another name for your consideration — a name that’s a bit more off-the-radar than these but whose coaching job this season has been second to none.
Especially considering the context.
That name is Archie Miller, the fourth-year head coach of the Dayton Flyers. A year ago, Miller — the 36-year-old younger brother of Arizona coach Sean Miller — had one of the Cinderella stories of the NCAA tournament, taking a Dayton team that finished fifth in the Atlantic 10 and sneaking into the NCAA tournament all the way to the Elite Eight.
This year, Miller has the Flyers at 23-6, havign clinched a share of the Atlantic 10 regular-season title with Tuesday's 75-59 win over Rhode Island. After a weekend RPI-boosting win at VCU that ought to secure Dayton’s NCAA tournament bid, the Flyers are just out of the top 25.
That’s all well and good and impressive, but when you consider the circumstances surrounding this team, Miller’s coaching job has been nothing short of remarkable.
Let’s go through the litany of issues over the past few months that should have made Dayton an A-10 afterthought instead of perched in its spot at the top.
In December, Devon Scott and Jalen Robinson, two 6-foot-9 guys who were Miller’s two tallest players, were dismissed from the team because of their alleged involvement in a burglary incident in the school dorms. Scott was a starting center who posted three double-doubles in his final five games before his dismissal; Robinson, a reserve, averaged about 15 minutes per game.
“Eighty to 85 percent of everything you did on offense is gone, just out the window,” Miller told me recently. “Not because we lost two big guys but because every player on your team needs to learn a new spot in the middle of December.”
And since talented 6-foot-11 freshman Steve McElvene had to sit out season as a partial qualifier, that meant the tallest player on Dayton’s roster was now 6-foot-6.
Then senior guard Ryan Bass’ career ended early because of concussion-related issues.
Add these things up — Dayton now ranks 324th in the nation in effective height, according to KenPom.com, and 334th in the nation in minutes played by bench players — and it seems Dayton would be lucky to make any postseason tournament, much less the NCAA tournament.
The hardest part hasn’t even been the games. The hardest part has been practices. Dayton can’t do five-on-five scrimmages anymore. The Flyers have to rely on student managers and graduate assistants to just run four-on-four drills.
“It’s absolutely been my hardest year in coaching,” Miller told me. “A lot of adversity. A lot of change in the midst of the season that’s kept us on our heels. The most challenging part of it has been the ability to create a practice environment that all teams need. You’re down numbers, then a couple guys are banged up, and you don’t really have a backup plan.”
“It’s just been such an odd dynamic to deal with,” he continued. “I don’t really have a reference. I’ve had to re-create practice plan four times in a day. The games have been almost a relief. Once we get to game day, it’s like, ‘OK, it’s on, now we can play.’ But it’s been a really, really stressful couple months in a row.”
What made Dayton’s Elite Eight team from a year ago tick was its incredible depth and teamwork. It embraced the concept of “True Team,” where it really didn’t matter who was in the starting five. I remember thinking over and over during the NCAA tournament last year that no team looked better-coached than the Dayton Flyers.
And there’s still the teamwork this year. There’s still the great ball movement and the emphasis on defense that has the Flyers ranked 34th in the nation in defensive efficiency. There’s still the smart and patient shots that rank them 36th in the nation in effective shooting percentage.
And yet, when you talk with Miller, you can see how this season really has worn on him.
“The big thing is, as a coach, you’re constantly trying to evaluate your team, and where there’s slippage, you try to tweak things in practice,” Miller said. “We lost some rebounding because we were scared to hit for a long period of time. We didn’t want to bang bodies, so we brought out pads.”
“Now fatigue has set in,” he said. “We’re not practicing as long. What tends to go is the conditioning, guys not being able to go full speed all the way. But we still give max effort on game day, to the max of our ability.”
Senior wing Jordan Sibert, one of the keys to last year’s Elite Eight run, has filled plenty of voids, averaging 16.5 points. Sophomore center Kendall Pollard has filled in admirably after the dismissal of the team’s big men, averaging 12.2 points and 5.6 rebounds.
But the key to Dayton’s surviving and thriving has been junior forward Dyshawn Pierre. Without him, Miller said simply, Dayton can’t win. He’s averaging close to a double-double, with 13.1 points to go with eight rebounds, but it’s the versatility Pierre brings to the team that has made him invaluable. He rebounds, he passes in the fast break, he drifts in and out of the post, he shoots the three, and he gets to the line. He’s the guy who makes this team something more than one-dimensional.
Maybe Dayton captures magic in a bottle and makes another run in March. But I don’t see it happening. Depth is so important in March, especially for a team like Dayton whose game isn’t predicated on a star player or two.
I’m not sure if that matters, though, when we’re talking about which coaches have done the most impressive job this season. Because I’m not sure there’s a coach out there who has had to weather as many problems as Miller and is still coming out on top.
“It’s been such a grind at this point in time, there’s no reason worrying about it, because it isn’t changing,” Miller said. “This has been a remarkable year, but I don’t know how it’ll finish.”
Keep your head down. Don’t make excuses. Figure it out. If that doesn’t sound like the mentality of someone who ought to be considered for coach of the year, I don’t know what does.
Follow Reid Forgrave on Twitter @reidforgrave or email him at ReidForgrave@gmail.com.
