Projo College Hoops

Brian Gregory, the Dayton coach, left no doubt today about the approach he is taking for his team's game at URI Wednesday. Speaking on the weekly A-10 conference call, Gregory did all he could to kill the Rams with kindness.

Asked about URI, Gregory went into a long response about how impressed he is with the team, and ended with, ``They're as good as any team we've played all year long.''

Gregory said URI has epitomized the entire conference in that they have not received as much recognition as they should.

``They've been in every game. It's not just in our league,'' Gregory pointed out. ``They're unbelievably efficient offensively, they're athletic and they have increased their toughness on the defensive end.''

URI coach Jim Baron did not stir up any controversy, either. He praised Dayton for doing so well despite having injury problems. Baron singled out Dayton forward Chris Wright as ``playing as well as anyone in the league right now.''

Among other comments on the call:

Xavier coach Sean Miller spoke about how he feels his team, which has lost three times on the road, has lost some of its spark and needs to regroup.

``I make no apology, nor should any coach in our conference, to go on the road and lose a hard fought game,'' Miller said. ``The misconception that Xavier was going to roll through this conference is not the reality.''

Miller said his team won so many games early because it played great team defense and rebounded well. It has not played as well in recent games, he said.

``When that (defense and rebounding) drops, we're vulnerable,'' Miller said.

La Salle coach John Giannini had perhaps the most unusual statistic. While most coaches spoke about how difficult it is to win on the road, Giannini pointed out that over the last two seasons his team is 10-5 on the road and 3-10 at its home Gola Arena.

Ray Cella, the A-10 associate commissioner who runs the conference call, reported that it likely will be some time, perhaps even after the conclusion of the season, before an announcement is made on where the conference tournament will be held after this season.

 Tags  Brian Gregory Dayton Jim Baron John Giannini Ray Cella Sean Miller URI

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