The Adobe Flash Player is required to view this multimedia interactive. Get it here.

UD's Miller using technical fouls for team's motivation

Miller has collected two technical fouls in his first season with Flyers.

Preview: Dayton vs. Fordham

Raiders fall in tourney opener
5/25/12
Rough 1st inning sets up Tipp exit
5/25/12
Mesoraco's slam sends Reds over Braves
5/25/12
Local Scoreboard for May 25
5/24/12
Ohio State AD says 12 violations minor
5/24/12
> More sports headlines

By Doug Harris, Staff Writer 9:49 PM Friday, February 10, 2012

Archie Miller, the first-year University of Dayton basketball coach, was caught off guard when he was slapped with a technical foul in a blowout loss to Buffalo earlier this season.

When he was tagged again with 17 seconds left in a 58-50 loss at Saint Louis last week, Miller was so intent on voicing his frustration over how the game was called that he didn’t care what the consequences might be.

“The first one I got this season, I wasn’t expecting to get it. I wasn’t sure why I got it. The other night, I know why I got it,” he said.

“Now, could I go on a five-year run without a technical foul? Probably. I’m not looking to be out there and get them. But frankly, I think our team will take on the identity of the staff, and if we want to be a team that competes and plays hard, I think it’s important the guys understand who I am at this point in the season.”

Miller’s intense personna has been evident on the sidelines all season. And although he’s not exactly the Rasheed Wallace of college coaches, his two techs are only one fewer than his predecessor, Brian Gregory, amassed in eight years at UD.

But Miller is hardly the only coach in the Atlantic 10 chewing out officials. In a review of the box scores from all men’s basketball games involving A-10 schools this season, Rhode Island is the runaway leader so far with six “team” technicals, while Xavier and George Washington have had three each and Richmond two.

Team or bench technicals can be called for a variety of reasons, but it’s safe to assume in each case the head coach was the recipient.

“That’s who I am,” Miller said. “I’ve never gotten a technical foul as a player. And as a coach, you pick and choose your times when you want to be who you are. But I’m not going to let a technical foul deter who I am.

“I’ve been in a lot of games when I’ve had little to say to officials and I’ve been in games where I’ve had a lot to say. ... I don’t think the referees pay a whole lot of attention to it. When they have enough, they have enough. And they probably have had enough of me right now.”

Contact this reporter at (937) 225-2125 or dharris@DaytonDaily News.com.

Atlantic 10 2011-12 technical fouls:


School	Bench	Players
Charlotte	0	5
Dayton	2	0
Duquesne	0	3
Fordham	1	3
Geo. Washington	3	1
La Salle	0	1
UMass	0	7
Rhode Island	6	6
Richmond	2	3
St. Joe’s	0	6
Saint Louis	0	0
St. Bonaventure	0	7
Temple	0	1
Xavier	3	2