“As a coach, one of my jobs — and I promised the parents — is to look after and protect those guys, and I wouldn’t be doing my job if I didn’t say how disappointed I was and how gut-wrenching it was for those guys to run off the court at halftime and get the response from some of those fans on Saturday night — and, to be honest, by some fans during the year at other times,” he said.
“One thing I wanted to make sure — and I talked to our guys — was that our seniors knew it was just SOME of our fans. Unfortunately, some of our faithful have put some conditions on their faithfulness, and that’s disappointing. ... It’s not right.”
With the 70-60 win over George Washington on Tuesday, the UD seniors have won at least 20 games three straight seasons and have 89 career victories (in 121 tries) to become the third-winningest class in program history.
“At times I think we’ve concentrated on things they can’t do rather than all the things they have accomplished,” Gregory said. “I’m not naive. I know expectations were high this year. We haven’t met those — yet. Frustration levels are going to rise. That’s part of the deal.
“But they’ve changed the face of this program with the spirit they’ve played with and the energy they’ve played with. ... Every night they put on that Dayton uniform, they did with great pride and played their guts out.”
Another GW tech
GW famously gave away a game to Dayton last season by getting caught with six men on the floor with 21 seconds to go, resulting in a pair of gift free throws that turned a one-point deficit into a one-point lead for the Flyers in a 63-61 win.
Incredibly, the Colonials repeated that same no-no and drew another technical in a 66-51 loss at UD Arena earlier this season.
Warning: If you’ve just taken a sip of coffee, what you’re about to read next just might cause you to do a spit-take. GW was called for a tech for the third game in a row against the Flyers after a player entered the game without reporting in with 6:55 left in the first half Tuesday.
Coach Karl Hobbs said of the subbing blunder, “That had no bearing on the game.”
Hobbs also later was T’d for protesting a no-call when he thought a UD player reached in. UD made all four free throws on the techs.
“I feel for the guy on that (first) one,” Gregory said of Hobbs. “At timeouts, you’re subbing, but kids are kids. Sometimes they’re right there in the chair and he knows he’s in the game and doesn’t go into the game.
“I always say, ‘OK, who’s in the game?’ And all five guys raise their hands. It’s like kindergarten.”
Contact this reporter at (937) 225-2125 or dharris@DaytonDailyNews.com
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