City of Brotherly Love: Run LaSalle, Run

[TheShow23]

[SIZE="4"]My Background[/SIZE]



[font="Comic Sans MS"]You all know the story . . . . .
“In west Philadelphia born and raised. On the playground was where I spent most of my days. Chillin' out maxin' relaxin' all cool. And all shootin some b-ball outside of the school.”



But my story differs from that, I’ am not Will Smith though I wouldn’t mind to have his bank account. My name is Dion Tyler, born and bred in the city of Philadelphia. I was born March 11 1973 in West Philadelphia the youngest of three children. My older brothers Maurice and Andrew played high school ball for legendary coach Joe Goldenberg as a part of the West Philadelphia High School dynasty of the 1970s.



Andrew 6’5 was the oldest brother was a lights out shooter who went on to play for the legendary John Chaney and won a Division II National Title during his stay at Cheyney State.



Maurice was 6’1 but could jump out the gym, he used that ability to hustle on the streets winning money based off his dunking exploits. He signed on to play for Rollie Massimino at Villanova, after two years he transferred as he felt Rollie’s deliberate style hindered his one on one ability. He ended up transferring to UNLV to finish out his college career player for Jerry Tarkanian.
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[SIZE="4"]High School Years[/SIZE]


[font="Comic Sans MS"]With that kind of excellence expectations on me were always going to be high, while some would hide from it I decided to embrace it. I decided to forge my own path starting at University City High School which I could walk to school as it was that close to my home. University City didn’t have much of a basketball tradition before I arrived but the exploits of myself and my childhood friends Michael, Bernard, and Jamal we turned that around quick. Public League Championships eluded us as Frankford in 1988 and 1989 and Gratz led by future NBA players Aaron McKie and Rasheed Wallace in 1990 and 1991 foiled our hopes to win.[/font]



[SIZE="4"]College[/SIZE]


[font="Comic Sans MS"]By that time I bloomed into a 6’2 point guard who had the best handle and vision in the city, when it came time to pick a college I was under pressure from both of my brothers. Andrew wanted me to go to Temple to play for his college coach, John Chaney. As much as I respected Coach Chaney his style was too boring for my liking and it was no way in hell I was going to wake up 4:30 in the morning for a 5:00 am practice.



On the other hand Maurice wanted me to go to UNLV, I loved Coach Tark style but I knew probation was looming so I crossed them off my list. I ended up shocking my family, my friends, and the city when I announced I’d be playing college ball at Arkansas. At the end of the day I fell in love with Nolan Richardson “40 Minutes of Hell.”



As much as I loved Coach Richardson and his style, I hated Arkansas. I’ am a product of the city so after one year I had to leave, country life didn’t suit me. I came back home to Drexel University, led by Malik Rose and assisted by yours truly in my three years at the school our record was 74-17 with three NCAA Tournament appearances.



Though I finished in the top 5 in the nation in assists all three years my career highlight was our 75-63 win over 5th seeded Memphis in the 1996 NCAA Tournament. Memphis had a point guard talking mad noise during the game, I played it cool because coach told me to maintain my composure but once I knew we were going to win my Philly nature came out. I hit him with a crossover move known as the “DT Combo” in the streets, what AI did to Jordan is what I did to this guy from Memphis. Soon as I scored I looked down at him and told him “Welcome to Philly *****”
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[SIZE="4"]Post College[/SIZE]



[font="Comic Sans MS"]While I put in work at Drexel I knew I wasn’t going to play in the NBA. I had my degree in Sports Management and was going to intern at WIP 94 when Maurice called me with an offer. He was a childhood friend of Bruiser Flint who had just been promoted to Head Coach at UMass. Bruiser was looking for a graduate assistant and Mo put in a good word for me.



In five years at UMass I graduated with a Master’s Degree and Sports Management and worked my way up to the main staff. I followed Coach Flint to Drexel and became his number one assistant, I held that role until I was offered the Head Coach Job at La Salle.
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[SIZE="4"]LaSalle Explorers[/SIZE]



[font="Comic Sans MS"]La Salle is a program with tradition but who have not been to the NCAA Tournament since 1992, I intend to be the one to bring the program back to its past glory. At my press conference upon being unveiled as the new coach I outlined my coaching plan.



Style of Play: I spent one year with Coach Richardson but learned so much, we will press off the bus. Offensively we will push pace, my goal is to be the most exciting team (college or pro) in the city.



Recruiting: We will recruit Philly, Pennsylvania, New York, New Jersey, Maryland, and Virginia. This will be our stronghold. We will look for shooters and athletes, I’m willing to sacrifice size and we will be guard led.



Goals: NIT year one, NCAA year two, Atlantic 10 Champion year three.
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[TheShow23]

[SIZE="4"][color="Blue"]Key Players[/color][/SIZE]

[font="Comic Sans MS"]PG-Vincent Jenkins 6’3 Sophomore 3.5/4



Vincent is a great shooter, though he is a point guard we will look to run him of screens to take advantage of his shooting ability. He has good vision but he needs to working on his ball handling skills.

SG-Bryan Taylor 6’0 Senior 4/4



Bryan is another shooter, despite being 6’0 the dude is tough as nails. He’s scrappy on defense and rebounds as if he was 6-7 inches taller. He will fit in perfect with my defensive principles.



SF-Travis Arden 6’7 Junior 3/3.5



Travis can shoot, rebound, is a very good athlete. I will use him as a stretch 4 man to get offensive advantages. Weighing 232 pounds he can hold his own strength wise against taller players.



PF-Dominick Miller 6’6 Senior 3.5/3.5


Dominick is the typical big man we will recruit. He’s undersized but makes up for it with his tenacity. He crashes the boards and is active in passing lanes. He will be the point man of our press.
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[TheShow23]

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[color="RoyalBlue"]2011/2012 Non Conference Review[/color]

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When taking a new coaching job the easiest way to build morale amongst players and build fan support is to win early. With that them in mind we scheduled a very manageable pre-A10 schedule. Though seven of the eleven games were on the road we felt we could win those games.



An 81-79 win at Winthrop started my La Salle career off on a positive note. Bryan Taylor’s 24 points led our efforts. We started the season 7-0 before finally losing 70-88 at Quinnipac. Despite the lost I was proud of the teams efforts, we had a string of six straight road games in which we won five.



Overall will finished our non-conference schedule 9-2, the team was adjusting well to the up tempo style averaging 78.7 points per game. With league play looming I hope we can continue our great offensive start.
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[TheShow23]

[SIZE="5"][color="Navy"]2011/2012 Atlantic 10 Review[/color][/SIZE]

[font="Comic Sans MS"]Coming into the season I knew the Atlantic 10 would be a wild open race, preseason we were picked sixth but without a dominant team the league truly was up for grabs. We came out the gates quickly starting 4-0 in the league. The signature win was a 77-71 one at Temple, beating a Big Five team away from home shows our intent not only in the league but also the city of Philadelphia. Four losses in our next five games brought us down a notch, injuries didn’t help us but we knew the losses were more due to the grind of a league with a lot of parity. Up and down would best describe our form the reason of the league season. We would win one, lose one, win one, lose one but could never get a winning streak going.


Heading into the last game of the regular season we had a 8-7 record in the Atlantic 10 which put us in the middle of the pack. We picked the worse time to lay an egg as we scored a season low 39 points in a 10 point loss at Duquesne. As ugly as the game was looking at the numbers made the result even uglier. From the field we shot 15 for 52, 1 for 17 shooting threes. Bryan Taylor our best player shot 1 for 16, 0 for 9 from three point range. In addition to the poor shooting we were sloppy, 26 turnovers had me stunned. The bus ride back to Philadelphia was extremely quiet, with a 17-10 record overall the team exceeded expectations but that Duquesne game has us a coaches scratching our heads as we head into the Atlantic 10 Tournament.
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[TheShow23]

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[color="Navy"]2011/2012 Atlantic 10 Tournament[/color]

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[font="Comic Sans MS"](8) La Salle Explorers vs. (9) Richmond Spiders



The Atlantic 10 Tournament was going to be as wide open as the regular season race was. Four teams finished 10-6 in the league to split the regular season title, three teams finished 9-7 and along with Richmond we finished 8-8 in the league. In both regular season meetings we defeated Richmond, 73-53 at home and 80-73 in Richmond. Despite the success we expected a tough matchup. Richmond was a half court team who would look to keep the score low. At halftime we held a 40-35 lead, I knew then we would win the game. Richmond only plays seven players, the fact they were playing at our pace fatigue would become an issue for them. At the 10 minute mark we pounced on the tiring Richmond team as we struck with a 21-4 run. An 82-64 win meant we would face top seeded Duquesne in the quarterfinals.



La Salle Player of The Game: Bryan Taylor 18 points.




(8) La Salle Explorers vs. (1) Duquesne Dukes



In the regular season we averaged 75.8 points per game, in two games against Duquesne we averaged 53.5 points per game. In the short period of time the staff worked round the clock to find a way to get our players better shots in order to score. The change in strategy was to use more motion offense instead of the dribble drive offense we’ve used all season. Offensively we played well, however we struggled on defense as Duquesne pushed out to a 38-24 lead. A 15-6 run at the end of the half brought us within 5 points at halftime. After fending us off most of the half we finally took a 65-64 with 5 minutes left in the game. Leading 76-73 with 15 seconds left Duquesne had 2 three point shots, after the second miss Vincent Jenkins grabbed the rebound, he made two foul shots and we were on our way to the semifinals with a 78-73 win.



La Salle Player of The Game: Bryan Taylor 20 points.[/font]

[TheShow23]

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[color="Navy"]2011/2012 Atlantic 10 Tournament[/color]

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[font="Comic Sans MS"](8) La Salle Explorers vs. (4) Xavier Musketeers



My hope is big game experience would not be the deciding factor in this game, if so we would be in trouble. Xavier has been a power of the league for many years, their players are used to playing in these big games. Our players lack that experience but they seem to be unfazed by the moment. In a very well-played game both teams executed very well, with the pace at our liking we headed into halftime with a 40-34 lead. Despite giving up a lot of size we crushed Xavier on the boards with a 39-22 advantage. Those extra chances proved crucial as Bryan Taylor hit a three pointer off of a second chance to put us up 75-70 with a minute left. Xavier scored 4 quick points to cut our lead 75-74 with 28 seconds left. Xavier had one last chance to send the game into overtime, our defense was airtight forcing a tough shot which bounced off the rim and sent us to the Atlantic 10 Final with a 79-76 win.




La Salle Player of The Game: Dominick Miller 17 points 10 rebounds.


(8) La Salle Explorers vs. (6) Dayton Flyers



At my introductory press conference I alluded to the “Breaking Point” concept. When asked what I meant by that I explained it’s the point where the other team is about to break due to our constant pressure. It was why we worked the players so hard in preseason conditioning. Having played the game I can sense when the other team is about to crack, that moment happened midway through the second half. Dayton hung around in the first half but their shots were becoming short, they became a step slower on defense, and mentally their focus slipped as turnovers reared their ugly head. Their players were hunched down grabbing their shorts, while we kept bringing wave after wave of players into the game. In a two minute period we extended from a 7 point to a 22 point lead. We never looked back as we were on our way to the NCAA Tournament with an 86-70 win.



La Salle Player of The Game: Vincent Jenkins 15 points 4 assists.
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[TheShow23]

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[color="Navy"]2011/2012 NCAA Tournament



South Region



2nd Round
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[font="Comic Sans MS"](11) La Salle Explorers vs. (6) Weber State Wildcats



The first game for La Salle in the NCAA Tournament in 20 years was a memorable one. Weber State would be a worthy opponent, as they came into the game with a 26-5 record ranked number 18 in the nation. The key to winning this game would be shutting down Weber State’s backcourt duo of Sylvester Benoit and Ed Jackson. Early on we carried the momentum from the Atlantic 10 Tournament into the NCAA Tournament, clicking on all cylinders we led early and took a 38-24 lead into halftime. Slowly Weber State chipped away at the lead mainly due to the free throw line. The fouls continued to mount up on us, the disparity in the fouls began to frustrate myself and our players. Leading by 8 with 4 minutes left Vincent Jenkins was called for his 5th personal foul. As deep as we are the one area we lack depth is the point guard position. With Jenkins out of the game, the offense started to fall apart. Weber State went on a 10-2 run to tie score at 71 with less than a minute left. Both teams missed chances to win as the game headed into overtime. The lack of a point guard was evident during overtime as the offense continued to sputter, Weber State took full advantage outscoring us 14-7 in the overtime to advance with an 85-78 win. Bryant Taylor led us with 20 points while Dominick Miller was strong inside with 18 and 9, Tom Williams scored 14 points. The big difference in the game was the free throw line. We were 10 for 10 while Weber State shot 29 for 33.



La Salle Player of The Game: Bryan Taylor 20 points.
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[TheShow23]

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2011/2012 NCAA Tournament

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[font="Comic Sans MS"]Final Four



Florida (1) 68 vs. Indiana (2) 51



Georgia Tech (1) 73 vs. UCLA (1) 77



National Title Game


Florida (1) 60 vs. UCLA (1) 73
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2011/2012 La Salle Season Recap
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Overall Record: 21-11


Atlantic 10 Record: 8-8


RPI: 55


75.8 PPG (#1 in the Nation)



Bryan Taylor – Atlantic 10 2nd Team


Recruiting – Bryan Taylor and Dominick Miller are the two Seniors on the team, replacing Taylor’s scoring ability was the main objective and the two players I signed can help replace those points.



• Aaron Edwards was the 62nd ranked player in the country, the 6-5 JuCo player from Philadelphia is an exciting two way player. Scoring, rebounding, passing, stealing, shooting Aaron can beat you in a variety of ways.



• Ruben Carter is a 6’0 shooting guard from Clinchport, Virginia. He was the 103rd ranked player in the country. A good shooter whose best asset is his athletic ability.
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La Salle 2011 /2012 Season Stats

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PPG
1. Bryan Taylor 14.8
2. Vincent Jenkins 10.4
3. Dominick Miller 8.8
4. Tom Williams 7.6
5. Shawn Marley 7.5 (Played 8.7 Minutes Per Game)



RPG
1. Dominick Miller 6.5
2. Bryan Taylor 4.4
3. Brett Rogers 4.1



APG
1. Vincent Jenkins 4.4
2. Clifton Rowland 2.6
3. Bryan Taylor 2.5



SPG
1. Bryan Taylor 1.1
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[PointGuard]

Nice start,coach!

[TheShow23]

[SIZE="5"][color="Navy"]2012/2013 La Salle Explorers Roster[/color][/SIZE]

[font="Comic Sans MS"]Starting Lineup
*Denotes Returning Starter


*Vincent Jenkins 6-3 Junior PG 3.5/3.5
Shawn Marley 6-1 Senior SG 2/3.5
Aaron Edwards 6-5 Junior SG 4/4.5
*Tom Williams 6-5 Senior SF 3.5/4
*Travis Arden 6-7 Senior SF 3/3.5


Bench
Brett Rogers 6-9 Junior C 3/3.5
Michael White 6-6 Junior PF 2/4
Clifton Rowland 6-5 Senior PG 3/3.5
Aaron Bruce 6-4 Junior SG 2/3
Terry Tillman 6-6 Sophomore PF 2/3.5
Mike Tart 6-8 Junior C 2/2.5
Josh Harris 6-7 Senior PF 2/3.5
Ted Green 6-8 Freshman RS C 0.5/0.5
Quincy Rand 6-2 Freshman RS SG 1/1

Redshirt
Ruben Carter 6-0 Freshman SG 0.5/2.5
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