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9/29/2017 11:11 am  #1


Expectations this season

With practice soon to begin, what are your expectations for this season. What do you see as the team's realistic ceiling, and also, what do you see as the lowest acceptable floor (barring injuries of course)

For myself, I want to see smart, organized play. Better defense of course. It may not express itself in wins, but I need to see evidence that KD "gets" the Atlantic 10, and will not struggle adapting to the higher level of play, and that his recruits are indeed, A 10 level players, and not guys who would be better off at a lower level. Looking at the team, we have an experienced backcourt, but a front court full of question marks. If some of those questions are answered in the affirmative, I can see this team taking advantage of the soft schedule, and winning 18-19 games. Conversely, if the frontcourt struggles, I could see us finishing with about 11 wins. Anything less than that would give me pause.

 

9/29/2017 11:41 am  #2


Re: Expectations this season

I think three questions have to be answered:

1. Will Mike Lewis be the best player on the court most nights, or does he struggle either with a sophomore slump or in adjusting to Dambrot's system? If it's the former, put us down for 10 wins. If it's the later, put us down for 7 wins.

Start with 7-10 wins.

2. Will we really see a strong defensive effort from the Dukes, as well as improved fundamentals (passing, shot selection, rebounding, FT shooting)? If the answer is yes, add 3 wins to the total. If the answer is no, subtract 1 win from the total.

Now we're at 8-13 wins.

3. Will we see good game coaching from Dambrot: creating desired matchups, adjusting defenses, enforcing discipline and teamwork, learning from losses, etc., or will we see a stubborn man insist on a philosophy that obviously isn't working. If he's coaching well, add 4 wins; if we see the same stuff we've seen the past five years, subtract 4 wins.

Leaves me with a range of 4-17 wins. Four if everything seems to go south, 17 if we get the best outcome we can truly expect.

Robinson has never proven to be a sustainable solution in the post. The other big men are more raw than a plate of gehactes. So my expectations for the frontcourt are minute at best. But if the guys who get PT box out and rebound and fill in with some scoring, then they won't be a noticeable deficiency. Guys like Smith, Castro and James have to fill in with defense, scoring, competent ballhandling, and leadership. But Mike Lewis is the key.

As is Dambrot.

 

9/29/2017 1:07 pm  #3


Re: Expectations this season

ElDuque wrote:

I think three questions have to be answered:

1. Will Mike Lewis be the best player on the court most nights, or does he struggle either with a sophomore slump or in adjusting to Dambrot's system? If it's the former, put us down for 10 wins. If it's the later, put us down for 7 wins.

Start with 7-10 wins.

2. Will we really see a strong defensive effort from the Dukes, as well as improved fundamentals (passing, shot selection, rebounding, FT shooting)? If the answer is yes, add 3 wins to the total. If the answer is no, subtract 1 win from the total.

Now we're at 8-13 wins.

3. Will we see good game coaching from Dambrot: creating desired matchups, adjusting defenses, enforcing discipline and teamwork, learning from losses, etc., or will we see a stubborn man insist on a philosophy that obviously isn't working. If he's coaching well, add 4 wins; if we see the same stuff we've seen the past five years, subtract 4 wins.

Leaves me with a range of 4-17 wins. Four if everything seems to go south, 17 if we get the best outcome we can truly expect.

Robinson has never proven to be a sustainable solution in the post. The other big men are more raw than a plate of gehactes. So my expectations for the frontcourt are minute at best. But if the guys who get PT box out and rebound and fill in with some scoring, then they won't be a noticeable deficiency. Guys like Smith, Castro and James have to fill in with defense, scoring, competent ballhandling, and leadership. But Mike Lewis is the key.

As is Dambrot.

Can't argue with any of that. 15 or more wins would assure me that KD is the right man. 8 or fewer would really leave me worried. Jim Ferry got 8 wins out of a very weak roster his first year, so I surely expect KD to do better. 15 wins is my actual expectation, barring injuries. That ooc schedule is very soft. There's not a game on it that we don't have any chance to win. This will be one of the first things I look at with KD. Home losses to low majors has been a hallmark of our worst teams. This largely stopped under Ron (RMU aside), though strangely enough, we had some of our best wins in recent memory under Ferry. This was offset by the horrible losses. The team has holes, but not enough where we should be dropping games at home to the dregs on this year's schedule.
 

     Thread Starter
 

9/29/2017 2:15 pm  #4


Re: Expectations this season

Expecting to see a well coached, well disciplined team. Play for good shots and not out of control. Looking to go inside first. Believe we will see every player getting some time as well. Limited by lack of depth and inexperience. Guards will have to carry the load. I think 14 to 15 wins is realistic. A-10 schedule will be tough. Not expecting more than 5 wins there. A year to gain experience and learn KD's system. GO DUKES!!

 

9/29/2017 2:35 pm  #5


Re: Expectations this season

president wrote:

Expecting to see a well coached, well disciplined team. Play for good shots and not out of control. Looking to go inside first. Believe we will see every player getting some time as well. Limited by lack of depth and inexperience. Guards will have to carry the load. I think 14 to 15 wins is realistic. A-10 schedule will be tough. Not expecting more than 5 wins there. A year to gain experience and learn KD's system. GO DUKES!!

I agree with you.  You're opinion matches mine exactly.  15 wins and I'll be satisfied, any more (which I do think is possible) and I'll be more and more pleased with each additional win.
 

 

9/29/2017 4:48 pm  #6


Re: Expectations this season

fjhryn wrote:

ElDuque wrote:

I think three questions have to be answered:

1. Will Mike Lewis be the best player on the court most nights, or does he struggle either with a sophomore slump or in adjusting to Dambrot's system? If it's the former, put us down for 10 wins. If it's the later, put us down for 7 wins.

Start with 7-10 wins.

2. Will we really see a strong defensive effort from the Dukes, as well as improved fundamentals (passing, shot selection, rebounding, FT shooting)? If the answer is yes, add 3 wins to the total. If the answer is no, subtract 1 win from the total.

Now we're at 8-13 wins.

3. Will we see good game coaching from Dambrot: creating desired matchups, adjusting defenses, enforcing discipline and teamwork, learning from losses, etc., or will we see a stubborn man insist on a philosophy that obviously isn't working. If he's coaching well, add 4 wins; if we see the same stuff we've seen the past five years, subtract 4 wins.

Leaves me with a range of 4-17 wins. Four if everything seems to go south, 17 if we get the best outcome we can truly expect.

Robinson has never proven to be a sustainable solution in the post. The other big men are more raw than a plate of gehactes. So my expectations for the frontcourt are minute at best. But if the guys who get PT box out and rebound and fill in with some scoring, then they won't be a noticeable deficiency. Guys like Smith, Castro and James have to fill in with defense, scoring, competent ballhandling, and leadership. But Mike Lewis is the key.

As is Dambrot.

 After last year's less than spectacular results from all of us prognosticators on this board (although being in the minority, I predicted just 15 wins last year, which sadly turned out to be "wishful thinking"), I hesitate to even project what a "successful" win/loss record might be for this 1st year under KD. But listening to Mike's & Renee's interview on another thread, my early opinion is that we are finally heading in the right direction for this Program. So I can live with ED's range of 4-17 for this coming season. Will I be satisfied with the lower expectation level, of course not. But I really believe that KD is the future of Duke's BB success, & I hope that my beliefs in a resurgence of the Program under KD & DH, as well as Dr. Gormley, are well placed. Regardless, I will continue to support the Program & DU.

If we only win 4 games, I'd be beyond done. With all of the bad coaches we've had, only once have we had a season like that. No coach will get a pass for that. We're not loaded, but we're hardly bereft of talent. Again, if a sad sack coach like Ferry could get 8 wins out of the collection of stiffs we had during his first year, there is no way an accomplished coach like KD will win less than 10 games, unless we get hit with injuries. This is especially true with our ooc schedule.

     Thread Starter
 

9/29/2017 5:49 pm  #7


Re: Expectations this season

My expectation is to relax and enjoy this season, knowing the Program is in good hands and the future is extremely bright. Go Dukes!

 

9/29/2017 6:37 pm  #8


Re: Expectations this season

CLK wrote:

My expectation is to relax and enjoy this season, knowing the Program is in good hands and the future is extremely bright. Go Dukes!

Ding ding ding!

 

9/30/2017 12:49 am  #9


Re: Expectations this season

This program is on the rise,no question about that and I feel so strongly about it I would go door to door
in any Pittsburgh neighborhood and beg people to come down to Palumbo.If i got 1,000 no thank yous
 and 1 person said I will buy  the 6 pack special  then I did my job,that is how hell bent on seeing this miracle of miracles when Duquesnes top administrators are so strong in their support,and we got a AD and coach marching in step with the purpose,the focus and the knowledge to energize a city that saved the
world by providing the US and its allies with the materials  to defeat pure deviant evilness that is still difficult to comprehend 70 plus years after the fact.Always in all ways proud to say I  am from the city
of Pittsburgh.May god bless you.
 

 

9/30/2017 9:03 am  #10


Re: Expectations this season

What CLK said exactly AND...
1.  To be competitive
2.  To not make excuses 

 

9/30/2017 10:22 am  #11


Re: Expectations this season

FAM wrote:

What CLK said exactly AND...
1.  To be competitive
2.  To not make excuses 

FAM, I’m also with CLK on this. Your points are precisely what Dambrot has been instilling in his team - compete, no excuses, play as a team.

PS. You now have an option of having an alternative board handle: FAMbrot

 

9/30/2017 1:08 pm  #12


Re: Expectations this season

FAM wrote:

What CLK said exactly AND...
1.  To be competitive
2.  To not make excuses 

Ditto FAM and CLK. I'm going with 13-15 wins which would make me extremely satisfied. The no excuses is essential as well.
 


WE ARE CREEPING UP TO THE SECOND FLOOR....
 

10/01/2017 11:03 am  #13


Re: Expectations this season

To win 1/2 of games would be outstanding , anything higher would be coach of the year level.


A diehard fan since 1961
 

10/02/2017 4:45 pm  #14


Re: Expectations this season

My expectation is to the see the team improve in the obvious areas that would be affected by good fundamental coaching. I don't see a way to quantify that in terms of win numbers due to the roster turnover. We are building, and I want to see us build.

Go Dukes, that's really it!

 

10/02/2017 7:50 pm  #15


Re: Expectations this season

Generally speaking I agree with CLK for this season and El Duq ue breakdown serves as reasonable expectation guidelines.Personally want to see more defense and defensive responsibility and smarter basketball for this season! PS homecoming game this weekend and hope to see you all there!

 

10/03/2017 12:52 am  #16


Re: Expectations this season

Duques102 wrote:

My expectation is to the see the team improve in the obvious areas that would be affected by good fundamental coaching. I don't see a way to quantify that in terms of win numbers due to the roster turnover. We are building, and I want to see us build.

Go Dukes, that's really it!

I don't think you can pin down a number of wins, but obviously, no one expects this team to win 22-23 games. Conversely, with this schedule, winning 4-5 games would be a disaster. The roster is better than that. There will be a headscratcher or two along the way, but I also expect at least one shocker on the positive side. Ferry, with all of his warts, beat WVU with his first team, and that roster was far worse than this one, and we have a better coach now. 15 wins, and I'm sticking by it.
 

     Thread Starter
 

10/03/2017 5:35 am  #17


Re: Expectations this season

No one could accurately predict a season for any of Ferry's years, save for his first. Times we thought we were due for some success, we never saw it. Times we figured we had a long road ahead of us, the ride wasn't as bumpy as we thought. Part of it was Ferry's record, which except for two years was underwhelming. Here comes Keith Dambrot, and the guy wins 20 games a year. But we don't have many proven A10 players, there's certainly no one established in the frontcourt, and there's no way of knowing what this team will look like once it's on the floor. I apologize for throwing numbers out there. I was just trying to have a little preseason fun. The real fun will be to watch the development of this program.

 

10/03/2017 6:48 am  #18


Re: Expectations this season

Year 3 will be the season where we will begin to have real expectations. That will be Mike Lewis' senior year. I'll be very disappointed if we don't at least make the NIT by then, and I suspect Dambrot would be as well. All of next years recruits, as well as the transfers, will have a year together under their belts. This should be the year that we make a big step forward. It's obvious that Dambrot expects that Lewis, and the players sitting out, will be the ones to move the program forward. If he didn't think the guys sitting out were good enough to do this, he would never have brought them all in, as the better course of action would have been to bring in large freshman classes the next two years. That he didn't do this tells you that he thinks the group of transfers he brought in will get the job done. If this is the case, we should see major results in year 3.

     Thread Starter
 

10/03/2017 10:34 am  #19


Re: Expectations this season

ElDuque wrote:

No one could accurately predict a season for any of Ferry's years, save for his first. Times we thought we were due for some success, we never saw it. Times we figured we had a long road ahead of us, the ride wasn't as bumpy as we thought. Part of it was Ferry's record, which except for two years was underwhelming. Here comes Keith Dambrot, and the guy wins 20 games a year. But we don't have many proven A10 players, there's certainly no one established in the frontcourt, and there's no way of knowing what this team will look like once it's on the floor. I apologize for throwing numbers out there. I was just trying to have a little preseason fun. The real fun will be to watch the development of this program.

Absolutely nothing wrong with putting a number out there, I really liked your rationale and breakdown. I just don't personally feel knowledgeable enough about this year's roster to make any real number guess. I usually have in past years (and am usually pretty far off for one reason or another), this will be just a total wait and see year for me.

Agree with 81 too. Year 3 should be the first big one in terms of serious postseason expectations. I look at this year as a try out for the young guys to see who will contribute with a team led by Lewis and the transfers in year 2. Year 2 should be fine tuning the roster and lineup and preparing some of the bigs coming in in 2018.

Year 3 will feature a roster with talent and depth at every position, with at least some D1 and A10 experience at each roster spot. Have that at Keith Dambrot's disposal with his coaching ability and I don't see why year 3 should not be expectations for seriously competing for an A10 title as well as knocking on the door to the NCAA's, especially with some of the big boys likely to still be down due to the ongoing FBI investigations.

 

10/03/2017 12:08 pm  #20


Re: Expectations this season

Duques102 wrote:

ElDuque wrote:

No one could accurately predict a season for any of Ferry's years, save for his first. Times we thought we were due for some success, we never saw it. Times we figured we had a long road ahead of us, the ride wasn't as bumpy as we thought. Part of it was Ferry's record, which except for two years was underwhelming. Here comes Keith Dambrot, and the guy wins 20 games a year. But we don't have many proven A10 players, there's certainly no one established in the frontcourt, and there's no way of knowing what this team will look like once it's on the floor. I apologize for throwing numbers out there. I was just trying to have a little preseason fun. The real fun will be to watch the development of this program.

Agree with 81 too. Year 3 should be the first big one in terms of serious postseason expectations. I look at this year as a try out for the young guys to see who will contribute with a team led by Lewis and the transfers in year 2. Year 2 should be fine tuning the roster and lineup and preparing some of the bigs coming in in 2018.

We don't know what the ooc schedule will look like next year, but I expect KD will set it up to assure 9-10 wins. There may a stumble or two early on, as the team builds chemistry, but I expect us to be dangerous by the time the A10 tournament rolls around. I could see something like what happened in 2009, where we make a surprise run. I'll be watching St. Louis this season, as they are taking a very similar approach, and are a year ahead of us, with their transfers eligible this year.
 

     Thread Starter
 

10/03/2017 7:29 pm  #21


Re: Expectations this season

I don't know fellas...as a bills fan I am excited for this team. 

Even though our team isn't talented on paper...a good coach and good program go along way. 


Roll Dukes Roll
 

10/11/2017 4:28 am  #22


Re: Expectations this season

Fortunate enough to have attended private function with Mr. Harper, Coach D and the rest of his staff.
Everything that has been said about our AD and Coach are true. they know what it takes to win in the a10; they are putting the pieces in place; they are ultra competitive.

the one thing that stood out to me, that no one has really mentioned is the experience and level of assistant coaches we have now.
I honestly can't ever remember having this level of assistant coaches.
these guys are all top notch. they played d1 ball(including football), and one even played in the nba.
Coach D is surrounded by an amazing, hard working staff, that has the same mindset as him..

 

 

11/11/2017 9:29 am  #23


Re: Expectations this season

For the record, I'm going with 15 wins. Anything above that is gravy. Anything below 12 wins would be very disappointing.

     Thread Starter
 

11/11/2017 4:10 pm  #24


Re: Expectations this season

I'm going with 13 wins but hoping for more.

 

11/11/2017 4:19 pm  #25


Re: Expectations this season

I believe Coach that they wont finish last as predicted pre season and going with 17 on tougher defense and hustle!

 

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