I expected them to lose like I expected the sun to rise in the East today, hate to say it, Richmond has our number like the Brewers over the Pirates for that horrible stretch a few years back.

16 wins
​.500 season
​Young team with almost no frontcourt
five transfers coming in next year.
​Another year of Coach D's system and hard work
​I think Keith can improve 4-6 games on this team next year.

​Better season than a lot of us dared hope for.

​Can't wait for next fall.

Let's Go Dukes

Interesting stat from the last 5 games of the year. Robinson 17-23 from the floor including 9-9 the last 2 games. Taylor 6-7 and TV 11-15. That's 34-45 or.75.6 percent. The big guys didn't get enough looks or feeds. They could obviously put in the basket when they did.

Just some things I think:
!. KD said he only practiced D for the last two days before this game (it was on the news or PSN Sports), so how can we look that bad defensively?  KD even said so at the half time interview.  I just don't get it.  Is it all personnel???  Frankly, I hope that is the case as that can be addressed through recruiting.
2. I've said this before and I saw it again tonight, our guards don't know how to get the ball into the post.  JRob could have had an even stronger year (shame he was wasted by Ferry for 3 years) if he got the ball more - see other post above.  He is a good offensive threat and yet our 3 primary guards waste that precious second where you have to get it into the post quickly.  They wait too long and only try the lob into the post instead of two passes out front by one guard to another and then bang into the post.  I don't think I saw one bounce pass into the post all game and they were available if done quickly.  We really, really need a true PG and hopefully the freshman, along with the WV transfer, fill that gaping hole.
3.  Tydus needs to obviously bulk up a bit and develop a bit of a nasty streak.  His body language to me all too often appears sulky.  I know its confidence so maybe that sports psychologist can work with him so we see more of what we saw against St. Louis. It was like EW went awol tonight.  I don't mind if you don't hit shots, but you can't have that may unforced turnovers - freshman or not.  I guess this is where quality depth can be a big help and I look forward to seeing the rotation next year.  Please realize I am still very high on Eric W despite tonight's performance. 
4.  I know the defensive mentality takes time, especially with freshman and given the holdovers never really played D under Ferry, but even with less talent couldn't we have run a more efficient offense???  You can say its talent, but how do we hang with RI and the Bonnies, but can't run anything against UMass or Richmond?  You don't need great talent to have good ball movement and passing.  Our guards, especially RC, just dribbled out front way too much and the offense stagnates.  KD's says it is because we don't have scoring at the 4 or 5, but see my point regarding JRob above.  
4.  I am still pleased with 16 wins in year one and anxiously want to see how we look in year two.  I am not thinking we need to win 21 games next year, I just want to hopefully see more consistency - oh, and we have to be Bobby Mo!!!

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I am satisfied with the year. The OT loss to Richmond was the downer. We just spent too much energy crawling out of the 16 point deficit. Williams and TV need to bulk up and hit the weight room. Good times ahead but at 67 I don't know how many more aheads there are so let's go KD!

Aside from one or two posts denigrating the coaching, I do agree with most others here. KD and staff had their work cut out for them this year. A .500 record is way better than anything that we saw in the last 5 years except the one year which was also .500. The difference being, as was pointed out by another, it took JF 4 years while KD did in one. Nothing but optimism here. Really think we could have won a CBI home game but I need to let go according to my wife. She said it will take until BB practice begins again for her to recover from this season dealing with me! I can't wait!! GO DUKES!!

A big reason the Dukes didn't finish in last place in the A10 and lose more than 20 games this season was Eric Williams. But Williams is a true freshman who played a ton of minutes and he clearly wore down down the stretch. In the last nine games (February and March) his FG percentage dropped from 42 to 33%. 3-PT FG percentage dropped from 40.9% to 26.3%. His turnovers per game nearly doubled from 1.4 to 2.6 while rebounds per game dropped from 9.5 to 6.9. The Dukes lost eight of those nine games after starting 15-8. The only games in that stretch in which Williams resembled his pre-February self were the near upset at Bonaventure and the home win over St. Louis.

A lot of posters have commented on fatigue and tiredness dooming the Dukes down the stretch. I think that's a bit of an excuse (Richmond only used 7 players last night and rarely played more than an 8-man rotation this year) but I think Eric Williams definitely did wear down in his first college season, which happens to skinny true freshmen who play a lot of minutes. Don't think he'll need to play so many minutes next year but he does need to get stronger regardless. 

In the same stretch of games, the Dukes' team defense left a lot to be desired. I really don't know how much that's tied to Eric Williams wearing down. But i do know St. Louis had worse depth issues than Duquesne did all season and they never stopped playing defense. For whatever reason, the Dukes really seemed to lose their defensive focus down the stretch and lapse into the bad habits of the previous regime. It may just take the roster overhaul we'll see next year to overcome that.
 

Last edited by DennisC91 (3/09/2018 1:31 pm)