townsonkid wrote:

He's my favorite player now!    :-)))
So do we stand at 5 out and 5 coming in now?

Mine too!  He is from a village 40 miles south of where my father was born in 1921.  Go Dukes!!

Not relevant to today's  game, but a few stats I thought interesting, not in a good way.  This is conference games only, excluding LaSalle.

347th of 358 D1 teams in assists, 344th in 2 pt%

3 pt%
JJ 35,Easley 33, Primo 29, Ayers 26

2 pt%
JJ 48, Ayers 46,Easley 41, Primo 37.

Ayers last season was 57% from 2pt and 39% from 3 pt. That's remarkable, even at a slightly higher level this year.

phil95 wrote:

For me, Tre at center is not the core problem. The problem is that there is no other player on the team with  A-10 level size & skills at the 4 & KD has mismanaged the bench players that can play center. 

Kevin Easley is no 4 man but he has done a decent job faking it. I don't think he gets credit for playing out of position for most of the season. His shortcomings in this role have become more evident against the larger & more skilled frontcourts of the A-10 programs. If he can be moved to SF because there is a real 4  on the roster, that would be a formidable front line. 

How many other 6'7" sophomore SFs averaging 12 & 7 while shooting 42% from 3 (50% over the last 4 games), averaging less than a turnover & more than 1 steal per game are there in the A-10? 

With at least 2 years eligibility left for every member of the threesome & this season's outlook so bleak, I am not sure why you wouldn't try some minutes with Easley, Hima, & Tre. This is a fine time to see if Tre can still do his post damage at the 4 by he & Hima working high low action.

The rim protection & rebounding should be excellent with this group. While it would require a big change defensively from KD's switching/blitzing/hedging/chipping-down defensive scheme, that style has never been particularly well executed for more than 7-9 minutes at a time & other teams have it knocked before the first half is over. Because the lane would be owned by Hima & Tre, I believe that some combination of Easley, JJ, Primo, Acuff, & Ayers could handle the perimeter defense better than they presently do.

I do not like this group for 30 minutes per game or as the starting lineup but, some 5-6 minute stretches at unpredictable times would certainly force the opposition's coach into lineup adjustments. 



 

I agree that Tre is definitely not the problem, not by a long shot. Nice foot work around the hoop but he's not an A10 Center. Bench him when he takes a 3. A big C from portal would

Tejas_Duke wrote:

A lot of the problems seem to stem from lack of chemistry, players not playing together and getting to know each other's moves, an issue I raised as one of my doubts about this mass exodus of players every year, and I was routinely put down for being so negative, but oh well.
Hey, they lost by three points to a team who is ranked a bit higher and was slightly favored. This isn't like our usual "Oh My God, we lost to NJIT or some Ivy League School ranked in the 200s or 300s".
People have complained about our usual patty cake OOC, so they made it tougher. Now the team has to work even harder!
 

Exactly, and also agree with Duq102 and FAM. If Dukes had made 2 more shots we'd be talking about having crushed them on the boards and JJ and Okani coming alive.  I won't dispute any of the comments on the offensive sets, but we have the 5th least returning minutes from last season.  It's a tough OOC schedule and it was never going to be easy replacing Hughes and Weathers.  Give it time. Go Dukes

Yes, Gunn in a boot was disappointing.  I'm not sure how PSN concluded that "it did not seem serious". TBD.  Not a serious scrimmage, no defense at all.  Johnson hit several 3's from well beyond the arc. Hard to conclude anything, but I thought Hima ran the floor well and I think Okani is going to breakout.

https://pittsburghsportsnow.com/2021/10/21/news-and-notes-from-duquesnes-season-opening-scrimmage/

Here are the Pomeroy rankings for OOC games. That is a tough schedule for a young team, but a lot of opportunities for "good wins."

Rider 234
Hofstra 168
Weber 114
Northeastern 158
Colorado 35 or S. Ill 134
3rd game Paradise Jam
American  270
Bowling Green 139
Marshall 111
DePaul 140
N Hampshire 225
UC Irvine 112
Wofford 126

Wildwood13 wrote:

This is for last year not this upcoming season.

I actually looked to try to confirm it was for this year, obviously didn't look hard enough.  I'll say a solid 6th this year because a little bit young, but as long as there's not a mass exodus then top 3 next year.

El Presidente wrote:

Find it a bit odd that RG Gunn is listed as a center on the website. KD had referred to him as a 4 I believe. Didn't he play guard for his college team? Wonder where he will play. Thinking multiple positions? Would be surprised to see him at guard for the Dukes.

I wondered about that also.  Seems like an error.  Would the projected Center depth right now be Williams, then Hima and Rotroff, not necessarily in that order?  And another recruit is still possible??

StillatShales wrote:

With Harris transferring, I "think" we are close to our final roster for next year (apparently we have 1 more scholarship, but if that happens, I'll re-adjust). With that... I took a stab at a waaaaaaay to early Starting 5 / Next 5.

Here's what I'm thinking:

Starting 5:
PG - Tyson Acuff (FR) - 6-4
SG - Leon Ayers III (JR) - 6-6 - from Mercer
SF - Kevin Easley, Jr. (RS SO) - 6-7 from TCU
PF - R.J. Gunn (SR) - 6-7 - from Lenoir–Rhyne Bears (DII)
C - Austin Rotroff (JR) - 6-10

Next 5:
PG - Amir 'Primo' Spears (FR) - 6-2
SG - Maceo Austin (SO) - 6-5
SF - Tochukwu 'Toby' Okani (FR) - 6-7
PF - Tre Williams (SO) - 6-7 - from Indiana State
C - Mounir Hima (FR) - 6-11

Now... I'm putting a lot of hope in Rotroff. From what I hear and see on this board... he's working hard, putting in the work, and if that is the case, I think coach is going to start him. Same thing with Acuff, I feel coach would want someone that is returning from last year run the point, and I think towards the end of the year Acuff showed that he can. So the rest of the starting 5 are all newbies, I think for sure Easley is starting, the other two I can be persuaded otherwise. So agree, disagree, somewhere in between... looking for some initial reactions and some spirited dialog.

Two guys I feel strongly about are that Tre is a starter, whether at PF or C,and Jackie Johnson is easily in the top 10. So incredibly deep, some talented guys will not get much pt.

I'm assuming that either Tre or Easley can play C if they don't add one. Is that correct?

Tejas_Duke wrote:

wharfrat58 wrote:

Thanks VBC, I've missed the last several of Jorma's shows.

What does a guy at a Grateful Dead show say, an hour after he runs out of weed?  "Boy this band sucks!"  Sorry Brother, couldn't resist! 
 

🤣🤣

VBC wrote:

What happened wharfrat58?  Did Pearly Baker lock you out of your other account?

Well done VBC! I guess its because I have less than 10 posts they forbid posting links, sort of like doing time for another's crime.

Agreed that the players or students (assuming they start going to games) should pick, but Jimi's Watchtower is timeless and besides, it was the only Dylan song nominated