My take - None of these guys have much of a positive  legacy really at this point, as none of them have won the A10, the A10 tourney, or made it to the NCAAs. I am going to leave Nee out of this because I do not recall very much about his time at Duquesne.

RE - 
Virtues - Flexibility -He  was always able to figure out how best to use the players he had. While he always favored a PG first system, he always tried to put his players in a position where they'd be used most effectively.  He was very good at developing game plans ahead of big games, often getting out to big early leads. Really good at developing PG. Ron is also by all accounts, a good man. 
 
Vices - Vision - He seemed to have no plan from year to year, no system he believed in at large to build to. It made it impossible to build the program from year to year. He was not good at all at midgame adjustments (lots of blown leads, no wins in OT.) Poor record when playing a team the second time in a season. Bad at developing big men. Some shady (minor) recruiting issues/questions (Kojo transfer, the Florida shoes sanction, Bill Barton.)

Extra -
While I think that the NIT run itself was more due to AJax than Ron, I do think Ron was snakebit with the Melquan Bolding injury. That team had a lot of potential, possibly . He should have given Jason Duty a  scholarship sooner or recruited over him.

JF -
Virtues - Good recruiter. A players coach - not a lot of transfers lost. Brought in a lot of really likeable players and typically kept them. Beat Pitt. Had a system year to year.

Vices - Coaching wasn't up to par with the A10. Took numerous embarrassing losses. Had a system, but it may have been outdated by some of the rules changes regarding hand checking that occurred when he took the job. Despite having good players, he seemed to get less out of them as a total than the sum of their talents. Annoyed fan base with lack of accountability. 

Extra - Not the same as Melquan but the Jeremiah Johnson injury

I have been looking for some gear with it - but yeah, haven't seen anything online.

Dambrot is a good coach, both game plan wise, and in game. His team's typically play hard. With the lack of home court last season and then the Covid challenges, I'd be fine with an extension, but I wouldn't call his time here so far an unqualified success. 

It's fair to question in my opinion, if he can recruit and retain A10 talent in order to be successful (which I define as going to the NCAA tournament.) I've also not been impressed by the year to year development of the players he has retained. If you can't recruit/retain A10 players, you better be able to build them, like Schmidt does at Bona. The only player at Duquesne, who I recall at least (please correct me if you have another example) who has gotten appreciably better was Marcus, and that may have been him healing from his leg injury. The rest of the players have either maintained, regressed, or left.

 

I think it makes sense for Isiaha to test the waters. This draft is much weaker than next years draft forecasts to be. He'd be able to go back to school if he hears it won't work for him. He took more 3 pointers last year, and improved his percentage. His FT%, which is typically a better indicator of 3pt% in the pros, was also pretty good. I don't know that he gets drafted, but I do think he's at least got a shot at it.

CLK wrote:

mm, let me see if I can summarize what I think you are saying

1. Carry is the only A10 quality player on the team (assuming Marcus and Mike transfer - you are not saying that they will).  Which means none of the other existing players are not A10 players. So TDM, Maceo, Rotroff, Norman  & Kelly are not A10 players.
 

To this point, only Carry has been an A10 player, yes, at least as a starter. TDM is an A10 player, (though he could also grad transfer,) but more of a specialist,  and wasn't an effective starter. When his shot is falling, he's a guy you want on your team. I said I think Maceo gets there, but he hasn't gotten there yet. I'm not sure he makes any All A10 teams, but I do think he shows he belongs, hopefully this year. Lamar - he could still develop, he didn't get a ton of minutes his freshman year, but he's not really shown anything. Rotroff I think has to prove it yet. I don't know that I've seen anything to suggest he can anchor a defense like Mike can though. Maybe a full year of rehab will change that, we'll have to see.  I don't expect Kelly to give the team much next year, but that is due to the injury. He was pretty raw his freshman year before the injury, but if I had to pick one guy I'd love to see develop into an A10 player, it would be Kelly.

CLK wrote:

2. You do not believe that the current recruiting class are not A10 caliber players.  I assume you mean that because you reference the period after the transfers leave (Weathers, Mike & TDM). So Acuff, Roesing, Harris, Bekelja and Baker are not A10 players
 

Overall - I'd say that I am going to wait and see, but I don't expect much from any of these guys next year, barring more transfers or injuries.
I think it is pretty rare for incoming freshmen, at Duquesne at least, to be A10 players. I think Acuff will get some minutes, but barring injury, he's going to be blocked by Carry (I'd be delighted if he does play well enough for Carry to play less minutes per g

I do think, beyond the recruiting, if Dambrot is going to have to adjust his style of coaching for the A10. He likes the big post up guys. That works, but it works best when the other team doesn't have a counter. At Akron, he could recruit a big that was too much for the rest of the conference. 
In the A10 - that is going to be a lot tougher, as the resources the rest of the teams in the league are much greater. The flip side is - who does your post up big defend when the rest of the conference, aside from SLU, wants to play quicker athletic big guys who can shoot or drive?

I'm not saying he'll have to wholesale abandon it - but finding a guy who both defend a modern big, and score like an old school big is going to be very tough to find, and even tougher to convince to come to Duquesne. I think that if you don't find that guy, playing that system puts a lower ceiling on the results than what could be.
I do want to say that Dambrot is a good coach - and has brought the Dukes back to a level of respectability, despite not having a full roster of real A10 guys. If he wants to take the next step, recruiting needs to improve, or some stylistic changes need to occur.

I think Austin has hit the freshman wall - it happens - but I do think he is an A10 player. I think if TDM isn't making shots, Miller needs to get more time in the second half. TDM is game, but too many guys can just shoot over him, and if he isn't making shots, it's going to get out of hand. Miller may not give you as much on offense, but if TDM is having an off night, it's not that big of a downgrade. Miller may not be up for it - but it would be nice to know for certain.

I think LN3 and Mike before him have suffered from not a lack of ball movement. It's hard to succeed as a catch and shoot player if you aren't getting the ball where you need it. TDM has the range to make it less of an issue, but shooting from that far is not ideal.

Kelly is maybe the most interesting guy who isn't getting minutes th

Kind of sad we can't even get a packed house in our artist's renditions.

I thought the RMU building was pretty nice. I thought that the "Colonial Crazies" signage was RMU posting cringe IRL as the kids say, though. I also agree with the poster up-thread about making the seats a little wider. Is there only the one road leading off campus? That's not great either.
 

I've seen him listed at both 230 and 250 but I haven't seen the highlight tape yet. Duquesne could use a VCU type player though - 6'8, bouncy, tough defender, who can make things happen in and around the rim. I am hoping that Andre is that guy. 

PhoenixRising2 wrote:

Perhaps we should start referring to this as the St. Pete Blackout tournament.

Really nice work here.

ElDuque wrote:

There is no need to berate players past or present. Eric, I-Mike, Tydus, Dylan, Brandon, Gavin, Nakye, Spencer -- I wish them all the best! I talk with many of their parents and former coaches on social media. They're all good people, and they're aware when people talk out of turn here.

Let's not earn a bad reputation as a crappy fan base. 

At the AJP we ended up having seats in the family of players section, and I would agree with them being all good folks, and that there is no need to mention people not with the program at this point. 
 

We don't know how good Lamar is going to be, but Lamar at least, doesn't quit. Nice to see the team get a win when they don't have much working. Not one to reminisce  about necessarily, but 2-0 is better than being anything else after two games.

NapaDuke wrote:

Godukes2017 wrote:

NapaDuke wrote:

I'm in, I agree, this is do-able, or quite frankly, just a little-bit better. Both great coaching and great players, and Williams weak defense is gone. (More swing points are made on defense to determine a game than is ever appreciated, and Williams played weak defense, if at all.
 

His weak defense? Why throw shots a young man when collectively they played minimal defense. He didn’t make them go 19-13 by himself..

Look, take St. Louis for years, almost no offense, but lock-down defense, consistent winning records.  Take Ron's best years here, ranked in the top ten in steals.  Good defense stops good offense. Great defense just shuts down opponents. Some players come in here and got here for scoring, but doesn't mean they will ever stop their opponent.  Want to see a winning season?  Show up and play some lock-down defense.  Williams, top scorer, no defense.
   

Steals are a pretty poor indicator of defense, as they usually involve taking a risk and/or getting out of position. You go for a steal and miss, you give up an easy basket. (Auburn lead the nation in steals last season but wasn't in the top 50 in scoring defense, for instance.)
EW was the third highest ranked defender on the team last year by advanced metrics, so claims that he had no defense is pretty concerning, as that means you have a team of guys that play less than no defense.  

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OCC - 9-3
A10 - 9-9
A10 Tour - 1-1

19 wins

 I hope I am being pessimistic, but I need to see the team not collapse in February before I believe that things have turned the corner.