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Women's Basketball Recruiting » New Guard commit from France » 4/14/2022 9:35 am

DU90
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Any update on this new player?

I've been looking online and checking out Raoul's twitter and other recruiting pages and haven't found any information.  

I wonder if this means that we are losing someone to the portal.

Women's Basketball Recruiting » Dukes Get A Big » 4/14/2022 9:30 am

DU90
Replies: 5

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We recruited her out of high school and as I recall, she is originally from an eastern European country, so she fits in from that perspsective.

But I am greedy and I would like to see us grab another big.  One name in the portal that is really intriguing is Rita Igbokwe from Pitt.  I am hoping we are talking to her and trying to convince her to stay in Pittsburgh, and with Selma and Ayanna already in the fold, a proven shot blocker like Igbokwe would be the icing of the cake to solidify the front line.  

Of course, I would be more than happy to see us bring in Alexa Williamson out of Temple, as she would also be a very strong addition.
 

Women's basketball » Transfer player of interest: Ayanna Townsend from Xavier » 4/03/2022 8:52 am

DU90
Replies: 11

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Sorry Levon, I didn't meant to imply Alexa Williamson is 6-3, I just wanted to be clear there are a lot of post-players that are 6-3 and taller and would like for us to pursue more size.  

If we are recruiting Williamson and are able to sign her, our interior play would be improved on both the offensive front and defensive fronts.  

Women's basketball » Transfer player of interest: Ayanna Townsend from Xavier » 4/02/2022 9:41 pm

DU90
Replies: 11

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In addition, Alexa Williamson, who played at Chartiers-Houston is transferring from Temple.

https://twitter.com/Raoul_000/status/1510349378975940609

Stats are similar to Townsend and I would like to see us go after her as well.  There are several big post players 6-3 and taller that are in the portal that I really would like to see us go after, but with Ayanna Townsend committed and if we are able to sign Alexa Williamson, we will be bringing to veteran players to compete for starting positions and challenge the players in the program.

The team will only get better if we continue to bring in good talent to upgrade the team.  
 

Women's basketball » Transfer player of interest: Ayanna Townsend from Xavier » 4/02/2022 9:33 pm

DU90
Replies: 11

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Ayanna committed to Duquesne!

https://twitter.com/Raoul_000/status/1510431674731008008

Unlike Pouye who liked to venture out to the perimeter, I do believe that Ayanna's game is much more suited to inside and will play the 4.  I also think she has 2 years of eligibility.
 

Basketball Recruiting » Dukes Offer 6'7" Sharp Shooter Rich Rolf » 3/16/2022 7:38 am

DU90
Replies: 8

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Given the timing of the offer to Rolf and the decision by Okani leads me to believe these two events are likely to be related.  The coaching staff probably knows who is staying and who is leaving and they likely feel that there will be possibly another departure (maybe Ayers?) and is looking for depth at a position that many need some reinforcement. 

Plus, it is increasingly obvious in watching the conference tournament that 3-pt shooting is at a premium.  Just look at Virginia Tech for example who beat Duke and North Carolina convincingly in their run, they had two big, strong bigs surrounded by 3-pt. shooters. 

The game is changing to a more free-flowing offense where the ability to knock down 3's is just as important as having a 6-10 monster in the paint.  In fact in today's game, if you can't hit 3s then defenses just collapse in the paint and take away the post entry pass and shut down the offense.  See Pitt as an example of how a very good post player gets neutralized by the inability to shoot the ball with accuracy.

Agree on the need to get bigger because you cant' teach size.  We are already going after big guys, having landed Dixon, and potentially being the leader for Halil Barre, plus the offers to the kid from Sweden and Cooper from IMG in Florida, both of whom are 6-10.  

One thing is for sure, it's going to be an interesting off-season.

Women's basketball » Snezhana » 3/14/2022 8:13 pm

DU90
Replies: 3

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Awful news to hear, but hope this is early in the process for treatment and full recovery.\

Best of luck to Snezhana!

Women's Basketball Recruiting » Reilly Sunday leading her team in the playoffs » 3/12/2022 11:13 pm

DU90
Replies: 2

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Moon advances to the state semi-finals after taking down WPIAL Class 5A champion South Fayette.

Reilly Sunday led all scorers with 20 pts, including 9 in the 4th quarter.

Moon will play Chartiers Valley to go to Hershey for the chance to win a state championship. 

It appears that Reilly is having a great recovery season after missing all of last year, as this bodes well for her to come in next year and push for playing time.  She seems to me to have a similar build and game to Libby.  

Women's basketball » Transfer player of interest: Ayanna Townsend from Xavier » 3/05/2022 10:22 pm

DU90
Replies: 11

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Her last game on Friday - 18 pts, 10 rebs against St. John's. Box score from Friday:
https://goxavier.com/sports/womens-basketball/stats/2021-22/no-7-seed-st-john-s/boxscore/9391  

While getting a double-double in a D1 game is no guarantee of stardom, it does provide an indication of potential, kind of like, if she can put those numbers up once, she is certainly capable of doing it again.

Season stats for this year: 9.1 ppg and 5.5 rpg and led the team with 21 blocked shots.
https://goxavier.com/sports/womens-basketball/stats/2021-22

Maybe she has improved her game since high school.   

The key would be how hard she is willing to work to become a consistent double-digit scorer and rebounder and improve her game.  Our European players tend to be on the thin side and are not ready to play the physical game that we are seeing today in the A10. 

At worst, she gives you a physical presence that can provide help and rest for Precious Johnson on the inside.  Given our lack of consistency from players, see Pouye as an example, she could help out quite a bit with good size in the paint plus experience.  I do believe she may have 2 years of eligibility remaining.

Women's basketball » Transfer player of interest: Ayanna Townsend from Xavier » 3/05/2022 12:21 pm

DU90
Replies: 11

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She is from Pittsburgh and played basketball at Winchester Thurston. She is a grad transfer and will have immediate eligibilty.

Here is her stats bio - put up good numbers in BE play.

https://goxavier.com/sports/womens-basketball/roster/ayanna-townsend/10476

She would be an excellent addition to our front line if we can land her.

Women's basketball » Raoul Women's Basketball Twitter Page » 3/05/2022 11:59 am

DU90
Replies: 4

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Lots of good info on here, but be warned he is a Michigan and Big 10 homer: https://twitter.com/raoul_000?lang=en and transfer link: https://wbbblog.com/womens-basketball-transfers-d-ii-and-d-iii-2021-22/

One thing to note, Syracuse is now officially opened up there head coaching job and Tami Reiss, the URI coach was once an assistant coach there.  I've already seen her name mentioned with the Virginia opening but I have to think she will likely end up at Syracuse.  Dayton's Shauna Green also being mentioned for Virginia.

Could end up seeing some A10 coaches poached this offseason.  

Would not surprise me to see Stephanie Gaitely from Fordham move on as well.  Though not a hot, young commodity, she is an outstanding X's and O's coach.

Women's basketball » Disappointing end to a disappointing season » 3/03/2022 10:29 pm

DU90
Replies: 4

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Agree with you about shooters as you can't have enough good shooters that can stretch the floor and put pressure on the defense to defend the perimeter.  This naturally opens up the inside and I've seen a lot of improvement from Precious to know that she can be one of the best post players to come to Duquesne. 

I do think we need more than just "shooters" as we need to improve our offense.  We do a terrible job of setting screens.  I don't know if we have set plays because it if we do, I don't recognize it. It seems to me that we don't have much of an offensive gameplan.  I really want us to make a concerted effort at implementing a strategic offense, such as the flex that St. Joe's runs that can help us become more efficient.  We tend to stand around on offense and just pass the ball with no purpose.  

From what I recall from her high school days, Lauren is supposed to be a very good deep-shooter and her Xavier bio speaks to this.  What I don't know is if she is as solid as a defender as say Halle Bovell.  If she can defend she will challenge for starting role.  

Olivia Westphal is also supposed to be a strong shooter (https://tribhssn.triblive.com/bethel-parks-westphal-looks-forward-to-future-at-duquesne/) who may have a game similar to Tess Myers.  If she can knock down 3s but, you can imagine the challenges opposing defenses will have if she and Myers are on the floor at the same time.

Problem is, I believe both suffered ACL injuries this year and as we saw with Halle Bovell, coming back from these injuries is not a guarantee.  Reilly Sunday played this season after missing all of last year due to the torn ACL and from what I have heard about her, she is a PG with a scorer's mentality.  I think her game may be very similar to Libby's.  

I don't know anything about Walker's injuries, but I do know from highlights that I've seen, she is very athletic with good length.  I hope she can return to her previous level of success that she had in hi

Women's basketball » Disappointing end to a disappointing season » 3/03/2022 7:06 pm

DU90
Replies: 4

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A couple of plays that sum up the year, Meg steals a pass and has a breakaway layup and misses and Fatoue Pouye following the play, grabs the rebound and misses the putback  Following a timeout with less than :30 left in the third quarter, Duquesne comes out and turns the ball over, St. Joe's comes down and buries a wide-open three to close out the quarter and a 21-point lead.

I said following the loss to St. Joe's Saturday, we would see if the coaches learned anything.  Given the outcome, clearly we didn't learn much.  St. Joe's didn't do anything different from what they did on Saturday.  On offense, they moved the ball very efficiently and ran productive sets that led to easy baskets and open shots.  On defense, they just played straight up m2m defense and forcing us to be more efficient on offense, which we couldn't overcome and every shot was contested. 

I suggest the staff study the game films from the past two games with St. Joe's and implement the flex offense that they run.  We couldn't defend against it.  It requires discipline to run, but there is no reason why this team can't effectively run this offense as it will open up the inside for Johnson and Hamilton and lead to open looks for Meyers. 

This is a video of how the offense should be run and if you watched the game, you saw St. Joe's execute it to perfection: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=lLsj3_ddGck and it was highly effective in the 4th quarter when we were trying to come back.  Goal is to pass and screen to lead to the best possible open shot.  

Our offense is too predictable, we just seem to pass the ball around the perimeter without a sense of purpose.  Precious Johnson had a great second half and showed that she has the potential to be one of the best post players in the league.  Pairing her up with another power forward next year will pay dividends. There is nobody on the roster today who can fill that role, as Hamilton is more suited to the small forward. 

Best bet is t

Women's Basketball Recruiting » Reilly Sunday leading her team in the playoffs » 2/27/2022 7:29 pm

DU90
Replies: 2

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Since it is now official that Diamond Bragg will not be returning, I would not be surprised to see her push for the open spot in the starting rotation.  Keeping fingers crossed she stays healthy, she will be 2 years removed from the ACL injury.  I am hoping her season next year is kind of like what Reagan Moore's second season after her injury, where she took off.  Unfortunately, that was her last season at Duquesne.  I've always thought back to her experience and looked at the second year as the "return to normal" year when it comes to ACL injuries.  

If she can return to form, Reilly will be a very good player for the Dukes and may even be another 4-year starter.

Women's basketball » THANKS TO THE SENIORS » 2/27/2022 7:22 pm

DU90
Replies: 4

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Thank you Al on the update to Diamond Bragg, I was wondering if she was not returning next year as she was wearing her uniform jersey yesterday.  I am sorry to see her leave without playing another game.  I really was hopeful that she would have a break-out season.  As the season wound down last year, her improvement was obvious and I think with her on the floor this year and of course a healthy Amanda Kalin, the offense would have been more efficient.  

A lot to be proud of for the women who have come through here and made their mark on the court and earned multiple degrees.  

 

Women's basketball » Disappointing loss to St. Joe's » 2/26/2022 11:10 pm

DU90
Replies: 0

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I will only point out that the difference on the court today was that St. Joe's showed that they are a very-well coached team and that was the difference in the game.

I would rate them as having the same level of talent as Duquesne, but the difference is they are far better coached then we are.  I should start by saying that it was noticeable early on as they were much more efficient in their offensive sets that led to easy and open layups and wide open 3's which they hit with ease.

I noticed how often the St. Joe's players knew where their teammates were going to be and would also be ready to receive the pass and score.  Compared to our players, that seemed to be throwing the ball to players that were not ready or not in the best position to catch the pass.

The difference is a product of better coaching by the St. Joe's and it showed as they shot nearly 50% from 3pt range and got to the foul line 20 times and made 16 free throws  As with LaSalle, St. Joes' played straight up man-to-man defense and blanketed Myers and defended the three point line forcing us to shoot contested 3s.  

We play St. Joe's again in the A10 tournament so we will see if our coaching staff learned anything from today.

Women's basketball » THANKS TO THE SENIORS » 2/26/2022 10:53 pm

DU90
Replies: 4

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Congrats to all of the seniors as they are first class student-athletes.

Agree about Amanda, one can only imagine how this year had turned out if she had not suffered the ACL last year.  

Women's basketball » Tonight's loss is all on Burt » 2/26/2022 10:50 pm

DU90
Replies: 10

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Al, 

A gentlemen's agreement: we agree to disagree.

At the end of the day we both won't success on the basketball court for Duquesne.

Women's Basketball Recruiting » Reilly Sunday leading her team in the playoffs » 2/26/2022 10:48 pm

DU90
Replies: 2

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Great article on our recruit next year that will challenge for playing time next year. 

https://www.post-gazette.com/sports/high-school-basketball/2022/02/25/pittsburgh-high-school-basketball-wpial-playoffs-Indiana-at-Moon/stories/202202250017

Highlights:
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=iXVgyEfiel8

Sunday didn't play last year because she tore her ACL and missed her junior season.

Men's Basketball » Trey Williams Out For The Rest Of The Season » 2/25/2022 1:19 pm

DU90
Replies: 12

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Biggest beneficiary will be Hima as he will get a lot more playing time which only gets him ready for next season.  

I can envision a frontline next season with Hima and Williams to be joined by Gunn/Okani/Easley or Ayers.  Asssuming none of these players enter the portal.

Men's Basketball » Rebuilding in Year 6 » 2/25/2022 11:14 am

DU90
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Simms wrote:

DU90 wrote:

Playing the transfer game in the off-season will not be as successful as last year.  The NCAA gave a one-time free pass for players to leave and go somewhere else without having to sit out.

I don't think that is the case this year, which means we need to recruit grad-students who are looking to make an impact.  The best players will have their pick of schools to go to where they will be playing for a chance to play in the NCAA tournament.  These players are not looking to come to Duquesne.

Our best bet is to hope for to bring on a JUCO transfer or someone like Gunn who is coming up from DII and has immediate eligibility, unlike an undergrad from a DI school.

They don't have to sit:


"The NCAA Division I Council ratified a new rule on Wednesday that will allow athletes in all sports to transfer once without sitting out a year in residence.The decision will primarily affect student-athletes in the five traditional “revenue sports:” baseball, men’s and women’s basketball, football and men’s ice hockey. Long-standing NCAA rules have in the past prevented athletes in these five sports from playing in their first year after transferring. However, under the NCAA’s new transfer rule, athletes from all sports will be allowed to transfer once without being required to sit out their first year."
 

Thanks Simms - I wasn't aware of that a new rule had been passed.  I recall last year that we struck out on a few bigs that probably could have been more effective this year.  The player I wanted the most was the transfer from North Dakota that we went after but he chose to go somewhere else.

Women's basketball » Tonight's loss is all on Burt » 2/25/2022 10:42 am

DU90
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Al,

I was involved with our men's basketball team for 4 years and worked for Jim Satalin and John Carroll.  I am not passing myself off as a mensa, I am giving insight into what I was part of everyday for four years.  I know a lot more about basketball than a casual fan does.  I have pointed to the obvious flaws within the coaching schematics as to why we lost.

I will tell you that every team practices situational basketball events.  You put time on the clock and you are either ahead by a point or two or down by the same margin.  The purpose is to focus on what player-combinations work best depending upon the end-of-game scenario.  It is up to the coaches to understand their player personnel and make the appropriate decisions.  This is the point I am making which you can't understand - Pouye should have been on the floor the entire 4th quarter and not on the bench. 

Your comments about her offensive game do not address the point I was making, the coaching staff knows of her athleticism and for her to be sitting on the bench the second half is why we lost the game.  Her athleticism was needed on the floor.  You clearly don't understand how effective a team can be in a zone when you have athletes on the floor.  Syracuse has played zone defense as long as Boeheim has been the coach and he recruits long, athletic guys best suited for that defensive strategy. 

I'm not saying anything about recruiting strategy here, I am pointing out that by playing a zone defense in the second half with Pouye on the floor could very well have made the difference.  But since you want to play the "what if" game, she could have easily played and picked up 2 fouls and been on the bench anyway in the final minutes, but since she never got off the bench, we won't know.  Point is, she should have been on the floor and we should have switched to a zone defense.

I applaud you being a die-hard fan for a team that doesn't have a lot of interest, especially when compared to the me

Men's Basketball » Rebuilding in Year 6 » 2/24/2022 9:58 pm

DU90
Replies: 28

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Playing the transfer game in the off-season will not be as successful as last year.  The NCAA gave a one-time free pass for players to leave and go somewhere else without having to sit out.

I don't think that is the case this year, which means we need to recruit grad-students who are looking to make an impact.  The best players will have their pick of schools to go to where they will be playing for a chance to play in the NCAA tournament.  These players are not looking to come to Duquesne.

Our best bet is to hope for to bring on a JUCO transfer or someone like Gunn who is coming up from DII and has immediate eligibility, unlike an undergrad from a DI school.

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