LaSalle great Tom Gola passed away on January 26 at age 81. In 1952 he led the Explorers to the NIT title and in 1954 to the NCAA title. And in 1956 he led the Philadelphia Warriors to the NBA title. What a career.

The statistical analysis of the Dukes in this article explains it all. Strength of schedule is 333/351. Adjusted defense efficiency is 307. Against top 150 teams we score 68 and give up 81 points per game.

Sometimes Coulter drives me nuts, but last night he had a very good game. Coach put the ball in his hands to beat the pressing defense and he did not have a lot of turnovers. He hit some crucial foul shots in the last few minutes of the game.

Micha had 7 assists. He is a team player. He can create shots, but because he is not working from the point, he has fewer opportunites to do so. In high school he brought the ball up court against double teams and he passed well as well as shot well.

I was worried about Jerimah Jones being in the game at the end because I knew they would preferentially foul him and put him at the line. He hit all the crucial foul shots at the end of the game, proving once again that I don't know as much as the coach does.

Fordham essentially plays a four guard offense. They shoot tons of threes, but not necessarily at a high percentage. The rebounds were even, but we dominated inside play. That is the difference with this team from the recent past.

I looked for Robinson in the stands last night and could not find him. Usually he sits above the bench mid way up. I hope that does not portend anything bad.

We tend to beat the Colonials here and lose at Moon. They are down this year, so I expect that trend to continue. As to the starting 5 and game rotation, Coach Ferry has not had the opportunity to play the group he was counting on coming into this season. Things are still a patchwork. The games will be touigher when we get into league play, but by the end of January we should have a very good idea of what he has and what he needs to get for next year.

In a sense we were out coached if you count recuriting as part of coaching. But we can't expect an A10 team to out recruit an ACC team in general and given Pitt's resources, for Duquesne to out recruit Pitt. In the long run Ferry should be judged by how well he does in the A10. He seems to know his Xs andOs, so bringing in players will be the key. But that's the key across the country with college basketball. Coaches live and die with the decisions of 18-21 year olds.

That comes to $100,000 per person over a five year period or $20,000 per year. That's a very nice thing to do. However, 1M in today's evnironment does not go far. Thanks to those who can and do donate.

We beat WVU last year because our big man had the game of his career and their big men played poorly. This year their big men are better and ours are not great defenders. A 15 point loss on the road is about right. I will make the trip to hopefully prove this prediction wrong.

Unfortunately, I think Dejan's comments are accurate. Sometimes it's hard to face the facts. The hope is that the situation will change and as Dejan said, that will come with winning.

I would be in favor of a player being allowed to transfer without sitting out a year if his head coach was fired or resigned under pressure. I would also allow that player to follow the head coach to a new school. I would not allow the player to transfer to the head coach's new school without sitting out a year if the coach moved on of his own volition. Of course, schools can restrict transfers in such circumstances, but my point assumes the transfer is permitted. I would not apply this exception to assistant coaches.

It's all about the market, not about the existing program. Why did the Big 10 take Maryland, an historically poor football program? For that reason alone, we merit consideration.  If Duquesne were in the Catholic Big East, the basketball program would improve merely because of the association. With good recruiting and coaching, we would be mid level conference in a few years. In the A10 we will always have to contend with state schools with much better assets, so in the long run, a move to the Catholic league would be in our best interests. I have no idea if we have been or will be offered.

St. Louis never seemed to be a good fit due to their location. U Mass could be looking also due to football.

I find it to be intersting that Jimmy Patsos was not interested in the Duquesne job last year, but accepts the Siena position this year.