PhoenixRising2 wrote:

PhoenixRising2 wrote:

Some Primo Spears news....  On the move again!
https://twitter.com/TiptonEdits/status/1635323694611566592

 

Primo heading to Florida State.

That one surprises me. He seems to be the antithesis of a player Leonard Hamilton would go after.

I know the high transfer rate is a sometimes contentious issue here, but sometimes external circumstances have to be considered. I think we can all wish the best for someone in his situation. Hopefully he’s the first, but not the last Duke in the tourney this year.

From the better late than never department:

The Dukes' wins over George Washington and George Mason were just our 18th and 19th ever conference wins by at least 23 points. It was only the third time ever we won consecutive conference games by at least 23 points and the first time in 31 years.

After the last bye I posted Dambrot’s miserable record after byes. I’d love to know what they did this past week and if it is different from what they did in the past. This looks like an excellent use of a week off.

I’m going to try not to get too high because certainly a lot of GWs errors were self-inflicted. The offense has looked as good as it has all season long too though. It’s not just a matter of shots falling, the offense has found a rhythm they haven’t had all year. The off-ball movement is there, the passes are crisp, and yes the shots are falling. Even when they threw the zone at us they found the open man, got a bucket, and sent GW back to man. Let’s hope this continues down the stretch run because the team that’s on the floor can beat anyone in the conference.

As others have said I’m publicly being asked about Duquesne for the second time since I graduated in 2004. I’m hoping against the odds that the next time is actually something I want to talk about. If we can agree there is a such thing as bad publicity I think this one qualifies.

Pretty much everyone who has asked me about it their first question is “how does that happen?” I’ve assumed the “delivery guy” was a student and if so used his ID to get into the game. That’s been my answer to questions about how he even got in.

As for bringing the food in the middle of winter he could have very easily tucked it in his jacket. Back before Palumbo started serving beer my circle would regularly bring 3 liter bottles in under someone’s jacket and pass it around during games. Sure security is a lot tighter now than it was then, but most events I go to simply do meta detectors. Obviously nothing in a bag of food would set that off.

The fact of the matter is this could happen at countless arenas around the country. How many arenas have fans right off of the court with no barricade? I’d guess far more than don’t. The perception that comes out of this though is that nobody goes to Duquesne games and those that do aren’t secure. So I’d say that qualifies as bad publicity.

I can see both sides. 20 wins would be a great step in the right direction. Nobody can dispute that. At the same time  I don’t think the predictions were out of line after the non-conference.

Only Fordham had a better non-conference record, and unlike Fordham our strength of schedule was legitimate. We may not have been playing world beaters (other than Kentucky), but they were mostly strong mid-majors. The top teams in the conference really struggled too.

Dayton had a tough schedule, but basically lost to anyone they played that had a pulse. VCU lost to Jacksonville. St. Louis picked up good wins over Memphis and Providence, but offset them with losses to Iona and SIU-Edwardsville. Richmond went 0-2 against Colonial teams. St. Bonaventure had a losing record against an easier slate than we faced. Davidson topped Richmond by going 0-3 against CAA teams.

Looking at things on Christmas Day, the conference seemed to be wide open and we were playing as well as anyone. Despite that, I don’t think anyone was going further than to say the Dukes were a dark horse to win the conference. Even as disgusted as I am with the last two games, I still think that’s true. When we’re playing well we can beat anyone in the league. It’s a long shot because winning the tourney takes three straight wins even in the best case scenario; and we don’t seem to be able to string together multiple good games. I don’t think those early predictions were out of line though.

The timeless debate when it comes to byes is whether they cause rest or rust. There's no debate when it comes to Dambrot's teams. With a week off the team should be fresh and totally prepared for the next team up. Here's a rundown of Dambrot's Duquesne teams after the conference bye:
2018: We hobbled into the bye on a three game losing streak, and had a tough stretch after it. Regardless of the reasons, we went 0-3 in the week after the bye.
2019: We struggled against a bad George Mason team after the bye, but ultimately won by 1. We got crushed by the Bonnies next time out, but recovered to beat a bad UMass team. 2-1 in the week after the bye.
2020: We were playing really well going into the bye on a five game win streak. We came out of the bye and got blown out by by URI and lost to a mediocre UMass team. We then gave a great Dayton team about as tough a game as they had, but ultimately lost. 0-3 in the week following the bye.
We then went 2-1 before another bye. We came out of that bye with an ugly win against a bad Fordham team, a loss to an equally bad GW, and another tough loss to a great Dayton team. 1-2 in the week following the second bye.
2021: Nothing was normal that season including byes, but we can consider the 18 day covid break the season's bye. We went into it on a three game win streak. We came out of it by losing a competitive game against a good Richmond team, but then got blown out by a bad LaSalle team. We did bounce back with a good win over URI though. 1-2 in the week following the "bye."
2022: The collapse had already started when we had our bye, but the time off could have brought us out of it. Instead the losing streak went through the end of the season. 0-3 in the week following the bye.
2023: Again playing well going into the bye on a 3-1 stretch with the loss by 2 in our house of horrors that is Richmond. 0-2 since in the week following the bye.

All totaled we're 5-15 in the weeks following conference byes under Dambrot. To make matter

I’d love to be more involved in the discussion because it’s been one of the most active threads in awhile. In full disclosure I was so disgusted in the beginning of the game that I turned it off at 20-3. I support Dambrot fully and am still confident in this team, but the team was completely unprepared after a week off.

The ceiling is definitely higher for this team than any Dukes team in a long time. Unfortunately the floor is just about as low as it usually is. Rushed shots on offense and no rotation on defense are unacceptable at this point. The old saying about freshmen not being freshmen anymore doesn’t seem to have reached our guys. When this team is off they are really off. I couldn’t handle watching them get dominated by a team they are at the worst as good as.

I’m not sure I would go as far as putting a succession plan in place, but I was surprised how involved Dru is. I’d seen all the talk about how important a hire he was, but didn’t fully appreciate it until I was at the St. Joe’s game and saw it firsthand. Dambrot does seem to lean on him very heavily. The associate head coach doesn’t seem to just be a title thrown on him. He clearly does more than the other assistants, and at times even more than Dambrot.

Econ69 wrote:

I agree.
I would imagine the fans are more or less quiet.
 

St Joe’s really misses Martelli. The arena looks like a lot of games I saw at Palumbo. I wouldn’t say they’re quiet though, loudly frustrated.

Even counting our two conference losses, we come into this one playing pretty well. The Hawks are stumbling after finishing the non-conference season pretty well. The matchup seems to be in our favor too. Last year  in their gym was ugly, but we've held our own on the road this year despite being 0-3. We need to bounce back from the Richmond loss and I think we will. Dukes 68 St. Joe's 60.

PhoenixRising2 wrote:

Per game stats are down almost across the board from his freshman year on the Bluff.  Long way to go in his career; hopefully he will further develop his game.  I wish him well, but the Dukes (and I) don't miss him one bit.
Mounir Hima College Stats, School, Draft, Gamelog, Splits | College Basketball at Sports-Reference.com
 

If you want to claim the Dukes don’t miss him because his role has been filled you certainly can make that argument. Claiming we don’t miss him because his numbers in the Big East are less than they were in the A-10 is a tough argument to make though. I’d say Barre has a similar game, but is further along. Also if he struggled to find playing time last year I doubt there’d be any more this year with our depth in the frontcourt. Still I am of the belief that you can never have too much talent, and he definitely has that, even if it is raw. So I do still wish he was here, even if I wouldn’t go as far as to say I miss him. On the other hand, with the way he was treated in his time as a Duke and the opportunity to go to Syracuse I can’t fault his decision and wish him the best.

Like I said, I’m happy to be wrong in my prediction. I’m not sure if I underestimated the Dukes (old habits die hard even if the team is literally almost all new) or overestimated VCU; probably a little of both.

I have to agree about the officiating. It’s been terrible all season long. I’d say it’s probably been equally bad in the long run; it’s helped us as much as it’s hurt us. No doubt it’s been terrible though. The number of times I’ve seen guys get called for stuff and literally have no idea what they did is incredible. You can usually tell when a guy is just faking to try and get a call and when they seriously know they didn’t do what the refs think they did.

Seeing that they beat Pitt makes me miss the City Game that much more. Go Dukes! Keep it up. How you finish is all that will matter in this A-10.