Great Ghost Alive wrote:

I missed the game and looked at my phone when they were down 30.  I got home just in time to catch the ending and could not believe it!
I've been listening to Ray's call all my life and can't recall a better or more tense ending waiting to hear if the tip in was in time.  Life stood still until Ray yelled "IT'S GOOD!'  

I was there and it looked real good in real time.  I was 95% sure it counted.  His hand was at the backboard obviously so it was easy to see live that it was going to count

NapaDuke wrote:

coffee wrote:

BluffHunter wrote:

The play was #2 on sportscenter Top 10. I wonder what #1 was to beat out a 30 point comeback and tip in at the buzzer.

https://x.com/duqmbb/status/2030658766677434823?s=46

There were so many things about Dixon's tip in that make it so special.
1. His timing and aggressiveness to get to the rim just as it bounced out.  That is utter awareness of wanting to contribute even without the ball when everybody else was holding their breath to see if G's shot would go in.
2. Navigating the floor to get around the Richmond players trying to box out and his physicality to get there.
3. His awareness of the clock to just touch it in rather than grabbing the ball and slamming it home to feed his ego.  That was brains and selflessness over ego.  Even in slow motion it was so darn close to the light going on.  (Without the technology of the light in the back board the call could have been blown).

This together with G's drive to win over LaSalle shows never count the Dukes out!!
 

Right now, David Dixon is at the peak of his performance and his untapped abilities, that he can dominate this tourney run, just like Dae Dae and Clark. I always believed he had NBA talent. Kind of like Nixon did, now Dixon. I  hope he takes over this tourney. He's the man. 

Nobody loves Big Dave more than me and I expect big things from him on Thursday and beyond but “take over” the tournament?  That’s not Big Dave territory.  A-10 opener against Davidson and Saturday against Richmond is as good as it gets for Big Dave and if he plays like that we’ll be a tough out.

TG is still our player who can take over a tournament.  He’s our best shot at stepping on the gas and pulling away from a team.  Big Dave needs to do what he does best: block shots, grab boards, clean up misses, athletically dominate in the paint on both ends.  That will free up Alex, Jimmy, and TG to handle the scoring.

levon1975 wrote:

They live and die by the three.  Tonight they made 16 threes out of 27 shooting 57% from distance!  You can’t win when an opponent shoots at that level.

Avila was certainly on fire from deep late to put the game away - can’t expect to defend that far behind the line BUT the perimeter D for most of the game was bad to terrible and directly led to SLU’s 3 point accuracy.  Way too many open looks.  They weren’t uncomfortable at all back there.

  SLU and Dayton are rolling and are probably the 2 best teams in the conference today so I’m not going to overreact to those losses on their home court.  But  the Dukes are losing their identity.  They are not tenacious and disciplined on Defense and not creating opportunities on offense consistently enough. the 2 biggest issues on this team are:

1. Necas/Alex rotation/roles. Necas has no role right now and his minutes are sporadic enough now that he can’t get into a flow on offense or defense.  Alex is one of the best players on the team so he needs to play but at the expense of Necas?  We are at our best with Necas playing a lot minutes locking down on D and finding ways to score.  That is not happening now.  I’d love to see Necas move to center to spell Dave and have Alex at the 4 AND have Alex play the 3 to spell Hall and keep Dave and Necas in there. 

2.  The 3 spot.  Just no consistent play at all.  Jake, Cam, Hall just not getting it done

My take:  personal attacks and foul language aside, I think there’s room in this forum all kinds of debate about current team, past teams, coaches of any era, and fan involvement.  Sometimes a thread gets off topic but I don’t think it’s a serious enough issue that we need to reset our paradigm.  There are a few wildcards on here (and we all know who they are) that overstep the lines of good taste and debate, and a few posters who take any disagreement with their point of view very personally (we know who they are too)  But I do feel the overwhelming majority of posts show a deep passion for our team and I’d hate to see that curbed. 

On to Dayton tomorrow.  This presents a great opportunity to announce our presence in the top 5 of the league with authority.  We have a road tested, veteran group of players with something to prove facing off with a Dayton team that lacks that unbeatable image they usually carry with them.  Big Dave is as confident as I’ve ever seen him.  Necas and Alex will be looking to prove something.  I’m very optimistic that we bully our way to a big win.

phil95 wrote:

I have been liking Van Bussel getting 4-7 minutes to rest Dixon , manage foul trouble, avoid the defensive letdown that Hugley causes, & get him more experience during meaningful situations.

I like Bus for that reason too.  As far as shortening the bench, I just think it means no more Cam…    We don’t need Hall, Jake and Cam.  Just 2 of them and the team has clearly done better with Cam on the bench. 

TG
Jimmy
Hall
Necas
Dixon
Alex
Jake
Hugely
And a pinch of Bus when necessary

Cam can play when there is a need (injury, foul trouble).

And just since we are talking about it.  Max, who has been a major disappointment on the court this year, could not appear to be a happier, more supportive teammate on the bench.  I thought that was worth noting

duq.dog wrote:

Likely need to win 4 of 6 to have a chance at the double-bye and it starts with this one. Not going anywhere if you drop one like this in late Feb.

Kudos to Dru, Staff, and the rotation finally stringing a stretch together where they are moving on offense. The result: 4 wins. 

I would continue to shorten the bench as we get closer to the Tourney. I think a 7 man rotation (Barring Dixon foul trouble) could make some noise. It's the same heroes and same liabilities each game and as we see less and less of the liabilities, the results continue to speak. 

I mostly agree.  For all our talk of troublesome substitution patterns and the long bench, it should be noted that we’ve stayed relatively healthy all season and not worn out.  I’m sure that’s in big part to Dru’s use of the depth of the team.  I do agree that things should shorten up but I think we’ll see the benefits come tourney time with a healthy and fresh group of 8 players for the run.

Styles1229 wrote:

Agree with all on these points.  My contention was that Dru can coach WITH these guys, that’s all.  There was legitimate fear early on that he was out of his league.  Those fears have vanquished for me.  He will still get outcoached on occasion I’m sure but he will also win the chess game at times.  Saturday, he went to the zone late which paid off brilliantly, and he had his team manage the clock well to limit possessions - also a strong move.  His timeouts late seemed tedious at the time but they prevented his team from a sloppy turnover or held ball. That contributed to the victory as well.  A few weeks ago, Schmidt outcoached Dru in the 2nd half which led to a bad loss for the Dukes. On Saturday, it looked like the same thing was going to happen.  Dru was able to learn from the previous loss and figure out a way to get the W.  Obviously he’s not all the way there yet - not being able to better hold a 16 point lead is a sign of that, but he made strides and I think he will continue to do so.

Wait a minute, I watched a high school championship game on Saturday night - THAT coach called tedious timeouts late, not Dru.  😂😂

townsonkid wrote:

Happy we didnt lose to Yukon Cornelius' kid for a second time.   
Handle business vs LaSalle, and then prepare for a tough run to the finish line.
A 4-2 finish would be pretty nice.

Yes - I’d take 4-2.  But it would be nice to knock off one of Dayton or SLU. 

It’s the A-10.  So we can’t overreact to a stumble against a middle of the road team.  We aren’t the only team trying to charge to the top 4. The key is to contiue to play consistently and to improve.   Stay healthy.  One thing we do know today:  this team can play with anybody in the league.  Dru has shown he can coach with them as well.

Wow. When was the last time the Dukes had this kind of recognition?  TG ranked 3rd?!?  Love it

MikeR wrote:

phil95 wrote:

Any news on the availability of TG & Necas?

Latest update shows both still questionable. 4 Revs including Castro questionable. So no answer to your question.

Well, that’s AN answer.  Rather not see them listed at all.

Styles1229 wrote:

The offense has no flow without TG.  to be expected. Hall playing awfully. One step forward, one step back with him.  Max must be deep in the doghouse not to be playing with these injuries and Hall’s performance.  Still a winnable game. Gotta start getting stops again

Proud of the way Brandon came up big late.  It’s probably why Dru plays him over Max. He didn’t quit and his body language was great even when he was 0-7.  He didn’t force anything or play frustrated.  Then he hit those 2 enormous 3s down the stretch. He misses either of those we probably lose.  Especially the last one.  Great job Brandon.  Hang in there.

luckymcd wrote:

I’m surprised to say I agree. I haven’t noticed anything he does particularly well, but the team is better when he’s in. It’s somewhat ironic that DiMichele would be behind him because the same could be said of Jake before he got hurt.

I feel like Jake was worse on defense.  Teams seemed to key on him and bully him going to the basket. Jake would be better as a 1 or 2 defender. In the 3 spot he was getting pushed around

CTS wrote:

Interesting fact. The game against Duquesne was the closest contest St. Louis has seen thus far in A10 play. The four point loss by Duquesne contrasts to nine points or more by any other team.  I think this reinforces the fact that Duquesne can be a threat in the A-10, especially with the lackluster offensive play toward the end of the game by Duquesne.

We’re seeing the team continue to play better defensively. If the offense can really kick in, and we solve the three spot that we’ve been discussing, this team will gain more and more confidence in the defensive and offensive sides of the coin.

I actually don’t mind Dru trying Hall at the 3 to start the game. At least it shows he understands it’s a problem that needs to be solved.  And that he’s being a little creative.  But Hall wasn’t the answer. Not a disaster, but he didn’t give us anything more than Cam.  I wonder how Max would respond to being the starter. Would he focus and give maximum effort?  Or can he not just turn that switch after such an extended period of below average play?  It’s baffling that Jake’s defense has regressed to the point where he can’t realistically get a lot of minutes.   2 years ago he was a major contributor on a championship team and he played 25+ minutes a game.  It’s on Dru to figure this out. I like seeing that he’s trying.