After reading the piece, my opinion is that Huggins has no case. And after all those years at a presumably very ample salary, this claw-back attempt is just another layer of embarrassment. He should not be going there.

levon1975 wrote:

Game plans change with changes in personnel on both teams every year. 

Agreed, and to say it again: with the roster that is now in place, 3 guards on the floor together should almost never be seen this season.

Styles1229 wrote:

stew wrote:

Going to be difficult for this team with only 4 guards and one being a freshman.By the end of season the 4 will
tire.Dont know what Dambrot plans are dealing with lack of depth.Any info or thoughts?

I agree but I am holding out hope something happens.  If not, perhaps KD likes Barba as a guard?  Or one of the walk-ons he thinks is good enough to play?  I really can't see any other options.

 Well, 4 guards at 2 positions (as opposed to the usual 3 at Duquesne) is like having a 10-man roster for 5 positions. One is a freshman? So was Kareem last year. I hope this is not a dire situation if there are no more additions. Tend to think it is not that.

Styles1229 wrote:

Do we all think this is the final list?  16 is a lot.  I can't imagine we'd add another player.  If so, I have to believe the plan is for Jimmy Clark to be our starting PG but moving around to get Kareem in the game as more than just a back - up 10-12 mins a game.  KD recruited too many long, big 3/4 spot players to start Kareem, Dae Dae, and Jimmy don't you think?  Anybody have thoughts about this?  We did not land the proven vet PG we all pined for so i'm curious what you think the plan is. 

I definitely think this will not be a season with a lot of 3-guards-on-the-floor. The skills and depth in the frontcourt need to be utilized. 

stew wrote:

We got Lionel Billingy junior aka DAVID DIXON on the Bluff. Get David in weight room, put 10 lbs muscle
over summer and watch out!

Think we saw enough of Dixon to see he has the potential to be all-A10. Maybe as soon as the upcoming season. 
 

phil95 wrote:

I think Jake DiMichele is an intriguing & highly desirable walk-on candidate being relegated to that status as a result of the new NIL world. I'll bet he is considering DU because there is NIL money on the table that makes him close to a scholarship player.

The intriguing part, for me anyway, is that given his qualifications listed below that he does not appear to have any D-1 offers from his senior year in high school or this year.

Does another poster have better intel? Why doesn't he at last have have a bunch of D-II offers?

No intel here - just a comment: Based on your bullet list alone, looks like a D-I scholarship player. The lack of offers is surprising on that sole basis.

Jake has the following qualifications to be at least a high D-2 scholarship recipient:
-6'4" combo guard with a reputation as a 3 level, strong, very efficient scorer & above average 3PT shooter
-First ever 4 year starter on a team that won 4 consecutive WPIAL championships & WPIAL's 2nd all time leading scorer
-Best player on a high school team that won 68 consecutive games & 2 state championships
-2-time all-state first team
-PIIA 2A POY as a senior
-Did a prep year at one of the country's best prep school programs in the best prep league while making the Elite Prep League's 10 player All-American team. ( He was ranked 10th while recent Dukes commit Kailon Nichols was ranked 6th on the same list.)

FAM wrote:

Mike Rhodes from VCU is supposed to be going to Penn State.

And Penn State won their conference tourney led by Siena, Bucknell, and Drexel transfers

WashPaRick wrote:

Why do I get nervous before a game?  I'm not playing.

Lots of us vicariously in the games.

Wildwood13 wrote:

CityDuke wrote:

I hope the team isn’t putting as much pressure on this game as we are. Yes, it feels like a HUGEgame. Yes, a double bye would be nice, but it certainly isn’t the end all be all. This team is at its best when we are playing loose. I hope we let our hair down and have fun in this one. Enjoy the moment, enjoy the opportunity, and beat a team that we owe revenge. Go Dukes!

Are you kidding me ? Put too much pressure on college kids to win a game. This is the perfect scenario for you to prepare for the one and done upcoming tournament. Prepare mentally and physically and let the chips fall. Attack their weaknesses and play to our strengths, stay away from our weaknesses and stay away from their strengths. After 30 games the coaching staff should be aware of these tendencies. When competing at a top level, you better be prepared to pressure yourself to perform at this level or otherwise go home. No it’s not the end of the world, if you are prepared and perform and still come up short, that’s ok because you gave it all mentally and physically.

I understand both perspectives, but feeling too much pressure is the thing that makes those 3-pointers and driving layups hit the back iron. Confidence is paramount. We have seen the difference when our long-shooters have that. 

Reece's athleticism was awesome tonight. Great work all around by the frontcourt, dominating the game. 

DennisC91 wrote:

NapaDuke wrote:

...As for a double bye, good or not, it didn't work for RE as his 4th place team lost to St.Joe, one and done. And it could work better to play 2 games to lesser team before getting the top teams on that court.  Playing time like that can work in the Dukes favor with a deep bench. In any case, it's nice to see this team late in the season still relevant.  

With the way the tournament is scheduled this year, I'm not sure the double-bye is as big an advantage as it has been in past years. It'll be an advantage on Day 3, when the top 4 play four teams that played the day before. But then everyone gets a day off on Day 4 (Friday) with the semifinals Saturday and finals Sunday. Not sure why the A10 chose to do it that way, but they did,

Day 1 (Tuesday, March 7): Bottom six seeds play off against each other (10 vs. 15, 11 vs. 14, 12 vs. 13)
Day 2 (Wednesday, March 8): 5, 6 and 7 seeds play the winners of Day 1 and 8 vs. 9.
Day 3 (Thursday, March 9): Quarterfinals: Seeds 1-4 play the winners of Day 2.
Day 4 (Friday, March 10): Practice/Media Day, no games
Day 5 (Saturday, March 11) Semifinals
Day 6 (Sunday, March 12) Finals

Why did the A-10 schedule things with a break?  I would guess that it is understood that a team that finished mid-pack should not have to play 4 days in a row to win the championship.  It's five days in a row for teams in the lower ranks. It may be an extra night in a hotel for fans that want to see the entire playoffs, but I would guess there are not that many non-locals that would do that anyway.

Guess I don't understand: how can you have defensive goaltending without touching the ball, the rim, or the net?