I will go with 17 wins, although I still consider that far from acceptable at this point in time. We were told not to accept mediocrity four years ago, and now we are hoping for mediocrity as a sign of improvement. A more interesting question would be what are our expectations, vs. what do we feel is acceptable.

ElDuque wrote:

rosceaux wrote:

I will go with 17 wins, although I still consider that far from acceptable at this point in time. We were told not to accept mediocrity four years ago, and now we are hoping for mediocrity as a sign of improvement. A more interesting question would be what are our expectations, vs. what do we feel is acceptable.

 
I'm glad you said that, and I'm glad you asked. Four years into the Ferry era, with the hype and promise of how we were going to get to the next level, it would have been fair to expect 17 wins and a postseason sniff last year, and 20 wins and at least an NIT bid this year. I base that on three starters playing together for three years and the anticipated development of big men, plus an intelligent shift in strategy by Ferry as he learns what it takes to win in the A10. But I don't see any exceptional development in the core three, I don't see any of the big men having anywhere near a solid game, and I think we are at best mediocre at the point. I expect Tarin Smith to change the PG status next year because credible sources tell me he can be a great A10 one guard (unlike folks who take what Ferry says and run with it). The questions next year are whether Castro is the goods or Jordan Stevens, whether we can develop a competent three finally, and whether any of the bigs can be in the lineup by earning it, rather than by default.

I have more faith in Castro than you do. He's not a JC player like Stevens (those are always suspect in my book). He was thought to be good enough by Brad Stevens, who is a better coach than anyone we've seen on the Bluff since Dudey Moore (and that includes Red Manning, who was pretty good). Butler was a disaster after Stevens left, so I don't hold Castro's freshman year against him like some do.
 

ElDuque wrote:

I'm not holding anything against him. Regardless of origin, Ferry has whiffed on a lot of recruits, and those who see PT don't seem all that well developed. Let's see how he plays first. And again, unless Ferry goes four small, from whom does he take minutes? Jones? Colter? Mason?

Has to be Colter, and Mason. Both played far too many minutes last season, and got worn down as a result. I can see him getting  20-25 minutes a game, with the bulk of that backing up the two starters. If the guards are really dynamic, I could see Ferry playing all three for short periods during a game. Jay Wright played with 4 guards when he had Randy Foye, because his backcourt was so good, and his frontcourt was lacking. We don't have that level of talent, but we're not playing in the old BE either. We'll find out for sure about Ferry one way or the other this year.
 

ElDuque wrote:

I'm still pessimistic. Some see the return of 4 starters as the glass being half full, I see a cracked and leaking glass. For my mind to be changed, I NEED to see defense, rebounding, some semblance of offense by design, and some actual in-game coaching.

Oh, and please hit some FTs.

Best I can see now is 10 wins. But my main prediction is that I lose interest by January

 
I'm pretty down this year too, but I will almost reach for the mortgage papers on the over on ten wins! C'mon ED

Tejas Duke, there will be a gathering of the Zebes for the Robert Morris game on Saturday, Dec. 19.  Game time is 2 pm.  We'll likely get lunch at the Red Ring before the game and then go to the Blue Line Grille afterwards.  Please join us if you're in town.  Any other Zebes and friends are welcome.  Ask for a ticket with the ZBT group at the box office.

Phildog wrote:

I think 16 wins, btw 5 years ago I would have been pi$$ed if we only won 16😜

Uh, we did win 16 5 years ago.
 

We now have 19 posters on record.  The average remains 16 wins.

CLK  -  17 wins 
duq81 -  18 wins 
WEB  -  18 wins 
rogabee  -  16 wins 
FAM  - 15 wins 
El Duque - 10 wins 
Applecorps - 18 wins 
Grammudder - 18 wins
scduke  -  18 wins 
Econ69  - 14 wins 
WashPaRick  - 15 wins
Simms  -  16 wins 
Dome  -  13 wins 
SteelCityVoice  - 19 wins
VBC  -  20 wins 
duqkurt  - 13 wins 
rosceaux  - 17 wins 
Tejas Duke  -  17 wins
Phildog  -  16 wins

Anyone believe we can beat Bobby Mo? Or does the view not change from the back of the pack?

ElDuque wrote:

Anyone believe we can beat Bobby Mo? Or does the view not change from the back of the pack?

Bobby Mo lost their two best players by far from last year, and the game is at Palumbo. If they can't beat them this year, when will they?
 

17 wins. Sorry I'm late!

ElDuque wrote:

Every year Bobby Mo is expected to be down because of player losses. Somehow, they continue to own us. won't even ask about whether anyone thinks we can take Pitt. Might finally be time to ease that annual embarrassment off the schedule.

....Really? Why even be a fan?

currentstudent wrote:

ElDuque wrote:

Every year Bobby Mo is expected to be down because of player losses. Somehow, they continue to own us. won't even ask about whether anyone thinks we can take Pitt. Might finally be time to ease that annual embarrassment off the schedule.

....Really? Why even be a fan?

Good question.

I presume Ferry's been the coach your entire tenure on the Bluff. How's that working out for you? Do you enjoy losing annually to Bobby Mo and Pitt? Do you like being #3 in the city?  Me, I hate losing. I hate being a bottom tier anything. I'd like to see Duquesne turn things around, but I've seen nothing the past three years to indicate it can happen.

When I was a student, I saw a conference tournament winning team, an NCAA Tournament team, an NIT team, regular wins over Pitt (heck, the greatest DU-Pitt game ever played in the 1980 NIT game). And I didn't even get to see the REAL glory years, because they were before my time.

Back to your question: Watching the way the team plays under Ferry has drained me of my passion. I will not go to, watch, or listen to a game this year. For your sake, I hope they turn things around.