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First post, but I've been following this and other forums since the Damian Saunders era, earliest memories are the days are the Nelsons, Durham, Billy Zopf, etc. Not as knowledgeable as most of you, so prefer to read and learn, until now. Like all, I'm cautiously optimistic that this could be a good season, 18-20 wins, etc. It is going to be really difficult to replace DC and Micah, no doubt about it. However, the addition of tarin smith will be huge. From what I've heard, he has a chance to be really really good. Also, steel, Castro, and EJ will be a year older and better. I think we will be fine. Wharfrat: Carpe diem!!! Long time since we long-suffering fans can relish some decent wins. Inside, next year the Dukes will have 6 players who are 6'8" or better and all weighing in at 220-225 plus. Two of the six will be seniors. (Lewis and Gill) Robinson and Powell will be juniors. Sanders will be a Soph and the new kid on the block from Canada (Isaiah) a Frosh. If you read the earlier posts about Tarin Smith,from those who were at the Red-Blue scrimmage, you know he is a true point guard who can play. Think that DC and MM aren't getting better playing against an equal in practice? Plus there is Castro (who despite his early season limited output-he still has legitimate D-1 talent) and the new kid from Chaminade in St. Louis and a 3-point off guard from Michigan. Plus all or our threes will be back except for Jere Jones. The cupboard won't be bare. Don't lose any sleep. I know some people hate the Pitt comparisons, but they're easy because I'm familiar with them. When Pitt had their first good season under Howland, they reached the BE Championship Game, and went to the NIT (we beat them that year). Their two best players were Ricardo Greer, and Isaac Hawkins, both seniors. Pitt fans were very happy about the season, but fretted that the team would take a step back, while the young guys took their lumps. What happened? The young guys, full of confidence from the success of the year before, stepped up in a huge way, and gave Pitt it's best season in 35 years, going 29-6. Now I don't expect for us to go 29-6 (we can dream though), but there is no reason why we can't continue to win after the seniors are gone. Good teams are always losing great seniors, yet they keep winning It's time we expect the same. Our friend El Duque has long touted the virtues of Jersey point guards, especially ones from St. Anthony's. Well guess what, we have one of those. He won't be a freshman either. At 3 years out of high school, he'll be a grown man running our team. If ED knows what he's talking about, we shouldn't lose a step next year. Ferry has balance in his classes, so this isn't a case of 5-6 guys who have been together for 4 years, like St. Louis had, so we shouldn't expect a crash like the one the Billikens suffered. Tarin Smith is better than both Colter and Mason. We should be really careful not to write off Castro. He's been disappointing so far, but the kid was highly recruited for a reason and got great reviews from even the Pitt fans during the summer league last year when he was putting up 50 points. There's talent there for sure. Ferry needs to find a way to harvest it. Yeah when I see Mason and DC light it up I do tend to worry when they are gone next year but then I remember Tarin Smith. That dude is going to be a beast. Also agree with Castro, rough start but hell find his. He has shown he can get to the basket with ease, just gotta convert. Also I do see that spencer littleson kid turning into the next mason. Times are looking good for the dukes. I want to get another sanders Thanks much, you all have talked me off the ledge. I knew some of this, but wasn't aware of just how good Tarin Smith was projected. Tarin Smith is better than both Colter and Mason. Not quite sure about Tarin Smith being better than Colter and Mason. He has the upside to be, sure, but also may never reach either of their levels. I honestly do not see how the Dukes do not take a step back next year from where ever they land. There is no question that the strength of this team this year is its back court. The Dukes have three senior starters (two of whom have started for 4 years) and by far make up the majority of our offense and play the most minutes. Colter & Mason the way they are playing are potential All League players, and among the best three point shooters in the Country. All of a sudden next year our guards become young and inexperienced. Smith may be a good player but has been sitting out a year, Castro has yet to show that he can even be a serviceable role player (hopefully he can kick it in gear), the two freshman have potential but are freshman, James is a good player but needs to be a better three point shooter, and Steel in my opinion has the best chance of teaming up with Smith to be the 2 guard but is still developing. There will be talent and debt on this team, but just not the quality, fire power and experience in the back court. I honestly do not see how the Dukes do not take a step back next year from where ever they land. There is no question that the strength of this team this year is its back court. The Dukes have three senior starters (two of whom have started for 4 years) and by far make up the majority of our offense and play the most minutes. Colter & Mason the way they are playing are potential All League players, and among the best three point shooters in the Country. All of a sudden next year our guards become young and inexperienced. Smith may be a good player but has been sitting out a year, Castro has yet to show that he can even be a serviceable role player (hopefully he can kick it in gear), the two freshman have potential but are freshman, James is a good player but needs to be a better three point shooter, and Steel in my opinion has the best chance of teaming up with Smith to be the 2 guard but is still developing. There will be talent and debt on this team, but just not the quality, fire power and experience in the back court. Wouldn't that be just another of God's grimly ironic timing jokes on this Job-like progam. After all those years of no inside game, we finally have a strong front court with Lewis, Sanders, Robinson and we then have weak guards, and the cycle continues, Bill Murray hits the alarm clock again. I honestly do not see how the Dukes do not take a step back next year from where ever they land. There is no question that the strength of this team this year is its back court. The Dukes have three senior starters (two of whom have started for 4 years) and by far make up the majority of our offense and play the most minutes. Colter & Mason the way they are playing are potential All League players, and among the best three point shooters in the Country. All of a sudden next year our guards become young and inexperienced. Smith may be a good player but has been sitting out a year, Castro has yet to show that he can even be a serviceable role player (hopefully he can kick it in gear), the two freshman have potential but are freshman, James is a good player but needs to be a better three point shooter, and Steel in my opinion has the best chance of teaming up with Smith to be the 2 guard but is still developing. There will be talent and debt on this team, but just not the quality, fire power and experience in the back court. Wouldn't that be just another of God's grimly ironic timing jokes on this Job-like progam. After all those years of no inside game, we finally have a strong front court with Lewis, Sanders, Robinson and we then have weak guards, and the cycle continues, Bill Murray hits the alarm clock again. Smith is from Jersey. If ED is correct, he'll be dominant. The team will be frontcourt oriented next year, and Smith will get the bigs the ball. There will always be good players graduating. What would be a disaster would be to have 5 seniors starting. They all graduate, and your team is back down there with Fordham. Ask St. Louis. I honestly do not see how the Dukes do not take a step back next year from where ever they land. There is no question that the strength of this team this year is its back court. The Dukes have three senior starters (two of whom have started for 4 years) and by far make up the majority of our offense and play the most minutes. Colter & Mason the way they are playing are potential All League players, and among the best three point shooters in the Country. All of a sudden next year our guards become young and inexperienced. Smith may be a good player but has been sitting out a year, Castro has yet to show that he can even be a serviceable role player (hopefully he can kick it in gear), the two freshman have potential but are freshman, James is a good player but needs to be a better three point shooter, and Steel in my opinion has the best chance of teaming up with Smith to be the 2 guard but is still developing. There will be talent and debt on this team, but just not the quality, fire power and experience in the back court. Wouldn't that be just another of God's grimly ironic timing jokes on this Job-like progam. After all those years of no inside game, we finally have a strong front court with Lewis, Sanders, Robinson and we then have weak guards, and the cycle continues, Bill Murray hits the alarm clock again. Smith is from Jersey. If ED is correct, he'll be dominant. The team will be frontcourt oriented next year, and Smith will get the bigs the ball. There will always be good players graduating. What would be a disaster would be to have 5 seniors starting. They all graduate, and your team is back down there with Fordham. Ask St. Louis. Who is suggesting there should be 5 senior starters? With all due respect to my buddy El Duque, and the state of NJ, Smith may be a good player but for a guy to yet wear a DU uniform it is way to early to say he will be dominate. I remember people saying how Castro would be a major impact player, or White or Stevens. I don't think some people really appreciate how good Mason and Colter really are. At this point I do not see any of the existing players (who I have seen play) with that level of potential. Now we all a have to remember the turn overs and poor shot selection by DC earlier in his career, he played more and got better. As a Soph mason really had to look for his shot since Ovie got the ball first and rarely gave it back. I honestly do not see how the Dukes do not take a step back next year from where ever they land. There is no question that the strength of this team this year is its back court. The Dukes have three senior starters (two of whom have started for 4 years) and by far make up the majority of our offense and play the most minutes. Colter & Mason the way they are playing are potential All League players, and among the best three point shooters in the Country. All of a sudden next year our guards become young and inexperienced. Smith may be a good player but has been sitting out a year, Castro has yet to show that he can even be a serviceable role player (hopefully he can kick it in gear), the two freshman have potential but are freshman, James is a good player but needs to be a better three point shooter, and Steel in my opinion has the best chance of teaming up with Smith to be the 2 guard but is still developing. There will be talent and debt on this team, but just not the quality, fire power and experience in the back court. Strength moves to the front court. I can see continued success. You have to remember if we see the improvement in our bigs that we saw from Lewis, we have a potential dynamic front court. Eric James seems capable of handling the ball, and could actually be a true swing-man. Imagine having a 6'5" guard/forward. Would that be the tallest guard since Jarrett Durham? In the front and back, we have been undersized for decades. I agree CLK. You don't replace DC and Micah that easily. Two of the best 3-point shooters in the country, and I don't see anyone on the roster to fill the role. Micah is doing much more for this team than just scoring. Let's enjoy them this season. Yeah i don't think castro and smith even compare. Did you see what smith did in the red and blue game? I will put a student debt that he will be a very good player for us. Isn't it a little EARLY to be speculating about NEXT year - At least when THIS year might be decent or somewhat better than we anticipated. Isn't it a little EARLY to be speculating about NEXT year - At least when THIS year might be decent or somewhat better than we anticipated. I agree with Al. We are 6 games into this year and a lot further to go before making DC and Micah superheroes. Let the year play out. And I agree that Smith in the scrimmage was so impressive - I wondered who this guy was forgetting that he transferred. He'll have a year of rust like Castro does (really Castro has longer than that since he quit Butler before the end of the season, correct?). But I think he has potential to be good along with the other young guards we have. The bigger philosophical point is we need guys to continue to improve and to be able to rely on experienced players each and every season as opposed to freshmen. Can the occasional guy help in year 1?...yeah. But I think we are in such a better position when our starting lineup consists of juniors and seniors each and every year with the occasional gang buster sophomore. That's when we will see sustained success. Mulder nobody said Colter & Mason are "Super heroes", however, Colter & Mason the way they are playing right now are potential All League players. I don't think some fans really appreciate how good these guys are. Developing our big men is the key to THIS year.
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Next year
Assuming they have a good or great season, we lose our 2 best players next year and J. Jones. It seems like they have a good freshman class next year, and maybe Sanders/Robinson/Lewis will continue to progress, but my concern is that even with a good season this year we will take a step backward next season due to loss of MM, DC and JJ. The members do not seem at all impressed with Castro so far.
So what is the best case scenario next year when it seems the guards will be inexperienced and far below the Mason/Colter caliber. Sorry if this is inappropriate given the nice week, interested in your opinions.
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We need someone to emerge this year. Appears it could be Sanders and James. We've seen guys get better each and every year. See Lewis.
Castro isn't a PG. Moving Smith to the PG for Castro will help.
Above all though, we lose 3 guys. Not 9.
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Roll Dukes Roll
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WEB wrote:
We need someone to emerge this year. Appears it could be Sanders and James. We've seen guys get better each and every year. See Lewis.
Castro isn't a PG. Moving Smith to the PG for Castro will help.
Above all though, we lose 3 guys. Not 9.
I fully agree with the rest of this. The depth on this team is much, much better than we're used to seeing, and there are replaceable parts for later if Ferry can keep the team intact.
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CLK wrote:
Vicimus Atlanticum decem
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Tejas_Duke wrote:CLK wrote:
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duq81 wrote:Tejas_Duke wrote:CLK wrote:
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James is so much different than last year and we don't have the need to push kids onto the court until they are ready, but Steel already has a presence and Powell in his few min. shows he is coming on, Robinson doesn't seem to have found his groove yet. Sanders looks like a legit 4 and he goes after those rebounds, still a little foul prone.
All said there is talent on this team......
A diehard fan since 1961
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CLK wrote:
The difference as I said before IMHO will be getting Castro to take off. There is immense talent in there...need to find it with Smith in the back court and we can be off and running again.
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There is the possibility next year of the Dukes actually playing 3 big guys at a time!
Yes, we need Castro, Steele, and our new Jersey guard to be there too. Ferry and the players need to do what they seem to be capable of now, and then next year could be an even better year if the momentum is there.
Believe things are looking up!.
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Roll Dukes Roll
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Mulder wrote:SkepticAl wrote:
If we truly get good this is something we will go through every year though hopefully structured in a way that has another crew moving up the chain to take over.
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