-The Mikes, Sanders, Smith, & Castro are a strong returning group for 17-18. 
-Defense is better but it seems to be more about personnel than coaching. This group seems to be more motivated in this area, longer, & better athletes than previous Ferry teams. Their understanding of team defense & disciple are no better.
-Overall, this team is showing sloooow/steady improvement. They could have cratered after some disappointing play OOC. The next challenge is continuing to improve & stay confident after the beatings they will surely take during the middle of the conference slate. If they can, they will have some unexpected wins in February because this team has enough talent to be 9th in the conference. If they don't, Ferry should be removed. 
-Tarin Smith has looked exactly like a talented sophomore that sat out a year, is playing with new teammates, & sustained an injury at the beginning of the season. Last night was a good example of who he can be defensively, as a distributor, & a mid-range threat. To be the A-10 star we are all hoping for, he will have to improve his 3-point shooting significantly.
-Kale seems like a guy that is either on or off. I hope Ferry plays him that way. 
-The choice to offer no explanation of Josh Steele's status is bizarre. Radio silence about EJ is only slightly less aggravating.
-Blackman brings real energy & fun to both ends. His teammates definitely look to him for leadership.   OOC was rough for him but his first 4 conference games have been impressive. He is guaranteed to make 1-4 bonehead plays per game. If he weren't, he wouldn't be playing at DU. Ferry deserves a bunch of credit for getting him here to bridge the gap. Even though they would have played different positions, I'll take him over LG any day because Gill's absence has allowed Mike to gain a ton of early experience & LG wasn't likely to inspire any more winning.
-Last night seemed like the perfect amount & type of minutes for Darius. Playing him more in the past didn't result in huge gains. Giving Sanders the minutes offers more lineup flexibility, better overall defense, a more fluid offense, & much needed experience that will surely pay-off in coming years. Darius is another guy for whom the coaching staff deserves some credit. He was the definition of "project" & has now been a real contributor for 2+ seasons. I am sure Darius also deserves a bunch of credit.
-Very happy to see Castro finding his way as a settling force & scorer. He is showing some grit & maturity.
-I think it is safe to say that JRob  is not/will be part of the plan. Seems like a waste.
-They are still settling for too many 3s against zone defenses. About 4 less 3s & 5 more post plays per game would really challenge opposing defenses. These plays could feature Mike on the block or Sanders on short drives in addition to traditional post-up for Lewis & Sanders.(It seems pointless to mention JRob here.)

ElDuque wrote:

There may be hope for Ferry yet. From today’s P-G: “To illustrate for Mike the importance of high-percentage shots, Ferry showed Mike his shooting percentages closer to the rim compared with those farther away. He asked Mike for more aggression.”

It does seem like he is taking less threes recently. I don't think it is a coincidence that his level of play and confidence have increased significantly as of late, too. That said, I certainly do not mind him shooting from the outside of he is open, as he has proven the ability to knock them down.

Last edited by Dukes2012 (1/12/2017 1:19 pm)

duq81 wrote:

Well, the opportunity is still there. They're actually a game better in league play than I thought they'd be. As I said earlier, the next 5 games are very tough. If they could steal a couple, I might be convinced that they're turning a corner.
 

The constant re-adjustment of expectations drives me nuts. The OOC results are valid. Almost everyone had the Dukes losing two or three games, but suddenly 6 losses are fine because we wouldn't earn an at-large bid anyway? And the losses are fine because the kids are young and inexperienced - again? And those losses are fine because they weren't coached to win, just to get exposure and explore different lineups?

And turning a corner..... from what? From being a bottom tier team to being a slightly less than bottom tier team? The bad OOC losses have consistently been used to justify a team that is "still trying to gel" and to re-set moderate expectations for conference play. Right now, the only conference teams that we appear to be better than are Fordham and St. Louis. George Mason has substantially better results so far under a second year head coach.

I'm happy with every win. I am glad to see how well our freshmen are performing. But I'm not happy that our expectations have been lowered - yet again - by an order of magnitude. I'm not happy that our Sophs got so little game time last year or that we only have one junior (James) and one true senior (Lewis) who contribute.

The fundamental question for me - beyond W and L's - is whether we have improved our defensive schemes. It has been a glaring weakness every year. Has there been improvement? Some years we "couldn't" run man defense because of the kids. Some years we ran man and had the worst rated defense in the league. Have we addressed this fundamental issue against teams better than St. Louis?

As a mid-year observation from my perspective, I am not happy with where we are. Happy with the players and their effort, but not happy with where we are as a program. 

I'm with you guys, rosceaux and ElDuque. I have not seen one thing this season that changes my opinion that Jim Ferry can't win in the A-10.  He is a poor basketball tactician and a subpar defensive coach. He does many things very well, except win.

Hurley was on my radar for years. Not right now. I wasn't aware he was in trouble at URI.

Hey Grammy how do you like Dr G now. 😂😂😂😂

The saddest thing is the league is wide open this year and with some utilization of personnel and coaching the Duke's could be were we want them to be. Play defense, take care of the ball and run a offense not predicated on launching from any where.

Does anyone believe Ferry will do anything to help Lewis and Mike to get the ball more during games or to put them in positions to score more. Remember our discussions about the inability to run plays to get Micah open.

Last edited by The Dome (1/13/2017 11:18 am)

Dukes2012 wrote:

ElDuque wrote:

Hurley was on my radar for years. Not right now. I wasn't aware he was in trouble at URI.

They have been greatly underperforming for the second straight year. Last year was due to injuries but this year they don't really have any excuses. They were ranked to begin the year I believe.

It's funny. Hurley's far-outshined the job that Ferry has done here, and he's considered to be underperforming.

Yet in some circles we hear that Ferry has done a good job rebuilding the Dukes.

Maybe our expectations are simply too low.

duq81 wrote:

 hasn't earned him any friends either.

Enough friends to get an extension until 2022.  
http://collegebasketball.nbcsports.com/2016/05/19/dan-hurley-signs-extension-with-rhode-island/

 

Truly still hoping for a marked improvement in the program here. If Ferry and Co. had recruited during the first 2 nor 3 years like they have the past couple, the program would be in much better shape now. If the team finishes anywhere near 500, I would give it one more year. Hoping not to see a 2-12 finish to the season which would have to be the nail in the coffin. This result would not be all that surprising to me but certainly disappointing.

Pres., I wholeheartedly agree with you on the recruiting and I previously posted something similar a while back.  I don't know who was the lead recruiter the first couple of years, but clearly the last two classes look a lot better.  I turns out before then the only solid contributor, based on his performance this year, is Castro - who don't forget had to sit out a year.  If TSmith progresses then look out and remember he sat out a while as well, but compared to Castro last year TSmith already looks like Chris Paul.  All kidding aside this is a legitimate question that Harper should be asking!  I've always said you need to recruit incrementally better and then you classes start to jell with enough talented players.  Many have said, and I certainly did, that if DC and JJ were still starting in year 4 then Ferry and staff pooped the bed on earlier recruiting classes.  Finally, DUQ81, I am hoping the same thing so the direction is clear.

Thanks for crapping on my dreams professor! That's why you never got Ginger or Mary Ann.

theprofessor1099 wrote:

All of the talk about Ferry possibly being fired at the end of this year when he would be owed over $600K is interesting but I don't see it happening.  Ferry won't be fired unless and until Duquesne doesn't owe him a penny.  The administration will ride out his contract.  What's the difference if the "stink streak" extends one more year?  If the team is lousy, we might as well "Rip Van Winkle" ourselves until Ferry has coached for each of the years in his contract.  I might be wrong but history says not.

Ferry actually has 2 years left on his deal not one. They ate two years with Ron, so it can happen. Most schools will pull the trigger when a coach has one year left on his deal, and hasn't done enough to get an extension. It's very rare nowadays for a team to allow a coach to go into his last year, as it tends to totally bury a program, as no kids will sign with a lame duck coach. You think things are bad now, you'd be talking about 25 loss seasons. If Ferry survives this year, it will be do or die next season.