WashPaRick wrote:

I thought I saw somewhere that all scholarships were renewed yearly. If that's the case a coach could tell a kid sorry I don't have a scholarship for you this year. Probably wouldn't last too long as a coach operating that way.Of course I might be wrong about the yearly renewing but someone out there will be correcting me soon if it's not the case.

A coach could definitely push a kid out the door. Of course, you don't want to do this too much, as you would make some enemies in both high school, and AAU circles if you get a reputation for running players off. Most coaches today try to help a player find a landing spot, as a school will face sanctions if these players leave, and don't continue their education.
 

fjhryn wrote:

president wrote:

I am truly hoping that Rene Castro will be a part of next year's team. I would absolutely trade Littleson's spot for Castro in the blink of an eye. Gives us 3 seniors for a bit more leadership and Castro has some strong skills that most others do not possess. Can get to the rim better than  anyone on the team. Consistency has been his major shortcoming and hoping that this coming season will see a more mature and complete player.

I agree with you, but only because this is Dambrot's first year & we are so slim at guard if both Rene & Spencer leave, IMO Rene has never played to his potential since joining the Dukes, although there had been some splashes in his performance last year, and Spencer just never was given a chance to prove himself given the way JF used him. But I think Spencer, coming in as a Soph, has the potential to really develop under KD & will have 3 years to help the Dukes achieve the goals we expect . Bottom line, there's pros & cons for whichever one decides to stay. I just hope one of them does.

I like the team a lot better with Castro as well. He becomes the best shooter with any real experience and a solid third option to Smith and Lewis. Castro being back gives Dambrot a roughly average A-10 backcourt when you factor in the top bench option. Lewis should be fringe all conference. I don't think we saw nearly the best Smith has to offer last year and Castro is a well above average top option off the bench, at least in the offensive end. The front court has some likely holes and question marks. I do think Castro will help win a couple more games and he at least solidly answers one in the backcourt. 

Castro coming back would be good, and yes he can shoot. But "best shooter with any real experience", well, that would be Mike Lewis. 

ElDuque wrote:

I love Mike Lewis, and he's our best returning player, but at 40% his shooting skills have a ways to go yet. Jordan Robinson was a 58% shooter last year (no surprise; he got his points banging inside) and Kellon Taylor, despite taking fewer shots than Tom Keegan, stroked at 63%.

​We'll see an planned and structured offense this year, which will help all of our returning players.

Jordan Robinson took 43 shots last year, which is basically nothing. Kellon Taylor took 8, again, 8 shots. Both Taylor and Robinsons percentages are nowhere near being accurate indicators of what kind of shooters they are. I'm shocked you would compare these two to Lewis as if they were anywhere near as good of shooters as him. And even go as far to insinuate Kellon Taylor "stroked" anything last year. I like Robinson as a player but he isn't a 58% shooter, probably not close.

Mike Lewis took 342 shots last year. If you take Blackman out of the equation, no one else was even close to Lewis. He was our leading scorer and focal point of our offense at 18 years old. While Robinson was making bunnies and Taylor was probably not even allowed to shoot unless no one was within 5 feet of him, Lewis was making shots while double teamed, falling away, creating his shot off the dribble, and making deep, clutch jumpers down the stretch that sealed games at times.

He is unequivocally the best shooter on this team. He is our number one go to guy, and our clutch option down the stretch. He has ridiculous range and incredible form on his jump shot.

That was an extremely questionable post, suddenly I find your recent comment about my knowledge of the game of basketball far less offensive.

ElDuque wrote:

Where do I even begin here?

There was no comparison to Robinson or Taylor.

I was responding to the "best shooter" reference and simply pointed out that Lewis did not have such a great shooting percentage (and I did point out how much I like the kid). If you knew who Tom Keegan was, you'd know that my reference to Taylor was that he basically almost never shot the ball.

So your post is basically a lot of hot air over nothing. There, you can go back to tweeting to potential recruits.

Give me a break, you specifically pointed out his shooting percentage, said he has work to do, and then pointed to two guys with better %s. Problem is one took less than 50 shots and the other took less than ten.

ElDuque wrote:

Duques102 wrote:

ElDuque wrote:

Where do I even begin here?

There was no comparison to Robinson or Taylor.

I was responding to the "best shooter" reference and simply pointed out that Lewis did not have such a great shooting percentage (and I did point out how much I like the kid). If you knew who Tom Keegan was, you'd know that my reference to Taylor was that he basically almost never shot the ball.

So your post is basically a lot of hot air over nothing. There, you can go back to tweeting to potential recruits.

Give me a break, you specifically pointed out his shooting percentage, said he has work to do, and then pointed to two guys with better %s. Problem is one took less than 50 shots and the other took less than ten.

 
And the problem with that was ... ?

Listen, you jump on everything I post, often for no reason, then throw in troll-like little zingers insulting my intelligence and/or knowledge of basketball. Yet I never once got on you for your NCAA-violating tweets to potential recruits, or your lack of knowledge about how scholarships work (despite your self-proclaimed status as an ex-athlete).

I'm trying to be a good sport here. You're certainly welcome to disagree, have a completely different take on something, support an opposing viewpoint, whatever. But you take the extra step of reading stuff into my posts that isn't there, and insulting me.

Between you and Levon, I'm taking way too much crap for no good reason.

So please continue to post, but please back off of what I now perceive to be personal attacks.

It's just not called-for.

There is no problem with that, you said it wasn't a comparison when it clearly was.

Feel free to "get on me" about tweeting to whoever. There are tons of fans tweeting at targets for every school on a daily basis. Literally thousands of tweets a day, including other Duquesne fans. Although I carry the esteemed "self proclaimed status" of an ex athlete, I was not aware of the "headcount" rule, which didn't apply to the sport I played. You were one of the ones to point out that there are different situations for different sports, but you must have forgot about that. I didn't claim to know how it worked, so I inquired, and for that I apologize.

I don't really know what you are referring to when you say I am constantly taking "shots" at you or your intelligence. I don't know you and don't act like I do. I have been agreeing with many of your posts lately but we must be on two different boards. I disagreed with your post and provided basketball reasons, not personal reasons why. Sorry if that offends you.

The end of my post was me referring to a shot YOU had recently taken at me when you jumped all over my post about a player and some of their tape. You then responded to my post with a snarky, sarcastic comment taking another shot. Difference between us is it doesn't get me all hot and bothered, banter is part of the fun of the board for me.

All I'm saying is practice what you preach and quit being so sensitive.

It was about basketball, but I also have an obligation to keep the board troll free. Believe me, I take a lot of silliness without responding.

Better shot selection with the new coach will help Lewis and the rest of the Dukes this year!

kcc173 wrote:

After a five year absence (for obvious reasons) I have come back with new handle to enjoy all the information and comments. BUT, do you guys think we can get back to basketball? I know I have no say and it is an open board but come on already

what is so obvious about a five year abscence?  
 

kcc173 wrote:

Will not indulge in disparaging comments about years past, but if you really want a reason, A.D. and his hire turned me away from day one. Like I said, that is history and I am happy to be a fan again since I probably missed about 3 or 4 home games since 1966 and through five years ago. I only want to deal in present and future which I find exciting

Welcome back kcc. I actually remember you. Too bad they didn't grandfather your posts. Starting out as a serf. Ouch!
 

kcc173 wrote:

Will not indulge in disparaging comments about years past, but if you really want a reason, A.D. and his hire turned me away from day one. Like I said, that is history and I am happy to be a fan again since I probably missed about 3 or 4 home games since 1966 and through five years ago. I only want to deal in present and future which I find exciting

"But the father said to his servants, ‘Quick! Bring the best robe and put it on him. Put a ring on his finger and sandals on his feet. 23 Bring the fattened calf and kill it. Let’s have a feast and celebrate. 24 For this son of mine was dead and is alive again; he was lost and is found.’ So they began to celebrate."  Luke-15

Memories of Eddie and Lenny

PistolPete wrote:

Can someone simply tell me when we have a final roster, pending unexpected things happening, going into next year?

Apparently, no one can do that. 

There are only rumors of departures and things like sightings of potential recruits on campus. Even the insiders of this board can only speculate.