I wish Baylee Steele would fall out of love with the 3 point shot. He needs to be more of an inside presence.

Looks like 5-3 by about 9:30 pm Wednesday night to me.
Still time with this one, but this game and the previous 2 harken thoughts of the last 40 years.

Technical Foul on Hughes!!!  Coach DAMBROT better get his act together and get control of this team.

I am hugely disappointed in the coach that this is continuing.

I just watched a very tired, banged up basketball team. Can come up with many reasons why. But I hope they have a second wind in them; they need it.

3 games in a row like the old Dukes. They're ok, nothing more. They're going nowhere in my opinion. Talent and depth not good enough to compete for the top of this Conference. Can compete with NEC, Colonial, maybe MAC etc

CLK - I agree with you, but as a coach I knew once said to a player, we can lose with you, we can lose without you.  I’d bench Hughes and actually play Steele...maybe Steele is upset because he isn’t getting the playing time he could have based on the problems Hughes is causing.  Dambrot said that Baylee was the hardest working player he ever coached. My thing is that they are competitive and get to the NIT.  I thought they were competitive, but I also thought this was a poorly decision making coached game.  Maybe Dayton won’t show up Wednesday’s night??   Go Dukes!!

This is on Coach Dambrot. Reality check. This team has a problem. Question guangee  Snoop Dog style?
Hugs had this problem last year fired 2 starters Trump style. Look at WVU today. If you have a problem coach end it. Short term lose vs long term gain. Cancer has set n on the bluff. How can you lose this game to an inferior team. Step up it’s the A10.

This team was tentative coming out of the gate here-- against a nobody -- like they have been caught in the glare of the spot lights...  

PhoenixRising2 wrote:

I just watched a very tired, banged up basketball team. Can come up with many reasons why. But I hope they have a second wind in them; they need it.

Hate to say it but they do look like a tired, spent team. Like they've played 30 games, not 19. And there's no one on this team who can step up and take over when they get behind, are struggling in the halfcourt offense, not forcing turnovers, and need points. Might have been able to steal this one with a good day at the line, but maybe the poor FT shooting is another symptom of a shot team, just like the rebounding and the inability to box out or chase down loose balls. They just look really slow and tentative right now. They were outhustled and outmuscled by a team that's not very good (though Tre Mitchell was the best player on the court by a wide margin). Fast starts and poor finishes in conference play have been a hallmark of the Dambrot Era so far and this year appears headed in the same direction. The Fordham and UMass games show Duquesne is way closer to the bottom four than the top four in the A10.

 

Last edited by DennisC91 (1/25/2020 6:56 pm)

DennisC91 wrote:

PhoenixRising2 wrote:

I just watched a very tired, banged up basketball team. Can come up with many reasons why. But I hope they have a second wind in them; they need it.

Hate to say it but they do look like a tired, spent team. Like they've played 30 games, not 19. And there's no one on this team who can step up and take over when they get behind, are struggling in the halfcourt offense, not forcing turnovers, and need points. Might have been able to steal this one with a good day at the line, but maybe the poor FT shooting is another symptom of a shot team, just like the rebounding and the inability to box out or chase down loose balls. They just look really slow and tentative right now. They were outhustled and outmuscled by a team that's not very good (though Tre Mitchell was the best player on the court by a wide margin). Fast starts and poor finishes in conference play have been a hallmark of the Dambrot Era so far and this year appears headed in the same direction. The Fordham and UMass games show Duquesne is way closer to the bottom four than the top four in the A10.

 

We were outrebounded 52 to 34 today.  Many of those were 50-50 balls. I still believe we are a good enough to finish in the top 4 of the League, but these last three game are very troubling indeed.  I hope Dambrot can turn this around.

Box Score

https://goduquesne.com/sports/mens-basketball/stats/2019-20/massachusetts/boxscore/11113
 

Last edited by CLK (1/25/2020 7:34 pm)

Oh well...the good news is that the days are getting longer and golf season is on its way.  The bottom line is that this team probably isn't as good as we hoped.  It is an ok team but there is a lot of talent in this conference,  Duquesne hasn't had a "go to" player since Aaron Jackson.  There is no leader on the court.  The players who could develop into leaders are not mature or disciplined.

It's too bad that Ellis isn't developing or whatever the issue is with him.  He has talent and size and if he was a reliable player he could make a huge difference--he didn't even make the trip.

Wednesday night could get really ugly.  Dayton is a real team with real talent.

Today's debacle pushed me to the following epiphany as exemplified in microcosm by Lamar Norman to illustrate the macrocosmic challenges currently facing the team.

As a sophomore, Lamar has much to offer in the way of physical ability, energetic play, moderate experience at this competition level, & technical skills. For a program fighting its way out of decades in the conference's basement & into the middle of the pack, he has the talent & measurables to do his part. Assuming that he stays for 4 years, he is likely to be a valuable teammate over his last 2 seasons to maintain DU's present middle of the pack status. 

Out of the roughly 4,600 I Division players that compete each season, Lamar is probably in the top 1,000 right now & projects to be in the top 700 before he has used up his eligibility. That would put him among a group of good but not the best Dukes players of the last 25ish years. 

The issue is that in order for the program to consistently finish in the top 25% of the league & make 3 NCAA appearances a decade, Lamar & around 4 other players on the team, every season, would have to be in the top 500 or so players while a trio of developing underclassmen and/or seniors would have to be in that top 700 range.

Year 3 of the Dambrot administration is not going to be the first of several years meeting these criteria but, the current talent level is certainly closer to that then any time that can be easily remembered. The same can be confidently said of the recruiting in particular & the coaching in general. The administrative support for the program & the facilities are on track to actively facilitate such an increase in talent level. It appears that 3 years has just not been quite long to reach the standard I chose as a benchmark. That's less fun than the possibilities being discussed a week ago but, not tragic.

This argument assumes consistent solid results & doesn't allow for the highly unlikely scenario where a couple of top 100 players spend some years on The Bluff or the much more possible scenario where the top 7 guys return for one glorious, third, consecutive year together. 2020-21 could be THAT year. 

Also, on a less rational note, WTF is up with the foul shooting! That was some Edgarporterneeferrian crap!

KD has said that this team could win most of their games
or lose most of their games.
We lost a conference game on the road that we had
a reaso'nable chance to win.
I see a lack of mental toughness as the reason.  Look at the foul shooting which
requires a good deal of mental focus.
I wouldn't be surprised if the team beats Dayton and LaSalle once they are 'home' and
back in familiar surroundings.