Vcu74 wrote:

There are a couple folks here one in particular that I hope is enjoying a shot or sip of bourbon tonight, let it be known that I’m raising a toast to him and his dad tonight. I’m not around often but I remember we were nice to each other and that’s what I’m about.

Prost!

Congrats Again on the win, cheers!
/a little Dämmït on the side tho ;)

Hey VCU. Thanks for remembering, and yes I raised a glass heavenward tonight.  You are a class act on this board, considering some of the other team trolls we have seen on here.  Best part of the night was, wife was having dinner with her cousin, so I got to watch the game alone and get loud!
 

yak-rbc wrote:

With about 10 minutes left, Weathers got a charge called against him down 10, and Macro had this look on his face with his hands on his knees like "nothing is going our way. Were not getting bounces. Were not getting shots. Were not getting calls"

And I imagine that's not the only time in the 2nd half body language from a duke looked like that.

But they just. Kept. Fighting. They just kept digging.

It was like pulling teeth I'm sure. But they got it done. They got it done in 2 of the most hostile environments in the A10 in back to back weeks where we hadn't won in a combined 14 tries.

Unbelievable effort

yak-rbc, you captured it. What an effort. Sin had this look on his face after the ref (Dorsey??) did some refsplaining to him which resulted in 2 missed foul shots. They took so many punches from VCU, the crowd and the refs that I was sure I heard them screaming for “Adrian” heading into timeouts.

Yet, they fought and out rebounded VCU by 11, Tavian never quit on his team or his shot, they got stops and forced turnovers when they were absolutely necessary and got big time end of game plays at both ends of the floor from Norman and Steele. Keith did a masterful job coaching and used his time outs effectively.

The result... arguably the best back to back road wins in memory and a late season surge that we haven’t seen for a long time. Huge respect for the team. Go Dukes!

I/m not sure the announcers yet know that VCU was playing Duquesne, not Dayton, and its Carry not Curry or Rotroff, not Rutroff.   They were homers for sure.   It made it even better when TDM, Lamar and Steele hit those 3s late.    

townsonkid wrote:

I/m not sure the announcers yet know that VCU was playing Duquesne, not Dayton, and its Carry not Curry or Rotroff, not Rutroff.   They were homers for sure.   It made it even better when TDM, Lamar and Steele hit those 3s late.    

I was surprised VCU had that kind of a broadcast. They’re one of the league’s  favorites so they’re more likely to be on National tv than ESPN+. I just figured they’d have more of a TV feel than a stream feed feel, the way Dayton and SLU are on Fox Sports affiliates for their home games.

We’ve now had at least one game with every school’s home announcers on ESPN+ these last two seasons.

I’d say the best two have been UMass & George Mason. Play by play guys were fair and at the very least didn’t bungle names and the color commentary came from ex head coaches Craig Esherick for Mason and Frank Sullivan for UMass (I had to look his name up) that could talk strategy and had studied some of the film of the Dukes which meant they at least knew some tendencies and not stick to a narrative all game.

Least favorites were La Salle due to poor quality of feed (Their PBP guy gets crushed by the opposition’s fans with the “POW!!” calls on threes which wasn’t as annoying to me) and Bona’s felt like running commentary from two Bona fans talking trash all game. The win last week would be a tad bit sweeter if it was on ESPN+ instead of Stadium.

Having to play on the road all season and put up these numbers makes me feel like this team can go deep in the tourney, maybe win it.  They are playing with a deeper bench now, and no drop off when subs come in. Right now, this could be the team.  The one that finally gets us to post season in a long time.  Go Dukes, get those Spiders!

FAM wrote:

Napa- I agree except for one issue that worries me.  Too many close games.  I know it is awesome to win the close games, but those can also go the other way.  It would be nice if we could maintain a lead of 5 points throughout the second half of a game.  We have all learned that the first half doesn’t mean much.
Go Dukes!

I felt the same way. That is why the GW game where they "urinated" away a 19 point lead is my least favorite loss of the year. When they had them down, they failed to step on their throat.  They have not had one real laugher this year, even against weak teams. Their double digit wins against St. Louis were close up until the final minutes.

No killer instinct. That worries me too
 

Last edited by Tejas_Duke (3/05/2020 9:27 am)

Tejas_Duke wrote:

FAM wrote:

Napa- I agree except for one issue that worries me.  Too many close games.  I know it is awesome to win the close games, but those can also go the other way.  It would be nice if we could maintain a lead of 5 points throughout the second half of a game.  We have all learned that the first half doesn’t mean much.
Go Dukes!

I felt the same way. That is why the GW game where they "urinated" away a 19 point lead is my least favorite loss of the year. When they had them down, they failed to step on their throat.  They have not had one real laugher this year, even against weak teams. Their double digit wins against St. Louis were close up until the final minutes.

No killer instinct. That worries me too
 

I try to ignore some of the crazy, neurotic, bipolar stuff on this board but I can't on this.  We are 21-8 overall and 11-6 in a very tough League, but that is not good enough for you guys?  You think that we should have beaten these teams by wider margins?  Are you guys ever happy and not worried?  

FAM wrote:

Bi-polar - naw...OCD...probably.  
Happy:  Extremely - awesome season so far and awesome record
Do I think we should have beaten these teams by larger margins - NO, BUT...the idea there were so many tight ones, and knowing that those can go either way, causes me to well....um....(see next response to your comment) Causes me to worry!  Heck. (Since it's lent I'll use heck) I bet the coaches worry!!!
Ever not worried:  Really...how long have you followed the Dukes - of course I’m worried, but only when we play a game.
Go Dukes!

The last line of this post says it all. I look very forward to a time when I don't think this way but, I'm still a ways from doing so.

Witnessing decades of head scratching loses will do that to you!

Kcc173- no offense taken!  Fan since the 70’s and I do look at a lot of other scores and team results.  But the issue is, when it isn’t your team, it doesn’t mean as much.  But let me say this again...I don’t have an issue with ugly wins, or a one point win at all.  I probably need to explain more.  My point was that when the games are close, with math alone, the team is a lot closer to a loss which us (you too of course) long term fans have been psychologically damaged with... Hey, let’s win the tournament and go all the way through the NCAA’s with only one point wins - not a problem - it’s just that even if that occurs, my family will have to visit me in a home...and not mine.  Go Dukes and I enjoy all the discussions.

CLK wrote:

Tejas_Duke wrote:

FAM wrote:

Napa- I agree except for one issue that worries me.  Too many close games.  I know it is awesome to win the close games, but those can also go the other way.  It would be nice if we could maintain a lead of 5 points throughout the second half of a game.  We have all learned that the first half doesn’t mean much.
Go Dukes!

I felt the same way. That is why the GW game where they "urinated" away a 19 point lead is my least favorite loss of the year. When they had them down, they failed to step on their throat.  They have not had one real laugher this year, even against weak teams. Their double digit wins against St. Louis were close up until the final minutes.

No killer instinct. That worries me too
 

I try to ignore some of the crazy, neurotic, bipolar stuff on this board but I can't on this.  We are 21-8 overall and 11-6 in a very tough League, but that is not good enough for you guys?  You think that we should have beaten these teams by wider margins?  Are you guys ever happy and not worried?  

CLK  agree perhaps one of the most satisfying year in my lifetime as a Duquesne fan. The comments on this board at times are delusional. No home court record wins on the road A 10. Whatever happens the next 2 weeks was without a doubt a great year. Thank you president, AD, Coaches and players.