Duquesne Dukes Fan Forum » Game Thread

applecorps · 1/20/2021 9:12 pm

These long and quick freshmen that KD recruited are quickly becoming the players that typify the way to play the game in this era. Tonight's game was maybe a turning point. This is a freshman class of great potential. Great comeback win!

BluffHunter · 1/20/2021 9:50 pm

El Presidente wrote:
Heart stopper Great win. Baker had his best game offensively when we needed it most. Tough defense especially in 2nd half. Lets get a winning streak going.

Hey prez, are you the "president" who used to post on this board but haven't posted since 2019? if so welcome back! If not welcome to the board!

El Presidente · 1/20/2021 10:14 pm

Hey BluffHunter, thanks for remembering. Had a computer problem and then could not remember my password. After repeated attempts to get a new password finally re-registered a short while ago. Great to be back on board with a really nice group of folks.

Tejas_Duke · 1/20/2021 10:53 pm

phil95 wrote:
-URI came in shooting 46.4% from the field & allowing 39.8% to their opponents. They shot 38.1% while the Dukes shot 50%.
.

Not to mention shooting 21% from 3 point land (and that was before the missed last shot, so it ends up under 20) as opposed to their usual 34%

Ironduke81 · 1/21/2021 8:32 am

Did anyone notice referee Amy Bonner. Made the right calls because she was in position due to her hustle. Very impressed. Referee Brian Dorsey, remember him, multiple technical fouls against Coach Dambrot at the end of the Penn State game at the PPG. GEE WHIZ. penn State covered.🤔 This guy is a arrogant bum. Hopefully, Amy Bonner rotates crews. Again, Very impressed. You go girl

Econ69 · 1/21/2021 8:56 am

Not exactly on topic but STL has not played a conference game.
The A10 tournament is scheduled to start on March 10.
Interesting to see what happens.

1111 Vickroy · 1/21/2021 9:11 am

Ironduke81 wrote:
Did anyone notice referee Amy Bonner. Made the right calls because she was in position due to her hustle. Very impressed. Referee Brian Dorsey, remember him, multiple technical fouls against Coach Dambrot at the end of the Penn State game at the PPG. GEE WHIZ. penn State covered.🤔 This guy is a arrogant bum. Hopefully, Amy Bonner rotates crews. Again, Very impressed. You go girl

IRON, she did do a good job. She nailed the TDM double dribble that almost led to a loss. That bald dude seemed like a real prick-el

PhoenixRising2 · 1/21/2021 9:36 am

Zac's report on the game along with David Hague's pictures.
https://pittsburghsportsnow.com/2021/01/20/duquesne-comes-back-from-down-17-to-knock-off-rhode-island/
https://pittsburghsportsnow.com/2021/01/21/gallery-duquesne-come-from-behind-win-over-rhode-island/

PhoenixRising2 · 1/21/2021 9:52 am

I was impressed with the overall basketball IQ and the poise of the freshmen in this tight game. The four freshmen (Baker, Okani, Acuff and Harris) combined in 89 minutes for 11 assists vs. 4 turnovers. As a comparison, the Dukes seniors (Dunn-Martin, Weathers, Hughes and Murphy) combined in 99 minutes for 7 assists and 9 turnovers.

A lot of talent (and long arms) in these freshmen and the coaching staff deserves a bunch of credit getting them ready to compete and win. As phil95 mentioned, it was a thing of beauty when Baker flashed to the high post when URI threw up that 1-3-1. When I saw it, it looked to me like a brilliant move by URI coming out of the time out, until it wasn't.

PhoenixRising2 · 1/21/2021 9:58 am

This story from Noah Hiles is behind DK Pittsburgh Sports paywall.
Baker delivers breakout performance in honor of a fallen friend
https://www.dkpittsburghsports.com/2021/01/20/duquesne-basketball-chad-baker-dambrot-dukes-atlantic-ten-rhode-island-rams-dkps-nah

This "Live Wire" might not be behind a paywall.
https://www.dkpittsburghsports.com/article/live-wire-duquesne-dukes-basketball-news-injury-reports-updates-nah%20
From Noah Hiles:
After trailing by as much as 17 points late in the first half, head coach Keith Dambrot said he provided his team with some vocal and perhaps aggressive motivation before the start of the second half. "I lost my mind at halftime, which I haven't done in a long time with this group," Dambrot said. "Just challenging them to put more energy in to playing the competition, rather than (yelling) at each other and complaining. I told them if they played hard they'd be surprised with the result.

Last edited by PhoenixRising2 (1/21/2021 10:07 am)

luckymcd · 1/21/2021 10:35 am

I hope I'm not blowing things out of proportion in my excitement, but this comeback could literally be a turning point for the entire Duquesne basketball program. Not only was it a big comeback over a good team, but it was lead by a freshman. Baker was hot right from the start, but what the broadcast missed was URI's biggest lead of the game was immediately before the flagrant foul. Baker was knocking down shots and had started talking a bit and it seemed to get in Walker's head (if not the whole Rams roster). I was surprised the takedown wasn't a flagrant 2, but perhaps it's a good thing it wasn't. Down 17 points after three ugly losses the hit could have led to a brawl, but the Dukes decided to beat the Rams on the court instead. Baker went to the line, knocked down the two technicals, and the Dukes had his back. It really seemed to me to be the rallying point. The whole team, but especially the seniors, played with a vengeance the rest of the way. Even when they were keeping it close early on they weren't playing with that fire. The freshmen are growing up fast, the veterans are hungry and back to game shape. Now we have games against the worst two teams in the league followed by what hopefully will be the opener of our new arena against the best program (though not best team) in the conference on national TV. Bigger things and better days are ahead for the Dukes and it all might have turned on a nice hit by a free safety, but an ugly takedown for a power forward.

PhoenixRising2 · 1/21/2021 10:49 am

luckymcd wrote:
I hope I'm not blowing things out of proportion in my excitement, but this comeback could literally be a turning point for the entire Duquesne basketball program. Not only was it a big comeback over a good team, but it was lead by a freshman. Baker was hot right from the start, but what the broadcast missed was URI's biggest lead of the game was immediately before the flagrant foul. Baker was knocking down shots and had started talking a bit and it seemed to get in Walker's head (if not the whole Rams roster). I was surprised the takedown wasn't a flagrant 2, but perhaps it's a good thing it wasn't. Down 17 points after three ugly losses the hit could have led to a brawl, but the Dukes decided to beat the Rams on the court instead. Baker went to the line, knocked down the two technicals, and the Dukes had his back. It really seemed to me to be the rallying point. The whole team, but especially the seniors, played with a vengeance the rest of the way. Even when they were keeping it close early on they weren't playing with that fire. The freshmen are growing up fast, the veterans are hungry and back to game shape. Now we have games against the worst two teams in the league followed by what hopefully will be the opener of our new arena against the best program (though not best team) in the conference on national TV. Bigger things and better days are ahead for the Dukes and it all might have turned on a nice hit by a free safety, but an ugly takedown for a power forward.

luckymcd, not sure if you saw, but the A10 moved the Bonnies game from March 3 to this Saturday, 1/23. So right back into the fire before playing Fordham and Saint Joseph's.

levon1975 · 1/21/2021 11:04 am

Anyone know how I can see a replay of last night’s game?

luckymcd · 1/21/2021 11:04 am

I had seen that, I just forgot it in my excitement. Thanks for the reminder Phoenix.

FAM · 1/21/2021 11:17 am

FOUR STEPS TO SUCCESS - If we can keep last nights momentum, we can hopefully turn the corner on this year. I have looked at DU basketball over the last 40 years, and now with Dambrot, i see him as the first step of 4 steps. Who knows if we will reach them all soon, but we are on our way.

1. Get a very good coach, AD with brains, and supportive President for sports/DU basketball at Duquesne. You can check this box.
2. Get competitive so we are capable of winning almost every game. As I said in an earlier post, though this year is tough, I believe we have done that. Check box 2.
3. This one is going to get some of you angry at me. We need to raise our label and rankings so that teams like Pitt will have something to win if they play us and not something to lose. I never said anything when folks thought Pitt (who I can't stand) didn't want to play us because a lot of you said the reason was that Pitt thought we were better than them and we would beat them...and we may have but I don't think it was because they thought we were better than them. As folks can see now, it was the old "What can you do for me if I play you." In other words, we are ranked low compared to them. If they would play us and win, it wouldn't do much for them at all. If they would play us and lose, it would hurt them. So they gain nothing by playing us. When we are a top team (RPI under 75 consistently) for a number of years and it is worthwhile playing us....because if they beat us it helps them and if they lose, they lost to a nicely ranked team, then they will. As of yesterday, Pitt's RPI was 64 and ours was 180. I know there are number of guys here and you will say but at the beginning of the season our RPI's were similar. Well, their coach didn't know where folks would be...again, I don't like Pitt but he isn't stupid.
4. We have to get to an NIT/NCAA Tournament.

Is all I have to say is I believe you can check off 1 and 2 and we will get to 3 and 4. Hopefully this year (and I mean that) or next year. I, like many of you, am tired of saying wait until next year.

Go Dukes

luckymcd · 1/21/2021 11:29 am

Now that I got the sheer excitement out (hopefully it doesn't really go away the rest of the season), for some more game analysis. Baker wasn't just knocking down shots, he had a complete game. The 19 points were huge, but his 5 assists also tied for the team lead, and the 3 steals don't sum up his contributions on defense. Marcus isn't back in last season's form yet, but he's getting close, and his stat line doesn't show how much he meant to the comeback. He looked like a man possessed. Hughes needs to keep playing his game. The foul trouble did hurt the team, but at least one of them looked like a phantom foul, and we need the aggression from him. The double double looks good, but he again showed leadership in bringing the fire in the second half, leading most of the team huddles, and being the get back guy when Baker was about to run on the court. Acuff seems to be getting more and more time at the point each game. He doesn't control the offense as much as you'd like a true point guard to, but he's a great ball handler. That allowed TDM to move to the 2 for a good portion of the game, and if that's what gets TDM's shot to start falling it is a big contribution for a true freshman PG. Harris may have been overshadowed because Baker had such a great game, but he made some big plays too. His size and athleticism gives us great flexibility. He's played the 2, 3, and 4 this season, and I'm pretty sure I even saw him holding his own at the 5 when Hughes was in foul trouble. I've cut him a lot of slack, but I was pretty much ready to give up on Murphy before he nailed the late jumper. As is typical for him, great awareness to use the pump to get an open look instead of putting up a contested 3. When Austin does come back we may have our ten man rotation as Rotroff seems to be getting less and less time. Kelly, Weathers, and Harris got time at the 5 with Hughes in foul trouble, he didn't see much. Bekelja is still getting spot minutes, but if Acuff continues to develop we may see that go away too. It was a long, tough road to get here (and being a fan of the Dukes for 20 years I shouldn't even say we are back yet), but I like where this team is at.

gjgsr · 1/21/2021 11:30 am

levon1975 wrote:
Anyone know how I can see a replay of last night’s game?

It was on ESPN+ You can get a months subscription for $5.99... I think you can still do a replay on it...

NapaDuke · 1/21/2021 11:44 am

applecorps wrote:
These long and quick freshmen that KD recruited are quickly becoming the players that typify the way to play the game in this era. Tonight's game was maybe a turning point. This is a freshman class of great potential. Great comeback win!

That's a very good description of these freshman. Their reach adds to our game. They are getting more time in the games now and are producing. It's nice to see.

FAM · 1/21/2021 11:50 am

"But the bigger difference is the Duquesne team, as currently built, shouldn’t have been able to compete. Players are abandoning the program — Sincere Carry, Maceo Austin and Lamar Norman Jr. have recently been missing, looking for greener pastures — and in their previous four contests, the Dukes have scored exactly 48 points in three games with 63 in another."
The Providence Journal

This is a paragraph from their write up on the game last night. This really pissed me off!

levon1975 · 1/21/2021 12:47 pm

gjgsr wrote:
levon1975 wrote:
Anyone know how I can see a replay of last night’s game?
It was on ESPN+ You can get a months subscription for $5.99... I think you can still do a replay on it...

Thanks for the info!

Tejas_Duke · 1/21/2021 1:22 pm

gjgsr wrote:
levon1975 wrote:
Anyone know how I can see a replay of last night’s game?
It was on ESPN+ You can get a months subscription for $5.99... I think you can still do a replay on it...

Yes that is definitely worth six bucks a month. I actually enjoy not watching the game live, avoiding media and then watching it as a replay. You have the "advance 10 seconds"and "reverse 10 seconds" options that you don't have during live streaming. I really like that feature.

PhoenixRising2 · 1/21/2021 6:26 pm

Here's today's reflective article on the win from Zac Weiss.
https://pittsburghsportsnow.com/2021/01/21/inside-the-dukes-uri-win-personal-for-chad-baker/

indygjm · 1/21/2021 8:52 pm

FAM wrote:
"But the bigger difference is the Duquesne team, as currently built, shouldn’t have been able to compete. Players are abandoning the program — Sincere Carry, Maceo Austin and Lamar Norman Jr. have recently been missing, looking for greener pastures — and in their previous four contests, the Dukes have scored exactly 48 points in three games with 63 in another."
The Providence Journal

This is a paragraph from their write up on the game last night. This really pissed me off!

FAM - I also saw a lot of comments on the RI message board that disparaged the Dukes. But, there was one which I thought was great -

"That Baker's a cocky little (profanity)."
(I want him on my team.)

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FAM wrote: