With all of the changes I may have missed this - is anything finalized with Dre Harris?  I rarely post but have thoroughly enjoyed all of the information and opinions shared here.  Thanks!

Just checked the portal (because RedandBlueRUs just scared me about Dre) and was surprised to see how many Bonnies are transferring.  After winning the A-10!  these really are crazy times.  Here is the breakdown as of today of the players in the portal for each A-10 team.   (who knows what tomorrow will bring.):

George Mason - 9
George Washington - 9
St Bonaventure - 9
Lasalle - 5
Duquesne - 5
Fordham - 4
Davidson - 4
Dayton - 3
UMass - 2
VCU - 2
St Joes - 2
St. Louis - 2
Rhody - 1
Richmond - 1
 

Anyone who wants to transfer has until May 1, or a week from tomorrow, to enter the transfer portal in order to be granted immediate eligibility for next season, though I'm sure the NCAA will hand out waivers to that new rule.

Bonnies may have lost nine, but Vasquez, their 6th man, is the only one of any consequence that they're losing. And even he was just a role player. They're set to return all five starters while adding transfers from Pitt and Wake Forest. I'm pretty sure they'll be the consensus pick to repeat as conference champions next season.

If he continues to play 6 players all year, they are going to run out of gas.   But they are solid in those top 6.   Thats also probably why they lost 9 guys, all those bench players never sniffed the court.   Even when they were blowing us out in the A10 tourn, he kept his starters in.   Whatever works I guess.   Here, we have to play 9-10 guys or the team cant play for a week due to exhaustion.   

Styles1229 wrote:

Just checked the portal (because RedandBlueRUs just scared me about Dre) and was surprised to see how many Bonnies are transferring.  After winning the A-10!  these really are crazy times.  Here is the breakdown as of today of the players in the portal for each A-10 team.   (who knows what tomorrow will bring.):

George Mason - 9
George Washington - 9
St Bonaventure - 9
Lasalle - 5
Duquesne - 5
Fordham - 4
Davidson - 4
Dayton - 3
UMass - 2
VCU - 2
St Joes - 2
St. Louis - 2
Rhody - 1
Richmond - 1
 

Thanks for the research Styles.  These are certainly wild times in college basketball.  In my opinion, coaches who adapt to this new world of portal rebuilding via transfers every one to two years will be the most successful.  The days of having a player on the bench for two or three years to develop for the most part are gone.  They will either leave on their own or be recruited over.  Moreover, no longer will coaches have to put up with kids who can't accept their role and/or cause problems as they can be replaced through immediate transfers. 

I really think there will be 1 to 2 more departures, and while I would like to see Harris stay, I would not be surprised if Harris is one of them.  

This isn't going to come out how I want it to...but I'll say it - The Bonnies only do play 6 guys and did most of the season.  They may next year and they are a good team.  Why does Dambrot say (the past 3 seasons) that his guys need to get in shape and they aren't ready yet ...even after the first 6 weeks of the season?  Each year that Hughes and Weathers played...even others he would say they aren't in the shape they need to be. (I'm not referring to coming back from an injury).  Maybe there needs to be a different conditioning program?  Are Duquesne's players not taking the off-season seriously?  I don't have the answers but this is another missing piece.  Go Dukes!

FAM wrote:

This isn't going to come out how I want it to...but I'll say it - The Bonnies only do play 6 guys and did most of the season.  They may next year and they are a good team.  Why does Dambrot say (the past 3 seasons) that his guys need to get in shape and they aren't ready yet ...even after the first 6 weeks of the season?  Each year that Hughes and Weathers played...even others he would say they aren't in the shape they need to be. (I'm not referring to coming back from an injury).  Maybe there needs to be a different conditioning program?  Are Duquesne's players not taking the off-season seriously?  I don't have the answers but this is another missing piece.  Go Dukes!

Uh, why out of shape?  Small matter of being beset by Covid. .  “Stop that coughing young man!  Take this ball and run!”

FAM wrote:

This isn't going to come out how I want it to...but I'll say it - The Bonnies only do play 6 guys and did most of the season.  They may next year and they are a good team.  Why does Dambrot say (the past 3 seasons) that his guys need to get in shape and they aren't ready yet ...even after the first 6 weeks of the season?  Each year that Hughes and Weathers played...even others he would say they aren't in the shape they need to be. (I'm not referring to coming back from an injury).  Maybe there needs to be a different conditioning program?  Are Duquesne's players not taking the off-season seriously?  I don't have the answers but this is another missing piece.  Go Dukes!

This post demonstrates both common sense & diplomacy. I too see this as a problem to be solved.

However, I mostly don't buy it when KD says this. I have observed that we most often hear this explanation when the Dukes come out flat & then roar back to life later in the game; win or lose. This has happened far too many times over the course of far too many games/seasons for me to give much weight to the "we are out of shape" plotline.

Even if that were 100% true, it is not a good look when the coaches & training staff can't hold the players accountable enough to maintain & improve their physical fitness. 

While we are on this subject, it is truly nonsense to suggest that DU's conditioning challenges this season were, in any way, unique or special. Did the Dukes have an above-average amount of COVID interruption? Yes. Did they have a worse time of it than all of their opponents? Not even close.

Look no further than the Bonnies for a good example. Due to COVID, they played no games before 12/15 while having no practices for 30+ days & then went through 2 more stoppages of 9 & 12 days respectively. They lost a player that started 28 games at PF in 19-20 before the new year & finished the season playing about 6.5 players. Just like Duquesne, they only played 2 non-conference games.  They never looked tired or out of shape to me. That is how consistently successful programs operate.

I do think there is something to the idea that going through the better part of 2 seasons as nomads was bound to have negative effects on program morale leading to fewer wins. Professionally, I have been through dozens of facility remodeling projects that required all staff members to put up with limited resources & long-term inconveniences. Few people do their best work under such circumstances That has to be doubly true when trying to inspire great performances from a group of very young men. From the outside looking in, I think the coaching staff did a great job gutting this out. 

Even so, I fail to see why that issue, even when combined with COVID stoppages, would prevent focused, mature, athletes that are held truly accountable for their obligations to the program from being in at least as good cardiovascular health as their opponents.
 

Pistol if as you believe the training facility is top self I so agree. Pistol small group of posters are very critical of Dambrot. Looking back at this season Covid yes the majority of Div I teams got hit. BUT Duquesne had no home gym. Half assed training facility. No opportunity to work on the players shots on their home floor. But yet the Dukes beat Richmond in the A10 tournament. Yes the Bonnie’s soundly beat them but they won the tournament. I really don’t see the criticism of Dambrot who has been winning. Remember he inherited a (profanity) show. Give me something to criticize this guy. How did Bilicheck, Calipari & Coach K do this year? Let the next two years play out. Go Dukes

It will take a lot more than I've seen to get me to direct any criticism toward KD. Especially with no facilities to speak of, no home court, Covid, etc. As some on this board have suggested, lets extend his contract without further ado!





 

I do agree that the Dukes were at a disadvantage with respect to no home court to practice on and living as nomads for two years. However, phil95's assessment of the COVID impact was spot on. Now let's talk about motivation. I can remember when R.E. took over for Danny Nee. One of R.E.'s first actions was to institute 6:00AM runs. If you didn't want to participate, you were gone. It doesn't take a state of the art training facility to run, duh. The track behind St. Anne's was there (not sure if still is with the renovation) great for sprint work. Heck, run out Forbes and back in on Fifth for distance work. Push-ups, crunches, dumb bell work. No facility needed. I managed to finish 4 marathons in the '80's with no training facility. If you want it, you find a way. Out of condition is NO excuse. 

Ironduke81 wrote:

Due to HIPPA we really don’t know which Dukes came down with Covid 19. However, I suspect the majority of the team was  infected. Many Physicians are currently addressing  Long Haulers syndrome post Covid recovery. Yes I was very fortunate to avoid Covid 19. We really do not know the long term effect of Covid. I remember the last 2 seasons the Dukes under Dambrot were the Comeback kids. This year they fell short because they had no gas in the tank. Again, this season was a mulligan. Cmon show some sympathy. 2020-21 was like no other. 

I agree that '20/'21 season deserves "mulligan" status for on-court results.  KD has been a proven winner every season prior both at Akron and Duquesne.  The issues raised about conditioning, team cohesiveness, team maturity, etc. are valid and need to be factored in when assessing the job he has done though.  I am a KD guy as I have said before and am confident he can win the A-10 with the Dukes.  That said, he is by no means above reproach. I'm surprised that many of us on the board are reticent to place blame for another middling finish A-10 finish and unsuccessful run in the tournament on him. 

Ultimately, I think we can thoroughly assess his performance once he has recruited with a couple of winning seasons under his belt and the updated facilities in place.  KD is the first to admit that they hired him to win championships.  With the new facilities and a few winning seasons under his belt, there will be no excuses left.

Ask Calipari  His boys went 9-16 with a roster filled with 4 and 5s
or Coach K at Duke  13-11 and also full of 4 and 5s
SBU had their court and all their facilities available
They had covid issues but Oleans is in the middle of nowhere and
the student population is a fraction of DU.
They could almost bubble their team.
This season though is different.