I'll be honest here. I truly believe that next years team could be the best KD team that we have seen so far. Maybe i'm delusional. Maybe I should seek help. I don't know. I am expecting an outstanding team and one that should challenge for the A-10 title. I believe it will depend on how quickly things come together. Plenty of talent here. Time will tell.

I for one think Dambrot has done a good job in picking up Williams, Ayers, Gunn, and Easley. The former two are proven legit players and the latter two have the resumes. Think all four have a chip on their collective shoulders much like Dambrot. We also picked up two legitimate freshmen point guards. Sure, we've lost Weathers, Hughes, TDM, Baker, Kelly, Roessing, and probably some others, but it wasn't like the latter group was getting us out of the middle of the pack in the A-10 and they even regressed this year. Can't really use COVID as an excuse anymore as every team went through it (Look at St. Bonnie). Norman is a Horizon league player at best (though not a bad mid major conference just a tier down from the A-10). Carry will fit well in the MAC. He no longer wanted to be here per his girlfriend, family, etc...so he was leaving COVID or not. Carry also looked totally disinterested the couple games he played and it kind of set a negative tone I believe. Baker is at a senior's age. A talent, but his antics seemed to fuel the opposition and piss off the refs. He'll need a big transformation to get decent minutes as San Diego State plays a methodical disciplined defensive style and the coach like KD won't put up with it. Maybe instant offense off the bench, but not much else there. Weathers and Hughes played hard as did the frosh. Think they wouldn't have played hard if they didn't buy into this coach. Thanks Tejas for letting me give my insight whether anyone agrees or not. We'll have to wait and see come next fall. Damn if only MH came back. His returning would be huge, but not going to happen I guess.

I think it is a fair question to ask what we can expect next year, and are we a better team, worst team or about the same.   This is how I would approach the analysis.

We have 7 players who transferred, and one who decided to go pro:
Carry
Norman
Baker
Weathers
Hughes
Kelly
Roesing
TDM

We also have 7 new players coming into the program:
Johnson
Spears
Ayers
Gunn
Williams
Easley
Barba
 
Now let’s look at it by position:

PG:  I think most of us would agree that Carry’s best year was arguably his freshman year.  He started to become erratic his sophomore year (anyone remember the Marshall game).  This year clearly he started out bad and then decided to transfer mid season.  Enter Jackie Johnson next year.  I can’t wait to see this kid in a Dukes uniform.  From what I see from watching video and his shooting statistics I think he will be an instant impact player.  My prediction is that he will be way better than Carry was his freshman year. 

I would classify TDM as a point guard for the purpose of this discussion.  I loved the little guy.  His energy and three point shooting (when he was in the groove) was exciting.  He was, however, he was not very good at creating his own shots, a liability on defense.  Playing against bigger guards he struggled trying to penetrate and running the point.  Enter Primo Spears.  Again, in my opinion , he is much bigger and much better at taking it to the hoop and creating his own shots and can play and guard the 1 and 2 spots.  With Jackie, Primo and the development of Tyson we are much better at the point.
 
SG:  We lost Baker, Norman and Roesing.  I don’t think I need to discuss Roesing.  Norman was never going to be much better than he was.  Not effective in driving the ball, not very good on defense, and struggled with his shooting.     Baker was a terrific do it all player, except he was a little “loco en la cabeza.”  When I saw him arguing with Dambrot after he committed his third technical foul in three games I figure he not the kind of uncontrollable kid I would want on my team.   I wish him the best but I think he will prove to be addition by subtraction.  Enter Ayers who I see as the shooting guard.  Roughly the same size, same build and has all the same skills with what seems to be a better attitude.  In addition , Spears and Gunn can play the two spot along with Acuff and Maceo.  I think we have more overall  depth  and  and better shooters than we did last year and much better at the shooting guard position.
 
SF:  Didn’t lose any Small forwards.  Okani and Gunn should battle it out for the starting role with tremendous dept and options.  I think we will be much better at this position.

PF:  There is no doubt that losing Weathers is a big blow.    We will have Harris and Easley as a his replacement, with Gunn shifting to that position at times.  Both Gunn and Easley can stroke the ball better from the three than Weathers, and Gunn is very good at creating his own deadly midrange jumper.  Both are bigger than Weathers, it remains to be seen if they can rebound and handle put backs better than Weathers.  At this point I am going to call it even at this position.

C:   This is my biggest position of concern.  We lose Hughes and Kelly and gain Williams.  I believe Dambot when he says that Williams will be every bit as good if not better than Hughes.  My problem is the lack of depth at this position.  What happens if Williams gets  into foul trouble early.  I am not sure if Rotroff and Hima  can handle major minutes.  I hope I am wrong but for this to be a good outcome is if Rotroff has a complete transformation from what we saw last year.  I still think Dambrot needs to bring in one more player….a Bailey Steele type would fit the bill perfectly.  I will call this position to be determined.

Conclusion, I believe we will be a much better team next year.  I think one more Bailey Steele player  puts us in a much better position  to compete with the top teams in the League
 

CLK wrote:

I think it is a fair question to ask what we can expect next year, and are we a better team, worst team or about the same.   This is how I would approach the analysis.

We have 7 players who transferred, and one who decided to go pro:
Carry
Norman
Baker
Weathers
Hughes
Kelly
Roesing
TDM

We also have 7 new players coming into the program:
Johnson
Spears
Ayers
Gunn
Williams
Easley
Barba
 
Now let’s look at it by position:

PG:  I think most of us would agree that Carry’s best year was arguably his freshman year.  He started to become erratic his sophomore year (anyone remember the Marshall game).  This year clearly he started out bad and then decided to transfer mid season.  Enter Jackie Johnson next year.  I can’t wait to see this kid in a Dukes uniform.  From what I see from watching video and his shooting statistics I think he will be an instant impact player.  My prediction is that he will be way better than Carry was his freshman year. 

I would classify TDM as a point guard for the purpose of this discussion.  I loved the little guy.  His energy and three point shooting (when he was in the groove) was exciting.  He was, however, he was not very good at creating his own shots, a liability on defense.  Playing against bigger guards he struggled trying to penetrate and running the point.  Enter Primo Spears.  Again, in my opinion , he is much bigger and much better at taking it to the hoop and creating his own shots and can play and guard the 1 and 2 spots.  With Jackie, Primo and the development of Tyson we are much better at the point.
 
SG:  We lost Baker, Norman and Roesing.  I don’t think I need to discuss Roesing.  Norman was never going to be much better than he was.  Not effective in driving the ball, not very good on defense, and struggled with his shooting.     Baker was a terrific do it all player, except he was a little “loco en la cabeza.”  When I saw him arguing with Dambrot after he committed his third technical foul in three games I figure he not the kind of uncontrollable kid I would want on my team.   I wish him the best but I think he will prove to be addition by subtraction.  Enter Ayers who I see as the shooting guard.  Roughly the same size, same build and has all the same skills with what seems to be a better attitude.  In addition , Spears and Gunn can play the two spot along with Acuff and Maceo.  I think we have more overall  depth  and  and better shooters than we did last year and much better at the shooting guard position.
 
SF:  Didn’t lose any Small forwards.  Okani and Gunn should battle it out for the starting role with tremendous dept and options.  I think we will be much better at this position.

PF:  There is no doubt that losing Weathers is a big blow.    We will have Harris and Easley as a his replacement, with Gunn shifting to that position at times.  Both Gunn and Easley can stroke the ball better from the three than Weathers, and Gunn is very good at creating his own deadly midrange jumper.  Both are bigger than Weathers, it remains to be seen if they can rebound and handle put backs better than Weathers.  At this point I am going to call it even at this position.

C:   This is my biggest position of concern.  We lose Hughes and Kelly and gain Williams.  I believe Dambot when he says that Williams will be every bit as good if not better than Hughes.  My problem is the lack of depth at this position.  What happens if Williams gets  into foul trouble early.  I am not sure if Rotroff and Hima  can handle major minutes.  I hope I am wrong but for this to be a good outcome is if Rotroff has a complete transformation from what we saw last year.  I still think Dambrot needs to bring in one more player….a Bailey Steele type would fit the bill perfectly.  I will call this position to be determined.

Conclusion, I believe we will be a much better team next year.  I think one more Bailey Steele player  puts us in a much better position  to compete with the top teams in the League
 

Great analysis CLK and agree that one more 6-9 6-10 player with experience puts us in a much more confident position. That being said we don't know Hima's ability right now, but my gut tells me he'll be a pleasant surprise.
 

El Presidente wrote:

I'll be honest here. I truly believe that next years team could be the best KD team that we have seen so far. Maybe i'm delusional. Maybe I should seek help. I don't know. I am expecting an outstanding team and one that should challenge for the A-10 title. I believe it will depend on how quickly things come together. Plenty of talent here. Time will tell.

I also believe the same. More talent, more ball handling skills, more bulk, length etc...Time will indeed tell.
 

I dont know what the team will do or how it performs,I just want to look around the renovated building,enjoy
the improved fan experience and raise hell with 3500 of my friends every game who come in to the building
and are as passionate about the Dukes as I am.Shoo-shoo rah-rah ,lets go Duquesne!

Thanks for some well thought out responses, without tears, especially CLK and Phil.

My big thing is still chemistry. Every year putting guys together who haven't played together and don't know each other's moves, is still a big limiting factor in my view, even if the talent coming in is "better" on paper than in years prior.

Tejas_Duke wrote:

Thanks for some well thought out responses, without tears, especially CLK and Phil.

My big thing is still chemistry. Every year putting guys together who haven't played together and don't know each other's moves, is still a big limiting factor in my view, even if the talent coming in is "better" on paper than in years prior.

Very true. 

KD & staff are too accomplished & have done too good of a job with recruiting the last 2 years for them to field a bad A-10 team. I am appreciative of being able to write that I am now very confident that the team will be above average in conference, every season.

However, in order to reach his own, lofty goals & make us posters happy, Dambrot will need to develop a roster driven by a much stronger culture, chemistry, & continuity than has recently been on display. I can accept that due to the current state of college basketball, this will look quite different than it would have a decade ago. Having only 2 or 3 kids transfer out each offseason will now be considered a victory. However, upgrading the players/the number of good players & facilities without becoming way above average in these other areas will have this regime moving on after year 7 or 8 with a lot of boxes left unchecked.

I firmly believe that KD will leave the program in much, much better condition than he found it but, waiting a total of 10 years post-Ferry to be the class of the A-10 is just too damn slow for me.

The good news is that, as far as I can tell, with the exception of SBU & Richmond, every other team in the conference will have had to work through plenty of their own roster uncertainty due to COVID and this year's transferapalooza.

What gives me the most reason for worry for next years team is the pg situation. As good as these 2 look on video doesn't convince me they will look anything like that as a freshman here. Brandon Wade would be a perfect example of this. He was great on video but not ready to go as a freshman. I'd like to get a seasoned pg from the portal to ease these guys in..

WashPaRick wrote:

What gives me the most reason for worry for next years team is the pg situation. As good as these 2 look on video doesn't convince me they will look anything like that as a freshman here. Brandon Wade would be a perfect example of this. He was great on video but not ready to go as a freshman. I'd like to get a seasoned pg from the portal to ease these guys in..

Rick that is very a good point, and a big concern.  Spears and Johnson have to hit the ground college ready.  The thing that gives me comfort in these two kids is that unlike Brandon that came straight out of high school, both Spears and Johnson played for high level prep schools and stood out against major competition.  Not a sure thing, but an easier transition than coming directly out of high school. 

In regard to the comments by Phil on the lack of discipline during KD last four years.  I think KD made it clear in the end of the year video (below) that he made some mistakes in handling certain players and put up with a lot of crap in trying to build this program. He implied that he was going to clean house and he did it. 

The portal in so many ways is very liberating.  There is no longer a stigma in getting rid of players who cause problems.   Moreover the old model of building your team  and taking chances on players who you think can develop and make into good players in two years is gone for most schools. You now build your team with key transfers and what you believe are immediate impact players The cost outweighs the benefits in this old model for schools like DU who don't get five star players. You can getter better players at lower risk via transfers who no longer have to sit out a year, and are less likely to transfer again.

One last comment.  I am beginning to believe that barring some unforeseen circumstances DU there will not be any additional players added to the roster.  One more player will leave, and will go with the current roster roster.  There are a lot of unknowns about this team   I still have a lot of confidence in KD  and am optimistic about this team.  






 

Clk great job. I watched the Bonnie’s post game press conference . DAMBROT “ I guarantee it won’t happen again” Discipline or the highway. I will not miss the absurd technical fouls by the players if as I suspect he will no longer waiver his demands on the players both on & off the court. Good stuff CLK

This is one of the better threads in recent memory; thanks for all of the thoughtful contributions.

In this new transfer landscape, we are going to find out who really can coach.  It reminded me of a quote attributed to Bum Phillips about Bear Bryant: "Bryant can take his'n and beat your'n, and then he can turn around and take your'n and beat his'n."  Coaches now have to be flexible and not get locked into recruiting and developing players who can only fit into their rigid system; they have to modify their system to get the most out of the talent they have been able to acquire. I think that Dambrot is up to this challenge.
BTW, I think that Ron Everhart would do well in this environment; he certainly knew how to scramble and craft a competitive team under the most extraordinary situations (after the shootings, crafting the 10-40, etc.).