Necas does play decent defense and is a decent rebounder. However, the math is what it is.  He is not a good 3-point shooter at this level based on what he has produced Just because these players could shoot in high school does not mean it will transition to the college game, especially at this level.  the 3 is a big issue for us and as other have been commenting so is the lack of spacing, movement and the over dribbling.  These, combined with not having any "snipers" makes it much easier to game plan for us.  

He’s got a very smooth stroke. I think once Necas sees a couple go through the basket, we will see a different guy. It appears to be all confidence at the moment.

FWIW - from KenPom....
The Dukes have played the toughest conference schedule so far.  VCU and Saint Joe's have played the weakest.
The Dukes have played the toughest overall schedule of any A10 team - 60th toughest schedule in the country.  Dayton (69th) and Saint Louis (74th) are the only other A10 teams in the top 100 toughest schedules.

Styles1229 wrote:

PhoenixRising2 wrote:

https://pittsburghsportsnow.com/2024/01/25/inside-the-dukes-back-on-track-2/

Zac Weiss’ State of the Dukes article.

What “issues last season” I wonder is KD referring to when speaking about Matus. I know he rode the pine the 2nd half of the season and didn’t even dress but I thought it was injury related. It seems it was something else

I am not 100% certain but I understand that it was long Covid that Matus was fighting through.

Kudos to the student reporter that wrote this article. It is better expressed & constructed than 90% of the articles written by the professionals that cover the Dukes.

I know I am going to get clobbered for this so, feel free to do your worst.

A coach that is meeting before & after every practice with the same player for the purposes described in this article strikes me as one incapable of doing his job. Similarly, a coach that cannot find his alpha dog among 7 graduate players, (3 of whom have played for him for multiple years),is doing something terribly wrong.

I like Kareem's spunk & spirit on the court & off. I also think he is capable of being a very good back-up PG for a top-tier A-10 team or the starting PG on a bottom 4 A-10 team.That may read like an insult but it is not. Those are fine achievements for a 5' 8" player with no other real D-1 offers coming out of high school.

I pose the following questions to this most devoted group of Duquesne basketball fans. Have the last 6 games left you under the impression that this team has any strong player leadership guiding it toward excellence? Where the hell has this awesome leadership been in the last 5 minutes of the last 3 games?

All of this "best leader I have ever coached" talk is wildly unfair to Kareem, his teammates, & the 3 & 4 year players on those "championship" Akron teams KD is so quick to talk about. It also reminds me a great deal of KD's sticking to his BS mantra far into the 21-22 season about that being his most talented team.

Last edited by phil95 (1/26/2024 2:45 pm)

Phil I am not going to comment on your post. I will let others judge your post above and the one where you encouraged Kareem to transfer

My response is to Kareem and his teammates:

Don't let anyone limit or define who you are or will be. Believe that all things are possible and don't listen to the Naysayers. The one's who say "you can't" and "you won't" are probably the one's scared that "you will".

You have now made your feelings very clear in 2 passive-aggressive posts. Why not just respond in the form of a dissenting opinion as part of the overall conversation.

For the record, I didn't encourage him to transfer. I pointed out that he would most likely have a more successful college basketball experience under different circumstances. He seems like a great kid & pretty good player that is in over his head  competition wise. He deserves better than the nonsense expectations KD has burdened him with just like Mike Lewis III & Sin.

CLK wrote:

Phil I am not going to comment on your post. I will let others judge your post above and the one where you encouraged Kareem to transfer

My response is to Kareem and his teammates:

Don't let anyone limit or define who you are or will be. Believe that all things are possible and don't listen to the Naysayers. The one's who say "you can't" and "you won't" are probably the one's scared that "you will".

I agree that mentorship is a wonderful thing & the best player doesn’t always have to be the team leader. Successful team leaders come in many different shapes, styles, & sizes. However, this part of the article erodes what little confidence I have left in KD for turning this season back around while confirming some suspicions I have always had concerning his management of player development.

"Before every practice, Dambrot sits down for a meeting with Rozier, where they calculate a plan to “attack the day”

They talk about how to get through to his teammates, their different perspectives conspiring to maximize potential.

Then, they meet after practice. Dambrot says Rozier helps build culture through accountability"

Do you feel like you see a high degree of accountability & maximized potential on the court this season? Have these traits been in evidence over the last 6.5 seasons? What could Kareem possibly know about planning practices & daily activities? What level of mentorship are the other players & assistant coaches receiving? What kind of results has this process yielded for the most experienced, talented, deepest, blessed with size team in more than a decade? Does KD cite any other player on the team for their contributions to winning even half as much as he does Kareem?

Am I 100 times more interested in having a successful basketball team than I am in KD promoting/mentoring Kareem into a jump-started coaching career? Guilty as charged!

The overall value of this year's recruiting class has been greatly reduced by not bringing in an experienced PG to challenge Kareem for the job. I suspect that this was so the teacher's pet could have the job to himself.

I have repeatedly and sincerely written very positive things about Kareem & will probably continue to do so. (Please run some misdirection plays specifically to get him open 3s so to open the lane a bit!!!)I am just fed up with hearing about how much better off the team is due to his leadership & play when there is very little evidence of this being the case. Right now, this team lacks leadership from the coaching staff & players alike.

CityDuke wrote:

Phil, I highly doubt that Dambrot is meeting with Rozier so frequently out of inability to do his own job. I doubt someone who has won over 500 games is looking for Rozier to save him. Just a wild guess here, but maybe it’s mentorship.  All great leaders provide platforms for their people to learn and grow. Maybe it’s empowerment. Maybe it’s humility and providing people within his organization a voice. Maybe it’s providing Rozier an opportunity to hone his gift of leadership. I have so many quotes from players and staff about Rozier’s innate ability to lead.

Another thing, the leader of the team is not always the best player of the team.  In fact, on the best teams throughout sports history, it is quite the opposite. I would encourage you to check out a book called A Captain’s Class. It explores the winningest teams throughout sports history and finds what made them tick. None of the leaders on these teams were the best players. Jordan’s Bulls didn’t crack into this list. So Rozier can be the leader of the team without having to make the plays down the stretch. But yes, our Dukes need someone to!

My opinion of Kareem has not changed as the season has progressed. I have stated it multiple times.  It is a highly positive one.  But what are we talking about?  A leader?  How does one rate a “great” leader?  If he is the leader, he has “led” the group to a 1-5 conference record so far and has made at least one crucial mistake at crunch time that directly led to a loss.  Intangibles are unquantifiable so they can be debated endlessly.  I think Kareem is an outstanding human being with charisma and savvy that is rare in this age of spoiled and entitled athletes.  He also provides great value to this team but let’s not let all those positive attributes blind us.  It is clear he is being misused and the team is suffering because of it.

The Bonnies beat St. Joe's by 19 last night while shooting .58/.44/.88. They looked like a different team. I think this speaks volumes about this season's A-10.