I posted a link to an article at the Amodio thread. Ferry is mentioned as a candidate for the Quinnipiac job. Sounds like he wants to leave, too. When so many coaches who come here fail, the common link is the University. What or who is causing the program to fail, year after year, decade after decade? It can't be just the coach, though that is a factor.

You're right about the university. There is no commitment to winning. From the Board of Musty Trustees on down. I think Dr. Gormley has shown great interest as a fan, and I appreciate it. Probably the most interest from the president's office since Father MacAnulty, who used to regularly come to The Duke office to talk hoops (he knew the game, too). But he will be powerless when TBOMT throws its weight around. Ditto for Mr. Harper, who under different conditions would be an excellent AD, but who will find himself crushed by a trustee board that is committed, at best, to finishing 7-8 in a 14 school conference.

As for Ferry and Quinippiac, as much as we might joke about it here, there is as much truth to that rumor is there is to the one that Colin Craphead, Darelle Revis, Brandon Marshall, Elvis Dumerville, etc., are coming to the Steelers.

Amodio spent money on a search committee. He left Duquesne because he knew he screwed up on the Ferry hiring. If Amodio has so much as a lick of sense, and the search firm comes back with a list with Ferry's name on it, he will refuse to pay the firm.

Ferry to anywhere would be the wildest speculation ever. Two successful seasons in 15 at the D1 level. Five losing seasons in a row. 21 losses this year. Be like a handless butcher expecting a new job.

Ferry and Duquesne are perfect for each other. Neither really cares about winning.

Amazingly, there used to be people on this board who were glad to see Everhart go, and who thought the hiring of Ferry represented a glorious future. They are long gone, some having bailed as soon as Ferry's second season.

Clearly, from a fan's perspective the Ferry hiring was a mistake.

But from Duquesne's perspective, he fits like a glove. A latex glove.

The kind that makes everyone uncomfortable.

ElDuque wrote:

Live by the Derrick Colter game ending heroics, die by the Derrick Colter game ending heroics. St. Louis knew exactly what it wanted to do at the end, and who was going to take the shot. We should have had three bodies in the lane, or something. We're just not prepared for those situations and it shows.

I felt bad for Blackman. Camera showed him in tears when it was over. Tough way to end your career, if 21 losses isn't tough enough.

Abrahamson made a nice catch at the end but the shot, unless it was blocked, left me scratching my head.

Jim Ferry will be back. Don't get worked up about it. It is what it is, and it is Duquesne. No commitment to winning. If you've read Ferry's recent quotes, it's about getting to the middle of the pack. That's it. Going to play any home games in the ballroom in the Student Union, going to try to win 15-16 games next year by playing teams with 325 or worse RPI, going to drop hints everywhere that big things are coming.

But nothing is going to change.

Including the coach.

If anything, a John Rhodes might be lured away by a better offer. If that happens, maybe someone on the swimming team can become our top assistant.

Carry on.

From my vantage point courtside Abrahamson either rushed his shot or just could not line his body up to the basket with in the 1.6 left on the clock. That Duquesne got a look, and a good one at that was surprising.

I feel for Emile Blackman as well. I think he feels responsible because of the two missed free throws, but it was a team effort for not handling the press and not so great shot selection. For anyone who thought the players either gave up or in some cases flat out did not care, just look at Emile's reaction and see if you do not think he or the team cared.

It is a disappointing way for Duquesne's season to end and really it was as if it had not learned anything from all of these other close games. You can practice these situations in practice but when the lights came on this team was not ready to close games.

My hope is that Duquesne does what it feels is right moving forward.

Mulder wrote:

I said in the St. Louis thread after that loss I now lean toward we will fire him.  It's not a strong belief because I still feel that we won't want to spend the money and because I don't see who would be willing to take the risk on Duquesne  

Ok, IMO this is where the thinking gets delusional, not among us but the usual DU mindset.  Harper is really going to talk about fundraising and probably selling bonds to fund a 40 million dollar renovation of our home court, but at the same time, with a straight face (indirectly) tell the faithful that they can't afford to eat six figures of Jim Ferry!


 

I agree with Mulder's perspective that there is more to consider than the price of the buyout. Would making a coaching change feed the perception that Duquesne is just taking the easy way out and blaming the coach for all of institutional issues which have made it difficult to win.  It is an unenviable position. On one hand you may doubt whether the current coach has the tools to win at this level, but he has recruited a couple of players who were all-league freshmen; with two more three stars inked for next season.  Do you disrupt the current talent and most likely lose the three signed recruits?  The system taught by the staff hasn't produced wins either in or out of conference at anything near an acceptable rate for five full seasons.  Can the free-lance system seemingly based on individuals beating their man to the basket with little ball sharing ever work; even with more talent?  Will the interior defense which appears incapable of stopping even the most pedestrian center/forwards from easily getting layups, improve with new faces?  Will the sagging attendance improve even if we see somewhat better results next season? 
Was there a "handshake agreement" with the coach allotting him more than five seasons to turn it around? 
Do your contacts in the coaching field give you any feedback as to whether there are candidates with very good credentials who would consider the job? 
Assuming the Palumbo plan is a "go" do you want try to attract a better coach when he'll have no on-campus arena for 2 years?
I'm sure this is just a short list of the issues to be considered, but from my perspective it is painful to watch teams come to town game after game and year after year who almost universally play smarter and more team-oriented basketball than Duquesne.  I wonder if this issue will improve with new players?  Can we find players with a high basketball IQ, or are they only executing as they are taught? 
There were games last season when I thought the team shared the ball and executed beautifully on offense, but was this just because Micah Mason and Jeremiah were like "coaches on the floor"?  Can our young players develop these attributes under the current regime? 
I'll leave those questions on the table for discussion.

Last edited by levon1975 (3/09/2017 1:01 pm)

FAM wrote:

Not a winning season in five years
One of the worst winning percentages in Duquesne history
No gain in defensive skills in 5 years
Attendance low compared to Danny Née Years
Less than 25 students at some games

THOSE ARE ISSUES!!

yeah it's a perfect storm. Ferry failed worse than any of us, even the die hard Ron supporters, ever would have dreamed. With the plans for the upgrades coming right now as we look at an utterly failed basketball coach leaves us between the proverbial Scilla and Charybdis!  My God if we were only at CBI level, a game or two within .500, no one would be talking about firing him, especially now. But the fact of the matter is, he is not! Not even close.

So, can Harper sell the 40 million in upgrades to a potential coach that we are no longer a "graveyard of careers" or "Same Old Duquesne?"  I don't know.

Can he convince the incoming three recruits to stay? Can he convince the Mikes to stay?

I even told Harper personally that I didn't envy him raising the Titanic. Well he had the Titanic partially off the ocean floor and all the cables snapped, it fell back and sunk even deeper into the muck.