Couple of thoughts from yesterdays game. Maybe it shouldn't bother me but every time they showed the players huddled around the coach the transfers were standing off to the side talking and laughing and not paying any attention to their teammates or coach. Maybe if they listened in they could benefit from what the coach was saying. The other thing was Jarrett telling Ray that we don't have a point guard. Jarrett not holding back.

WashPaRick wrote:

Couple of thoughts from yesterdays game. Maybe it shouldn't bother me but every time they showed the players huddled around the coach the transfers were standing off to the side talking and laughing and not paying any attention to their teammates or coach. Maybe if they listened in they could benefit from what the coach was saying. The other thing was Jarrett telling Ray that we don't have a point guard. Jarrett not holding back.

They started more serious particularly Randall who joined the starters for a quick pregame huddle for the tip. Then they got frustrated by perceived lack of hustle / lack of execution. They rode the current players pretty hard. Then they lost interest when it didn't work. Agree I'd like to see a little more focus, but it was at least there for some of the game.

Dambrot post game interview:
https://youtu.be/e06swvksees

I think we all understood this was a transition year, and what was important was focusing on how the players grow, and develop and how Dambrot can instills his will, philosophy and teaching on this team.  So far this has been a mixed bag to me.  It is very early, but individually we can see that certain returning players are showing improvement especially defensively, but on the other side of the ball are reverting to old selfish habits and ball hogging tendencies, poor decision making, and unforced turnovers.  I really do not see much structure to this offense.  Part of this I am sure is hidden by poor execution and ball hogging tendencies, as well as lack of confidence.  Case in point, not to pick on him, but I thought Smith really hurt us last night with his determination to drive the ball into a crowd before looking for a passing option or pulling up to take the jumper or taking the open three point shot leading to 5 turnovers.  Good coaches like Toole notice that and will give up the three all night long.  Perhaps the biggest disappointment to me is the lack of team toughness in rebounding and ability to get back on defense.  There are bright spots in Verhoeven and Williams but RMU is not a big team and yet they out scrapped, the Dukes all night.  I know much of this is due fatigue, but we were down in the rebounding margin by 12 going into halftime.

I am sure that coach Dambrot will use this game as a teaching experience.  I am hoping that we will see some of these issues improving as we get our injured players back, and Coach imposes his will on this team.  This is going to be a challenging year, but the future looks extremely bright.  

Someone who understands the finer points about basketball should correct me, but what I see with Robinson is that he gets the ball too far away from the basket and at an angle where he struggles to do anything. He gets double teamed as soon as he touches the ball, and instead of looking to pass he's trying to put the ball on the floor. And as strong as he is, he's not looking to explode over slighter opponents and dunk. His layups are kind of soft.

Again, I'm not an expert. That's just what it looks like to me.

Tydus has a nice touch around the rim. He's more agile, seems to handle the ball better, and he'll look to pass if he gets in trouble. His seven blocks were all (if I remember right) on layup attempts. Imagine the final score if he doesn't stop those shots, and commits a few more fouls. Yikes.

Mike Lewis II looks a little lost in the 3-guard offense. Wish I could explain what I mean. He goes off to the left corner, usually with someone covering him, and becomes uninvolved in the offense. Clearly something's off because he's not even hitting FTs right now.

With the injury to James (not knowing how long he'll be out) and Brown and Krivavevic still "on IR," we're going to have our struggles.

What I think may evolve once everyone is healthy is more of a tall frontcourt to start (Brown, Verhoeven and Williams) and natural backcourt (Castro-Canedy and Smith rotating with Lewis, James spelling Lewis), With Robinson, Krivacevic and Kratholm getting spot/situational minutes.

Would love to hear from you guys who are at the games.

Planned to be at the game but the plans changed due to family matters. Nothing serious thankfully. Had my phone on and checked the score all throughout the game. I can add nothing to what has been said here except that I always see the glass half full as opposed to the other way. To see that Tydus had the game that he had as well as 18 pts. and 8 rebounds from Eric Williams is most encouraging to me. With Lewis only a soph. we have 3 outstanding players to build around moving forward. With the transfers and freshman next year, I see only green lights ahead for the program! Don't mean to say that the year is lost. Not at all. We will have Chase Brown and Marko back along with Kellon. We will have our up moments. The loss was not totally unexpected but certainly disappointing. . RMU is a much better team than the first 2 cupcakes. Will certainly challenge for the NEC championship. Even at that, we were in the game until the very end. I hope to be at most of the remainder of the home games rooting like crazy for our Dukes.

ElDuque wrote:

Someone who understands the finer points about basketball should correct me, but what I see with Robinson is that he gets the ball too far away from the basket and at an angle where he struggles to do anything. He gets double teamed as soon as he touches the ball, and instead of looking to pass he's trying to put the ball on the floor. And as strong as he is, he's not looking to explode over slighter opponents and dunk. His layups are kind of soft.


Tydus has a nice touch around the rim. He's more agile, seems to handle the ball better, and he'll look to pass if he gets in trouble. His seven blocks were all (if I remember right) on layup attempts. Imagine the final score if he doesn't stop those shots, and commits a few more fouls. Yikes.

Mike Lewis II looks a little lost in the 3-guard offense. Wish I could explain what I mean. He goes off to the left corner, usually with someone covering him, and becomes uninvolved in the offense. Clearly something's off because he's not even hitting FTs right now.

With the injury to James (not knowing how long he'll be out) and Brown and Krivavevic still "on IR," we're going to have our struggles.

What I think may evolve once everyone is healthy is more of a tall frontcourt to start (Brown, Verhoeven and Williams) and natural backcourt (Castro-Canedy and Smith rotating with Lewis, James spelling Lewis), With Robinson, Krivacevic and Kratholm getting spot/situational minutes.

I don't think that's what Robinson is trying to do but rather what the defense is doing to him. He seems a little indecisive at times with the ball, which gives the help time to rotate. He could make his move quicker or elect to pass or take the baseline mid-range jumper he is often given and he is capable of hitting, imho.

Tydus has an unlimited defensive ceiling.

Hadn't thought about Lewis in that sense. Really, he's playing more of the three than the two in this offense meaning he's learning to play a new position to start the year again!

As for the healthy lineup, I also think we'll see two bigs, but I think the three guard set goes away with Williams moving to a more natural 3.

ElDuque wrote:

Boy, a loss really brought out the malcontents. I had missed some of the page 2 posts!

I'm guessing it was undefeated national championship or bust for some folks. Sorry to see your season end so soon.

I really don't understand some of the comments. When coach D decided to sign 5 transfers, it should have been obvious that we were going to have some rough stretches this year. We started with only 7 scholarship players last night (Harper said kratholm is not on athletic scholarship), and eventually were down to 6 when James got hurt. Despite the lack of depth and rebounding issues, had Mike Lewis been his normal self we would have won that game.

2012 totally agree. What I find distressing is I actually thought our guards could play better. I’m not sure they can. Mike Lewis has shown me NOTHING this year and that concerns me. Could it be that finally playing defense is having an effect on the offensive end?

Dome, there is an adjustment for sure.  I am not worried about Lewis, however, as he is a tough hard working kid.  I believe he will shake this off, regain his confidence by working hard in the gym, and bounce back.  Coach just needs to make sure the ball gets in his hands more.  I agree with the post above would like to see him running the point more.

Last edited by CLK (11/20/2017 2:44 pm)

Please watch the post game video if you haven't.  I agree with El Duque and others.  I actually thought it was refreshing to hear the coach and players say no excuses and it was refreshing to not hear our coach make excuses!!  The team did so many things lackluster in so many areas that this game film may be an opportunity for the players to see up front what they need to do.  I think folks are probably  more upset because it is a loss to Robert Morris.  Again, an established coach with players he has been recruiting.  We will be fine!!

Mike Ignelsi wrote:

We do have a point guard: Mike Lewis.  That was his role on a great H.S. team, and last year if I'm not mistaken.  Instead, he runs the baseline off picks as if he were a small forward.  Let him bring it up and get things going; let him have the whole court to work with instead of half.   We all agree this will be a tough year.  Anyway, to the good - Tydus!  Have you noticed how long his arms are?  They hang almost to his knees, making him a much bigger player than 6'8".   Bill Russel had long arms at 6'9" and was the greatest shot blocker of all time.   Tydus has the knack.  Wait till he's a junior with twenty pounds of muscle and experience. 

I believe Tydus just turned 19 a couple of days ago.