Thanks Phoenix, I look forward to these before every game.

Okay, my Duquesne Anxiety is setting In:
-Big Crowd today...former players...how will it impact the team mentally?
-Playing a good team...coming off an emotional big win...how will the team be emotionally?

Geeze...I can't stand the pressure!!!!  Here is where I really believe coaching comings in.  Not the X's and O's but the talking - explaining - reviewing - trying to get in the kids' heads before the other thoughts.

Go Dukes!

I always look forward to and appreciate these previews too Phoenix. Thanks for what you do.

It looks like turnovers could be the determining factor today. That's always a good assumption against VCU, but both teams force alot of turnovers and both teams commit alot of turnovers. Let's hope Sincere and TDM are at the top of their game.

Twitter has Wade starting in place of carry.  His knee is wrapped and heis not in warmups.  Dang.

Last edited by townsonkid (1/26/2019 1:56 pm)

Of course our best player is unable to play in this one. Hanging tough so far though.

How long does it take to learn how to set a screen?

I got another bottle of Maalox ready.  😃

townsonkid wrote:

We miss layups like elementary kids. Ugh!

That and the free throws today.

Tough loss against a good team.  Missed several layups, EW was way off, no Sin, and Weathers very quiet. Nice games from TDM and Frankie. Disappointed, but it's a sign of how far they've come to take a top 60-70 team to the wire with so much working against them.  Beat RI, probably lose at Dayton, then schedule softens up.  11-7 within range.

yak-rbc wrote:

We were very happy with the idea of splitting these 1st 2 games beforehand. Given the circumstances of the 2nd game, I think we should be moderately pleased.

That's a game we could've had though, despite the cold threes in the half, if we made free throws like we had been. Rough day from the line

Brutal from the line the last two games.
 

A few observations:
Loved the atmosphere and  the Student Section was into it throughout....... Very cool.
Really enjoyed half time and the respect given to players from Duquesne hoops history.
We got killed on the boards and 17 turnovers is brutal.
The 5 minute span where Bizeau went off that culminated in a VCU timeout and our bench going crazy was worth the price of admission!
 To play VCU as tough as the kids did without Carry is a positive.
Think how far the program has progressed in a year and a half......... Amazing.
 

Last edited by Ghost of Walter White (1/26/2019 5:33 pm)

It was too much to ask to beat the best team in the conference without Carry.  TDM played fantastic in the first half but ran out of gas- envelope missing two free throws when they really needed them.

The refs called almost nothing against VCU inside defense and allowed them to completely body up Hughes and Weathers.  They stopped going to Bizeau for some reason which could have loosened things up down low.

I sat behind Rothoff's grandfather-  a real class guy.  Said the swelling hasn't gone down enough yet to operate.

Then ran into Tim Benz and our cheerleading coach at the Red Ring. 

He was surprised that the Dukes hung is as well as they did with little support from some key players and without Carry.

Best crowd of the year... With Carry, the game would have been different.

Last edited by coffee (1/26/2019 5:50 pm)

Yup!   Need a lot more oout of bigs, weathers, williams on the boards.  Kelly needs to hunker down in the paint, allows guys to get around him too easily.  MHughes will bounce back vs uri.  Need him!    Get uri wednesday, 2-1 vs the better teams will be a success.  🤞🏼🙏🏼 for Carry’s knee.