Well there aren't many teams on our schedule we could have beaten today, but luckily we were playing one of them. This win is only good in comparison to where we've been in the last 35 years, but a win when you bring your D game is still a positive sign.

TDM shot the lights out. Usually I'd laugh at a comparison to Curry, but it looked like anything across halfcourt was in his range today. There were a couple that would have been terrible shots had they not gone in, but they did. Having said that, the lack of experience really shows without Carry, and especially so when Mike is getting a breather. This was another streaky performance where we'd have stretches running crisp sets and getting good looks (even if they didn't fall), and then have stretches of standing around, aimless dribbling, and poor shots. If the direction and purpose can't come from the players on the court, it's got to come from the bench.

This was one of the worst officiated games I've seen. There were multiple times the refs disagreed with each other. There was no consistency on what got called, and they flat out missed some blatant calls. They also went to the monitor for seemingly no reason a couple times.

It looked like one of the bigger crowds of the season, which is a good sign given the competition. I loved the well deserved Bronx cheers at the refs, and a great let's go Dukes chant towards the end. Hopefully the women have a good crowd too.

Dayton lost, George Mason lost, and St. Bonaventure is losing. With just two games left, we are definitely still in the running for the double bye.

I think Keith and staff do a masterful job at halftime and in-game adjustments, but does anyone ever wonder about the pre-game preparation? The Coop's getting a new video room, no? They need it.

Agree about the officiating. The game took almost 2 1/2 hours to play. That's a lot for a college basketball game that doesn't go into overtime. I'm sure some of you guys get really excited about seeing Wade, Bizeau and Kelly on the floor at the same time, but it makes for some cringeworthy basketball. That's our team right now though. After the starting 5, the only other sub is Norman. Williams is front-rimming a lot of shots and really looks worn down to me, but still getting his numbers by the end of the game. It was a win and we're not used to seeing those this time of year, so I'll take it. Not sure we'll see another without Carry. Hope I'm wrong. 

How about that coach for umass. Looked like he was 19

I had to look twice at the box score.  I knew we were getting beat badly on the boards but could not believe we got beat 49 to 24.  Also to Dennis point, bench points we were outscored 27 to 3. There are not too many teams that overcome those kind of stats.  The compensating factor (in addition to the great 30 points by TDM), was that we only had 7 turnovers to UMass 19. 

This team plays hard, does not give up, and pulled yet another victory.  Go Dukes! 

 https://goduquesne.com/boxscore.aspx?path=mbball&id=9713

Simms wrote:

Dukes2012 wrote:

TDM won this game for us. Unreal effort.

He looked like a little Steph Curry out there.

Congrats to TDM for a great performance.  But, the turning point, it seemed to me, was when Mike Hughes intercepted the inbounds for an easy layup.  That seemed to create the momentum to build the separation, which, until then, wasn't there.

Also, did anyone notice Kellon Taylor during the timeouts?  He looked to be coaching during the breaks.  Fantastic non-playing team mate!

 

Last edited by indygjm (3/02/2019 7:17 pm)

Nice article-
https://triblive.com/sports/tavian-dunn-martin-has-30-points-duquesne-rallies-for-milestone-victory-80-73-over-umass/

coffee wrote:

Nice article-
https://triblive.com/sports/tavian-dunn-martin-has-30-points-duquesne-rallies-for-milestone-victory-80-73-over-umass/

Two more articles from Chris Adamski at the Trib:
https://triblive.com/sports/diminutive-dunn-martin-stands-tall-for-duquesne-in-win-over-umass/

https://triblive.com/sports/duquesne-making-history-in-dambrots-2nd-season/
 

wharfrat wrote:

The freshmen bigs we we're looking forward to haven't worked out so well yet, but looking forward to a healthy Rotroff, Swingle and James Ellis next year.

Bigs typically take a little bit longer to develop, so I think it is early to write off the current players. I am not expecting too much the first year from Ellis or Swingle.
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I do think, even when it is outscored as badly as it was today, getting the young players meaningful minutes in a conference game win is a net positive. 

If Tavian can get 24 more points in his last 2 games and m. Hughes gets 12 we will have 6 players averaging double digits in conf. games.

Another comeback win...
Minimum win probability of 17.4%, down 9 points 63-54 with 7:17 left.

coffee wrote:

PhoenixRising2 wrote:

Another comeback win...
Minimum win probability of 17.4%, down 9 points 63-54 with 7:17 left.

 
I like this pattern of beating the odds heading into the tournament!

Oddsmakers are giving us only a 4% chance of winning the A-10.

Makes sense. The natural odds of winning 4 games are 1/2 to the 4th power, or 1/16th (6.66%)

After the first game, the Dukes would probably be playing teams that finished above them in the standings, so they woud be assigned a less than 50% chance in each of those games. 

mm76or99 wrote:

wharfrat wrote:

The freshmen bigs we we're looking forward to haven't worked out so well yet, but looking forward to a healthy Rotroff, Swingle and James Ellis next year.

Bigs typically take a little bit longer to develop, so I think it is early to write off the current players. I am not expecting too much the first year from Ellis or Swingle.
----------------------------------------------------------------

I do think, even when it is outscored as badly as it was today, getting the young players meaningful minutes in a conference game win is a net positive. 

I was listening to the Jeff Capel radio show last week on 93.7 on the way home and they were talking about the weekend matchup with Virginia (Capel is honestly a great listen and is super sharp).

Capel said UVA redshirts all their big men to give them a year to develop physically and he said it was a huge advantage they always have. That’s talking about 3 and 4 star guys. Makes me more than excited about Swingle Ellis, and Rotroff with Hughes next year.

How can you be anything but ecstatic with this young talented team. They are so gutsy and have pulled out so many improbable comebacks as they learn along the way. Can’t wait to see all these guys as upper classmen.

Look for Carry to be back for the A10 tourney....

Last edited by Duques102 (3/03/2019 2:13 pm)