Brian

[color=#333333 wrote:

Will need to clean up the rebounding and these next few games are against teams that aren't so good on the offensive boards so we will find out if last years defensive [/color]achilles heel is still an issue or tonight was an aberration. 

Yeah not to be a downer, but that was the one big flaw I noticed, too  many times Steele (noticed him most) and the other bigs were not in position and didn't box out well.  A better team would have made them pay for that. But that is my only small complaint.
 

Dukes back late last night/early morning.  Here today, gone tomorrow.  On their way to GW Friday for another game on Saturday.  This is why I said I hope the coach figures out a way to give these guys a little rest.  This is a brutal week.  Another test (aren’t they all?) - coming off of a nice win - away game - on the bus again Friday - another away game against a better opponent Saturday.  Good Luck Dukes - get some rest - know we are behind you.  Go Dukes!!

Last edited by FAM (1/09/2020 8:33 am)

FAM wrote:

Good to Know - here is my tonight’s prediction:  I don’t know...if I did, I would bet!!!
HOWEVER, if we do win, I believe we will have a realistic shot at the NIT as the season continues to unfold.  If we win, I believe it means we haven’t just gone up and down as usual, but have actually gone up another level to a true competitor. Go Dukes!

Forget about the NIT, we're on the bubble for the NCAA at this point. Going by the NET rankings, we'd be the 8th team out of the NCAA. That would give us a 2 seed in the NIT hosting Cincinnati. The schedule will obviously get harder from here on out, but I look at that as an opportunity than a detriment. We've played enough so far that we still have a chance to play our way into the NCAA, even if we don't win in Brooklyn. If not, like you said the NIT is definitely in play, and even hosting a couple games.

Never thought I’d admit this but I missed Phil Martelli.

Last edited by coffee (1/09/2020 10:59 am)

luckymcd wrote:

FAM wrote:

Good to Know - here is my tonight’s prediction:  I don’t know...if I did, I would bet!!!
HOWEVER, if we do win, I believe we will have a realistic shot at the NIT as the season continues to unfold.  If we win, I believe it means we haven’t just gone up and down as usual, but have actually gone up another level to a true competitor. Go Dukes!

Forget about the NIT, we're on the bubble for the NCAA at this point. Going by the NET rankings, we'd be the 8th team out of the NCAA. That would give us a 2 seed in the NIT hosting Cincinnati. The schedule will obviously get harder from here on out, but I look at that as an opportunity than a detriment. We've played enough so far that we still have a chance to play our way into the NCAA, even if we don't win in Brooklyn. If not, like you said the NIT is definitely in play, and even hosting a couple games.

Pump the brakes there chief. We weren't even in the NIT in the last projection I saw and a win against a 240-something isnt moving the needle. This was fun, but be reasonable. Duquesne is probably at least 12 wins out of the bubble

DennisC91 wrote:

I won't miss Martelli, he always had his inferior teams ready to beat us in the conference tourney when we handled them in January, see last year and 2011. I wonder if a team ever won a game so easily when it gave up 26 offensive rebounds. The way Carry (with occasional help from Austin and even Steele) took Daly out of the game was sweet. He had been averaging 25 PPG in home games coming in. If St. Joe's tried anything to get him open, like screens, I didn't notice. 

Sin did a great job on Daly. Sin was first pressuring Daly on the dribble, forcing him out and preventing him from using the screen effectively.  Then Sin would/could fight over almost every screen that was being set. On those occasions where Sin was rubbed out by the screen, Steele and Austin would strongly hedge to disrupt Daly. Great communication on defense, and also great weak side help since they limited the pick and roll except for a couple of buckets.  It was quite an impressive defensive performance by the Dukes.

yak-rbc wrote:

Pump the brakes there chief. We weren't even in the NIT in the last projection I saw and a win against a 240-something isnt moving the needle. This was fun, but be reasonable. Duquesne is probably at least 12 wins out of the bubble

Yeah, I think we're going to need to get at least one win in our three games vs. Dayton and VCU and not slip up too much elsewhere (maybe two losses max against the rest of the conference schedule) to be in the NCAA at-large bid discussion. And of course, get at least 1-2 wins in Brooklyn. 
 

mjp1542 wrote:

DennisC91 wrote:

yak-rbc wrote:

Pump the brakes there chief. We weren't even in the NIT in the last projection I saw and a win against a 240-something isnt moving the needle. This was fun, but be reasonable. Duquesne is probably at least 12 wins out of the bubble

Yeah, I think we're going to need to get at least one win in our three games vs. Dayton and VCU and not slip up too much elsewhere (maybe two losses max against the rest of the conference schedule) to be in the NCAA at-large bid discussion. And of course, get at least 1-2 wins in Brooklyn. 
 

Any non-auto-bid NCAA campaign likely needs to include no more than four league losses. None of the losses -- at least at the moment -- can come against teams other than Dayton(2), VCU, Richmond, Saint Louis and URI. Minimum 2-4 in those games, likely needing one of the wins against a ranked UD team. Then they would need to probably make the A-10 final and lose to either UD or VCU (or another team that seems like an NCAA lock at that point). That's the recipe. It's complicated. But at least we can talk about it.

Go 26-7 overall, 14-4 in the conference, with no bad conference losses and an appearance in the tournament title game, and they're tough to keep out.

You guys are overlooking Bona. They struggled without Osunniyi. Since he came back, they're easily there with us, St. Lou, and Richmond. Both games will be wars.

It's fun to speculate but I have seen great season starts crash in
February.  For me, one game at a time.
GW is next game on Saturday.  Dukes are the better team on paper
but I have a concern about fatigue.  We really on have at best
an eight player rotation.  Two players on RS; one player on some sort
of probation; a little used freshman, Buckley, and a big in recovery Rotrof
It will be a tough game on Saturday and I am hoping we have enough left
in the legs to win.

Econ69 - Agree 100%  Yes, the “F“ word.    My worry is also Fatigue.

DennisC91 wrote:

duq81 wrote:

You guys are overlooking Bona. They struggled without Osunniyi. Since he came back, they're easily there with us, St. Lou, and Richmond. Both games will be wars.

Yeah, would definitely include Bonaventure in this formula. Split with Dayton, split with Bonaventure, lose at VCU, beat Richmond at home, split the road games against St. Louis and Rhode Island, win all the other games was the formula I had in mind. So no worse than 14-4 in league play and then win at least one and preferably two (which would put us in the conference championship game) in the conference tourney. Not easy, but doable. 
 

Definitely not overlooking the Bonnies, but they're at 116 in KenPom and 147 in NET right now, and a loss to a 100+ team is a bad loss for NCAA purposes. Hopefully, by year's end, they are in the top 100. I assume they will be. It's a shame Osunniyi got hurt and they lose a few games they had no business losing in the non-con.

Last edited by mjp1542 (1/09/2020 2:37 pm)

mjp1542 wrote:

From Joe Lunardi on the broadcast, for those who might not have heard:

"I actually think they’re better, and not because this is a blowout. Their length is more impressive in person. The trouble it causes defensively. And they have more ways to score than I thought. Sometimes a balanced offensive team like that doesn’t stand out on paper, but it’s more noticeable up close. The Hawks haven’t had any defensive answers, but even had they played a better defensive game, I’m not sure, in fact I’m fairly certain Duquesne would have had enough answers."
 
"I think I had them seventh on my ballot. Sometimes you get a team where the whole is greater than the sum of the parts. I think what has impressed me the most tonight is that they’re more than that. Their parts are good."
 
"First true road game. Not a particularly intimidating building. We’ll see when the go to the Ryan Center or when they go to the Sigel Center, or Dayton, or somewhere like St. Bonaventure. Some of the more, how do we say, unfriendly arenas in the league. Can they split those kind of road trips? If they do, then they’re going to be in the tournament. At minimum the NIT, and that would be an extraordinary year for the program."
 

Thanks for posting. Loved hearing all of this yesterday, especially from such a credible source.

yak-rbc wrote:

Pump the brakes there chief. We weren't even in the NIT in the last projection I saw and a win against a 240-something isnt moving the needle. This was fun, but be reasonable. Duquesne is probably at least 12 wins out of the bubble

I don't pretend to be a bracketologist, I just went straight by the NET rankings, which the NCAA uses to make the brackets. Obviously they don't religiously stick to them and nothing else like I did, but that's what the rankings say. I understand the skepticism, but if we can continue playing like this the NCAA is definitely a possibility even without winning the conference tourney.

mjp1542 wrote:

Was fun to watch the Dukes defend Daly in person. Sincere basically shared his uniform. Denied him the ball and was in his face if he managed to get it. Hawks did run screens to get him open, but Sin either blew them up by being too strong and quick, or a big man executed a good hedge. It was textbook stuff.

The offensive rebounds were tough, but I'll give them a break in that a lot of them came after collapsing help on Daly, which led to long 3s and odd caroms. Our guys need to box better, but it seemed like they had a bigger issue finding their man after help defense. That's correctable. When we were in position, we cleared the boards.

Most enjoyable, comfortable road game I've been to in years. Never gave them any belief. That's what good teams do to bad ones. Now, let's keep building on it.

The defensive execution was beautiful to watch. Sin did a great job shadowing him all over the court, but the other guards did too. The help defense was great when needed, and it was clear the game plan was to stop Daly and let the shots fall from elsewhere (and they didn't). Even the bigs got involved the few times Sin couldn't fight through the screens. I think just about everyone who saw the floor played a part in shutting Daly down. St. Joe's threw alot at us, and we had an answer for everything. This kind of defensive intensity and execution without resorting to gimmicks is great to see because it's something that can keep us in games even if we have an off night shooting. It's been a joy to watch on TV each game, but even better to see it in person.

This was only the second road game I've been to, but I was surprised by the support for the Dukes. The St. Joe's fans were friendly, but they really miss Martelli. Even before they started leaving, it was probably a quarter Duquesne fans. Late in the game when the home fans started leaving the noise on any good play by the Dukes was impressive.