rittersdiner wrote:

Well, that's a wrap. If we win three more conference games, I'll be shocked. No postseason again.

I kinda like the newer, nicer Ritter.

It was a tremendous college game. We saw a Dayton team that is really poised to make a deep run in the NCAA tourney and we played with them. I know coach wants to play a controlled game, but when the Dukes push the ball, we are a better team. Think of how many times we have been behind big this year and really came on strong. We came up the court strong and fast like last night when we were down 19. In the Rhody game, in the first half, we pushed the ball. When we try to control offense, we seem to dribble too much and don’t hit the boards hard enough. When we are in go mode, hmmm, we look good. In our two runs in the last ten minutes, there were maybe only two bad shots. Maybe, just maybe, we should go a little quicker on O. It might help the droughts since we would be attacking! Loved the guts shown last night. Dayton is really good.

Thoughts...
-If I look at this game only, not the screw up in Mass. or not being able to beat R.I. - I am PLEASED
-Played hard and never gave up
-I am “guessing” Hughes didn’t start because of his immature past actions and technicals.  I was up close and personal and in the first half when he was on the bench, he was not a happy camper.  Kudos to Coach for taking control.  If you noticed there was NOT one over the top complaint by him, not showing off after a dunk, etc.  Maybe he learned something from Toppin - you can be good and modest!
-I liked the coaching and Rotroff did a nice job when he was in there and so did Steele.  I feel bad for Maceo...still struggling to score but I get it with what he went through
-Let’s stay consistent and beat Dayton

I think the Dukes found their identity and may have exposed a weakness in Dayton in the last 10 minutes of the game!  This team MUST play physical and make the game ugly.  Dayton is a finesse team; very skilled, some nice sets on offense; but they couldn’t guard Marcus in the low post.  He was just punishing them; and Mike  hurt the with power to the rim!  Opposing coaches will take note!  They will crash the boards against Dayton. 
For the Dukes it’s a return to our roots; tough, physical brand of basketball.  We “ain’t” pretty but we can win ugly!

None of this will mean a thing if we don't beat LaSalle.

NapaDuke wrote:

Also, Ron's team destroyed 8th rank Temple during the 11 game streak. It was 22-0 before Temple scored a point. The fans (and ref's ) where just speechless. Look it up. it's there. 

I looked it up before my original post, ND. Temple was ranked 19th when we beat them, which was their highest rank that season. Impressive and memorable win, Temple was the best team in the A10 that year, but they were never a top 10 team. 

duq81 wrote:

None of this will mean a thing if we don't beat LaSalle.

Nope. Hopefully it's something to build on, and they start making FTs again. But this team is capable of playing very well and very poorly. We saw both on display last night. Hard to know which side will show up the rest of the way. 

Also, I'm curious why depth is such an issue for us, but not apparently for Dayton, which went just eight deep, with seven in double-figure minutes last night, vs. our nine-deep with seven in double-figure minutes. Take away their top five in minutes and they got 8 points, 5 rebounds, 3 assists, a block and a steal in 41 minutes from their bottom-three vs. 6 points, 3 rebounds, 3 assists and 2 blocks in 42 minutes from our bottom-four. I realize they have better players but they're no deeper than we are. And they're 7th in the country. 

If it takes Hughes coming off the bench to get that kind of performance from him, than keep starting Rotroff. Also Rotroff looks like he's ready to contribute more. 

Your PG can’t throw up 10 3’s and have more turnovers than assists. Sin needs to have a better understanding of his role.

The Dome wrote:

Your PG can’t throw up 10 3’s and have more turnovers than assists. Sin needs to have a better understanding of his role.

I get where this is coming from, he was not as sharp as we would like. But this has to be taken into account when you're playing a top 10 team, everything is more difficult. Turnovers will be higher, assists, and FG% will be down. Sin was one of the few guys on the team that could create off the dribble against Dayton. We got no production from the 2 spot, so the load was on the PG to make things happen, and that leads to forcing things. 

We are on the same page, not his best game. But he is being asked to do more because, in terms of talent, we are thinnest in the backcourt. He's also only a soph, I think he still has a bright future and will continue to mature in basketball IQ and refine his skills. 

Last edited by Jackdoc13 (1/30/2020 2:07 pm)

The Dome wrote:

Your PG can’t throw up 10 3’s and have more turnovers than assists. Sin needs to have a better understanding of his role.

He dribbles too much,the defense closes in on him and then he tries impossible moves through multiple defenders or desperation bad shots.He's trying to do too much - maybe a sign of weakness at the 2. Need more movement and passing and less dribbling.

Why do you guys even respond to that troll?
He adds nothing to the conversation .
He just lurks waiting for a loss so he can gloat.
 

First, I am not a troll. I’ve just been too busy to post. What I see in this team is that there is no consistency in the outside shooting from the guards, especially the two.

I have never been a KD fan but I think his plan has made the program better. Still, I think he is a bit of a dinosaur in that he relies on his front court to win games. To be fair, that’s where the most talent lies on this team

But we desperately need a sharp shooting guard, who can pull defenses away from the basket and open up the middle of the lane, to take the next step to the next level. I don’t see that type of guard on this team and that’s the reason why we lost to UMass.

We had that guard in Williams and KD ran him off. If you want to win a title, find another one like him.

Ironduke81 wrote:

Wow KD ran out Williams Mr. Loyalty who’s only Div I offer came from Dambrot.After Williams Freshman A10 awards I’m sure the coaching staff at Nike aka Oregon University NEVER approached him to transfer from Duquesne. And a pig just flew out of my Ass. I know Jim Ferry was a great coach & Dambrot sucks. Nice post hope your workload decreases so I can get my daily dose of humor. Love this board.

Feel bad for the pig.

Not a Ferry fan either.

So you are saying we don't need a consistent 2 guard? Anyone agree with that?