I can't find Norman as a starter or bench.
Rothstein overlook him?

If COVID is kind, this will be the strongest the conference has been in some time. While the A-10 is unlikely to feature a team as highly rated as Dayton was this year & there will definitely be no player in the conference of Topin's quality, I expect there to be 6-8 Top 100 NET rated teams for much of the season & as many as 4 squads that make a Top 25 appearance at some point. 

Less than 3 NCAA bids would be surprising & it is not delusional to hope for 5. Stacking up at least non-con 10 wins is imperative because having 8 or 9 serious teams means that 12 or more conference wins are going to be hard to come by.

Last edited by phil95 (6/08/2020 8:05 pm)

FAM wrote:

Lamar Norman....I "hope" it was an error...

I guess it was an error. I just clicked the link for the first time, and saw Norman listed as the first name on the bench. 

I hope he stays and gets lots of floor time.  

PhoenixRising2 wrote:

Projects Dukes for a 5th place finish. https://collegehoopstoday.com/index.php/rothstein-files/atlantic-10-offseason-breakdown/

Rothstein also lists  Mounir Hima and Chad Baker?
 

I love when journalists don’t pick us to be honest. I feel there’s pressure on the favorite which can cause a team to struggle. Unless they’re the 2019-2020 Dayton Flyers. DUQ and KD love being the underdog and I cannot imagine him not showing these picks to the seniors. Our team is built off underdogs and are ready to eat this coming season

The Atlantic 10 has been terrible in NCAA play.  The last team to win a game was St. Bonaventure in a play-in game.  The selection committee would be generous with 3 bids. 

I echo the sentiments that it is no knock being picked 5th here, I look at it as finally getting pre season acknowledgment that we will actually be a contender this year, and that’s coming from one of the most respected college basketball analysts around.

I agree with His top 5 but maybe not the order. I will start another thread for people to post their top 5 as I think it could be an interesting basketball discussion. I personally think Richmond is bringing back the strongest roster, and I feel we match up pretty well with SLU (see last year).

Richmond is bringing everyone back plus a 3*** 6’5” combo guard who was going to Wake Forest before Manning was fired. Also added another 6’6” guard who shot 37% from 3 at Tulane, two more perimeter weapons for the Princeton offense they run.

I think that top 5 will be competing for 3 bids next year (just a guess), and you could make a legitimate argument for all 5 finishing 1-5, which I think will make for the most exciting/interesting A10 season I’ve been apart of. I have been around for years that the A10 was very deep, but the Dukes were never even sniffing being in the mix. They are one of the favorites now.

I think these numbers speak clearly as to where we are headed and what to hope for next year. Dukes stats since Keith came:

2017: Picked 14th, finished 10th, 16-16, 7-11
2018: Picked 11th, finished t-6th, 19-13, 10-8
2019: Picked 8th, finished 5th,      21-9, 11-7

Some context: Since Keith Dambrot has got here, Each year Duquesne has finished ON AVERAGE:

4 Spots above consensus in A10 rankings
+2.5 total wins year over year
+2.0 A10 wins year over year

That’s a 3 year sample size. If this trend continues, we are dancing this year.

I personally think this is the best team of Keith tenure so my expectations are sky high for 2020!

Last edited by Duques102 (6/09/2020 12:17 pm)