Right now it looks like it will take a couple years to rebuild this team to start winning again.I hope I am
wrong.Okani and Harris look promising and hopefully Austin is back but our 3 best players will be gone.
We desperately need a point guard and a couple outside shooters.

A disappointing, but not exactly surprising loss. We are seeing flashes of the ability the team has for sure. If the young guys grow up quickly we can be very dangerous. Dayton is still one of the best teams in the conference, if not the best anymore, and we had them on the ropes. It leaves me optimistic for what hopefully will be the opener of the Coop. The next two will be tough, but we should be able to build some momentum after that going into the return game with Dayton. Thankfully the announcers will be different. Those two were horrible. They must have mixed up players at least five times including Murphy and Rotroff once. A 6'2" guy wearing #20 and a 6'10" guy wearing #34. How does that happen? They even called fouls on the wrong teams multiple times. I give announcers a lot of latitude because I know how hard it is, but they were atrocious. 

That game was decided by 3-point shooting; Dayton made ten and the Dukes only 3 of 17; that’s a 21 point difference.  If they make 33% from three; they are right in the game; but 18% from three will lose just about every time.    They must start to hit some 3s to have a chance to win.

Westender wrote:

Did anyone here actually expect Duquesne to win this game? They will struggle to win any games this year in this Conference. Won't surprise me to see 10th place or lower.

Finishing somewhere between 9th & 12th seems about right after last week's defections. The lack of an experienced, above-average lead guard is going to be tough sledding while also having to count on 4 freshmen, a redshirt sophomore, & a guy that played his first game with the team 11 days ago to play significant minutes.

As things are now, I would consider finishing 7th or better a major accomplishment & a hopeful sign. This board certainly demonstrates a variety of opinions on the departures of Sin & Lamar but, no matter how you slice it, losing 3 players with a combined 120+ starts in 5 days is a gigantic reduction in both talent & experience. Not many teams /coaches/programs could handle that without a noticeable reduction in the win column.

Having written that, I think an opportunity to show marked improvement as a team & as individuals by season's end exists. This group could gel & grow over the next dozen games to the point that they become a difficult out with a puncher's chance to make noise at the conference tournament. This would, almost by default, mean that the youngsters would have come of age. I believe the group's ability to show such improvement, along with the names present on the roster for 21-22's first game, will go a very long way toward determining the fate of the Dambrot era.

This season ending with only 3 or 4 conference wins followed by an offseason highlighted by a mass exodus of promising freshmen & sophomores will be difficult to overcome.

 

The foul shooting was simply atrocious!  (8 for 17)  If they are just average there-- they are competitive. 

Although the defense (and freshmen) played well,  they still need to quit committing stupid fouls....

Last edited by gjgsr (1/13/2021 11:34 pm)

Coach Postgame:

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=mHErWJ67_S8

The conditioning narrative is starting to get old for me. This team, by design, is playing 11 guys every night. 10 days ago they went at least 14 players deep.

A couple of weeks ago, lack of conditioning was a viable explanation. It becomes increasingly less so each day. If this is the biggest issue then it is what should be worked on the most.

Take 4 players each week, play them less minutes, & put them through conditioning boot camp.

Add Roesing for 2 minutes each half straddling media timeouts to save someone else's legs.

Check out the minutes averages for Dayton's top 4 players & what their stars played last night. They lost a
starter averaging 12, 6, & 37 minutes a game 2 weeks ago. Why aren't they tired?

This is fast becoming a Ferryesque excuse.

El Presidente wrote:

There figure  to be bright spots pointing toward the future and frustrating moments which reflect the youth on this team. With 3 or 4 freshmen playing significant minutes, this is to be expected. What I need to see are the seniors  lead the way. Hughes, Weathers, TDM, and Murphy are going to have to really step up if this team is to finish with a winning record. They will ultimately be responsible for the success or failure of the season. So far, not enough though Weathers is a tough kid and gives it his all. Without his efforts so far this year I'm not certain we would have a win to this point. I remain optimistic. GO DUKES

If you are waiting for Murphy to do something, get comfortable.
Let the 3 transfer seniors play, but also let the freshman and Kelly play together, 5 at a time, to get ready for next year.  But who knows, half of them will leave after this season probably.   
 

I think the lack of practice time, not having summer workouts and losing your point guard is killing this
season.Having so many freshman play-they didnt get the summer workouts,did not get in the weight room,
going straight  from prep school,highschool into Division 1 is overwhelming.
Marcus being away caring for his mother,he looks 20 lbs too heavy and that makes a huge difference  shooting free throws and finishing the games strong.
Losing Carry,devastating,when he was motivated and playing well,players like Hughes were getting the ball in the right position and at the right time to score and  Sin was usually a clutch player in tight games.
Dunn-Martin now has the weight of world on him to dish and score.He can do either one but not both at the
same time and for shorter intervals because of his size.We lack a point guard.
Toby looks like a star but the lack of getting little preparation,he lacks experience and strength,.
   .Samething for Baker,being 6-7 180 lbs,in normal times should have been redshirted to gain weight and strength.He simply is not ready to compete right now but shows promise.Andre Harris has the body to
compete ,good around the rim but lacks experience.
Kelly has shown great improvement and should be getting more minutes, good rebounder,athletic around
the rim..Murph is going through a learning process but by February he will be the 3 point threat.
The other guys on team arent ready to contribute and some cant play at this level.
Duquesne is still Duquesne.Its difficult to recruit ,the local hs talent just isnt there.I believe in Coach,
he knows how to coach and has won alot.Dukes play good defense,play hard.Better talent is needed.
The new fieldhouse,better facilities hopefullly can attract more fans,and. better players.Right now things
look difficult the rest of this year, just got to see if the Coop can draw better hs talent to the Bluff.
 If Dukes get in these tight games we probably lose,the foul shooting ,,just terrible.
 We are Duquesne fans,its hard watching sometimes but always waiting for something better,year after year..

From Phil95: This is fast becoming a Ferryesque excuse.

PistolPete wrote:

Phil, well articulated point - the story line is getting old, these are not 45 year old men and lots of guys have gotten minutes. 

With all due respect to you guys, and I truly and constructively mean that, so this is not an attack on your posts ... but, just wondering if either of you have played organized basketball? If you have, then you know that when you're tired, you're done, no matter how hard you try, you almost don't care anymore. Because you're done. I believe Dambrot explained very succinctly how it's been going with the conditioning. They played last night and got home on a bus at 2:30 this morning. They have to get on a bus again tonight at 7 because they play again tomorrow. This team has had virtually no nonconference schedule because nearly every player was sidelined by covid, which, as I know I stated before to remind those who forget, it attacks your lungs/breathing. These dudes are kicking almost every team's butt in the early going because they're full of energy and ready to go. I feel that because they haven't been able to go through a normal practice routine and haven't played as many games as the other teams that they truly are out of gas by the second half. It looked as though they made it farther against Dayton than in previous games. If you take out the regulars because they're tired, then you're playing more freshmen and subs. As Dambrot seems to be saying, it's conditioning on the fly. This doesn't seem at all to me to be an excuse. It seems to be reality. No, covid has not affected every team the same way. If it had, then all the other teams would have had to shut down like Duquesne did. Dayton has never been shut down. They may have had a player or two sidelined by the virus, but they've played a lot more games -- and against nonconference opponents. So, I doubt that Dambrot's name should ever be mentioned in the same sentence as Ferry's. Good grief! And yes, I'm an oldtimer who likes basketball and played it quite a bit, though I wasn't very good. Anyway, sorry if Im offending you guys, but to me it doesn't make any sense to poo poo the conditioning aspect. I think that's the overwhelming reason why this team falters by missing easy buckets and free throws. They don't have any legs left. Hopefully, it gets better by tournament time. It's going to be a reach.
 

I was a slightly above average player on very successful high school teams. I have coached briefly at good camps & both the high school & junior college levels but not in the last 20 years. I understand the importance of conditioning & I have strong feelings about who should be responsible for seeing that it is maintained.

A month ago, I was ok with the conditioning explanation. Today is a different story.

If Marcus came in this fall in bad shape, then that is on him & to a lesser extent, the coaching staff. It is ridiculous to suggest that COVID restrictions, in & of themselves, kept anyone from being in excellent condition because loads of other players managed to stay on track.

Bonaventure has had a hell of a time with COVID, their athletics budget is miniscule, & their facilities are below average. They also have a very good record right now & are likely to thump our Dukes tomorrow.

Some of that is because they have had much more success over the last decade leading to better talent. Some of it is also due to their having better coaching.

KD & the administration did great work in making immediate progress from a terrible situation & then positioning this season to be a very good one. They deserve loads of credit for that. I wouldn't say KD has done a bad job this season but, he certainly, to date hasn't handled the challenges particularly well. Strong programs don't just lose 3 starters mid-season.

Every KD DU team has shot poorly & played inadequate perimeter defense. The roster turnover has been excessive. 4.5 seasons is a long time to have the same problems consistently.

I still think he is the person to take this program to a high plateau of competitive respectability. However, my confidence has been shaken. Nothing would please me more than to have my mouth shut by witnessing steady, significant improvement until season's end.

Crosseye wrote:

From Phil95: This is fast becoming a Ferryesque excuse.

PistolPete wrote:

Phil, well articulated point - the story line is getting old, these are not 45 year old men and lots of guys have gotten minutes. 

With all due respect to you guys, and I truly and constructively mean that, so this is not an attack on your posts ... but, just wondering if either of you have played organized basketball? If you have, then you know that when you're tired, you're done, no matter how hard you try, you almost don't care anymore. Because you're done. I believe Dambrot explained very succinctly how it's been going with the conditioning. They played last night and got home on a bus at 2:30 this morning. They have to get on a bus again tonight at 7 because they play again tomorrow. This team has had virtually no nonconference schedule because nearly every player was sidelined by covid, which, as I know I stated before to remind those who forget, it attacks your lungs/breathing. These dudes are kicking almost every team's butt in the early going because they're full of energy and ready to go. I feel that because they haven't been able to go through a normal practice routine and haven't played as many games as the other teams that they truly are out of gas by the second half. It looked as though they made it farther against Dayton than in previous games. If you take out the regulars because they're tired, then you're playing more freshmen and subs. As Dambrot seems to be saying, it's conditioning on the fly. This doesn't seem at all to me to be an excuse. It seems to be reality. No, covid has not affected every team the same way. If it had, then all the other teams would have had to shut down like Duquesne did. Dayton has never been shut down. They may have had a player or two sidelined by the virus, but they've played a lot more games -- and against nonconference opponents. So, I doubt that Dambrot's name should ever be mentioned in the same sentence as Ferry's. Good grief! And yes, I'm an oldtimer who likes basketball and played it quite a bit, though I wasn't very good. Anyway, sorry if Im offending you guys, but to me it doesn't make any sense to poo poo the conditioning aspect. I think that's the overwhelming reason why this team falters by missing easy buckets and free throws. They don't have any legs left. Hopefully, it gets better by tournament time. It's going to be a reach.
 

This post from "Crosseye" makes sense.  Strength and Conditioning is normally built during the summer and in the very early days in the practice year. It is very intense and can't be duplicated simply by playing games with a day or two of practice in between games.  You simply cannot duplicate strength and conditioning in the midst of the Conference schedule. The team will most likely not "catch-up" this season, so don't expect things to change a lot in the coming weeks.