What I am going to say is NOT to call out any player, but is just a question.  What has happened with Hughes?  I was looking for him to be a force on this team....it isn't there.   Any thoughts?

FWIW, I thought Carry and Hughes in particular both seemed like different players post-Covid layoff. Thought perhaps they both got the virus pretty bad and maybe they did, though Carry's issues were apparently more from having a foot out the door and losing focus or interest. We did see a little bit of the old Hughes in the Fordham game, but yes, he does seem to have lost his edge a bit this year. Maybe he needs to re-grow his man-bun.

phil95 wrote:

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.



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.

Phil I love your posts and the few passionate fans the Dukes still have need to stick together, but I have to respectfully disagree with this. A month ago the team was still in Covid protocols. They had no games and no team practices from December 3 to December 26. That doesn't even include the two weeks they missed during training camp for Covid. I agree totally that the conditioning excuse becomes less acceptable as the season goes on, and also agree the players should have taken more personal responsibility for it. I think you are overstating it though. I also think Duquesne got hit harder than just about anyone by Covid (which perhaps can be blamed on personal responsibility also), and our conditioning is a direct result of that.

As for the perimeter defense, stats show that not only haven't the Dukes been bad, that's actually been a strength of the team. Last year we were 39th in the country in defensive 3 point percentage. This year has declined so far, but we're still 65th. As far as defense as a whole, last year we held teams 3.7 points per game below their average. This year it's up to 4.3 per game. In conference it's even better at 5.1. Now of course numbers can lie sometimes, but that's what the numbers show.3

I'm confused about the Covid protocol excuses. If a player was under the protocol that either means he had it or was exposed to someone that had it. If the player didn't develop it, what was to stop him from lacing up  a pair of running shoes and doing the oval behind St. Anne's? 40 yards sprints followed by a recovery lap. Do ten of those. Was the weight room off limits? Does anyone know? Again motivation and responsibility. Do you have to be told to try to stay in reasonable shape?