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This roller coaster of a season ends with an overtime loss to LaSalle. Obviously Covid and injuries inhibited the progress of the team. Can’t fault the efforts of everyone. Hard work was evident and this hard work needs to continue after our first losing season in Coach Burt’s tenure. I expect the team to bounce back next year. Hook Shot, Thanks for the synopsis of the teams areas for improvement going forward. I enjoy reading about the women's program and look forward to being able to attend games again next season. I'm sure it was difficult to incorporate so many new faces and rely upon them to play significant minutes due to injuries to key performers; along with the difficulties presented by Covid. Hook Shot: Appreciate your Insights - Would share the following - I agree with Al that Dayton has the best program in the league. They will be a contender every year because they have size and a lot of athletes. The Dukes can easily return to the top of the league next year with a great summer of work because the league is so balanced. Dan Burt has never lost and we can expect him to be fired up. If recruiting adds a solid rebounding 4 and a big 3 who can score, the team moves up quickly. This year was a mulligan. Let’s get ready for a return to the standard - a 20 win season. I hope the team has a strong off-season and avoids any serious injuries, especially ACLs. If Libby and Amanda both come back and are healthy the team will be very strong at the guard position. Any additions to the 3-4 and 5 would be helpful.
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Season Ends
Some things I hope to see in next year’s team. Hopefully, Libby and Amanda return healthy. Both have all-league potential. Someone please slow down Amaya on offense. She hurries way too much and if she controls her pace, she also could be all league as she makes good decisions and is aggressive. Precious needs to play far more than she did this year. Team defense needs a complete overhaul. Many players need to learn how to move their feet to stay in good guarding position. Help defense needs to be taught. Team needs to learn how to box out as they were beat up often on the offensive boards. Would love to see the team add another 1 or 2 trap defenses. Team needs to get stronger physically, as this shows in the drives to the hoop. Team needs to shoot the ball better and cut down on turnovers.
One huge question is a concept that the business world uses quite often. The concept is that one voice does the speaking. I would love to see Coach Dan be the first voice the team hears in game huddles rather than the last voice. There has been success in allowing coordinators a lot of run. However, it appears that this year, that caused more confusion than in the past. The head coach should run the huddles and not only be the first voice but the last voice heard. The leader does the most talking, not the least.
Hopefully, a real return to legitimate hoops is on tap for the coming season. On to a successful recruiting season. On to a successful summer program. On to a winning 2021-22 season. Go Dukes!
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Re: Season Ends
I'm hoping next season finds the Dukes again returning to the upper echelon of the A-10. My question to those who have seen the games this season, is whether the talent-level is in place to make the move back to the top quadrant of the league. I have only seen small clips of games, on SM, and don't have a feel for the Dukes talent compared with the top 5 teams in the league. I'd like to hear some thoughts on this topic.
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Re: Season Ends
Levon:
I think with the exception of Dayton - the A-10 is a fairly balanced league - George Mason was winless in the league - they took VCU (one of the better teams) into OT - Davidson the 12 seed handled Fordham #2 seed early in the year quite easily AT Fordham - (Fordham returned the favor later)- While some teams at the top DO have an edge over DU - and DU does have the edge over those towards the bottom - the difference might not really be that much. Dukes did beat Rhode Island - took VCU to OT (without Amanda and Libby) - Still had some losses by margins more than one would expect.
The mention of Amanda and Libby - Libby has indicated she will return - while that was expected - nice to see it confirmed - I have always believed that guard play is the most important factor - Having two "fifth year seniors" who have played extensively over the years could be a definite plus. Would be great if Amanda was 100% by the start of the season.
The Elephant in the Room (the facility) is no longer a problem - fingers crossed that the additional practice time will make the team more cohesive both on offense and defense and address some of the areas listed. Could help with the team's overall conditioning as well.
Olivia Westphal has had some terrific games recently - am hoping she is another piece of the puzzle. Would not be surprised if she is the Post Gazette and Tribune Review Player of the Year when the awards are announced.
I'm just hoping next season everything will be equal - the teams can play the same number of games - no interruptions in the schedule -- all teams healthy -- and let the chips fall where they may.
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Re: Season Ends
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Re: Season Ends
It will be interesting to see how they handle non-con scheduling next season. In the past Dan has sought road games against P-5 teams that often turned into ugly losses. Given the struggles of the last two seasons, I'm hoping that the non-con schedule allows the team to re-build some confidence before opening A-10 competition.
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