He seems to be yet another strong prospect at the position of most need.

The multiple years of eligibility is a great hedge against freshmen that transfer after a first year that doesn't meet their playing time expectations. Most players will still draw the line at 1 transfer in during their collegiate careers.

I wonder why he didn't get more minutes this year. 24 is a solid amount for a sophomore but I would expect more given his great shooting numbers.

I really hope that the eventual signing of a transfer PG doesn't lead immediately to Acuff entering the portal. I believe him to have a great, long-term role for this program.

Duques102 wrote:

phil95 wrote:

He seems to be yet another strong prospect at the position of most need.

The multiple years of eligibility is a great hedge against freshmen that transfer after a first year that doesn't meet their playing time expectations. Most players will still draw the line at 1 transfer in during their collegiate careers.

I wonder why he didn't get more minutes this year. 24 is a solid amount for a sophomore but I would expect more given his great shooting numbers.

I really hope that the eventual signing of a transfer PG doesn't lead immediately to Acuff entering the portal. I believe him to have a great, long-term role for this program.

These are all good points but the scary thing to me is what really is our “position of most need”? Hughes is gone, Weathers is almost certainly gone, and we have replaced them with the D2 kid and the Indiana state kid. Either of these guys look like a 1 to 1 replacement for either on paper? Not for me, but doesn’t mean they won’t be as good/better right away, but I doubt it.

Post depth now looks like Harris, Gunn, Williams, Kelly, Hima, and Rotroff. How many of these guys will be back? Wouldn’t be surprised to see 2-3 gone by next year. Hughes and Weathers were all A10 defensive level players and fringe All conference players, who is taking the torch from those 2 from that group??

To me we still have a big hole at the PG spot, but the post talent also still sits at a downgrade currently for me.

Neither Mike nor Marcus made the A10 defensive team this year. Tre Williams made the MVC defensive team.

Except in the case of Marcus, I am assuming that, for now, that any player that is not already in the transfer portal has a decent possibility of returning. By that standard, a seasoned starting PG is my position of greatest need because, in theory, Gunn, Mitchell, Hima, Kelly, Rotroff, & Harris will be around to man the 2 "big man" front court spots. While it would be the most pleasant of surprises if next season one of those 6 guys was better than Hughes or Weathers, as a group they represent way more talent, size, & experience than the average set of DU bigs has had over the last 30 years. Add in Baker & Okani at the 3 and the F/C supply is no longer crushed by the departures of Mike & Marcus.

Not to nitpick but,Marcus has 2 all conference selections to his credit & I believe that Hughes was a top 5 defender in the A-10 for the last 2 years but, in 6 combined seasons as Dukes, they don't have enough double-doubles to be considered consistent double-double threats. Unfortunately, neither one of them really even flirted with a double digit rebound average for a season. Hughes never even averaged 8 boards a game. In nearly 160 combined opportunities, I don't belive they had 30 double-doubles.

Would love to see Chico in a Dukes uni. Would this have any effect on Spears decision to play here? Especially since Carter would still have 4 years of eligibility remaining.Could get a bit crowded at PG. 

 

Duques102 wrote:

Again, I am speaking more in generalities than absolute facts. I think I said they "basically were double double guys their whole career". Here are the two's A10 stats for their career:

Marcus
2018: 11.1 Pts 6.4 Rebs
2019: 14.8 Pts 8.0 Rebs
2020: 16.3 Pts 7.7 Rebs

Mike
2018: 10.3 Pts 7.0 Rebs
2019: 9.8 Pts 6.8 Rebs
2020: 10.5 Pts 7.6 Rebs

I clocked them at only 27 double doubles combined, but if you go back an look at box scores there are ALOT of 10-15+ pt performances and 7-9 rebs, and I mean alot from both guys. They really came on this year, Mike had 6 and Marcus had 5, combining for 11 in 18 games, and like I mentioned with a number of others being a couple rebounds off.

If you look at last year's average scoring and rebounds per game, Mike and Marcus combined for approx. 42% of our points per game and 39% of our rebounds. I am just pointing out that idk if there are two guys on the roster right now that can equal that production. I agree there is depth to a level we haven't seen before, and hopefully they can make up for the loss collectively.

Here are some superlatives for Mike GOING INTO his senior year, imagine where he would be on some of these all time lists if he got a full season this year:

• Has started 56 times and scored in double digits 35 times in his 59 games at Duquesne.
• Ranks fourth on DU’s all time blocked shots list with 148.
• His 2.5 blocks per game is the second-best career average in DU history.
• Has led the Atlantic 10 in conference-only blocks in each of his two seasons at DU.
• His .581 career field goal percentage is on pace to break the Duquesne career mark of .561 currently held by Derrick Alston (1991-94) (min. 600 points).

As a Junior:

• Finished 8th nationally in blocked shots per game at 2.73. Ranked 10th nationally in block percentage according to KenPom.com.
• His 82 blocks were the fifth-highest single-season total in DU history.
• Was the only A-10 player to lead his team in blocks (82) and steals (44).
• Ranked fourth in the A-10 in field goal percentage (.573).

....And we all know how good Marcus became. I am not disagreeing that PG is a huge, huge need for us, I just think losing these 2 guys is also a huge blow and idk if there are comparable replacements are on the roster today.

Couldn't agree more. These two guys were beast in my opinion and vastly underrated. Going to really miss these two.
 

CLK wrote:

6'2" Point guard.  

Stats
(30) 03 06 21 Combined FINAL (PDF) - Murray State University Athletics (goracers.com)

How much point did this guy play? He had 50 A they have another guy with 110. Chico's A to TO rate not good for a point guard.

https://phenomhoopreport.com/murray-state-transfer-chico-carter-becoming-a-hot-target-by-many/

CLK wrote:

Chico Carter will make his decision on Saturday

cj2 on Twitter: "I will be announcing my commitment this Saturday on my social media platforms 🙏🏽" / Twitter

Not as high on this guy as some seeing him play numerous times this year. Think you'd force Acuff out at that point and I think Tyson has a bigger upside than this guy. Love to have Rembraca, but looks to me like he's looking at a P-5 school and can't blame him. He'd be a great get. Best bets are the local kid from First Love that previously played for South Florida (Collins I believe) or another local kid Austin Butler who played at Holy Cross. He's a total scrapper who averaged 16 and 8 this past season. With the signing of Castro it makes me thing that Kreider from Citadel is probably not going to want to lose minutes. Love to have him though. Let's see what happens. Anyway this turns out the Dukes will be a force next year.
 

Last edited by Rayrich (3/31/2021 6:23 pm)

Ray from all reports KD is recruiting for an addition transfer point guard. In defense of Carter assists numbers (after watching some full game videos) he was not their primary point guard.  They needed his scoring and as a result he played mainly at the two.  I have to say he can drive the harder and better than anyone on our team from last year.  I trust KD on this one.  If he wants, I want him..

PistolPete wrote:

Rayrich, the only thing I would say about Collins, who is a helluva player, is that he is not a PG and we need a seasoned PG.  I think with the Castro signing Collins is unlikely, but you never know.  Krieder is another forward who can shoot and has major schools after him, but look how many forwards we know have with Okani, Gunn and Dre.  That being said who knows who is coming or going.  In any event I would like to see another legit 5 and the PG as my priorities.  Hima is potentially impressive and impactful, but I don't think we'll see that until he gets another year of playing under his belt after sitting out for basically what will be 18+ months.  

Agree, but you do have Acuff, Spears, and even TDM in a pinch at point. Castro can play the point as well. Think they'll be fine there. Need a big man who can play inside and out extend the floor like Rembraca from North Dakota, but would settle for a blue collar Butler from Holy Cross, Collins, or Krieder. Think were in a pretty good spot as is. Grab any one one of those four and were dancing in my opinion. Talents there and becomes all about chemistry and coaching.

CLK wrote:

Likewise Ray, I always enjoy your post.

I think we are all trying to understand the new world of basketball. Guys like Dambrot are use to recruiting players to develop. After two years of being in a back up role they would step into two years in starting roles.

Today for most teams looking to move up that is not possible. These teams, now with the rule changes, will even more lose their best players who seek greener pastures. This is a curse, but can be a blessing for coaches willing to adapt. It has also given coaches the ability to reload quickly. As for kids on the roster who want playing tme the new world dictates that you either have the ability to compete immediately for playing time ride the bench or move on if you are nothappy. Some kids who have it in their blood to compete will work hard to get better. Some won't. From a coaching standpoint I don't think roster turnover will be as big a stigma as it once was, as long as you win.

It will be interesting to see how things play out.

Well said CLK. The landscape has changed and think Dambrot and his staff have been well prepared. He wants to win now as much as all of us long suffering fans do as well. Exciting times in my opinion. Go for broke and let the chips fall as they may. Go for it!