They are embarrassing themselves and the university.

Last edited by townsonkid (1/29/2022 3:18 pm)

I saw something very troubling in a couple of players who quit. That is unacceptable and it will be interesting to see if there are any repercussions on Tuesday. There are very few wins left on this schedule.

The Dome wrote:

I saw something very troubling in a couple of players who quit. That is unacceptable and it will be interesting to see if there are any repercussions on Tuesday. There are very few wins left on this schedule.

This was just awful.  The Dukes had 20 turnovers and only 7 assists.  At times this team looked like the Keystone Cops.  Four straight turnovers to start the game.

Our interior defense just totally collapsed in the middle of the first half which led to a 19-4 run and then the wheels fell off.  I hate to say this but Williams is getting clobbered in A10 play. He can't play 30 minutes, heck I am not sure he can give us a solid 20 minutes of effective play at center in this League.  This season is down the tubes.  I would play Hima 20-25 minutes I thought he was the only bright spot. 

Box score

Men's Basketball vs Saint Louis on 1/29/2022 - Box Score - Duquesne University Athletics (goduquesne.com)




 

This is when a coach can determine who is legit.

  I think we liked Hima, okani and JJ today.   Effort is there.  I’d start all three next game(nothing to lose).  The 3 transfers are underwhelming.  Spears looks miserable.  Whoever decides to leave….dont let the door hit ya where the good Lord split ya.

indygjm wrote:

Dukes seem to be getting worse... Individually, they might have talent, but they don't play together.  Early, how many times did Williams miss a pass that should have led to an easy bucket?  At least Hima is finally getting some exposure - had 5 blocks today.
 

Well not to say I told you so, but last spring, I pointed out that one of my casual basketball fan things is chemistry, and you have to play together to develop that, and I was routinely ridiculed and put down by a lot of the "experts" on this board as being constantly negative and ignorant!  All that talent doesn't mean anything until it gels, especially with a program like ours. We're not Kentucky or Duke where they can just plug in the "one and dones" and win on talent alone.
 

Ironduke81 wrote:

CLK wrote:

The Dome wrote:

I saw something very troubling in a couple of players who quit. That is unacceptable and it will be interesting to see if there are any repercussions on Tuesday. There are very few wins left on this schedule.

This was just awful.  The Dukes had 20 turnovers and only 7 assists.  At times this team looked like the Keystone Cops.  Four straight turnovers to start the game.

Our interior defense just totally collapsed in the middle of the first half which led to a 19-4 run and then the wheels fell off.  I hate to say this but Williams is getting clobbered in A10 play. He can't play 30 minutes, heck I am not sure he can give us a solid 20 minutes of effective play at center in this League.  This season is down the tubes.  I would play Hima 20-25 minutes I thought he was the only bright spot. 

Box score

Men's Basketball vs Saint Louis on 1/29/2022 - Box Score - Duquesne University Athletics (goduquesne.com)


CLK so agree. Guards are a dime a dozen. If a player wants to portal out please snowflake out. However, Centers are a rare in the A10. The aircraft carrier won the Pacific. Hima needs to develop & play if not start. Next year Hima & Rotroff play the 5 spot. Williams is clearly out of position at the 5 .Williams & Gunn at the 4. Against Richmond Hima plays on the low block & Williams plays high post. Oh I’m sorry that would require a set plan on offense. 🤪 If Congrats to Mr. Hima for his coming out party. The future is bright IF Coach Dambrot develops the Dukes for next year. This year is over. I also believe Okani has a ton of potential. Can you coach him up? I don’t know if he has it but the potential is there. What if a couple players transfer I sincerely doubt the AD can afford to fire him with 2 years left on a contract. Build this team around Hima & let Williams play the 4 at the high post.

 

I wouldn’t count on Rotroff.  I just assumed he would  move-on after another injury-plagued season.  It doesn’t look like his legs will allow him to play at this level.  He could never play more than a few minutes at a time anyway.  Definitely not your answer at the five spot.

Glad I watched it. Question from a reporter was basically would Dambrot try something different, even a gimmick.   He didn’t directly answer which means no, I’m not going to try a zone.

After next year, Dambrot needs to retire. Thanks for the memories.

levon1975 wrote:

We saw the value of switching defenses  in yesterday’s game.  Duquesne was having enough success against the Billikens man-to-man Defense to grab a lead in the game.  Ford called a timeout and switched to a half-court trap that caught Duquesne off -guard, and lead to turnovers and some bad shots allowing St. Louis to regain the lead and stretch it out to 13 by halftime.  Duquesne never threatened again.  One temporary change in defense turned the course of the game!  When was the last time we saw Duquesne make change defenses to turn the tide in a game?  Teams get comfortable going against your base defense as the game progresses they find matchups to exploit and ultimately beat that defense.  It would be nice to, even temporarily change the defense to give them another look!

Great post.

Williams has a hard job banging with guys 3 to 4 inches taller and heavier than him. I'd cut his minutes to around 25 and give Hima the 15 and play them together at times when Easley is getting a break. 

Hima should have been getting time from game 1 when Rotroff & Gunn were unavailable. He should also have been playing when Rotroff was well. That much was & is obvious.

I  was thrilled for Hima yesterday & equally thrilled for DU fans. His future is cause for true optimism. The boxing out from a freshman of his size & length makes me happy. However, he is in no way ready to be a starter in this conference.

Tre Williams continuing to be the starting center is also obvious. He had 15-11-2-3 on good shooting from the field & ft line against the Bonnies 2 games ago. 2 games before that, he had 12-7-2-7 against Fordham in a game the coach blew. He was probably DU'S best player against Dayton too. (that ain't saying much)

It would be shocking if Hima could put up either of those stat lines in a game this season. Getting 15-17 quality minutes per game from him would be awesome at this point in his development. For future considerations, he needs to play that much even if he struggles. (as he sometimes will)

A forward looking coach would already have tried an aggressive 2-3 zone with Hima in the middle & Tre + Easley on the 2 blocks. The same should be said of the 4-5 games when Rotroff was producing.

Most importantly, if KD had not glued Hima to the bench for 14 games, he could be much further along toward reaching his potential. Not having done so is almost self-destructive with this roster make-up.

PistolPete wrote:

Inexcusable that Hima wasn't getting minutes earlier in the year, especially with the injuries.  Yesterday he had 5 blocks, 6 rebounds (I think), and 4 points in 12 minutes.  Hima also affected several shots that were not even blocked.  This kid's size and length are impressive and he is pretty athletic as well.  He needs to get close to 20 minutes a game from here on out to further develop - where the hell are we going anyway.  I think you build this team around JJ and Hima and Spears (who has to cut down on the 1 on 1 play).  I really am seeing JJ come along defensively and his fist step on offense is nasty - very quick.  I really think JJ and Hima (given his potential) are the two indispensable pieces to this team moving forward.  The problem with Acuff, Ayers, and Easley is that they are just not quick enough defensively.  Guys go around them and get to the hoop like they are going through a turnstile.  Even though I agree that Tre is not a center in the A-10, if he gets moved to the PF position he is not quick enough to guard PF's on the better teams in the conference.  I too am just not overwhelmed by the transfers; on a better team, they are coming off the bench given their limitations.  Again, build around JJ, Spears, and Hima (what a rim protector)!!  Simply put, other than the building blocks I mentioned the requisite talent level is not where it needs to be, period.  Add to the core I've identified by hitting the portal and getting better quality than we did last time and please, please do better recruiting than 5'7" PG's that no other decent school offered.

Pistol Hima is the future for this program. Build around a center & develop him as a Frosh.  In fact if he does not start against Richmond Dambrot should refocus. Look Williams is a 4. Not a 5. Hima runs like a deer. Williams runs out of gas. Golden great opportunity to compete against a seasoned veteran. Williams should match up against Cayo. Watching 5 layups against a pick & roll with no timeouts is inexcusable against SLU. Hima can play & should play the majority of this game against Richmond.  This scenario would of course require flexibility on the part of Coach Dambrot. Build this program around a 7 ft Center which is a rarity in the A10.

I don't know if Williams is a legit 4 or not but I do know that he's not a legit A-10 center. He scores well against some teams and is practically shut out against others. He has a game but he needs to continue to develop as well to be an A-10 4 or 5.  Hima looks to be the real deal in the making. Raw talent that really needs to be cultivated by a good big man coach. Hopefully that is happening here and now and he is on pace to start next season. Lets get Cooper as well as some more quickness on the court.