I can't say I'm surprised with the struggles of the squad last year.  Tyson improved his three-point shooting, but it was the other phases of the game that needed to see a big improvement over last year.  Hopefully he has success wherever her chooses to play.  

HELP WANTED:
Pittsburgh Sports Now
Perhaps one of you Duquesne Journalism types might want to work as part-time Copy Editor.  How did they miss the "q" in Duquesne? Even spell-check would catch that mistake! 

levon1975 wrote:

HELP WANTED:
Pittsburgh Sports Now
Perhaps one of you Duquesne Journalism types might want to work as part-time Copy Editor.  How did they miss the "q" in Duquesne? Even spell-check would catch that mistake! 

Acuff is a very solid defender, strong 3PT shooter/FT shooter, & glue guy with 48 games of experience, nice size/strength for his position, & 3 years of remaining eligibility. He projects to be a very good A-10 6th, 7th, or 8th man this season with more upside as an upperclassmen.

While unlikely to be a star in the A-10, there is no reason that Tyson couldn't have been 6th man of the year or a consistent starter in years 4 & 5. If KD cannot keep this kind of player in the program, he will NEVER get the job done. There will NEVER be an experienced, mature roster under this coach the way things are going.

No, this is not a shocking development. That doesn't make it any less frustrating.

PSN's editing sucks!

Considering Duquesne went 6-24 with an abysmal 1-16 conference record, departures from the roster come as "now" surprise.


 

There were 6 guys I hoped we would retain from this 6-24 team. Johnson & Tyson were two of them that I wanted to keep. However, I am going to keep an open mind until I see what the reconstructed roster looks like.  

There were many posters, including myself and others who have posted on this thread, that said in prior posts that Dambrot needed to blow up the roster and rebuild from this 6-24 team.  Did I mention that this team was 6-24?  There are going to be a few more transfers from this 6-24 team, and that won't bother me. Including one player who may have already left the team and who's name you may not see in the portal. 

Dambrot is involved with several players who in my opinion are upgrades from the guys we lost, including a couple big difference makers.  I am going to wait and see who actually commits.  I am a DU fan and pulling for Dambrot to be successful.    

By the way DU fans should be applauding PSN for their coverage, not Complaining over spelling and editing.  I guess to each their own.

Last edited by CLK (4/01/2022 2:29 pm)

Duquesne lost 17 in a row with all of these players and they can lose 17 in a row without all or any of them.  Duquesne needs MUCH better players that anyone on the current roster to be competitive in he A-10.  If KD doesn't bring in a very talented front court player who can rebound, score and defend and who is at least 6'9", a very talented point guard who is at least 6'0" and can defend, assist and score and a very talented scorer (shooter) who is at least 6'6" and can defend, they will lose 20-25 games next season as well.

The solution is obvious---they need very good A-10 caliber players.  No players=a lousy team.  I am puzzled as to why these really good players go everywhere but won't go to Duquesne.  Duquesne has a lot to offer but hasn't been able to attract the necessary talent or keep it when they get lucky.

Sad state of affairs...

Well said Professor, we need higher skill level guys all the way around.  KD must win recruiting battles for better players over the next couple of weeks, it really is that simple.  The only guys left who I think can legit A-10 guys, and not necessarily as starters, are Primo, Tre, Easley and with more seasoning Hima.  Not sold on Gunn coming from where he did and Austin is hurt too much and is just not at the same level as the good A-10 big guys. I don't know about Barba so maybe he gets a pass.  Again, have to out recruit to get better players no question.  We'll see, but this is probably the most critical recruiting period in quite some time. 

No question that things can turn around in a hurry. As we found out this past season, things can go south in a big hurry also. Our coaching staff has to be at least as good as those against whom we are recruiting to get our fair share of talented recruits. We can't constantly bring in lesser players that other programs have passed on and expect to be able to coach them up to a higher level. I really haven't seen all that much individual improvement in players from one year to the next. Of course part of the reason for this is that we don't retain enough of them to truly judge the ability of our staff to do so. I am patiently waiting to see what the next recruiting class may look like. Hoping for a talented big who can contribute immediately in the paint, a knockdown shooter, and a PG who can come in and play who isn't 5-8. I seriously doubt that all these needs will be met in this upcoming class but truly hoping that I am wrong about that. I still do believe that we can see a big turnaround from last year with at least 17 or 18 wins. If any less than that, I would be extremely disappointed once again. Let's go Dukes!

Last edited by El Presidente (4/03/2022 8:16 am)

We are losing a talented player.

What is truly sad is that on a team desperately crying for someone , anyone to facilitate the half court offense, that in 2 years of working with Tyson the staff could not or would not turn him into such a player. With his shooting ability, defensive effort,  and ball handling skills ( at least in the limited times this aspect of his game was visible ) he should have / could have been a huge asset.

Oh well. Of all the words of tongue and pen the saddest are what might have been.

Johnson and Acuff entering the portal may have been a known situation. Just a guess, but there may be a real rationale for all the recruitment that has been focused on guards. 

Most of this board appears to realize there is a need for frontcourt size, but most of what we see is guard recruiting.

It's the coaching more than the actual players. Anyone, but me, watching the HBO series on the Lakers,"Rise of a Dynasty"?  Bringing in McKinney as coach to run a fast past "run and gun" offense with mostly the same players turned LA into a dynasty and changed NBA basketball. KD's style is long gone. Anyone watching the NCAA playoffs can see it. Fast teams move on, slow teams are over-run. Even in most games in the tourney,  near the end of each game, the team in the led tries to slow down and burn clock, only to let their opponent catch up and take the led, then that team goes to a slow-down, and the other team runs and gets the led. Fastest team wins.  And of all styles of play you can imagine,  KD is extremely slow down half court. It just will not win anywhere. Get new players, but until we get rid of KD, nothing changes. Hey, I liked Acuff, he can play anywhere. Sorry to see him go, but I would have,  if I were him. 

CLK wrote:

There were 6 guys I hoped we would retain from this 6-24 team. Johnson & Tyson were two of them that I wanted to keep. However, I am going to keep an open mind until I see what the reconstructed roster looks like.  

There were many posters, including myself and others who have posted on this thread, that said in prior posts that Dambrot needed to blow up the roster and rebuild from this 6-24 team.  Did I mention that this team was 6-24?  There are going to be a few more transfers from this 6-24 team, and that won't bother me. Including one player who may have already left the team and who's name you may not see in the portal. 

Dambrot is involved with several players who in my opinion are upgrades from the guys we lost, including a couple big difference makers.  I am going to wait and see who actually commits.  I am a DU fan and pulling for Dambrot to be successful.    

By the way DU fans should be applauding PSN for their coverage, not Complaining over spelling and editing.  I guess to each their own.

Ok dad, lighten up; it was just a joke.  I doubt anyone at PSN would notice or care what I joke about; but I promise to be deadly serious from now on!

So we just went 6-24, finishing dead last in the A10 with one conference win and finishing the season on a 17-game losing streak. We were one of the worst teams in all of college basketball in both field goal percentage and field goal percentage defense, including a shockingly bad second-worst in 3-PT FG defense. We were in the bottom 10 in assists per game. This season wasn't a fluke, it wasn't a succession of bad breaks, this was just a really inept roster of under-talented players who didn't fit well together. Ultimately, the coaching staff has to take the blame for assembling this roster, but it's hard for me to believe they just forgot how to coach or their whole system became outdated in the space of two years. So I'm afraid I'm not losing any sleep over any of these kids leaving. I wish them well, I hope they can be more successful wherever they end up, but I don't think running it back with the same team, just adding that elusive pass-first floor general and 6-9/6-10 kid who will give you 10 and 8 and lock down the paint every night (and of course, a healthy RJ Gunn) was going to be the answer. Nor do I have much faith in the current staff to find as many missing pieces as they need to turn things around in the space of a year. I mean, there's nowhere to go but up, but I'm pretty sure we'll be the odds-on favorite for 14th place next year regardless of who stays or goes. I'll pass on getting excited about any kid coming in until I see what they can actually do against A10 competition.