Thoughts...at the end of the one press conference, he implied he loved Duquesne and was supportive.  So who got in his ear and why can't Dambrot keep these guys?  That is on him and the coaches.

Thought two - Folks, we won 6 games with him...don't be that upset!!

And Saint Louis just lost Yuri Collins.
 

I am fairly certain that Tre Clark , if he decides to use his covid year , has 2 years of eligibility remaining.

FAM wrote:

Thoughts...at the end of the one press conference, he implied he loved Duquesne and was supportive.  So who got in his ear and why can't Dambrot keep these guys?  That is on him and the coaches.

Thought two - Folks, we won 6 games with him...don't be that upset!!

Wasn't that what Pirate management said to Dale Long when he demanded a raise?
 

Primo’s strength was as an isolation point guard that was not very assist oriented. That is not the key to winning hoops. His D was adequate at best. Tre Clark and hopefully either Dae Dae Grant or Adou Thiero are tremendous upgrades. We should be better at guard if we have two of these three.

Ironduke81 wrote:

Wow I guess the Duquesne fans will miss Spears dad screaming to his son to shot every time he touches the ball. Forget the open player or running the play. My disappointment is that J Johnson & Acuff may have entered the portal because of Brittany Spears me first attitude especially with Dambrots full support. However, after losing 17 games in a row WHO CARES

Well, Primo pretty much followed his dad's instructions.  Got to figure KD was looking for a more discriminating shot selection and more passing from his point guard. Nothing changed all year long.

Is it fair to blame KD for Primo's selfishness when he was listening to voices outside the program? Primo had his own agenda and so long as he was given the ball he was going to pursue it. I think some players are not coachable especially in this free agent era. Primo has talent and if he could learn to make his team better instead of focusing on his own stats, he could be very very good. He is young and I hope he does it. 

stew wrote:

Spears has potential and he had some nice games but he was horrible in a lot of games.Very selfish
with ball and time to move on.Didnt make the all-rookie team and there is a reason for that,too inconsistent
and louzy defense.Just a ball hog.

He was a freshman on a team that lacked scoring.  His ball hogginess (?) bothered me all year too but he was a freshman on a team that lacked scoring.  In an ideal world a PG shows up on campus fully formed with mature decision making and lights out scoring ability - but this is not an ideal world.  Primo showed he had the goods; he just needed coached correctly and the time to grow into an all around player.  Obviously we will never know now

When the Dukes played in the Paradise Jam I chanced to sit next to Primo's mom & at least one of his siblings when Colorado played Northeastern. We ended up talking quite a bit. So much so that I had no compunction about asking what Primo thought of KD's coaching style & his public tirades in the 2 games I saw because she kind of gave me an opening to do so.

Without being impolitic or inappropriate, Primo's mom diplomatically expressed her misgivings with the coach & insinuated that her son wasn't super happy but keeping an open mind about being "coached hard". She seemed like a very nice lady & was careful not to be negative when her other child was present.

I had a very similar & much longer interaction with another parent of another player while in St. Thomas but will not name names on that one because the player is still in the program. I promise that both parents were quite angry & concerned by KD's behavior during the Bradley game in particular.

(You may recall that I voiced my concern over KD's behavior, self control, & over-the-top, public, foul language at the time. Some of you had a fine time letting me know what a wilting flower I am.)

 

Last edited by phil95 (4/19/2022 3:33 pm)

levon1975 wrote:

Styles1229 wrote:

stew wrote:

Spears has potential and he had some nice games but he was horrible in a lot of games.Very selfish
with ball and time to move on.Didnt make the all-rookie team and there is a reason for that,too inconsistent
and louzy defense.Just a ball hog.

He was a freshman on a team that lacked scoring.  His ball hogginess (?) bothered me all year too but he was a freshman on a team that lacked scoring.  In an ideal world a PG shows up on campus fully formed with mature decision making and lights out scoring ability - but this is not an ideal world.  Primo showed he had the goods; he just needed coached correctly and the time to grow into an all around player.  Obviously we will never know now

You make a good point Styles; someone had to score on this team; I'm sorry to hurt anyone's feelings but if Primo was the best option to score points then he had to take his share of shots.  In the games where he scored big; I don't believe his attempts were excessive.  The team just had so few options for scoring; sometimes it just made sense for Primo to take the shots. 
 

The lack of ball movement, the dribble-drive tactics of the team were a failure. The tiny assist numbers in most games were notable. I think we saw that a number of players could shoot with pretty good accuracy, but the shot selection was not good because every shooter generally had to create the shot against pressure.

Open looks, fast-breaks, layups, slams: nope.

Put the blame wherever you want to.

Theiro from Quaker Valley has Maryland, Ok, and TCU as final three teams.
I agree Spears better seek wise advice from a trusted adviser otherwise he 
could have some serious competition for minutes if he picks the same team
as Theiro.

applecorps wrote:

levon1975 wrote:

Styles1229 wrote:

He was a freshman on a team that lacked scoring.  His ball hogginess (?) bothered me all year too but he was a freshman on a team that lacked scoring.  In an ideal world a PG shows up on campus fully formed with mature decision making and lights out scoring ability - but this is not an ideal world.  Primo showed he had the goods; he just needed coached correctly and the time to grow into an all around player.  Obviously we will never know now

You make a good point Styles; someone had to score on this team; I'm sorry to hurt anyone's feelings but if Primo was the best option to score points then he had to take his share of shots.  In the games where he scored big; I don't believe his attempts were excessive.  The team just had so few options for scoring; sometimes it just made sense for Primo to take the shots. 
 

The lack of ball movement, the dribble-drive tactics of the team were a failure. The tiny assist numbers in most games were notable. I think we saw that a number of players could shoot with pretty good accuracy, but the shot selection was not good because every shooter generally had to create the shot against pressure.

Open looks, fast-breaks, layups, slams: nope.

Put the blame wherever you want to.

Really!  Who else could shoot on this team? Jackie was the only other shooter; and he couldn’t get his shot off; and really struggled trying to handle the ball.  Still no idea who these other shooters were on last year’s team?