Okay. Start throwing things at me.  Yes, was at the game - season ticket holder.  I have blamed Dambrot for my share of losses...not blaming him for today.  When they make "3" threes in a row because the defensive guy stays back 3 feet, it's on the player.  When you can't catch Rozier or Brewers passes because you aren't paying attention (I remember this happening to TJ often), it's on the players.  When you have so many turnovers on fast breaks, it's on the players.  When you watch how excited the other players are and with such emotion it's the players.  When I see ours today and there is emotion missing, that is on the players.  The team sucked today and I am not putting it on Dambrot.

CityDuke wrote:

Ellis Cannon actively roots against the Dukes. I’ve never seen anything like it from a home announcer.

Ellis is a gem. He has an IQ over 60. Are you blaming Coach Dambrots failures on Benz & Cannon.Dukes up 6 on a roll & he subs out Rozier. Game over. Brewer is a Div 2 player. This team has the talent to win the A10. Dambrot has the time to turn this around. Let’s face it Gormley & AD Dave have given him the keys to the Ford Bronco. No excuse. Criticism of the announcers is in my humble opinion pathetic. At this point it is up to Dambrot. Go Dukes.

Don't know who's to blame and don't really care.
I won't be attending any further games this season as the there is no entertainment value in watching this mess.
Signing off!!
 

Sorry but I have to ‘tell it like it is.’   We were out coached again. 

Ok, the whole world knows that Duq can’t hit the 3s’ if you have someone defending them hard.  Fordham played a very physical game.  Duq played a very physical game and my hat’s off to all of them.  However,  toward the end when Duq players were so tired they were having trouble defending the outside 3, particularly the one that first put Fordham ahead – I was yelling ‘call a time out!’  Dambrot waited for two more wide open 3s’ by Fordham that put them out of reach.   Crimany!  The Dukes were gassed.

He's got 12 players he can get in and out of the game.  Fordham doesn’t have that luxury.  And no doubt the Dukes were cold shooting again.  But put fresh bodies in there—use your timeouts.  I put this game on our coaching.

It's a shame cause the Dukes have a lot of talent on this team.

Last edited by gjgsr (1/21/2023 5:14 pm)

FAM wrote:

Okay. Start throwing things at me.  Yes, was at the game - season ticket holder.  I have blamed Dambrot for my share of losses...not blaming him for today.  When they make "3" threes in a row because the defensive guy stays back 3 feet, it's on the player.  When you can't catch Rozier or Brewers passes because you aren't paying attention (I remember this happening to TJ often), it's on the players.  When you have so many turnovers on fast breaks, it's on the players.  When you watch how excited the other players are and with such emotion it's the players.  When I see ours today and there is emotion missing, that is on the players.  The team sucked today and I am not putting it on Dambrot.

Sorry but I have to ‘tell it like it is.’   We were out coached again. 

Ok, the whole world knows that Duq can’t hit the 3s’ if you have someone defending them hard.  Fordham played a very physical game.  Duq played a very physical game and my hat’s off to all of them.  However,  toward the end when Duq players were so tired they were having trouble defending the outside 3, particularly the one that first put Fordham ahead – I was yelling ‘call a time out!’  Dambrot waited for two more wide open 3s’ by Fordham that put them out of reach.   Crimany!  The Dukes were gassed.

He's got 12 players he can get in and out of the game.  Fordham doesn’t have that luxury.  And no doubt the Dukes were cold shooting again.  But put fresh bodies in there—use your timeouts.  I put this game on our coaching.

Really insightful post game interview today from Dambrot and Rozier.  The Fordham defense was explained, and why what they do makes things difficult. From what I gathered, their defense takes the X’s and O’s out of the game. They zone their two bigs and face guard everybody else with their guards, which was evident. Also, they switch every screen. Today was about creating mismatches with the screens (bigs on our guards and their guards down low on our bigs). We got those matchups and failed to execute.

Also, the maturity and ownership of the team that Rozier takes is really something special. I can’t help but root for this kid, and his energy and Dambrot’s fire in the post game both let me know that things will be okay.

They also touched on Dixon’s knee issues, Hronsky’s illness, and McGriff’s achilles issues. So we were not as deep as we usually are. Which forced us to play bigger with Gunn at the 3 at times, especially when Clark got hurt.

CityDuke wrote:

Really insightful post game interview today from Dambrot and Rozier. The Fordham defense was explained, and why what they do makes things difficult. From what I gathered, their defense takes the X’s and O’s out of the game. They zone their two bigs and face guard everybody else with their guards, which was evident. Also, they switch every screen. Today was about creating mismatches with the screens (bigs on our guards and their guards down low on our bigs). We got those matchups and failed to execute.

Also, the maturity and ownership of the team that Rozier takes is really something special. I can’t help but root for this kid, and his energy and Dambrot’s fire in the post game both let me know that things will be okay.

They also touched on Dixon’s knee issues, Hronsky’s illness, and McGriff’s achilles issues. So we were not as deep as we usually are. Which forced us to play bigger with Gunn at the 3 at times, especially when Clark got hurt.

Injury issues always the first go to of excuses for Dambrot. Everybody has them this point of the season. What was Dambrot's take on not pressing, or speeding up the game, or why Brewer was dribbling in a circles in every half court possession? He's mastered something and that is how to shift the blame for not being prepared. The guy doesn't know to teach a sufficient half court offense, or to make adjustments. Same on the defensive end when it comes to closing out on threes or boxing out. Totally lost when it comes to the ebb and flow of a game (much like Tomlin), or when to use a timeout or to force the uptempo of a game by pressing, pushing the ball up court, or when to work it inside, etc...He doesn't get it, but he does get damage control when it comes to press conferences. Ashame he's using Rozier as a minion of sorts. We saw that coming.
 

If you play half court this bad, why did KD stop the high speed high scoring transition and perimeter game from earlier games?. These last two games are to feed it to the interior.  Very low scoring by design. Fordham won by designing 3 point plays three strait times in the second half. then held the lead because KD still went slow half court to a mediocre interior game that helped run out the clock. If we are not moving fast to take advantage of our superior speed then this is what you get. .

No perimeter shooting mixed with terrible play underneath from Rotroff, Williams and Reese did us in as many have mentioned.  My 10 year old daughter is very upset, asked me not to talk about the game on the drive home.  Over the Christmas holiday I went to Indiana and saw my nephew play two games; scored 27 in game one and 30 in game two (all were three point shots).  He's 5'-11'' and a sophomore at this time; if he grows more when I see him next in July I will consider contacting Dambrot or whomever is the Dukes coach to give him a look.  

It's all relative. Fordham is good when you compare them to numbers 200-350+...if the Duke's were any good they wouldn't lose at home to this team. One guy in double figures and all he had was 10. A lot of things are missing

luckymcd wrote:

The timeless debate when it comes to byes is whether they cause rest or rust. There's no debate when it comes to Dambrot's teams. With a week off the team should be fresh and totally prepared for the next team up. Here's a rundown of Dambrot's Duquesne teams after the conference bye:
2018: We hobbled into the bye on a three game losing streak, and had a tough stretch after it. Regardless of the reasons, we went 0-3 in the week after the bye.
2019: We struggled against a bad George Mason team after the bye, but ultimately won by 1. We got crushed by the Bonnies next time out, but recovered to beat a bad UMass team. 2-1 in the week after the bye.
2020: We were playing really well going into the bye on a five game win streak. We came out of the bye and got blown out by by URI and lost to a mediocre UMass team. We then gave a great Dayton team about as tough a game as they had, but ultimately lost. 0-3 in the week following the bye.
We then went 2-1 before another bye. We came out of that bye with an ugly win against a bad Fordham team, a loss to an equally bad GW, and another tough loss to a great Dayton team. 1-2 in the week following the second bye.
2021: Nothing was normal that season including byes, but we can consider the 18 day covid break the season's bye. We went into it on a three game win streak. We came out of it by losing a competitive game against a good Richmond team, but then got blown out by a bad LaSalle team. We did bounce back with a good win over URI though. 1-2 in the week following the "bye."
2022: The collapse had already started when we had our bye, but the time off could have brought us out of it. Instead the losing streak went through the end of the season. 0-3 in the week following the bye.
2023: Again playing well going into the bye on a 3-1 stretch with the loss by 2 in our house of horrors that is Richmond. 0-2 since in the week following the bye.

All totaled we're 5-15 in the weeks following conference byes under Dambrot. To make matters worse we're 13-8 in the weeks preceding the byes. I don't have any inside information. So I don't know if Dambrot is a rest and recover coach or a make the practices into games on the off weeks. Whatever the case is, it's not working though.

Stellar research. Definitely a true trend. Thanks for the info.

-I feel like winning at least 3 of the next 4 is imperative to avoid a disastrous end to the season
-Beating Fordham on 3/4 in NYC also seems like must happen
-Tre Williams really ain't perfect but is the only DU big with actual post moves & that has proven he can score against this level of competition.. He is also the only big on this team with both technique & a physique that make him a very good post defender & shot blocker. He also knows better than any other player on the team where he is supposed to be on both offense & defense. He has a great standing reach & wingspan. He will never be 4" taller & 15% quicker. He is another in a long line of Dambrot bigs that make little sense for the chosen defensive scheme. Keep in mind his performance against SBU just one game ago. 
-I love that Rotroff is staying healthy & that he actually tries to do what he is assigned to do. I dig his fight & attitude. However, he is lacking a bit in many areas both offensive & defensive. 7 minutes per game is just perfect for him unless he is rolling, there is foul trouble, or injuries. When the team was 13-5 I didn't see this way. Now it is time to sink or swim with the young guys. Austin is not returning this year. Also, he gets his shot blocked way too often, doesn't finish well through contact, & even after 5 seasons & 100+ attempts, is a bad FT shooter.
-Chabbi & Dixon have tremendous upside & winning bodies but not enough experience to apply what I hope they are being taught. Even so, when Reece is flailing around on offense & defense like he has for much of the last 3 games, they have to take his minutes. That kind of happened today.
-Taking Dixon & Rozier out during their respective hot streaks is so hard to understand. 
-I have no idea what the coaching staff should do for/about Dae Dae right now. I thought today was his best defensive game of the year & his effort level was very high for a long time. He was very good on the boards. He is so lost offensively wit hthe assists & turnovers being every bit as troubling as the shooting.