Duquesne had the athletic advantage,. they let Davidson dictate the pace of the game and finally we sped them up.We played better defense and the shots were falling.Had we pressured them from the get go
Dukes win comfortablly.Very dissappointing when the team with lesser talent beats you.

stew wrote:

Duquesne had the athletic advantage,. they let Davidson dictate the pace of the game and finally we sped them up.We played better defense and the shots were falling.Had we pressured them from the get go
Dukes win comfortablly.Very dissappointing when the team with lesser talent beats you.

That became clear when late in the game we pushed the action and Davidson could not keep up. And I would agree, that in the first half we played slow enough for them to operate their offense and defense. 

Last edited by NapaDuke (2/27/2023 10:20 am)

CLK wrote:

Disappointing yes, devastating not unless Dambrot and the team let it be. Time to move on and get ready to get revenge on UMass. So here is a question; if Fordham loses to Mason and we win, can we still get a double bye with a win over Fordham.

Zach Weiss says we can.

Hope springs eternal

Yesterday wasnt that get us over the hump game IMO.   But it sure would have been nice to win it, get 20 wins, at home in front of a nice crowd that didnt include students(common fans), beat a named team(for the A10) even if they arent great this year, and to show folks around town we are still here.   Now its all pitt, penguins and steelers draft this week.   Our game vs umass will go unnoticed win or lose.  It did suck the students were off campus, having them probably shout some remarks at those Davidson players would have been nice.

The Umass game is big, gotta get 20 wins before Brooklyn, I think that means something, and because I think at Fordham will be extremely tough, IDC If they barely won their last couple games, from what I saw Saturday, playing there will be difficult, unless their students are on break.  And, a win vs UMass locks us into a bye in Brooklyn, dont want to risk any tiebreakers.   

Last edited by townsonkid (2/27/2023 9:22 am)

If the Dukes beat UMass and Fordham and Fordham loses at George Mason Wednesday, then yes, the Dukes would win a head-to-head tiebreaker with Fordham and get the double-bye. We would just need St. Louis to not be part of that tiebreaker and they would be if they lose their last two, to VCU and Dayton. Then we'd be in a three-way tie with St. Louis and Fordham and would lose out to both based on the three-way head-to-head tiebreaker. We'd be second in a three-way tiebreaker with Dayton and Fordham but that would require Dayton to lose at home to LaSalle, which I don't see happening. So go Dukes, go Patriots and go Billikens, I guess.

I believe, if we win 1 more, we are locked into the 5th spot.   So do that Wednesday and then let the rest play out.  I think on a neutral court, we match up well with probably everyone, except maybe Dayton.

I meant to say we are locked into a bye, which is all that really matters to me.   GW shouldnt win either of those, maybe GM beats Fordham, that would be nice, and I think StL has Dayton and VCU this week, they could lose both.   We could win at Fordham, its not impossible, just saw a rough crowd there this weekend, will be tough.    It indeed will be a fun week in the A10, almost anything is possible it seems.

Yes, that's true, beat UMass and we can finish no worse than 7th. Top half of the conference for a team picked last in the preseason is pretty good. I'd say we're in the NIT conversation at 21 wins (no A10 team with 21 wins has ever not made the NIT, unless it made the NCAAs) and likely in at 22, but curious why you think it would take 23, FAM?

I suspect that unless the Dukes make it to the A-10 final after beating Fordham in the regular season finale & again in the  conference tournament, they have no chance at an NIT bid. Dayton, SLU, & VCU are the favorites to win the tournament & Fordham already has 23 wins. If one of the 3 favored teams wins the tournament, that puts 1 of those 4 in the big dance &  creates 3 other teams that will go to the NIT before the Dukes. The NIT will not have 4 A-10 teams. 3 might even be a stretch.

I suppose if VCU were to win the next 2, win their first 2 in the tournament giving them 26 wins, & lose in the A-10 final; they would have a good shot at an at-large bid for the NCAA tournament. This would put 2 A-10 teams in the big dance & make the Dukes a tiny bit more likely to get an NIT bid.

Losing to SLU put an easy NIT bid out of reach for the Dukes. Losing to Davidson made any NIT bid a true longshot.

If we win 22 or 23 games, and win at least one in Brooklyn, and we dont get NIT, i would be saddened.   CBI, if we accept it, it would be an achievement IMO.   But what I cant help but root for is the guys coming back next year.   I think DU will be attractive to some decent portal players, he could add the pieces along with the guys coming back to make a strong team.

El Presidente wrote:

FAM wrote:

Dennis, What Phil said...Dayton, SLU, & VCU are the favorites to win the tournament & Fordham already has 23 wins.  I believe that those teams, whomever doesn't win the A10 , would go before us and they aren't going to take so many teams from the same conference after those teams. 

If, and I am not saying we won't, but IF we don't win the A-10 or get an NIT bid, I again will be extremely disappointed.  Some posters here, and it is their right, will be happy with that...especially those who can't look at the coach/coaches objectively.  The bar has been low for many years and not making one of those tournaments and folks being accepting, is again setting the bar low.  Not for me.  I am sure Dambrot won't be happy either.

Let's at least win the next 4 games...but gotta take them one game at a time.

Totally understand what you are saying here. Although I am looking at this year as a bridge to something better no matter what we may accomplish the remainder of the season. Yes, I want to win the A-10 as much as anyone. But if that doesn't happen and we don't receive an NIT bid either, I will still feel like the program took a huge leap forward from last year's disaster. I will look forward expectantly in anticipation of something better next season. I'll be disappointed but not discouraged. If we hold serve on most of the current eligible to return players and bring in the right recruits, especially a dominant big (BIG IF) we could see a much better team playing at the Coop next season. I'll still have that no matter what. GO DUKES!!

No NCAA bid or NIT bid and the team certainly took a huge step forward from last year but basically accomplished what KD was able to accomplish with the program already - middle of the pack A-10 team.  That, to me, is not progress.  Dukes need to finish strong, win a couple A-10 tournament games or even 3 to make me believe this staff should remain in place.  They pass the eye test of being talented enough to be a top 4 team in this league.  They seem to be coachable and have good attitudes and are team players.  They have "bought in" to KD's defensive scheme and seemingly have no issue sharing the ball.  Injuries have not hurt this team as they are deep enough to fill in when they have occurred without missing much.  These are always the excuses we have heard in the past.  If we split the last 2 games, win zero or 1 game in the A-10 tournament - what does that tell us?  I think it means its as good as it ever is going to get under KD and time to move on.  That doesn't mean I don't believe we can and will accomplish those goals - just saying if we don't...

FAM wrote:

So, and this is a good thing…We all Believe that we can win the tournament.  We all believe that we CAN win 4 more games.  If we don’t, we were competitive…but that isn’t enough.  Let’s do this.  Go Dukes! 

...I just don't think we all agree that being competitive is NOT enough.