Hey City Duke, I have Duquesne in my blood. I'm a son of the bluff. The fact of the matter is Beating teams like Chicago state in a tight game on your home court isn't going to spur interest. This is a never ending saga of the boy who cried wolf. This team was getting a lot of accolades in the run up to the season. I think it's safe to say they have disappointed.

Mike Ignelsi wrote:

This takes me back to Eastern Michigan. Who was that guy? Uh, George Gervin.

I was there in the DU Student's section. Can't erase the memory of the last possession, when Gervin exploited a complete absence of defensive presence and waltzed in for an uncontested layup before the buzzer. Not your fault for triggering that memory, as it has never left.

Yeah, I remember that was a walk-over win, then became a "Who is that guy?"  Amazing how many of us remember that game, it baffled everyone. 

Styles1229 wrote:

I like Savrasov. My feeling is, someone needed to answer for the 0-5 conference start and KD made it him and H Drame. I like Savrasov and he shouldn’t be nailed to the bench BUT I am in the camp of less players in the rotation the better so somebody has to sit and I nominate him. At this point, barring foul trouble, 9 max should get regular run.

Jimmy
Dae Dae
Jake
David Dixon
Trey Williams
F Drame
Dusan
Rozier
Matus

My starting 5 would be:

Jimmy
Dae Dae
Jake
Dixon
Trey

But I’d like to see, Dusan, and F Drame, play as much as Trey and Dixon. Matus and Rozier giving Jimmy, Dae Dae, and Jake breathers. Then the others can grab a few minutes here and there and play when we are in foul trouble

In crunch time tonight KD had Jimmy, Dae Dae, Dixon, F Drame, and Jake out there. I think that tells us who he thinks the best players are

I'm good with that five in crunch time, but think the doors may open for Savrasov given his experience down the stretch. He, Duson, and the Drames all came here to get to the dance.
 

Rayrich wrote:

The best thing that happened tonight was that Savrasov got some much needed minutes and the Dukes were on the positive when he was out there. Not going anywhere far without him as a piece of the puzzle and I think Hassan Darme shoud get some minutes as he's a tenacious defender and a very capable three point shooter which is where the Dukes are mightily struggling at this point.

Yes, I noticed that we were out scoring Chi. when Andre was in there. I agree H.Drame should get some time too. It's been strange that Andre sat out so long.

Shooting 3 for 20 at the 3 pt range isn't going to help. Chicago hit 40 percent from 3 pt range vs 15 percent for the Dukes.  This whole team really needs to practice shooting. FT could be better too.

Good news Fort Duquesne holds the opponent again with solid defense. When was the last time the Dukes beat a ranked team on the road? Chi St did! Second point, according to Ellis there were NBA scouts In attendance. Maybe that’s why Jimmy Clark was all world defensively. Coach Dambrot is gradually adjusting his lineup with the Jimmys & Joes thus he is better with the X’s & O’s. Pretty obvious at this point based on the box score as to who should be decreased PT in order to provide a better opportunity for the others with limited PT. Hopefully, Coach Dambrot makes the necessary adjustments by mid February. Should be interesting this Saturday against the Rams what Coach Joyce does in his debut has a head coach. Prayers to Coach Dambrots wife. Final point a win is a win👍

Did I miss something? Will KD be out on Saturday?

Ironduke81 wrote:

Good news Fort Duquesne holds the opponent again with solid defense. When was the last time the Dukes beat a ranked team on the road? Chi St did! Second point, according to Ellis there were NBA scouts In attendance. Maybe that’s why Jimmy Clark was all world defensively. Coach Dambrot is gradually adjusting his lineup with the Jimmys & Joes thus he is better with the X’s & O’s. Pretty obvious at this point based on the box score as to who should be decreased PT in order to provide a better opportunity for the others with limited PT. Hopefully, Coach Dambrot makes the necessary adjustments by mid February. Should be interesting this Saturday against the Rams what Coach Joyce does in his debut has a head coach. Prayers to Coach Dambrots wife. Final point a win is a win👍

I was disappointed with last night's overall performance but I think it is worth noting both that all wins are good wins & several positive developments were in evidence.

-Dae Dae is back & played a well rounded game.
-The closing lineup showed no signs of choking. They displayed some poise.
-The team seems to be a tight unit that believes in each other.
-Dixon continued his developmental progress.

Iron Duke, I'd like to know who you think should be getting the most minutes at PG?

Styles, I couldn't have said it any better, right on point my man!!!  Off the bench with limited minutes should be Kareem's role and that is where he can best help the team.

Being at the game last night and all game this season I have been open-minded to the different players playing but we are now at the point in the season where I believe we now who should be playing and who shouldn't.

The best lineup last night.  And it was on the court at the end and I believe the one stretch where Duquesne went up 29-21 or 28-21
     Trae Clark
     Dae Dae
     DiMichiele
     F. Drame
     Dixon

Duquesne's offense I believe runs more smooth without Kareem Rozier.  He just doesn't have the height to play 25-30 minutes a game.  I am fine with him coming off the bench and giving 10-12/per game and that is it.  Trae and Dae Dae were fine running the point and just gives Duquesne a different look with a bigger point guard.  I am open to Kareem is he actually shot well or drove to the hoop but he doesn't.

I am fine with Dixon not starting if it allows him to calm down and not foul right away.  He should then be first off the bench.  Start either Dusan or Tre Williams.

I thought Savrasov gave quality minutes and I could see him continuing that.  My main take is Kareem (and I love his passion and energy, not knocking the kid) just does not have the physical attributes to play as many minutes as he was.  DiMichele being 6'4 with Grant and Clark is a better fit for A-10 play.

townsonkid wrote:

CityDuke wrote:

I have been extremely impressed with Noah Buono on the color commentary so far. What a knowledgable and well-spoken young man!

DU needs to step in, offer him Cannon’s job.  Easy voice to listen to, and knows what he is talking about.

At risk of agreeing and once again sounding like the guy always bashing on Cannon, this was my biggest pleasant surprise to come out of this game. Objectively, Cannon is from my memory the worst “color analyst” I can ever remember hearing in any sport. Buono absolutely wiped the floor with him from an in-game analysis perspective and the fact that they were doing color side by side created an embarrassingly stark contrast to the two’s basketball acumen that I believe HAS to be the beginning of the end to the Ellis cannon ESPN+ era. Noah is fresh off a D1 basketball career playing for this coach and program, and is young and hungry to get into the business. He is the ideal person for the role, and his new inclusion is no random happenstance and in my opinion giving him the runway to take over full time next year.

Hearing Buono would be joining at halftime and for the second half I started making notes on each’s comments as I knew I would be coming to post this after and didn’t want to sound like I was just being negative towards Ellis.

I noted that during the broadcast, rather than going into detail about technical aspects of basketball at any point, Cannon used metaphors, stories, and jokes related to Mike Tomlin, Kenny Pickett, Bill Belichick and Mario Lemuix to describe and relate to what was going on in a COLLEGE BASKETBALL GAME. Buono gets on there and starts talking about Chi State initiating a 2-1-2 half court pressure, a 5-1 switch on defense, and breaking down why the Chicago state guard was a legit NBA prospect.

Cannon later went back to his greatest hits of reading the most basic level stats as if that was analysis, or repeating things Dambrot said in his coaches show as if that was analysis, all while Buono continued to break down the game and give us insights on how Dambrot coaches his team.

What especially made me angry was when Cannon tried to belittle Buonos career in the petty manner as he did on air. After sounding audibly embarrassed to have Noah in the booth schooling him on what was going on, Ellis says, “so when you go into the college basketball hall of fame, are you going to go in with Duquesne or Rider?” Buono sheepishly jokes that he would more likely be in the scout team hall of fame, and that his scout team exploits were amazing. Ellis responds, “weren’t you on the scout team for the 6-24 season? Yeah amazing” and laughs at the kid. Really low rent.

This is probably the thing that matters least but I am also sick of hearing Cannon praise the other teams and players, and going bat **** crazy when the opposition makes a 3 or gets a breakaway dunk in our house. Cannon went to Pitt and never played college basketball, or any other sport at the college level. Bouno represented this team and program and has so much to offer the broadcast, this is an easy decision.

I think next year we see Joyce succeed Dambrot and Buono replace Cannon.