FAM wrote:

No issues with what was or wasn’t written. The only person that was in the negative limelight most of the time was Rozier. In fact, most on this board wanted Eli and Max to stay and voiced that.
Necas is a favorite along with others.
Want to read harsh things… go to the Pitt boards!!
There is a fix for personnel regarding what is written… stay off social media…

I read many boards… they are all pretty similar.

Agreed.  The 2 examples he mentions, Cam and Jakub, is why I felt the need to post.  Cam makes a play like that at the end of the game to cost the Dukes a chance to win and this forum is not supposed to discuss it and express frustration?!?  I don’t remember anybody being particularly mean about it.  What is more ridiculous is Zach’s article following that game where he could not bring himself to explain what happened!  He vaguely glossed over it not explaining what had occurred so anybody not watching or listening could understand what transpired. THAT is derelict of duty just to “protect” the player.  And Jakub’s performance last season was worthy of the discussion we had weekly on this board and rarely, if ever, out of bounds.   I’m really surprised by the mention of online criticism in his article. He’s a reporter, not a PR guy for the team. At least he’s supposed to be.

I started checking this message board regularly going into the Championship season, as it seemed it would be a pretty exciting season coming up with the talent retained and liking some of the portal moves being made. Obviously my expectations were completely exceeded in every capacity and that was an unforgettable ride for me. A dream come true. 

I am yet to see any "unnecessary attacks" towards anyone with the program by anyone on this board. Either,  there are moderators doing an excellent job in removing garbage or there are other boards that he is referencing. But, I think we all know that is not the case. I have never seen anyone post anything hateful or even lacking respect. It seems everyone always makes educated posts on this. (I hope people think mine are as well).

I am also very grateful to the work that Zach and everyone else does and it is an integral part to any program/culture. However, he missed the mark on this completely. I certainly would never post anything on the internet that I would not want my name attached to or something I would not say to someone's face. And it seems that is the overwhelming opinion of everyone else within this message board. 

I'm not sure if saying a 22 year old -being paid by donors to play at Duquesne- played a bad game is attacking them personally. Besides, most of the negativity was mostly directed towards transfers who came in last summer. Corbett, Dinkins, and Edwards until the GW game. There is going to be chatter as a result. Corbett was very very very underwhelming. I and others found ourselves continuously defending the guys that did stay and gave much more leeway with any sort of "underperforming". IE- Hronsky, an injured Necas, and obviously Dixon/DiMichele are the favorites of the roster. Rozier did get some unfair treatment with his play but only because Dinkins could not run an offense. Crawford and Wilborn were also received incredibly well and they played great. 

I get the point he is trying to make with fixing our expectations a bit, but was that not what we all hoped for a very long time now? Some success and much needed change into a bottom feeder program for 2 decades straight. Is that not why Zach has given so much time and effort to the school? Hoping to see it turn around.  Some of you have waited that full 47 years to see this great University get some respect in the College Basketball World again. 

So, yes, expectations may need to be curbed a little. But writing a hit piece as the season review on the ones that support the team most ain't it. Duquesne Basketball fandom is a very small and tight knit group. That's the reason I love it. But. even if his observations were correct, at least sight Twitter (X) or know that every school in the country has fans who get out of sorts sometimes. That's sports, they're now professionals, and going after fans during portal recruitment is certainly not a great look. Gotta be better Zach. None of it was ever personal. 

duq.dog wrote:

So, yes, expectations may need to be curbed a little. But writing a hit piece as the season review on the ones that support the team most ain't it. Duquesne Basketball fandom is a very small and tight knit group. That's the reason I love it. But. even if his observations were correct, at least sight Twitter (X) or know that every school in the country has fans who get out of sorts sometimes. That's sports, they're now professionals, and going after fans during portal recruitment is certainly not a great look. Gotta be better Zach. None of it was ever personal. 

I agree with all the other posters.  I enjoy Zach’s work.  But I noticed on Twitter he does something I do not see other journalists doing.   He tweets (mainly on the WBB) side) directly to other A10 coaches or players congratulating them on certain accomplishments.   I have never seen Mike White of the PG or Tim
Benz of the Trib @ a coach or player on Twitter.

It’s one thing to tweet. “Susie Smith is the A10 Coach of the year”.    It’s another thing altogether to tweet “Congratulations to @SusieSmith A10 Coach of the year.  Great job Coach!”   I can only assume he is doing this to gain favor with the individual.

So if we need to act better according to him, he should as well.   

Finally I have criticized administration at time.  I have never ever said anything about a student athletes play.   And I have fought with two other posters.  Never a student athlete.  We fight with each other more than we criticize players by far.

The article was poor.

Last edited by DuqBlue (4/30/2025 8:41 pm)

This post tread just kills me.  The whole year several posters have torn into a lot of the players for many reasons (rightly or wrongly).  It's one thing to criticize a player making a poor decision now or then, it's another thing to criticise a young player for some things like being "too short" or some other such nonsense.  They are Duquesne Players and we should support them the very best we can.  Being a colllege student to be criticized by some self proclaimed EXPERT can't be a good experience, NIL money or not.  I think it's great that Zac identifies a problem with our fan base (like most fan bases) for what they are, self appointed EXPERTS that don't know sh*t from shinola!  That may be a reason why the board has such few postings, real fans are turned off by the constant unrealistic b*tching.  Bob Nutting complaints I can live with, but college kids don't deserve the CONSTANT complaining  from  critics that like to hear themselves pontificate on many things they really know nothing about in detail.  Even a Pope isn't infailable and  last forever.  I'm sure that this post will be torn apart, but you know what?  I DON'T CARE! I'm a grumpy old man who's going to renew his tickets and cheer his beloved team on like the last half century, and will continue to support the players to the best of my ability.  You will excuse me now, I have to go to Ritter's dinner to eat my breakfast crow, but  I am looking forward to next year when I can complain about the refs (just a little bit). Bring your worst, and LEAVE THOSE KIDS ALONE! I'm very happy to see many of our players are returning, and to the EXPERTS, go pound salt!

Last edited by PrinceOf Pilsner (5/01/2025 7:40 am)

Would be very happy to land either of these two players. Would make a great addition to what is already a pretty good looking class. Getting both would be tremendous. A PG would be nice but as pointed out by Levon I believe, we do have the potential right on our current roster albeit a bit risky to trust the position to a freshman or a player coming off a serious injury. I would point out that Sincere Carry was quite good as a freshman here. At any rate, let's get it done Dru!!

Last edited by El Presidente (5/01/2025 3:30 pm)