Video link in the Official Site below.  Looks like the big key is going to be how well we defend the three point shot.

http://www.goduquesne.com/sports/m-baskbl/spec-rel/012714aac.html

Ugly first half.  Dukes down three at the half.  Colter & Jeremiah can't buy a bucket.  Ridenour providing a spark off the bench to help bring us back from 8 down.

Last edited by CLK (1/29/2014 7:54 pm)

Gutty come back by the Dukes.  Dukes win 71-64.  Could have been a disaster.

All wins are good.

Had some anxious moments, but the Dukes kept chipping away and didn't "play nervous." Hope you guys heard us; we had a good chorus of "Let's go Du-quesne" going all night. Nice turnout of DU faithful, including a couple parents of one of the players and a couple that came from south of Harrisburg. Derrick Colter for the second game in the row gave me some anxious moments from the FT line but hit a couple big threes down the stretch. Ridenour - the PA doofus called him Luke Ridenour at one point - made a lot of great plays but a couple that made me cringe as well. We had way too many shots blocked tonight. The pressing defense, when Ferry used it, was very effective. I know that's a lot of random stuff, but it's late. 10-9. 10 games left. Anything better than 5-5 down the stretch, and I'll be happy. Go Dukes!

Gram, I can't tell you any more about that by watching them in person than by having seen them on television and the Internet. The only thing that stood out to me in that regard is that LG Gill looks taller than Soko.  I certainly want things to go in the right direction, and by the right direction I mean a team that can contend for the A-10 title consistently and getting to the NCAA Tournament. Jimmy Ferry has certainly brought in some kids who can play. It was good to see them press successfully last night, to play with poise, and to come back from a deficit on the road. Seeing them do that against better teams in the future will be good. Getting four years out of Aaron Robinson will be good. Having Micah Mason is good. I wish Soko and McKoy had one more year each. This will be an important recruiting class, and I would like to see more development of Watkins and Lewis. I still think we need more consistent play at the point. Overall, I'm happier with 10-9 than I would be with a losing record. I'll be better equipped to answer your question without having to speculate when we're getting ready for next season. My wish and hope are that we are indeed building something good here.

I am cautiouslly optimistic because I think the team has improved.  However, CLK makes a great point about Soko being the main reason for our improved play.  I don't know if he read the post about being soft, but he has been a man posessed as of late.  Without him next year, I could really see our team struggle.  I agree that this recruiting class is huge.  I hope that we sign Eric James, Jeff Garrett (or some other PF/SF combo guy) and a point guard who can shoot threes/dribble.  

More importantly, I think we need to see some things from Gill and Watkins.  Lewis is simply too raw right now.  I can't see him getting many minutes.  I've actually seen more from Gill than I have from Watkins, but I hope Issiah proves me wrong in the future.  Nesbitt wrote the one article about how Watkins looked sad and frustrated after one game where he stayed late and shot jumpers.  I hope he doesn't try to leave.  

As I've said before, JF gets 4 years for me minimum, possible 5 since Ron was given six years and Ferry seems to want a long time to set a strong foundation.

Simms, you make a lot of excellent points. I don't think six years has to be a self-fulfilling prophecy. Ron turned things around a lot quicker than that, and there's no reason it can't be done again. Robinson living up to expectations, guys like Gill and Watkins showing improvement every year, getting some outside shooting help for Mason, and more consistent play from our guards should translate into NIT material by year three. As much of an impact as Soko has had -- and by no means am I downplaying his role -- McKoy is the MVP of this team. He's a really unselfish player who does all of the "dirty work" (and by that I mean hustle work) necessary to win. He's got hands like a first baseman, too. He scopped up a short-hopped bounce pass from Colter last night that would have gotten away from a lot of guys.

I agree with you that Gill has shown us more. Watkins was hurt to start the year, which gave GIll a PT advantage early, and he has taken advantage of it. It's up to the coaches to keep Watkins motivated and eager to play. Lewis, although a project, has a nice soft hook and he rebounds well. Watching these three guys plus Robinson mature together should be a lot of fun.

Don't know if Soko reads this stuff directly, or if it was just fed back to him. If it lit a little fire, then good. He actually finished a couple drives by dunking last night. That was me shouting "FINALLY" when he did. Maybe the same can be said of Colter. He's gone from C-/D+ play to C+/B- the past two games. A little more consistency, a little better FT shooting, especially at the end of games, and he'll be an asset.

Off the court, I think there is a LOT of work that needs to be done. A lot of older alums and fans who propped this program up through its lousiest years were turned off by the way Amodio conducted himself when he fired Ron, and by the struggles that the team experienced through Ferry's first year and a half. It's not just the $$$ that walked away, it's the passion that these folks had through thinner and thinnest. It's disgusting that Amodio has not reached out to these people to bring them back. The younger, vocal minority that cheered as a good coach and better man was exiled by his lout of a boss might think the program is better off without these folks, but it's not. The Dukes have been on TV three times and the attendace has been disappointing at best.  And hearing "Let's go Dukes" instead of "Let's go Du-quesne," as a fellow alum pointed out recently, is painful for those of us who used to get stirred up by the sight of Mossie Murphy rising to his feet and shouting "Are you ready?" to the students.

I think it's worth noting that I reached out to someone on the AD's staff to try to get information about other DU alum/fans who might have been attending last night's game. I already knew that the alumni association, to its shame, had nothing going on. After Pennsylvania, the state with the largest number of DU alumni is NJ. So even if the alumni association dropped the ball, you'd think the athletic department would see to it that something was organized. After all, it's Ferry's closest trip "home," isn't it? Heard nothing back from the AD's staff person.

These things are just as important as the development of the team when it comes to "building a program." I really, really hope that Ferry can be successful with his part of it, because Amodio's a hot mess of a failure with his part.

ElDuque wrote:

Simms, you make a lot of excellent points. I don't think six years has to be a self-fulfilling prophecy. Ron turned things around a lot quicker than that, and there's no reason it can't be done again. Robinson living up to expectations, guys like Gill and Watkins showing improvement every year, getting some outside shooting help for Mason, and more consistent play from our guards should translate into NIT material by year three. As much of an impact as Soko has had -- and by no means am I downplaying his role -- McKoy is the MVP of this team. He's a really unselfish player who does all of the "dirty work" (and by that I mean hustle work) necessary to win. He's got hands like a first baseman, too. He scopped up a short-hopped bounce pass from Colter last night that would have gotten away from a lot of guys.

I agree with you that Gill has shown us more. Watkins was hurt to start the year, which gave GIll a PT advantage early, and he has taken advantage of it. It's up to the coaches to keep Watkins motivated and eager to play. Lewis, although a project, has a nice soft hook and he rebounds well. Watching these three guys plus Robinson mature together should be a lot of fun.

Don't know if Soko reads this stuff directly, or if it was just fed back to him. If it lit a little fire, then good. He actually finished a couple drives by dunking last night. That was me shouting "FINALLY" when he did. Maybe the same can be said of Colter. He's gone from C-/D+ play to C+/B- the past two games. A little more consistency, a little better FT shooting, especially at the end of games, and he'll be an asset.

Off the court, I think there is a LOT of work that needs to be done. A lot of older alums and fans who propped this program up through its lousiest years were turned off by the way Amodio conducted himself when he fired Ron, and by the struggles that the team experienced through Ferry's first year and a half. It's not just the $$$ that walked away, it's the passion that these folks had through thinner and thinnest. It's disgusting that Amodio has not reached out to these people to bring them back. The younger, vocal minority that cheered as a good coach and better man was exiled by his lout of a boss might think the program is better off without these folks, but it's not. The Dukes have been on TV three times and the attendace has been disappointing at best.  And hearing "Let's go Dukes" instead of "Let's go Du-quesne," as a fellow alum pointed out recently, is painful for those of us who used to get stirred up by the sight of Mossie Murphy rising to his feet and shouting "Are you ready?" to the students.

I think it's worth noting that I reached out to someone on the AD's staff to try to get information about other DU alum/fans who might have been attending last night's game. I already knew that the alumni association, to its shame, had nothing going on. After Pennsylvania, the state with the largest number of DU alumni is NJ. So even if the alumni association dropped the ball, you'd think the athletic department would see to it that something was organized. After all, it's Ferry's closest trip "home," isn't it? Heard nothing back from the AD's staff person.

These things are just as important as the development of the team when it comes to "building a program." I really, really hope that Ferry can be successful with his part of it, because Amodio's a hot mess of a failure with his part.

I agree with your comments on McCoy.  I really like this kid and he just goes about his job quietly.  Don't know that he will replace Soko as key next year.  I think just continuing to play his own game will make him a reliable, solid player.

I agree with your comments on the alumni association.  They seem to do little or nothing to reach out to any alums let alone you folks in NJ.  I am a member of another alumni association where I received my masters (which shall remain nameless in its infamy and your unadulterated hatred which I don't want to stir up and cause  you chest pains) and they really go out of their way to keep folks interested and involved.  At Duquesne, since my 2 sons attended there it is almost as if I am lost to them as an alum.  I updated my status with a small achievement in my career and have yet to see any acknowledgement anywhere despite their contention that that want to know those things.

I agree with your comments on the AD staff generally though I don't apply this to all of them.  I tried to meet with one of them several months back and after treking into town and getting to the office got an email that said he had to cancel for another meeting.  Never heard back.  Never once heard anything from anyone else except for Jared Kramer who handles ticketing.  Not a fan of Amodio but not getting into that stuff about Ron as I've said my piece on that before.

Anyway, just thought you would want my affirmation of your comments sitting as you are out there in the hinterlands of NJ

Last edited by Mulder (1/31/2014 11:31 pm)

Couple people who were at the NJIT (pronounced nidge-it, like digit, in NJ) said Ferry took the time to talk after the game, which is good.

There's a disconnect with a lot of former season ticket holders and long-time supporters of the program. Maybe I'm the only one thinks it's a problem. All is well.

ElDuque wrote:

There's a disconnect with a lot of former season ticket holders and long-time supporters of the program. Maybe I'm the only one thinks it's a problem. All is well.

El Duque you are by far not the only one who thinks it is a problem.  While a lot of people have nice things to say about Jared, the AD has failed in his job of alumi relations and growing the fan base.  Ask the long time fans that use to occupy the now empty blue seats.