SpiderInTheMixingBowl

Okay I came back to get my free meal. My apologies DukesDan.

DistrictBaller

Yeah impressive. If Duquesne is our worst squad, this league is insane.

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"We will wreak havoc on our opponent's psyche and plan of attack."
- VCU Head Coach Shaka Smart

DukesDan

I think this team has really caught on to Jim Ferry's philosophy.

They are actually boxing out well and not getting killed on the boards. This team was 337th last year in rebounds. That wont happen this year even though our center is 6'6.

Colter is looking like the guard of the future. It is a coup that we got this guy.

Sean Johnson showed why he is the best player on the team. A great performance by the senior.

Jerry Jones started off terribly, but ended up playing hard and getting his game to catch up with his effort.

Abele may have earned himself a solid spot in the rotation. The man has some good fundamentals and even Georgetown couldn't match him in size. He really filled in some good minutes for Dre. I would like to see Abele continue to get more playing time.

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Duquesne Dukes: 2012 A10 tournament qualifier!!

2012-2013 Locks of the Day TBA
2011-2012 Locks of the Day NIT participant 29-26-0...... .527
2010-2011 Locks of the Day Regular Season Champion 31-20-4 ..... .600

#15 Cooper #11 Green #10 Nixon #12 Ricketts #24 Somerset

SpiderInTheMixingBowl

Never said I wasn't rooting for them. I will even root for VCU this year, though I may have to consume a whole pharmacy worth of anti-nausea meds before the new year arrives.

At the moment of my earlier post, his optimism seemed unfounded, almost unhinged, to me, and it grated on me. Then again I've had a fever and chills all day, so it doesn't take much to irritate me right now. And I've had to be on my computer working on some advanced mathematics that I'm barely able to comprehend.

Obviously, I was wrong. I will now return to continuing my bad day.

At least, I was prompt in eating my crow.

duq81

This! You can't teach 7'1". If the guy isn't a total stiff, (and he looks like he has some ability), you have to work him into the rotation. He didn't appear to be a drag on the team's play when he was in there at all.

z8-Minutemen

Okay, okay. I will eat crow for my prediction. I admit I did not account for how poorly Georgetown would play. I did not do enough research prior to the game to make an accurate prediction. I did not know of Georgetown's lack of size and proneness to turnovers.

Regardless, Z8's Record to Date: 11-3.

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UMass Minutemen- 8 tournament appearances, 1 final four. Alumni: Julius 'Dr. J' Erving, Marcus Camby

Northeastern Huskies- 7 tournament appearances. Alumni: Reggie Lewis, Jose Juan 'JJ' Barea

bprichard

Hey, we can split that. I picked against Duquesne in the Lock of the Day.

DukesDan

Georgetown has a lack of size??? This is news to me.

6'8
6'2
6'8
6'9
6'8

You are really in denial. Duquesne played excellent defense, rebounded well, and played hard. They are not a bad team.

__________________
Duquesne Dukes: 2012 A10 tournament qualifier!!

2012-2013 Locks of the Day TBA
2011-2012 Locks of the Day NIT participant 29-26-0...... .527
2010-2011 Locks of the Day Regular Season Champion 31-20-4 ..... .600

#15 Cooper #11 Green #10 Nixon #12 Ricketts #24 Somerset

WH

I don’t want to read too much into this game, for Duquesne or the league. Dukes were fired up for the game and a young Gtown team has an unsettled rotation.

Georgetown was top heavy and doesn’t have greater backcourt play. They had trouble with the quickness of the smaller Dukes and they will have the same problem in the Big East. Plus the Hoyas’s best player missed most of the game. A much better team would have buried the Dukes.

That said, I like what I saw from Duquesne. They have played much better than I expected in the first two games. The Dukes boxed out well, played active defense and attacked the basket aggressively. If they do that all year they won’t finish in the basement.

Colter really is a natural PG and he’ll get better as the year progresses. Some of his passes – a halfcourt bounce pass for one – were terrific.

On the other hand, I didn’t like the shot selection. Too many quick shots and a lack of patience on offense. I expect the team to improve in this regard, though. Young guys gotta learn what constitutes a good shot.

Bigger concern is size. I just don’t think the Dukes, Marhold especially, can hold up physically all year being the smaller group of players. Sooner or later they will wear down. Not sure Abele will be able to help consistently. He is big and has some skill, but he is slow and earthbound.

I like Ferry’s style and he seems like a high-energy coach. Dukes need that, but they also need another good recruiting class or two that includes some size and athleticism up front.

DukesDan

Thank you WH, a nice unbiased analysis.

__________________
Duquesne Dukes: 2012 A10 tournament qualifier!!

2012-2013 Locks of the Day TBA
2011-2012 Locks of the Day NIT participant 29-26-0...... .527
2010-2011 Locks of the Day Regular Season Champion 31-20-4 ..... .600

#15 Cooper #11 Green #10 Nixon #12 Ricketts #24 Somerset

duq81

Agree with that. Ovie Soko, and Isaiah Watkins will help a lot next year, and I'd like to see Ferry add one more big.

WH

I'd be semi-optimistic as a Dukes fan. I thought this year would be really tough. It probably still will be, but it's refreshing to see a return to defensive fundamentals and a refocus on rebounding. And the Dukes look like they have the potential to be a pretty good scoring team. All a fan can really ask for in a situation like this is for a team to fight and be competitive.

FlyingElvis

I watched a little of the game, and the thing that stood out to me was how good the Dukes hands are defensively. I have seen no stats, but they seemed to pick the ball away from Georgetown players regularly.

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"US Bank Arena can't be that bad"

AdamtheFlyer

And also, you know, Georgetown's style of play, which makes 40 point wins almost mathematically impossible. But good job missing the score by over 30 points and giving yourself a win. You should handicap games for Explorer Steve's site.

I liked how Duquesne played. I don't know if Ferry will be a home run, but good chance he's at least a double in the gap. For reasons WH mentioned it's still going to be a tough year or two, but you can see the vision for the future. The young PG looks like a keeper for sure.

__________________
Sure, I've been called a xenophobe, but the truth is, I'm not. I honestly just feel that America is the best country and the other countries aren't as good. That used to be called patriotism.

duq81

They'll likely be back in CBI territory next year, but the question will be if Ferry can lift them above that. Everhart really couldn't.