Taj79 Posted January 2, 2020 Share Posted January 2, 2020 Eight hours before tip and I'm starting a GDT. Am I up for the game or what? First conference game and already a key juncture ---- this is one we want to win and must win if we are to seriously contend for a top four finish. I like it as R&G pointed out that this is their first game at this venue as well. Duquesne last played Bobby in 2017-18 at the Palumbo Duct Center and lost 66 to 59. This followed a 2016-17 loss at Morris 64 to 60. No one on the current Dukes roster has ever played at Robert Morris except a senior walk-on. The gym is 18 miles from Duquesne's campus so this will be almost a neutral site but a nice crowd is expected in this 4,000 seat bandbox gym. They probably want to see if the Pukes are real at 10 and 2. As Sully pointed out, their non-conference schedule was only slightly better than Mason so who really knows. Personnel watch: Duquesne goes six deep, with an occasional seventh in Lamar Norman Jr. All six average 9 ppg or better led by 6'5" forward Marcus Weathers at 13.5. Weathers is averaging well over 20 ppg in his last four games although the competition was Radford, Austin Peay, UAB and Marshall. The guy is, to me, a Trey Landers clone, always working. He's not a three threat, taking only one per game. Michael Hughes is the 6'8" center and a decent defender and shot blocker. He goes after every shot and only plays a half mostly due to foul trouble. He is shooting 62% but that's mostly on dunks and putbacks and probably high due to the competition to date. Maceo Austin is a smooth 6'5" freshman and I expect him and Hargrove to battle for years to come. If he lasts (remember Mike Lewis/Eric Williams). Tavian Dunn-Martin starts at off guard and is small, listed at 5'8". The biggest danger with him is he can shoot once over half court. Can't sleep there. He went off for 25 in a win against Columbia .... again, Columbia. The final starter of course is PG Sincere Carry. Carry had led the Pukes in scoring once, the opener against Princeton, but has had at least 5 assists in eight games this year. He, Weathers and Austin play almost an average of 30 mpg. Like Kyle Lofton at Bonaventure, he always has the ball. Sixth man is 6'10" GT Bailey Steele. Steele is not a banger and is second on the team in threes attempted behind Dunn-Martin. All seven shoot FTs at better than 80%, with the exception of Weathers (79.1) and Hughes (69.2). This is the best FT shooting team in the A10 right now, bar none. Last year, we split with the Pukes, losing in Pitt 77 to 73, and winning at home 85 to 75 in the game Isabell scored 39 but Eric Williams scored 40. At Pitt, Williams, Frankie Hughes and Gavin Bizeau all had decent games for the Pukes. Neither Williams or Bizeau is there this year and while Frankie is on the roster, he hasn't played a single minute this year due to October knee surgery. He was the former 3-star recruit that transferred to the Pukes from Mizzou. As always, go Bills. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Bay Area Billiken Posted January 2, 2020 Share Posted January 2, 2020 Duquesne has a proud alumni base, and it appears those in the PIttsburgh suburbs and exurbs are coming out tonight to see the Dukes play the Defending A10 Champs. Dambright is a Type A personality type Coach. For comparison, guys like Matheny and Crews are Type B’s. While I prefer a Type A Coach on our side, which we thankfully have in Travis Ford, it can be tough going up a Type A on the other side, especially when he works the A10 zebras on his “Home” court. cbssports has DUQ as a 3 point home favorite. While I had this one down as an L initially, this SLU team played and fared better in the non-conference part of the schedule than I expected. The Wiz has the game even. As many of us know, no one beats The Wiz! Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
dlarry Posted January 2, 2020 Share Posted January 2, 2020 I like our chances against any team that only goes 6 deep. The Bills brand of physical defense can really tire teams out. It seems even when teams keep it close the Bills can pull away late because they are deeper and better conditioned than other teams. The depth has been depleted with the loss of Jimerson and Thatch still uncertain but even with those losses I think our guys are better conditioned than most. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
HoosierPal Posted January 2, 2020 Share Posted January 2, 2020 27 minutes ago, dlarry said: I like our chances against any team that only goes 6 deep. Duquesne goes 8 deep. They have 8 that have averaged double digit minutes in all 12 games. They have started the same five in all 12 games, but have three more in the regular rotation. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Taj79 Posted January 2, 2020 Author Share Posted January 2, 2020 Lines for A10 Opening Night: Bills (+2.5) at Duquesne. Richmond (-12.5) hosting the Joeys. VCU Rams (-19) hosting the Fordham Rams. Dayton (-10.5) at the Gola Mausoleum. And one more non-con I missed, Rhodey (-7.5) at Brown. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Taj79 Posted January 2, 2020 Author Share Posted January 2, 2020 HP --- you are correct in that Lamar Norman (noted above) and Ashton Miller do get time, but I see their contributions as slight. Which of course makes them the likely candidates for "going off' on us ala Gavin Bizeau last year. Kind of like that Verhoeven kid a few years ago. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
dlarry Posted January 2, 2020 Share Posted January 2, 2020 9 minutes ago, HoosierPal said: Duquesne goes 8 deep. They have 8 that have averaged double digit minutes in all 12 games. They have started the same five in all 12 games, but have three more in the regular rotation. Fair enough. The original post said they went 6 and occasionally 7 deep. I still like out chances!! Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Cowboy Posted January 2, 2020 Share Posted January 2, 2020 -who gets Weathers? JGood? -per Stu's article hard to believe this starts our 15th season in the A10, also hard to believe we have lost 5 in a row at their place so with this one not at their place and hopefully lacking the distractions of the elaborate duct work we get this one -Let's Go Bills! Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
HoosierPal Posted January 2, 2020 Share Posted January 2, 2020 37 minutes ago, dlarry said: Fair enough. The original post said they went 6 and occasionally 7 deep. I still like out chances!! It is too early to say this is a must win, but it would be very, very good to win this game. Today (one can go crazy following the daily fluctuations of NET ratings), this would/will be a Q2 win. In the first 1/3 of the conference, we play 4 (as of today) Q1 or Q2 games. The downside is that Duquesne may/will slip in the NET ratings as the season progresses, and this could go to Q3. No Q3 L's please. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
billiken_roy Posted January 2, 2020 Share Posted January 2, 2020 1 minute ago, HoosierPal said: It is too early to say this is a must win, but it would be very, very good to win this game. Today (one can go crazy following the daily fluctuations of NET ratings), this would/will be a Q2 win. In the first 1/3 of the conference, we play 4 (as of today) Q1 or Q2 games. The downside is that Duquesne may/will slip in the NET ratings as the season progresses, and this could go to Q3. No Q3 L's please. as one of those in the "not believer of the dukes" camp, i would call tonites game in better not lose category. not sure if that is the same as must win or not, but if we expect post season without the benefit of the conference tourney championship, "better not lose" this. CBFan, philliken, bauman and 2 others like this Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
HoosierPal Posted January 2, 2020 Share Posted January 2, 2020 9 minutes ago, billiken_roy said: as one of those in the "not believer of the dukes" camp, i would call tonites game in better not lose category. not sure if that is the same as must win or not, but if we expect post season without the benefit of the conference tourney championship, "better not lose" this. No argument here. Just hard to call first of 18 as a do or die game, but yeah, close to it. bauman likes this Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Taj79 Posted January 2, 2020 Author Share Posted January 2, 2020 HP --- my goal is for the Bills to finish to four. While i admit is it somewhat frivulious to think Game 1 of 18 is a must win, winning here sets us on a path to where I want to be. I think 3 of those 4 will be Dayton, VCU and Rhodey meaning the margin for error is slight. And that is predicated on a lot of things right now. A win here is a great start. A10 conference cannibalism is expected. Any road win is worth 1.5 in my book. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Clocktoweraccords2004 Posted January 2, 2020 Share Posted January 2, 2020 With the loss of Gibson, I don’t think we are more talented than last years team, however we have far better chemistry and Yuri at point is a game changer. I think we could be top 4 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Compton Posted January 2, 2020 Share Posted January 2, 2020 Gotta like that this isn’t a full home game for the Dukes due to their barnstorming this season. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Scoop Posted January 2, 2020 Share Posted January 2, 2020 Trey Weaver gonna knock a couple big shots down tonight! MusicCityBilliken, joe_davola, jweste216 and 3 others like this Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Bills71 Posted January 2, 2020 Share Posted January 2, 2020 It's Tay! Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
wgstl Posted January 2, 2020 Share Posted January 2, 2020 No fred tonight per stu Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
JohnnyJumpUp Posted January 2, 2020 Share Posted January 2, 2020 1 minute ago, Bills71 said: It's Tay! Stu is that you? Littlebill likes this Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Cowboy Posted January 2, 2020 Share Posted January 2, 2020 -I hope ESPN Plus is ready for the number of folks who are going to be watching this game Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Bills71 Posted January 2, 2020 Share Posted January 2, 2020 3 minutes ago, JohnnyJumpUp said: Stu is that you? Ya think Stu was a Billiken grad of 71? Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
HoosierPal Posted January 2, 2020 Share Posted January 2, 2020 Interesting switch for the Dukes. No mention of Tavian being hurt. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Quality Is Job 1 Posted January 2, 2020 Share Posted January 2, 2020 36 minutes ago, Bills71 said: It's Tay! The Rammer says, "Trey Weaver," when Tay hits a 3. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Quality Is Job 1 Posted January 2, 2020 Share Posted January 2, 2020 According to Learfield IMG College's Sidearm Sports live stats tracker, the game's location is "A.J. Palumbo Center." Methinks Sidearm isn't updating that. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Bills71 Posted January 2, 2020 Share Posted January 2, 2020 4 minutes ago, Quality Is Job 1 said: The Rammer says, "Trey Weaver," when Tay hits a 3. The Rammer is wrong! Surprise... Jul 3, 2019 - Eastern Kentucky graduate transfer Dujuanta ‘Tay’ Weaver committed to Saint Louis on Wednesday, possibly signaling that the Arizona Wildcats are done making offseason additions. Weaver reportedly received an offer from Arizona recently despite the fact the Wildcats already have 13 ... Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
hmart23 Posted January 2, 2020 Share Posted January 2, 2020 1 minute ago, Bills71 said: The Rammer is wrong! Surprise... Jul 3, 2019 - Eastern Kentucky graduate transfer Dujuanta ‘Tay’ Weaver committed to Saint Louis on Wednesday, possibly signaling that the Arizona Wildcats are done making offseason additions. Weaver reportedly received an offer from Arizona recently despite the fact the Wildcats already have 13 ... He's not wrong.... It's a play on words. as in trey. like a three point shot. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
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