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Scouting the Duquesne Dukes!!!
By
Andy Mac Williams,
2/7/2013
The Muskies launch the second half of their Atlantic 10 schedule Saturday nite in Pittsburgh against Duquesne (7PM-Consol Energy Center-CBS Sports Network). XU started league play like a missile winning the first 4. Brad Redford supplied a third dependable source of offense (15PPG) easing the burden on Travis Taylor and Semaj Christon. 3 of those first 4 games were at Cintas also. The early road win came at St Bonnies. The second quarter proved tougher with 3 road games (losses at Charlotte,at St Joe's,at Richmond) less Redford plus poor FT shooting.
5-3 at the A-10 midway point is good enough for a tie for 4th with UMass, GW,Charlotte and LaSalle. Butler,VCU and St Louis are tied at the top at 6-2. Another 5-3 down the stretch gives Xavier 10 Atlantic 10 victories and a probable First Round A-10 Tournament bye in Brooklyn.
The Duquesne Dukes are 16th in a 16 team league (7-15 overall,0-8 in A-10 play with a 10 game losing streak stretching back to mid-December). They fashioned nice early wins over James Madison and West Virginia (Any time Hugs loses it perks up my spirits).
Lately,it's been ugly. AD Greg Amodio fired coach Ron Everhardt in April. The Dukes posted some winning seasons but collapsed each year down the stretch and never seriously threatened for an NCAA berth. The last straws, I guess,were the transfers of guards TJ MCConnell (to Arizona) and Mike Talley (to Eastern Michigan). McConnell was a great lead guard and Pittsburgh area HS legend who had deep ties to Duquesne. It was a shocker!!
Enter new coach Jim Ferry who had taken LIU to the NCAA's two straight years. He inherited a roster in turmoil. Ferry wants to play very uptempo. LIU averaged 83PPG last season. He is setting the bar high with no excuses. Ferry's first recruit is a good one-PG Derrick Colter who's destined for the A-10 All Rookie Team (13PPG-5 plus assists). He's a program building block.
The two guard is SR Sean Johnson(13PPG) and a 3 year starter. He's the known quantity so defenses have been tilted toward him all season. Frosh swing man Jeremiah Jones(6-3) has earned big minutes lately.He scored 14 in Wednesday's Palumbo Center (on campus) 79-57 loss to GW.
Coach Ferry blamed himself in the wake of GW. He apologized to the fans. DU was pounded 47-27 on the glass and shot 35%FG. So expect a hyped up Dukes team Saturday.
Duquesne plays selected higher profile games at Consol. Pitt killed them there as did VCU but the Dukes came from way behind to edge WVA with former coach Everhardt on the Mountaineer bench as a Huggie assistant. Also expect to see more young players. Ferry is upset with vet inside guys like Andre Marhold, Kadeem Pantophlet and Mamadou Datt. Derrick Martin will rate more PT. 6-5 Frosh Quevyn Winters thrived against Dayton (16P at UD Arena). He runs well and shoots the "3". Juco Jerry Jones can hoist the 3 ball also.
DU is undersized and challenged defensively allowing over 80PPG in A-10 games, but if X allows them to run around and flip in open "3s",the Dukes could be trouble.
The Muskies are sort of a one trick pony right now. They need to control tempo-own the boards and play games in the 50's or 60's to win on the road. This is a "MUST" win against a struggling team.
Ferry by all reports is a terrific coach dealt a depleted hand in the short run. He'll do his best to whip up the troops after a poor performance vs GW. X just has to weather the opening minutes emotion and work their system and get out of Pittsburgh with a "W".
A-10 leaders Butler (at GW), VCU (at Charlotte) and SLU (at Richmond) all have challenging road games Saturday. Maybe X can gain ground on the leaders!!
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