Duquesne Basketball
Keith Dambrot Happy With Duquesne’s Early Season Start
Keith Dambrot has been telling anyone that would listen that this year’s team is talented and has a chance to be pretty good.
So far, Dambrot has been spot on as Duquesne is off to their best start (6-0) since 2007 after winning three games in four days to take home the Junkanoo Jam Championship.
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The most impressive of the three games came last night as the Dukes overcame a slow start to convincingly beat Loyola Marymount, 71-50.
Two Dukes were named to the All Tournament Team, Junior center Mike Hughes and sophomore point guard Sincere Carry, who was named the Junkanoo Jam MVP.
Following the game last night, PSN caught up with Dambrot to get his thoughts on his teams performance in the Bahamas and what impressed him the most.
“We showed the ability to get hit in the mouth and come back from it which is one of our best qualities,” Dambrot told PSN. “I think when we shoot the ball well we’re going to be a difficult team to play because we’ve shown the ability to defend.”
”When you have Hughes, Weathers, Steele and if we can get Rotroff going a little bit once he gets healthier, we have a good front line. Obviously we have a really good point guard and both young small forwards are good in Maceo Austin and Ashton Miller. Then we have guys like Tavian and Lamar, who’s played pretty well and Tavian, who hasn’t played to his potential yet but down the line I think he will.”
”We have a chance to have a really good team if we can continue to develop.”
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Aside from the components that Dambrot mentioned, another strength of this Duquesne team is how deep it is and the number of players that can fill up the basket. Unlike most teams, they don’t really one or two players to lead them in scoring which makes them hard to prepare for.
”We do have really good depth and I forgot to mention Evan Buckley earlier who’s going to be a good player for us. The other big thing we have is the ability to score inside which a lot of teams can’t. The more you can score inside the more consistent of a basketball team you will be.”
The Dukes are on Thanksgiving break before returning to action on December 4 against VMI.
With how well they’re playing and their upcoming schedule, it’s not inconceivable that Duquesne heads into conference play with a perfect record of 12-0.
“We just need to be more consistent and fluid offensively,” said Dambrot. “I think that at times we’re not very fluid and also have to continue to learn what’s a good shot, what’s a bad shot and really know what good movement on offense is. Playing together and as a team is also going to be something that’s really important for us in order to get better.”
DUQUESNE’S REMAINING NON-CONFERENCE SCHEDULE
December 4: vs. VMI
December 9: vs. Columbia
December 14: vs. Radford in Akron, Ohio.
December 21: vs. Austin Peay in St. Petersburg, Florida.
December 22: vs. UAB in St. Petersburg, Florida.
December 29: vs. Marshall in Cleveland, Ohio.
That schedule is embarrassingly weak. It will be nice to win 20 games and more, but with the Atlantic 10 having some good teams I think the schedule will not prepare like the ones Rhode Island, VCU and Dayton are playing
Guess we’ll find out, I think they’ll be fine.
Mike, after seeing what VCU did to LSU and Dayton did to Georgia I disagree. They will in the upper half of the league, but my eye test tells me Rhode Island, Davidson, UMass and St Joes are better. I follow a ton of college hoops. This is not a blind call on my part
Eddie, I’m not doubting your knowledge of college hoops. I’m just saying Duquesne has a good team and will be in the top half of the A-10. I’m not picking them to win it but do feel they’ll finish in the Top 5.
dukes will make some noise in a10. would like to c pitt penn state and wvu back on the schedule.
I agree. No reason why all three of those teams aren’t on their schedule yearly.
Great coverage as always! Even if the schedule has been weak, it is encouraging to see them doing well and beating teams they should. Dambrot has also played his whole bench…If we need a win vs. a stronger team, maybe he shortens the bench? It will be interesting to see who else Duquesne adds from a recruiting perspective because next year has tournament team written on it if they can keep this up.
Keep up the good work!