Duquesne Basketball
Inside the Dukes: Not Good Enough, But Encouraging Signs
Duquesne Men’s Basketball Coach Dru Joyce III implored his team to get a stop, while gesturing to the fans to make noise.
With 9:02 remaining in regulation, his Dukes were making a surge down five points. Lipscomb was in possession and Charlie Williams made a three-point basket as the shot clock expired. Perhaps realizing the enormity of the play, Joyce just about crossed the half-court line to plead his case.
It was a play which was a story of the game.
Duquesne would dig itself into a hole, then would come together and string plays together, only to not be able to get over the hump.
The Dukes would crawl to within three points but fell short 77-72 Monday evening at the UPMC Cooper Fieldhouse in Joyce’s debut.
“Lipscomb played well tonight, that’s a good ball club,” Joyce determined. “They were able to pretty much control the flow of the game offensively and it put us in peril, especially the way they shot it from the five-spot tonight. They really had us stretched. (Jacob) Ognacevic dominated all facets of the game. The way they shot the ball we had to pretty much defend them too much.”
Joyce essentially felt like the NFL Sunday Night Football theme song, in the sense of waiting all day for Monday night, but when 8 o’clock did come around, he of course was not pleased with the end result.
Anyone who thinks Joyce would sulk over the result, one which Keith Dambrot and his wife Donna watched from a box, does not know Dru Joyce III.
Now he has posed a challenge to himself, and it comes down to what adjustments can be made before Friday night’s road contest against Princeton.
“How can I be better,” he pondered out loud. “How can I get my team over the hump and get them out of a tough spot? That’s really where I’m at. Going into the game I felt focused, energized and good and during the game too. I’ll feel better once we get a win though.”
MIKE TYSON’S PUNCH OUT
Duquesne fans were energized and ready for this game, especially coming off the back of a dominant fourth quarter from the women’s team just an hour before.
Instead, the Dukes got punched in the mouth to the tune of an early 15-2 deficit.
Junior guard Kareem Rozier acknowledged the slow start and that it is hard to get a team that effective off its game.
It showed some of Duquesne’s warts and that there is a lot to learn. What’s more, David Dixon, Jakub Necas and Tre Dinkins III all were in foul trouble and Eli Wilborn joined them shortly after.
It was his foul trouble which may have hurt Duquesne the most because of the job he did defensively on Ognacevic. That said, Joyce noted his youth and that he will continue to improve. He was able to accept the matchup and was part of two lineups where the score changed.
“I think we are still figuring things out,” Rozier revealed. “That team has been together for the last three years I believe. At the same point, we have to get off to a better start defensively for sure. They shouldn’t be able to come out like that in our gym.”
Joyce acknowledged that a lot of growth still needs to happen but was understanding of this, provided it is everyone’s first year with him at the helm.
MR. BRIGHTSIDE
Duquesne certainly had some fight to it. The easy thing to do would have been to back down after the sluggish start, and especially after shooting 4-for-13 from the free-throw line, but it continued to battle.
There were promising stretches, but Lipscomb’s familiarity and overall discipline won it the game Monday.
“This group is not going to back down,” observed Rozier. “I think when you cut it to three like that in the second half, winning teams win those kinds of games. You have to run it up their throat and score and we didn’t do that. We had a lot of chances when they went zone in the middle, we just couldn’t score down the stretch.”
It was a lack of execution against the zone which may have been more back breaking than some of the three-point plays or missed free throws.
Duquesne understood what it was facing but could not put the pieces together.
Last season, Duquesne had a clear brotherhood, and it was something which David Dixon spoke on at Atlantic 10 Media Day, that it continued this season.
Rozier believes that throughout the ebbs and flows, the huddles were encouraging. Duquesne remained a connected side.
Duquesne has battled the injury bug to the point that both Necas and Jake DiMichele were considered game-time decisions. Necas would end up starting. Chabi Barre did not dress for the game and neither did Alex Williams, nor Brandon Hall.
“It’s been a challenge during these weeks of practice,” Joyce explained. “We haven’t been fully healthy; we have guys just coming back into the fold. Jake’s I think he’s had a total of 2-to-3 practices, and you can see the rust there. He found himself making some mistakes, but he’ll grow, I’m not concerned. As his health and conditioning gets better, he’ll perform more like we’re accustomed to seeing. With Jakub we’ve probably had to sit him down in situations so he can continue to get healthy. He played three different positions for us tonight and took on some different challenges. As a team we have to continue to stay healthy.”
Duquesne will have to quickly go back to the drawing board with the Friday turnaround at Princeton. Time will be of the essence.
While it will be easier to focus on the negative, especially in a season-opening loss, there certainly was plenty to be optimistic about 40 minutes into the campaign.
“It’s just a matter of putting it all together as a new team,” Rozier concluded. “We showed some good signs tonight, I’m proud of us for that.”
Never knew they had so many injuri4s
Watch his press conference after that game. This Coach has answers and knows what needs to be addressed and how to address it. He’s going to be a good one.