Duquesne basketball looking to seize a 2nd chance on a big stage at home
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Not much had gone according to plan for the Duquesne men’s basketball team (6-9) as the Atlantic 10 conference schedule approached.
Coronavirus ran through the team right before the holidays. The whole conference endured a wave of postponements and rescheduled games. And a big chunk of the frontcourt — Tre Williams, R.J. Gunn and Austin Rotroff — were bitten by the injury bug.
When A-10 play finally began on Jan. 8 — with the Dukes going 5-7 in the pre-conference schedule — Keith Dambrot’s team had been idle for three weeks. They opened by splitting two road games, coming back from 12 down to beat Massachusetts 78-74 before losing at the buzzer to Fordham 72-71.
But at least things were feeling like they were back to normal. Basketball-wise anyway. And just in time for the A-10 home opener against one of the conference’s biggest draws and best programs in the Dayton Flyers.
A national television game on the USA Network. A Saturday afternoon for the fans with the Penguins out of town and the Steelers not playing in their postseason game until Sunday night. Williams’ injury had healed enough for him to play against UMass and Fordham.
But Rotroff’s troublesome stress fractures prevented him from suiting up (he’s now out four to six weeks). And a staggered-schedule return to campus from the semester break minimized student attendance in the seats.
Then the game started.
“Dayton just smacked us,” Dambrot said. “Everybody gets smacked in college basketball. It’s just who is fragile and who isn’t.”
The final score resulted in the Flyers “smacking” the Dukes 72-52, as Dayton breezed to 53.4% shooting from the floor. Again, not according to plan for Dambrot or his players
“It’s never going to be easy,” Dambrot said. “If it was easy, anyone could do it. I have the right attitude. I hate it. But I’m not embarrassed about it because I come to work every day with my hard hat on. Until I think I’m not doing a great job, I’m going to fight. I still think I have qualities that can take this program to where it needs to go.”
On many occasions, Dambrot has used the word “rebooting” to describe the state of his program in 2021-22. The roster features 10 new players.
Now the Dukes have a chance to reboot the start of their home conference schedule.
St. Bonaventure visits “The Bluff” Friday night. The Bonnies come in as defending A-10 regular season and conference champions. All five starters returned from that squad. They are Duquesne’s most historical rival, having battled the Dukes 127 times in the past (with St. Bonaventure holding a 67-60 advantage).
This is the A-10’s Friday showcase game on ESPN2. Most of the students should be back on campus after the staggered- semester start. The school is doing a “Red Out” T-shirt promotion for the first 1,500 fans and 500 students in attendance.
“We need our fan base here. That’s going to be big,” forward Kevin Easley Jr. said Monday. “We are excited. We are ready for the challenge. We (have had) a week to recover our bodies and prepare and lock in for them.”
Now all the fans have to do is show up. And all the team has to do is … win. Something it was unable to do in three tries against the Bonnies last year.
At 10-4, Mark Schmidt’s team comes in having won two of its first three conference games, beating La Salle by four points and VCU by 20. But much like Duquesne, the Bonnies got “smacked” by Dayton 68-50 on Wednesday.
One thing the Dukes have to be particularly conscious of is handling the paint on both ends of the floor against St. Bonaventure’s Osun Osunniyi. The All Conference center is averaging 11 points, eight rebounds and 3.6 blocks per game in the first three conference contests.
“He’s certainly capable of scoring if they want to,” Dambrot said of Osunniyi. “That’s not their cup of tea, too much. They are more finesse. But anything is possible. And if you get Tre Williams and Easley in foul trouble that becomes an issue. We’ll be playing with … how many dwarfs are there? Seven?”
As small as Dambrot’s lineup may get, I’m not sure if he’ll be able to sneak two extra players onto the floor. But it may be worth a try.
Dambrot was candid on Wednesday, admitting any run towards an A-10 regular season title is a long shot. Finding some modicum of rhythm and consistency between now and March, though, is the goal. Because the coach doesn’t want to rule out a late run in the conference tournament.
As few reboots as possible between now and then would certainly help. As would a surprise victory against the defending conference champions Friday night.