Duquesne men aim to continue strong start to the season into Atlantic 10 league play
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Keith Dambrot likely is tired of having to juxtapose his team’s success this season with Duquesne’s abysmal performance last year, which saw the Dukes drop their final 17 games en route to a 6-24 overall record.
After all, who wouldn’t want to put such a rough year-long performance completely out of sight and out of mind?
Clearly, with the Dukes boasting a 10-3 record after wrapping up nonconference play, things are much different than a year ago.
And yet, with apologies to Dambrot for continuing to reference the Dukes’ 2021-22 campaign, it does contain a notable parallel to this year, albeit far from the wins and losses column.
That similarity has been the injury bug, which, after ravaging the Dukes’ frontcourt last season, has taken aim at the team’s corps of guards.
Projected starting point guard Tevin Brewer has missed three straight games because of injury, in addition to beginning the season at less-than-100% health as the result of complications from appendectomy surgery.
Duquesne also played without freshman point guard Kareem Rozier in their nonconference finale on Dec. 21, a 74-57 win over Winthrop. And, R.J. Gunn Jr. has missed nearly the entire season with a foot injury.
Last year, Duquesne did not have sufficient depth to brace the nonstop injury woes. But here and now, Dambrot is confident that has changed for the better.
“We need to get some guys healthy,” Dambrot said. “We’ve got three out of our top nine guys hurt. But the good thing is we’re versatile enough to withstand it. Matus (Hronsky), Quincy McGriff, “Tre” Clark (and) Dae Dae Grant all handle the ball reasonably well. So we’ll withstand not having a real, true point (guard) out there.”
McGriff, a sophomore transfer from Salt Lake Community College in Utah, has performed admirably in running the point, filling in for Brewer, with Rozier, when healthy, coming off the bench as the team’s No. 2 point guard.
As for Grant, he enters A-10 play as one of the most dangerous perimeter scoring threats in the league. He ranks near the top of the conference in points per game (17.9, 6th), 3-point field goal shooting (43.1%, 8th) and free throw marksmanship (86.0%, 5th).
Another backcourt player deserving applause for his performance has been Jimmy “Tre” Clark III, who enters league competition having scored in the double digits in six straight games.
Clark was the primary architect of Duquesne’s Dec. 3 win over Ball State, hitting clutch, buzzer-beating 3-pointers to end both the first and second halves, the latter of which won the game for the Dukes by a point.
For the banged-up nature of Duquesne’s group of guards, the team’s frontcourt has not been impervious to ailments, either.
Joe Reece has been limited to nine games, playing fewer than 20 minutes in five of them. Still, he has contributed 9 points and 4.7 boards per game, the latter being third best on the team.
In contrast to last season, Dambrot has been able to turn to other bigs to shoulder the load in the post. Austin Rotroff has appeared off the bench in all 13 games and leads the team with 6.8 rebounds per game.
Freshman forwards David Dixon and Hronsky also have been entrusted with important minutes coming off the bench.
Tre Williams, one of the few returning players from last year’s team, also has been a rock for Duquesne. The junior forward has started all 13 games, averaging 8.3 points and 5.8 rebounds.
Despite battling injuries and having to turn to younger talent to plug holes, Duquesne enters conference play with 10 wins for only the fourth time in men’s hoops program history, with Dambrot overseeing two of those non-conference performances.
“What happens from now until the end of the year will determine who the best teams in the league are,” Dambrot said. “Who can improve? Who has enough upside to improve? There’s some teams that can’t get that much better. They are what they are. They don’t have that much upside. I feel like we’re still like a half-painted painting. We’re still figuring it out.”
As the Dukes gear up for their A-10 opener at Dayton, they control their own destiny.
While taking things one game at a time will be key, Duquesne’s strong start to the season has its players setting the bar high in terms of overall accomplishments.
“Knowing our team right now, as of what we are, I believe we’re going to be fine,” Grant said.