By GLENN JUNKERT
Most Montana Grizzly fans know by now that the Griz will be first-round hosts of the Duquesne Dukes of Pittsburgh, Pennsylvania in the 16-team College Basketball Invitational that tips off with four games tonight.
Wednesday at 7 p.m. the Griz will try to inject some life into their post-season against the high scoring Dukes, who despite an 18-12 record, were eliminated early in the Atlantic 10 post-season tourney.
On paper the Dukes are considered the stronger team, due most likely to their membership in the hoops-competitive Atlantic 10 Conference, which for the fourth-straight year has three teams -- this year it’s Xavier, Temple and Richmond -- in the NCAA Division I tournament. Additionally, an average of this week’s RPI ratings shows the Dukes rated significantly higher than Montana. The KenPom Rating services shows Duquesne rated 64th and the Griz at 108; USA Today’s Sagarin Ratings has Duquesne rated 75th compared to Montana’s 116th. Only the NCAA RPI ratings gives Montana an edge -- 108th to 109th for the Dukes.
I’ll confess that I know very little about Duquesne or the Atlantic 10 Conference. But I was contacted by Duquesne blogger YukuDukes with a request for a Question-Answer style preview of Wednesday’s game. We exchanged questions and are publishing the answers on each site.
If you’re interested in my Grizzly Journal answers for Dukes fans, you can check them out here: YukeDukes
Below, and through the page jump, you can read YukuDuke’s answers here:
Feel free to amend, correct or otherwise add your own contributions to each Q&A preview. Go Griz!
YukuDukes Q&A with Grizzly Journal
Grizzly Journal -- Give Montana fans a glimpse of Duquesne Dukes greatness. Who are the best-known players and coaches. What are their greatest basketball wins? Any famous Dukes of lore?
YukuDukes -- Unfortunately, the Dukes best years were a long time ago. Some poor decisions were made by administration and we hit a 30-year dry spell. Ron Everhart (photo right) has put new life into the program, with 4 consecutive winning regular season records and now three consecutive postseason appearances. DU has it's history, though. Chuck Cooper was the first African American in the NBA. Norm Nixon is another popular name from the 70s, a successful NBA player after his time at DU. The most successful Duke in recent memory is Mike James, a guard who made it to the NBA the hard way and had a nice ten year career, including a spot on the 2004 Pistons championship team. Aaron Jackson (more on him soon) is working on making it the Mike James way. He's playing in Spain now and with his leadership and drive would be a boon to any team.
I wasn't alive for it - it was 30 years before I was born - but the greatest win was the 1955 NIT Championship win against Dayton. This was back when the NIT was the big time, as big if not bigger than the NCAA. Dudey Moore was the coach, and he was a great one.
GJ -- What are the Dukes’ best recent post-season accomplishments and how has fifth-year coach Ron Everhart transformed this team?
YukuDukes -- The best was, without question, a run into the A10 tourney two years ago, spearheaded by then-senior Aaron Jackson. The Dukes ran all the way to the championship game but lost to Temple by 6. They earned an NIT berth and played at Virginia Tech, where we lost after multiple overtimes. Aaron Jackson nearly willed the team to victory himself that night, and once he fouled out that was it. Still, it was a sign that DU could do it after years of being thought of as a graveyard. This is a program on the rise.
The Everhart transformation is undeniable. The year before he was hired, the Danny Nee-coached Dukes (of Nebraska fame) were a dismal 3-24. Everhart was hired, all players but two transferred, and then five players were shot. Two of those players never saw the court for the Dukes - one due to injury from the shooting, another due to idiocy. After his first year, we lost an A10 rookie of the year in Robert Mitchell, a head case who refused to play defense and was a hot dog. He amounted to nothing at Seton Hall and I believe he is in jail now. We won 10 games that first year anyway, then 17 the next. Its been a nice change!
GJ -- Based on several RPI ranking services, Duquesne enters Wednesday’s game as a distinct favorite. What did the Dukes do to earn their ranking and why (no jab intended) are they in the CBI instead of the NCAAs or the NIT?
YukuDukes -- Simple. We lost too many close games, both early on and down the stretch. We were barely beat by - and in fact led at the half - WVU, Geo. Mason, and PSU, all NCAA teams. Throw in two one point losses to Dayton and Saint Bona and there you have it. The first round loss in the A10 tourney did us no favors either. Turn two losses around and we are likely an NIT team. We are glad to be playing more, though we did have some NIT (at least) aspirations.
GJ -- Western basketball fans constantly hear about the atmosphere and style of eastern teams. Just how do Pittsburgh fans get into their college basketball teams and what kind of atmosphere/tradition/fan base do the Dukes generate?
YukuDukes -- Well, as you may have guessed from the years of futility described above, Duquesne Basketball has been working to carve out it's niche amongst college ball fans. The students are coming around - I was a part of the restructured and restarted student section that began my Junior year with Everhart's hire. Attendance has grown year by year at home - not as fast as the impatient would like, but it is getting better. Our home arena, the AJ Palumbo Center, was recently renovated in a way that reduced capacity but added more chair back seats and a custom Daktronics video board. We really are a new brand in town and while it hasn't been easy, we've been making a dent. Pitt, who is right down the road, has a lot of support and "stole" some of our alumni who grew disgusted with the stagnation of DU. Their student section is cookie-cutter though, rigidly coordinated and mechanical. Ours-- led by some students in skintight body socks and some other crazies-- is more organic and improvisational. I think that makes it more fun.
GJ -- Give Montana fans a preview of the style of defense the Dukes play, beyond their pressure-style of all-court play. Do they play a variety of defenses? Do they rely more on zone or man-on-man? How do they rank as a rebounding team in the Atlantic 10?
YukuDukes -- The Dukes do NOT rebound well, partly a function of their size. They make up for some of that with their ability to force turnovers, and we usually score off of those turnovers. I just checked the stats and we are first in the nation in steals per game with 9.8. The Dukes are capable of multiple looks on defense and have been a fairly good defensive team this year when needed, but one thing that you will see a lot of is that the Dukes will switch on nearly every pick. This has created some matchup problems when exploited, but has served them well at other times. We average right around 5 blocks per game, good enough for 22nd in the nation and second in the conference. The offense runs best when it can move fast and catch opponents off guard.
GJ -- Do the Dukes rely on a specific player for their success? If so, who is he & what must he do for the Dukes to win? If not, what factor usually contributes most to a Duquesne win?
YukuDukes -- Our two key players are seniors Bill Clark and Damien Saunders. Clark, a second team all conference player, is an aggressive guy who plays hard and has a good outside shot. Saunders, who was picked to the all defensive team, plays above the rim and is a great shot blocker. His jumper has gotten better this year too. Damien's numbers are down a little this year, but he had a lingering ankle injury that was bugging him until about early January. It is worth mentioning A10 Rookie of the Year, TJ McConnell. He is a local kid and his aunt is the women's basketball coach. Don't think he got in on that alone, though. The kid has a ridiculous amount of assists and a nice A:T ratio. He is great at playing the passing lanes also averages over 10 points per game.
A Saunders double double plus a good 3-pt percentage for Clark probably means that the Dukes are doing well. TJ has a good perimeter shot as well.
GJ -- Where & how do the Dukes produce points? In the paint? from the perimeter? How do they rank in the Atlantic 10 in 3-point production? Do the Dukes have one go-to guy?
YukuDukes -- Duquesne is 17th in the nation in average points per game and first in the nation in assists per game. The players are mostly unselfish and will make a pass if they think it'll give the next guy a better look. We're towards the middle of the pack in thee point percentage but 60th in the nation in three points made.
Our best perimeter shooters are Clark, Johnson, and McConnell. Saunders usually plays the middle, but he can step out and hit a 3 as well.
GJ -- You mentioned that the Dukes were 5-to-6 points (strategically placed) from being a 22-8 team. Yet there have been more losses of late than earlier in the season. Any other possible reason for their slide?
YukuDukes -- The story applies for the whole season. Two one-point losses in the last 8 conference games; reverse that and we are 12-4 in conference and 4-4 in that stretch instead of 2-6. The overtime loss to St. Josephs in the conference tourney... Overtime was achieved by a game-tying DUNK over a player who normally wouldn't have given up such an opportunity. Really, though, if our foul shooting was more like 75%, that would have made the difference. The answer to number 3 applies here as well.
Now, the schedule definitely got harder; we played two of the three A10 NCAA representatives during the late season slide. That was a big part of it; I think the increased frequency of harder teams really hit the confidence of the team.
GJ -- Any injury issues for the Dukes coming into this game (that you feel ok sharing)?
YukuDukes -- None that we know of, actually.
GJ -- I noticed a wide variance in scoring results in the Atlantic 10, from games in the sixties to games in the 80s-to-90s. Is style or tempo important for a Dukes win? What type of game tempo usually results in a Dukes win? What kind of tempo works against the Dukes?
YukuDukes -- If the game is a track meet, DU usually wins. If the game is slow paced and methodical, DU usually loses. The worst is the matchup zone that Temple employs, though we have improved against that somewhat, given that we beat them. Our zone attack is a little better, but not what the fans want it to be. Honestly, the talk of the tight defense you employ concerns me, but I'd imagine that the coaching staff has a plan for it.
GJ -- One team must leave disappointed. Who will it be and what will the final score be?
YukuDukes -- It depends on what the game looks like. If our pace prevails, we win. If a slow pace prevails, you win. Either way I think the final totals will be within 6 points of each other.
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