2019-2020 College Basketball Season Thread

Masterofreality · 12-11-2019, 02:05 PM

Originally Posted by xubrew

Is Duquesne a story?? Maybe they are and maybe they aren't, but I must say that I'm intrigued.

I like Keith Dambrot, and I thought Duquesne was stupid for not making him their first choice. If you remember that whole charade, he was actually their fourth choice. I don't remember who the others were, but he was clearly better than all three of them.

They won 19 games last year (although they did kind of crumble down the stretch), and they're unbeaten so far this season. I know their schedule is a pastry cart, but we're talking about Duquesne. For the longest time they couldn't even beat teams of that caliber, much less all of them. That, and when a program has no culture or history of winning whatsoever, sometimes it just feels good to get people used to winning, even if it's against weak teams.

Now, I don't think they're NCAA Tournament good, but they are TONS better than what they were three years ago, and they've been improving at a consistent rate. I think he's turning them around. I really do. As bizarre as it may seem, we may see Duquesne in the NCAA Tournament somewhat frequently in the very near future.

They also don't have a home court this year because their arena is being renovated, so they're playing at three or four different places, including a div3 school, which is yet another challenge.

Dambrot is a damn, DAMN good coach. He got a bad rap a few years ago from alleged "player abuse" which was nothing like Jim Crews or Bob Knight put their players through. He's always been highly regarded in NE Ohio and the High School Coaches love him. He's gonna steal all the good recruits from Akron and parts of Cleveland from Akron, Kent State and Cleveland State. He'll make Duquesne a force. Just wait...

**xubrew** · 12-11-2019, 02:58 PM

Some kid scored 100pts in an NAIA game yesterday....

https://www.si.com/college/2019/12/1...ce=twitter.com

**X-band '01** · 12-11-2019, 06:00 PM

Originally Posted by Masterofreality

Dambrot is a damn, DAMN good coach. He got a bad rap a few years ago from alleged "player abuse" which was nothing like Jim Crews or Bob Knight put their players through. He's always been highly regarded in NE Ohio and the High School Coaches love him. He's gonna steal all the good recruits from Akron and parts of Cleveland from Akron, Kent State and Cleveland State. He'll make Duquesne a force. Just wait...

For as consistently as he won at Akron, I thought he could have managed more than just 2 or NCAA Tournament appearances, to be frank. Or did he just not get consistent support from their athletic department?

**xudash** · 12-11-2019, 06:24 PM

Ah, a remodeled Palumbo Center.

Think big. Or medium.

**xubrew** · 12-12-2019, 07:27 AM

Three top five teams lost to unranked teams in a 26 hour span.

Big Ten teams are 10-0 at home in early conference games

**profson** · 12-12-2019, 08:14 AM

Sorry to ask this here, but as there is not a separate Wake Forest game thread up yet, is there a pre-game gathering spot on Saturday for Xavier fans?

**94GRAD** · 12-12-2019, 10:03 AM

Originally Posted by profson

Sorry to ask this here, but as there is not a separate Wake Forest game thread up yet, is there a pre-game gathering spot on Saturday for Xavier fans?

https://www.facebook.com/events/595471697874923/

**xubrew** · 12-12-2019, 10:41 AM

The only games worth watching tonight are Iowa v Iowa State, and Northern Iowa at GCU. I guess it's Iowa's night to be on college basketball's center stage!!

I think everyone knows that Iowa State v Iowa is a rivalry. I don't think anyone outside of the state of Iowa realize just how bitter of a rivalry it is. A few years back, Iowa State was ranked #2 in the nation and stormed the court after beating an unranked Iowa team. Whereas pretty much everyone else would be concerned about acting like they'd been there before, they were so happy that they beat Iowa that they just didn't care.

Then there was this past year's football game where Iowa's band accused Iowa State fans of committing acts of physical assault and sexual assault. Iowa State then claimed Iowa was not helping them with their investigation, and the two have been taking shots at each other in the press ever since, which is an awful way of handling it on both of their parts.

In Cincinnati, we freak out over handshakes and the mean things that some of the fans yell at people. While I realize that's not appropriate, I also realize that there are rivalries that are A LOT nastier than the ones we are used to. The Cy Hawk rivalry is one of them. Truth be told, this one is probably now at a point to where it just isn't healthy.

Masterofreality · 12-12-2019, 11:26 AM

Originally Posted by X-band '01

For as consistently as he won at Akron, I thought he could have managed more than just 2 or NCAA Tournament appearances, to be frank. Or did he just not get consistent support from their athletic department?

Akron has been way into getting their football program better. When Dambrot was there, they hired Terry Bowden and paid him big bucks. It didn't work out but Bowden being there was a big reason why Dambrot left. He never got the attention and resources.

Now Akron fired Bowden, hired Arth.... and went 0-12. Good move.