So you think we were better during our 10 game away losing streak? I don't think we would have won our last 2 road games if played 6 weeks ago.
DUQ game thread - Tuesday 7pm ESPN+
- Thread starter Section9.RowD
- Start date
Gritty win. Caught a break with Grant out & had to take advantage. Took us 40 mins but pulled it out. I was worried on NQ foul too. I didn’t like us fouling there. We should foul if getting beat on perimeter or ball in hands of good 3 pt shooter. The one b4 was fine. But at that point I thought duq player was going to have tough time getting clean look when he drove there.
Dji was a Swiss Army knife out there
Walz I thought battled hard in post he’s pretty athletic for a Richmond big.
Tyne was off tonight & Mooney let him know it.
What got us in trouble early was the live ball turnovers and some nice work in the P&R by Duq. But I thought Duq hit some tough possibly lucky shots too.
Bigs didn’t do a lot but that last rebound he was a man possessed.
Wish we would look to push the ball more. We heard about our speed all offseason & I think there were chances to do so tonight but we slowed it down. Likewise think we should have got into the press more & earlier.
Being down all game it does feel like we stole one but team didn’t panic. 4-0 now with a chance to take back to back roadies with a big one at Davidson.
Dji was a Swiss Army knife out there
Walz I thought battled hard in post he’s pretty athletic for a Richmond big.
Tyne was off tonight & Mooney let him know it.
What got us in trouble early was the live ball turnovers and some nice work in the P&R by Duq. But I thought Duq hit some tough possibly lucky shots too.
Bigs didn’t do a lot but that last rebound he was a man possessed.
Wish we would look to push the ball more. We heard about our speed all offseason & I think there were chances to do so tonight but we slowed it down. Likewise think we should have got into the press more & earlier.
Being down all game it does feel like we stole one but team didn’t panic. 4-0 now with a chance to take back to back roadies with a big one at Davidson.
Not playing defense six weeks ago, like now.
You can win ugly when you play defense. Of their 9 TOs 6 steals then add 6 blocked shots.
Of Spiders 11 TO 2 where steals and they blocked 4 shots.
Just a thought from a guy that does not know that much about the game but like the defense Spiders are playing. Reminds me of Bennett Ball.
Last edited:
at least this time the bad calls were in our favor
That was awesome. I thought he was going to get swallowed up with no path to the basket, but the way he just sliced through with those long arms was a thing of beauty.
Loved his post game interview with Bob Black. Something like: "Faked the 3 and my man went up, said I'm gonna get me a layup"
Fun fact, if I read John O’Connor’s post game story correctly, Clark who missed the rim was a transfer from VCU!
Go Spiders!
agree with almost everything here. I thought we would foul twice in backcourt in last 10 seconds, not in the frontcourt, that was a surprise.
Dukes made several tough 3s. Wouldn't call them lucky, they were just tough makes. The guy who banked a 14 footer from straight on - that was lucky, he did not mean to do that.
UR def. did have issues defending the p&r - they often ran King and Quinn's guys and forced the switch then, hit the big rolling (or the 3rd help defender's man) when King helped back down. BC did the same thing.
The late referee issues certainly fell UR's way in the end - Dambrot lost his mind and no way he was coaching well like that the last couple minutes, then his guy blew the FTs (when it easily could have been a 2 plus the ball call.) On the inadvertent whistle, they gave UR the ball because it happened during a loose ball and we had the possession arrow, correct? Dambrot can keep it on his complaining about his timeout requests 75 feet away while his guys was changing pivot feet over and over.
Big shots by King and Dji - those are the guys I like having the ball late. FTs will cost us one of these games, been very lucky it has not yet.
I thought Moon coached an okay game. Not great, not bad. Used Harris well, stayed with Roche a minute too long, tried new lineups to spark the offense even if they mostly didn't work. Harris is really impressing me with what he brings on defense, disrupting passing lanes and contesting shots on the wings. I'd like to see more minutes - was actually surprised we didn't see Dji/Harris/Bigs wings lineup (did I miss it?)
Big time credit to our defense last night. Duquesne already had 20 points at the under 12 timeout in the first half. I knew this was the type of game we wanted the score to be in the 60's, not the 80's. We only allowed 41 points the next 31 minutes from that point on - great team and individual defense, tons of tipped passes, hustle plays, clogged passing lanes, etc.
Offensively we just couldn't seem to get it going. There will be games like that, and especially on the road against a team desperately seeking a win.
So I'm less concerned about our offensive struggles. It felt like we just couldn't get that lead down below 3 for the longest time, but the defense kept us in it and we scored just enough to stay within closing distance at the end.
Tons of strange calls the last minutes went our way but that happens sometimes - feels good to be on the right side of this one (that potential intentional foul call gave me flashbacks to Derrick Williams...).
Dji again played maybe his best game as a Spider (I feel like I've said this a lot this year, but he keeps upping his game). I really wish we had this healthy version his entire time here, but man is it a joy to be a part of right now. And Roche picked a great game to hit some 3's, we needed every little bit of offense tonight. Agreed with Brooklyn our ft's will cost us a win soon if we aren't careful - but we've hit enough timely ones to be in position to win.
In the end you take the w and move on. Love seeing the team come together around this intense, defensive mindset and riding it to a good winning streak.
Offensively we just couldn't seem to get it going. There will be games like that, and especially on the road against a team desperately seeking a win.
So I'm less concerned about our offensive struggles. It felt like we just couldn't get that lead down below 3 for the longest time, but the defense kept us in it and we scored just enough to stay within closing distance at the end.
Tons of strange calls the last minutes went our way but that happens sometimes - feels good to be on the right side of this one (that potential intentional foul call gave me flashbacks to Derrick Williams...).
Dji again played maybe his best game as a Spider (I feel like I've said this a lot this year, but he keeps upping his game). I really wish we had this healthy version his entire time here, but man is it a joy to be a part of right now. And Roche picked a great game to hit some 3's, we needed every little bit of offense tonight. Agreed with Brooklyn our ft's will cost us a win soon if we aren't careful - but we've hit enough timely ones to be in position to win.
In the end you take the w and move on. Love seeing the team come together around this intense, defensive mindset and riding it to a good winning streak.
Last edited:
This is the first time I have heard Mooney emphasize defensive toughness that "travels".
Other big difference in the second half was Quinn played. Felt like he sat out most of the first.
I really like Walz and his rebounding ability, but some times this team really needs Quinn and his ability to score. Seems to be playing with more confidence this year too.
I really like Walz and his rebounding ability, but some times this team really needs Quinn and his ability to score. Seems to be playing with more confidence this year too.
Yes defense travels. This one went about how I expected, and glad to get some breaks. Agree with Brownstone, Dambrot really should have chilled out. His guy was walking. Maybe getting fouled, but is the ref supposed to be focusing on him during that action? He completely lost his focus on coaching at that point.
That was the play with the inadvertent whistle that stopped play. It seemed that the whistle did not come from the refs, but from the stands. Either way, it went against Duquesne.
From the stands? I got the impression it was the ref near halfcourt. Everyone looked that way when play stopped.
It was a quiet barn there last night. Their basketball atmosphere makes our football atmosphere look like an SEC environment.
2 fouls in first 4 minutes, didn’t return until second half.
Drambot can be a hot head. I disagree with the assertation that we got lucky or got some fortunate calls. No, our defense locked them up and we made big plays to win that game.
As for the 2 calls in question:
1. Drambot missed timeout. We had the dude trapped in the corner, he may have stepped out of bounds, he definitely traveled, and then he turned the ball over and Dlo got it. I generally don't like coaches calling timeout spoiling good defense and if the ref didn't hear him calling timeout than it it what it is, the ref is supposed to be watching the game and if he was, he saw Duquesne turning the ball over and you can't call timeout if you don't have full possession of the ball. We were awarded the ball, which was the outcome of the play.
2. Quinn "intentional foul" at the end. Again, no problem with the decision, if anything we got the short end of the stick by calling that a shooting foul. Of course, Quinn was trying to foul him intentionally, we had fouls to give and of course Duquesne player was going to make it look like he was shooting because of the game situation. I think the refs spilt the baby, giving Quinn an intentional foul, clearly changes the outcome of the game, so they went with a shooting foul, although to my eyes, Quinn had his hands on him before he entered the shooting motion. He probably got the shooting foul because Drambot was bitching like a 3 year old at them directly before that.
I saw the refs getting together after each critical call, discussing, using video replay to make the correct basketball decision.
That was big W in for us. Down by 8, finishing on a 12-2 run to close the game. That is clutch. Hell of a play for Dji to get the winning bucket (how is he not one of everyone's favorite players by now?), clutch FT's by Bigs (should have made the last one though), big rebounds, and really solid defense to not give them an easy shots.
Agree on the Quinn call, felt like the refs split the difference - Quinn did foul intentionally, but was not flagrant. I didn't quite see what happened really well before that but announcers indicated that Dji ran at the ball getting beat. Then I think it was mentioned that refs may have started play before both teams were ready.
Great play by Dji. I was urging him to shoot the three, but quickly became happy with the decision to go to the rim. Great finish in there to get all the way to the basket.
Great play by Dji. I was urging him to shoot the three, but quickly became happy with the decision to go to the rim. Great finish in there to get all the way to the basket.
Best move of the game: 4 minutes to go with Quinn stuck under the basket; fakes the behind the back pass which the Dukes player falls for; opens up the passing lane for the Dji three. Beautiful.
Also very refreshing to have the other team's broadcast crew not be annoying. I found these guys to be relatively balanced and informative, though like most they go overboard on the Princeton stuff. Can only imaging what it is like for an opposing team's fans to listen to our crew for a game at the RC.
Also very refreshing to have the other team's broadcast crew not be annoying. I found these guys to be relatively balanced and informative, though like most they go overboard on the Princeton stuff. Can only imaging what it is like for an opposing team's fans to listen to our crew for a game at the RC.
I'll give the Dukes credit for great defense. we struggled all night to get good looks. that or our offense just wasn't as sharp as it has been.
Quinn was great. after sitting forever with 2 fouls, didn't foul again until the intentional one with seconds left. trust him, Coach!
King was quiet but hit some big midrange jumpers. those 2 missed FTs were almost killers though.
Roche took 2 bad 3's ... and went 3-5! he's such a pure shooter.
and Dji. everyone has an off night once in a while. except Dji. he's been remarkably great every night. I love his game even when he's not hitting 3's and FTs. just a great all around game from him and we needed all of it.
nice game by Mooney. way off topic, but when Dambrot loses his shit he looks like scary Bilbo Baggins from Lord of the Rings.
Quinn was great. after sitting forever with 2 fouls, didn't foul again until the intentional one with seconds left. trust him, Coach!
King was quiet but hit some big midrange jumpers. those 2 missed FTs were almost killers though.
Roche took 2 bad 3's ... and went 3-5! he's such a pure shooter.
and Dji. everyone has an off night once in a while. except Dji. he's been remarkably great every night. I love his game even when he's not hitting 3's and FTs. just a great all around game from him and we needed all of it.
nice game by Mooney. way off topic, but when Dambrot loses his shit he looks like scary Bilbo Baggins from Lord of the Rings.
Last edited:
Why is everyone saying all the calls were in our favor? Strange sequence of events at the end for sure, but I'm not sure how it was so lopsided. I think the refs made mistakes, but they tried to make it as fair as they could.
1. The inadvertent whistle call. We trapped them into a steal when the whistle blew. If it had played thru without a whistle, it would have been our ball. Instead it cost us the Possession Arrow to get the ball, right?
2. The Quinn hug. I mean, he was just trying to give the guy some love to make him feel better about losing the game. JK. While it was probably an intentional foul, we did tell the refs we were planning to use the 2 fouls we had to give. Why didn't they call the foul on initial contact instead of waiting until he started traveling before calling it? It could have been a foul on initial contact, and it could have been intentional. It certainly wasn't a shooting foul, but that was sorta the middle ground call for the refs to make.
3. Coach Dambrot should have gotten multiple Ts. I'm certain Mooney would have gotten at least one in a similar situation the other way. Announcers admitted he would have gotten a T if it wasn't such a close game. That shouldn't matter.
The whole end of game situation was strange, but I don't think it was outrageously lopsided. We can argue each of these calls and others I'm sure, but I don't think either team was particularly screwed by them. Certainly poor play by the refs, but I think they tried to neutralize as best as possible.
1. The inadvertent whistle call. We trapped them into a steal when the whistle blew. If it had played thru without a whistle, it would have been our ball. Instead it cost us the Possession Arrow to get the ball, right?
2. The Quinn hug. I mean, he was just trying to give the guy some love to make him feel better about losing the game. JK. While it was probably an intentional foul, we did tell the refs we were planning to use the 2 fouls we had to give. Why didn't they call the foul on initial contact instead of waiting until he started traveling before calling it? It could have been a foul on initial contact, and it could have been intentional. It certainly wasn't a shooting foul, but that was sorta the middle ground call for the refs to make.
3. Coach Dambrot should have gotten multiple Ts. I'm certain Mooney would have gotten at least one in a similar situation the other way. Announcers admitted he would have gotten a T if it wasn't such a close game. That shouldn't matter.
The whole end of game situation was strange, but I don't think it was outrageously lopsided. We can argue each of these calls and others I'm sure, but I don't think either team was particularly screwed by them. Certainly poor play by the refs, but I think they tried to neutralize as best as possible.
I rewatched the end last night, and the first Dambrot explosion was definitely about not getting his timeout call recognized. He was complaining that he called it three times but the ref wasn't listening. Just kept repeating that it was BS, even in later jawing with the refs.
"how is he not one of everyone's favorite players by now?"
97 some people just saw all they needed to see 🫠 But seriously, glad he is playing the way he's always played. Couple of mistakes last night but can live with them. Like I've always said, he's going to always make the right basketball play. I'm loving this team and their toughness esp defensively. To me the refs were terrible for both teams and like I said online the refs didn't cause Clark to miss those last FTs. Let's get this dub at Davidson and head home for two big matchups. 🕷️🏀
Keep hoping to see Dji show up in the NCAA Field Goal Percentage stats but I guess still not qualifying. Dji is at 63.6% as of this morning which would be close to 10th in the nation.
Slightly confused since I think I found the minimum season qualifier is ...
| Field Goal Percentage | 5 FG/G and 75% of school games |
And Dji is now 63 out of 99 so would have thought the 99 attempts would be enough given our 17 games played.
NCAA College Men's Basketball DI current individual Stats | NCAA.com
Discover the current NCAA Division I Men's Basketball leaders in every stats category, as well as historic leaders.
www.ncaa.com
Totally agree. I was wondering if I was completely off my rocker as I was typing a similar response simultaneously since everyone seemed to think everything went our way.
It's 5 FGM per game, not FGA. He's only averaging 3.7 makes.Keep hoping to see Dji show up in the NCAA Field Goal Percentage stats but I guess still not qualifying. Dji is at 63.6% as of this morning which would be close to 10th in the nation.
Slightly confused since I think I found the minimum season qualifier is ...
Field Goal Percentage 5 FG/G and 75% of school games
And Dji is now 63 out of 99 so would have thought the 99 attempts would be enough given our 17 games played.
NCAA College Men's Basketball DI current individual Stats | NCAA.com
Discover the current NCAA Division I Men's Basketball leaders in every stats category, as well as historic leaders.
yeah idk what's up with that but its all good. He is 6th among all guards in the nation in eFG%...not too shabbyKeep hoping to see Dji show up in the NCAA Field Goal Percentage stats but I guess still not qualifying. Dji is at 63.6% as of this morning which would be close to 10th in the nation.
Slightly confused since I think I found the minimum season qualifier is ...
Field Goal Percentage 5 FG/G and 75% of school games
And Dji is now 63 out of 99 so would have thought the 99 attempts would be enough given our 17 games played.
NCAA College Men's Basketball DI current individual Stats | NCAA.com
Discover the current NCAA Division I Men's Basketball leaders in every stats category, as well as historic leaders.
I was thinking the same. Thought they were unbiased and yes, not annoying.
Walz gave us some good minutes but this is my one nit pick from last night. Mooney has got to trust his players a bit more in these foul situations. Quinn is a senior, he knows what he is doing.
I think Moon was excellent with his other player personnel decisions last night. Bigs was firing away on some ill advised 3's and I liked Mooney going to Harris, Bigs has got to be better in his shot selection, think that sent the proper message.
The positive thing is that Walz got significant run and showed that he is able to play more “in control” on D. Granted he isn’t a scorer, but it was only the first half and the Dukes weren’t running away with it. All that being said, I am much more comfortable with Quinn in there, but this was a good opponent for Walz to get more time against.
We haven't had many gut-it-out, come from behind, good sideline coaching games like this one.
Let's celebrate this!
Let's celebrate this!
From the stands LMAO. 100% it was the back ref. Honestly I don't think it was inadvertant. I think it was just late. Which I guess they use inadvertant description. He probably did finally see Dambrot, blew whistle intentionally but by that time realized we had stolen the ball. That's why he conferred with other ref on the timing. It's not easy to get a TO call from the opposite side of floor in that situation. I believe Dambrot when he says trying to call it but that's not automatic, the ref is watching the play first and Dambrot may not have been in his line of sight. As others noted they could have called traveling b4 the steal anyway. We executed better than Duq last few minutes it was nice to see.
Mooney actually tried to call a TO after the King bucket, but he was a little late. Duq inbounded quickly, and the refs imo rightly ignored Mooney.
I think the 2nd foul on Quinn was quite soft. But overall in last 2 road games there were a number of close late calls that could arguably have gone either way and I think we pretty much got them all so we should probably put away the refs always screw us tone. There will be a time we have right to bitch it's not recent imo.
I mentioned the crowd was going to be weak. They were coming off a sellout Friday vs. Dayton, not used that, a massive fall off was expected when u play very next game on a Tues for a program like Duq. Fwiw a Duq friend of mine who was there said the crowd was "pretty good for a Tuesday".
Also Duq fudges the numbers worse than us. I think they had attendance as 2/3 full. Does anybody believe that? Closer to 1/3 full. The capacity is not big after the reno but they did a nice job w reno.
