Saint Francis drops the ball against Iona

I love this logo

Not only did Saint Francis lose to Iona last night, but it would appear I jinxed Devin Sweetney with my profile yesterday, he only scored 6 points against the Gaels.

Duquesne's RPI is currently #37
Iona's current RPI is #258
Saint Francis drops down to #312

In short, if the Dukes lose Friday night Ron Everhart might have a coronary.

Iona is coached by Kevin Willard, a Pitt alumnus, who's father is the current Holy Cross coach and former Pitt coach Ralph Willard.

I'm a Duquesne fan it's my job to bring up things that make Pitt look bad

Former Pitt Panther and current member of the Minnesota Timberwolves Mark Blount was listed as having the 14th worst contract in the NBA this season in an article by Bill Simmons from ESPN. Blount is in the middle of a 3 year contract that will pay him 22 million dollars.

Blount left Pitt after two seasons to go pro.

Blount's stats at Pitt:

95-95: 3.6ppg 3.0rpg 1.0bpg

95-96: 9.1ppg 6.8rpg 2.7bpg

Blount was drafted in the 2nd round of the 1997 NBA Draft by the Seattle Supersonics but did not make the team. To Blount's credit he played overseas, made a name for himself and earned an NBA job with Celtics in 2000-01 and has been in the NBA ever since. Now he has joined the dubious list of worst contracts in the NBA.

Mark Blount is the only former Pitt player currently in the NBA.

Shawn James compared to Sean Williams

Foxsports.com's Jeff Goodman listed Shawn James as the 17th pick in his 2008 NBA mock draft published in July.

Goodman on Shawn James:

"The former Northeastern star bulked up this past season while sitting out due to transfer rules. He’s extremely athletic and is arguably the best shot-blocker in the country. If [Boston College’s] Sean Williams can be chosen 17th with his baggage, why can’t James?"

Not only was Williams chosen 17th overall, he has now been made a starter by the New Jersey Nets. In his third start of the season last night, Williams had 11 points, seven rebounds and eight blocked shots in 42 minutes of the Nets' 106-101 loss to Sacramento. His eight blocks tied a team rookie record set in 1981 by Mike Gminski.

Yep, that Mike Gminski

I have been beating this Sean Williams - Shawn James comparison to death, I know. What can I say this 13 day layoff is killing me.

"Wunderkind" named Pittsburgh Male Athlete of the Week by the Trib

Trib Article

Chartiers Valley sophomore guard T.J. McConnell, (who Dukes Court has officially nicknamed "Wunderkind") was named the Pittsburgh Male Athlete of the Week this morning by the Pittsburgh Tribute Review. McConnell averaged 24.6 points and six 3-pointers per game in Chartiers Valley's path to the KSA Disney Classic championship in Orlando, Fla., last week.

McConnell has already verbally committed to Duquesne and is making Ron Everhart look like a visionary with his ridiculous play so far this year.

As if putting up great numbers as a 5'8 135 pound sophomore isn't enough McConnell is already talking about how he can improve his game, "I'd like to get a better handle on the ball and going around people. On defense, I just want to keep looking in (an opponent's) eyes and telegraph where the pass is going and get a few steals a game."

Devin Sweetney - Saint Francis Super Sophomore

The Dukes host a Saint Francis squad that is led by 6'6 - 180 pound redshirt sophomore Devin Sweetney this Friday.

• Sweetney led the Red Flash in scoring as a freshman with 13ppg


• Sweetney is the cousin of Chicago Bulls forward Mike Sweetney.


• Devin is 2nd on the team in scoring this season with 11.8ppg, and leads the team with 13 steals.


• Sweetney has been named co-captain as a sophomore


• Lindy's named Sweetney to their pre-season all-NEC team


• Devin had a solid game last year against the Dukes with 11 points, 4 rebounds, 2 assists, and 1 steal.


• Sweetney played at the same high school as two of his current teammates, Bassirou Dieng and Chris McFarland
  

Some thoughts about Saint Francis

The Dukes will play the Red Flash of Saint Francis this Friday at the AJ Palumbo Center after a 13 day layoff for final exams. Blogging about the Dukes during such a long layoff has forced me to think creatively in terms of posting ideas. The Dukes have lost their last 3 games to 11th ranked Pitt, 24th ranked WVU, and Drake who is now receiving votes for the AP top 25. I think the layoff has been good for Duquesne, specifically I think it has allowed the Dukes to recover mentally from a tough 3 game losing streak, and to get healthy. Damian Saunders injured his ankle in the WVU game and Bill Clark is recovering from a mild concussion. I also think that the layoff has given the Dukes time to stew over losing 3 in a row, I would hate to be Saint Francis on Friday because I have a feeling the Dukes are going to come out like a ball of fire.

Ron Everhart gave me an early Christmas present when he said this week that Duquesne will continue to use the two platoon system. I am a big fan of the two platoon system, and think it is a key to success for the Dukes this season.

Saint Francis on the other hand has been very active this month. After starting the season 0-6 with loses to Youngstown State, Leigh, Morgan State, PSU, American, and La Salle the Red Flash have won 4 in a row including wins on the road against Robert Morris and Bucknell. Saint Francis will play Iona Wednesday the 19th prior to meeting the Dukes on Friday.

I have some bad news for Dukes Court fans, I will be unable to attend the St. Francis game this Friday, I will be traveling to beautiful Macungie PA to visit my in laws for the holidays. This will be the first Duquesne home I have missed this season. I will be back at the Palumbo for the Dukes' other December games against Robert Morris and South Carolina Upstate.

Drake gets more props

At one point I was disappointed in Duquesne for losing to Drake but now Drake is getting so much love for their 8-1 start that I almost feel honored to have lost to them.

SI.com is the latest publication that has jumped on the Drake bandwagon:

"Keno's Drake Bulldogs are 8-1, with their only loss coming at Saint Mary's, the nation's top-ranked team in the RPI. In early December, Josh Young and Leonard Houston combined for 39 points in Drake's 79-44 drubbing of Iowa State. The 35-point margin of victory was the Bulldogs biggest in 167 meetings with the Cyclones. This past week, Des Moines-based Drake crushed Chicago State 83-53 and demolished Texas-Pan American 83-55. On Friday, the Bulldogs travel to hapless Iowa, where I expect the good times to continue. Now, in honor of the presidential campaign, try saying "caucus" 10 times fast. Caucus, caucus, caucus, caucus..."

That is a big trophy for the Drake Regency Classic, is someone compensating for something?

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If love from people like SI.com wasn't enough Drake received 6 votes in the latest Associated Press Top 25 poll.

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Yani from yocohoops wrote the article for SI.com

David Theis to get more playing time?

With Damian Saunders recovering from an ankle injury and Bill Clark still dealing with a mild concussion, (Clark is expected to play on Saturday) we might be seeing more from Dukes Court's favorite bench player David Theis. Theis is a Pittsburgher who came to Duquesne from Vincentian Academy by way of Mercersburg (Pa.) Prep. I love athletes who grow up in or around the Pittsburgh area.

We all pretty much know the David Theis story by now, he tore his ACL in high school, and was forced to go to prep school to give himself a shot at a DI scholarship. I saw Theis get some minutes early this season in games against Howard and Winston-Salem State. Theis reminds me of former Pitt Panther Donatas Zavackas. Zavackas, also 6'8, was a big strong player, who didn't move too well and couldn't do anything off the dribble, but if you left him open for just a second he would nail any open shot. Theis doesn't have much speed or agility, (he is 6'8 after all) but he seems to have a nice shooting touch. If St. Francis ends up being a pushover don't be surprised to see Theis get a nice chuck of playing time.

As for Donatas Zavackas, I found this nugget on the big W:
Donatas Zavackas is most remembered by Pittsburgh fans for removing his shoes and refusing to play in the waning minutes of an NCAA Tournament game. That game, versus Marquette, would be his last career college game.

Somehow I don't think that would fly on a Ron Everhart team, but maybe that is just me?

Former Pitt player Donatas Zavackas has continued his career overseas, he is currently playing for BC Šiauliai in Lithuania. Duquesne fans could care less.

The King of Shot Blockers

Is Kenny George going to be the King of the Shot Blockers this year?

Shawn James has fallen behind the massive 7'7 Kenny George of UNC-Asheville in the fight to be named the king of the NCAA shot blockers. George is averaging 6.5 blocks per game in his first 7 games this season. Shawn James is not far behind with 4.8 blocks per game, and a total of 43 blocks this season. James only had one block in the Dukes last game a debacle against WVU.

I wouldn't be surprised if a surge in James' blocked shots coincides with a string of wins for the Dukes.

Imitation is the highest form of flattery

A morning reading of the Post Gazette made me remember Highlights for Children Magazine. I used to get stuck reading this when I had to wait for long periods of time in either my doctor's or dentist's office waiting room as a child. Anyway, the "Where are they now?" section of the Dukes Notebook in this morning's PG made me think of the one exercises in Highlights where you had to compare two pictures and mark the differences between them. It would appear that there are not many differences between a recent post on Dukes Court and the Dukes Notebook in the PG.

Click the two links below and see if you can find many differences:

My post last week

The Dukes Notebook from the PG this morning - scroll down to the bottom

No mention of Dukes Court in the PG however.

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Thanks to Scoville for pointing this out to me.