It’s a new year, but the same string of strange events continues for the Duquesne men’s basketball team.
On one day, the Dukes are healthy, the next they have over a dozen positive COVID tests. One day they have a set schedule, the next day it’s completely moved around.
One day (Saturday) they beat George Washington on the road in their conference opener, the next day they lose to George Washington on the road by a final of 75-73.
Due to the ongoing scheduling madness that’s come from the pandemic, teams throughout the nation have been forced to agree to play under less than ideal terms. Thus was the case on Sunday when the Dukes (2-2, 1-1) played the Colonials (3-7, 2-1) for the second straight day on the road.
“I mean, I don’t regret anything we do because in the long run playing is going to help us more than it will hurt us,” Keith Dambrot said when asked after the loss if he regretted agreeing to play the back-to-back. “Obviously it hurts your record and your mindset. I just do what they tell me to do. I’m going to play whenever they tell me to.”
Rolling with the punches has become the established norm for Duquesne. The unfortunate reality is, eventually those punches will cause a team to wear down. At least that’s how Dambrot sees it.
The first example he cited was fatigue.
Dukes forward Marcus Weathers had a string of highs and lows in Sunday’s loss. After a slow first half where he scored just four points, the senior took charge scoring 15 points in the second half, helping his team gain the lead with just over seven minutes remaining.
However, for the things Weathers did well, there were also areas of his game that struggled. He shot just 3-for-10 at the foul line and with the ball in his hands with just six seconds to go, his jumper from the elbow which would’ve sent the game to overtime fell just short.
“The thing I liked about Marcus is when we struggled he put us on his back,” Dambrot said. “I give him a lot of credit for that. I think one of his biggest issues is his motor. He gets tired, which could’ve affected his free throw shooting as well, on back to backs. But his effort was good. The thing I liked was he really didn’t have it I don’t think but he rallied himself and really tried to win the game for us. He’s the least of our worries.”
As Dambrot said, Weathers was not the problem on Sunday and has been Duquesne’s strongest player this season, leading the team in scoring (15.8 ppg), rebounding (7.0 rpg) and second behind Sincere Carry in minutes played (28.3).
Speaking of Carry, he was used as an example for the second area of struggle: Lack of practice time.
Ahead by a point with 15 seconds remaining, Carry found himself trapped between a pair of Colonial defenders. Rather than calling a timeout, the three-year starting point guard held onto the ball, resulting in a turnover.
That ensuing possession, George Washington guard James Battle hit a three pointer that ended up being the game winning basket.
“I kind of felt like [Sincere] thought he was going to get fouled, that’s why he held it and didn’t call timeout, which I understand a little bit but you’ve got to use the timeout if you’re not sure,” Dambrot said. “Ultimately again, part of that is we don’t get to spend as much time on special situations as we normally would have.”
More practice time can fix issues like the one Carry had. There are other situations that Dambrot simply chalks up to being a part of the COVID-chaos.
Late in the first half Duquesne was given it’s first technical foul of the season. It wasn’t for arguing or a flagrant act of violence on the floor, but for freshman Chad Baker’s name not being in the score book when he checked into the game.
“We had [Chad] on the iPad,” Dambrot said when asked about the peculiar incident. “So there’s such strange circumstances. I don’t understand how he wasn’t in the book.”
More confusion ensued in the second half when Tavian Dunn-Martin was forced back on the bench after officials claimed that he did not check into the game fast enough during a break in the action.
In a game played prior to the pandemic, checking into a game was simple. Dambrot walks over to Dunn-Martin, tells him to go in for another player on the floor, he walks to the scorer’s table, tells the book keeper who he’s coming in for and then makes the substitution once buzzed into the game during the next stoppage of play.
Things just aren’t that simple this season in certain venues. As a social distancing protocol, there was no scorer’s table for Dunn-Martin to check in at. Dambrot and the Dukes learned that the hard way.
“I think sometimes you’ve got to bend the rules a little bit because of the COVID circumstances,” Dambrot said. “Again, it didn’t cost us the game or anything but to me it’s a common sense deal. The scorers table is across the hall, right? And we’re trying to get in the game and they said they didn’t get in on time. Well how the hell do you know, really? Because it’s over and across the way. I thought he was in on time. So again, it really affected nothing but it’s kind of a strange deal.”
Similar to how our issues as a society won’t remain in 2020, Dambrot understands that the constant challenges will not be left behind in Washington D.C.
Duquesne will play its home opener on Tuesday against Davidson. The term 'home' can be used loosely, considering the game will take place at La Roche University, which is 10 miles north of Duquesne’s campus.
While not having a home court isn’t a new challenge to the Dukes, Dambrot says that, among everything else is what is the hardest adjustment he and his team have to make.
“We haven’t had a real home game in a year-and-a-half,” Dambrot said. “That’s a lot to ask. Again, no excuses. We’ve done a hell of a job with it but it’s not healthy. It’s kind of like staying up all night and trying to play the game the next day. Eventually it wears on you.
“It’s not a good deal for us. It will be in the long run because we’ll get a new arena out of it, but it’s been hard. I’m not going to lie about it. It’s been a difficult grind. Especially with all the stuff that’s going on right now. But that’s what this is. This is a grind, grind, grind, grind, grind until you get what you want. That’s really what it is.”
Perhaps the cliche ‘it is what it is,’ is the best way to summarize Duquesne’s season so far. They’ve faced hurdle after hurdle. Some are similar to what other teams face, others unique just to their program.
Nevertheless, the season goes on. At the start of the year the Dukes had high hopes for the season ahead. In order to achieve them, the ‘grind’ must continue.