Duquesne coach Jim Ferry enters the Atlantic 10 season with one optimistic expectation: His team will be better near the end than it is now.
?We're going to be a work in progress all year,? said Ferry, in his third season as coach. ?When you have a frontcourt that's this young, and you have all these new players together, it's a work in progress. We will be better in February.?
After a nonconference schedule that saw frequent lineup changes and five losses in a six-game span, Duquesne (5-6) starts its A-10 season Saturday at Dayton. The Flyers (10-2) return two starters from last year's Elite Eight lineup.
It's the first of 18 conference games for the Dukes, who have only one senior and were predicted to finish 11th in a 14-team league, an indication of the challenging road ahead.
?There are great players, (and) there are great coaches (in the Atlantic 10),? Ferry said, ?but you've really got to focus on yourself, and that's what we're going to do.?
Duquesne's frontcourt features mostly freshmen and sophomores. Freshman TySean Powell (seven starts), freshman Jordan Robinson (three), sophomore L.G. Gill (eight) and sophomore Darius Lewis (one) have started at least one game.
The most recent lineup featured 6-foot-11 Lewis and 6-8 senior Dominique McKoy.
With a 74.2-point average, the Dukes have the fourth-best scoring offense in the A-10. They're 12th in scoring defense, allowing 70.4. Still, Ferry said he has seen measured progress.
?I think we're getting better defensively,? he said.
Last season's opponents shot 46 percent from the field compared to 42 this season. Texas-Pan American shot only 38 percent Saturday in the Dukes' 78-72 victory. The Broncs also were outrebounded 40-27.
?If we can do those things, we'll be able to play with everybody in the league,? Ferry said.
The A-10 has three teams already with 10 wins (VCU, George Washington and Dayton), and all three appear on Duquesne's schedule in January. But the Dukes aren't the only young team in the A-10.
Fordham starts three freshmen. Saint Louis and Davidson start two. Saint Joseph's and George Mason start two sophomores and a freshman.
?There's a couple of teams in the league that are like us,? Ferry said. ?I think last year there were a lot of senior-laden teams. This year there aren't as many. So we've got to keep focusing on ourselves.?
?We're going to be a work in progress all year,? said Ferry, in his third season as coach. ?When you have a frontcourt that's this young, and you have all these new players together, it's a work in progress. We will be better in February.?
After a nonconference schedule that saw frequent lineup changes and five losses in a six-game span, Duquesne (5-6) starts its A-10 season Saturday at Dayton. The Flyers (10-2) return two starters from last year's Elite Eight lineup.
It's the first of 18 conference games for the Dukes, who have only one senior and were predicted to finish 11th in a 14-team league, an indication of the challenging road ahead.
?There are great players, (and) there are great coaches (in the Atlantic 10),? Ferry said, ?but you've really got to focus on yourself, and that's what we're going to do.?
Duquesne's frontcourt features mostly freshmen and sophomores. Freshman TySean Powell (seven starts), freshman Jordan Robinson (three), sophomore L.G. Gill (eight) and sophomore Darius Lewis (one) have started at least one game.
The most recent lineup featured 6-foot-11 Lewis and 6-8 senior Dominique McKoy.
With a 74.2-point average, the Dukes have the fourth-best scoring offense in the A-10. They're 12th in scoring defense, allowing 70.4. Still, Ferry said he has seen measured progress.
?I think we're getting better defensively,? he said.
Last season's opponents shot 46 percent from the field compared to 42 this season. Texas-Pan American shot only 38 percent Saturday in the Dukes' 78-72 victory. The Broncs also were outrebounded 40-27.
?If we can do those things, we'll be able to play with everybody in the league,? Ferry said.
The A-10 has three teams already with 10 wins (VCU, George Washington and Dayton), and all three appear on Duquesne's schedule in January. But the Dukes aren't the only young team in the A-10.
Fordham starts three freshmen. Saint Louis and Davidson start two. Saint Joseph's and George Mason start two sophomores and a freshman.
?There's a couple of teams in the league that are like us,? Ferry said. ?I think last year there were a lot of senior-laden teams. This year there aren't as many. So we've got to keep focusing on ourselves.?
