With the 2017-2018 season a distant memory it’s time look forward to the fall and the new season for Duquesne basketball.
The upcoming season brings higher expectations for Duquesne fans as the on-court arrival of the fabulous 5 transfers of Marcus Weathers, Tavian Dunn-Martin, Craig Randall, Frankie Hughes and Michael Hughes will make their long awaited debuts.
The fall will also bring the arrival of freshman Dylan Swingle, Austin Rotroff, Amari Kelly, Gavin Bizeau and Brandon Wade.
I tried my hardest to put together a prediction on the starting 5, the bench and minutes distribution. Let’s dig in.
PG: Brandon Wade- 20 minutes
SG: Mike Lewis II- 20 minutes
SF: Eric Williams Jr- 20 minutes
PF: Marcus Weathers- 20 minutes
C: Mike Hughes- 10 minutes
It’s important to note here that this roster is loaded with talent…some unknown, but talent nonetheless. The starters are interchangeable and won’t truly effect who is on the court at the end of the game or in key situations. That’s my best guess at a starting 5 but I see Coach Dambrot riding the hot hands at the end of the game each night rather than letting the starting lineup dictate who he plays.
The biggest advantage this years team will have is if anything they will have more big bodies and don’t have to worry about having to ride the default big man left with fouls to give.
As for minute distribution off of the bench this is how I see it playing out:
Tarin Smith- 20 minutes
Craig Randall- 20 minutes
Frankie Hughes- 25 minutes
Tavian Dunn-Martin- 10 minutes
Austin Rotroff- 5 minutes
Dylan Swingle- 10 minutes
Amari Kelly: 15 minutes
Gavin Bizeau: 5 minutes
Dambrot is going to have a hard job managing these minutes but I’m confident he will make the right call. The drop-off from the starting 5 to the bench is non-existent and all parts of the lineup are interchangeable.
This is all dependent on the remainder of the offseason and the obvious unpredictability of the transfer market as having recruits on campus recently suggest one more player is leaving. We should find that out sooner rather than later.
For now leave your comments below on your lineup predictions.
Jonny
The Bluff Blog 
Jonny, would you let us know who these student/athletes are? What is their relevance to you and or the Dukes. I just don’t recognize either… possibly the transferring students? Or favorites of yours.
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A player I’m really looking forward to watching is Marcus Weathers. He will be a force to be reckoned with for the next 3 seasons. This program is loaded with talent.
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