Inside the Dukes: Flipping a Switch

Duquesne Men’s Basketball guard Jimmie Williams pursued a loose ball, his effort bringing the ball back in play and energizing the bench but despite a change in possession he was not done.

Williams darted back to the other side of the floor, caught up with his Rhode Island matchup and the team sat down and defended forcing an empty possession.

It was a play in which Williams set the tone, which energized the bench, that then intensified the defensive effort, all of which got an enormous response from those in attendance Sunday afternoon at the UPMC Cooper Fieldhouse.

It is no secret that what has held this Duquesne team back has been its defense, but actions spoke louder than words, that was until Sunday’s 76-61 victory over Rhode Island, the Dukes first Atlantic 10 triumph in five attempts.

“It’s something it’s not a mystery of what’s been happening in our losses,” Duquesne coach Dru Joyce III said. “We haven’t defended well, and we hadn’t done a really good job in transition. This afternoon we made some progress in those areas. Kudos to those guys for the mindset, it was different for them, I think.”

Again, these were the words, Joyce has been honest with them and the players have offered a similar refrain, that the team needs to defend.

It was the stumbling block to the 2023-24 team which made the NCAA Tournament. Embrace defense. That other side of the ball is just as important and it took a collective buy in for that to happen.

By no means is this a statement or any guarantee that such a fate awaits this team, but efforts such as Sunday’s definitely do not hurt.

It took mere moments after Williams and Tarence Guinyard sat down in Aloe Suite following the win to mention that defense was what won the day.

Rhode Island came in on a three-game winning streak which included a victory over George Mason and a road triumph against Dayton in overtime. The Rams had the energy and the momentum on their side. Duquesne did not care.

“We took pride in defense today and that was a big thing we had been struggling with, just having to dig in, take pride and defend,” Guinyard stated. “(We) stopped people in first seven seconds and people had go through our halfcourt defense. They actually have to move the ball.”

Williams further highlighted that the communication and on-court dialogue showcased just how much energy everyone brought.

It was as if a switch had flipped and all involved knew it. It was an extension of practice and just how much the team had learned from the previous game’s setback.

Duquesne defended well for a half but could not match that energy for the final 20 minutes, as instead St. Bonaventure ran over the Dukes, blitzing them to the tune of 52 points.

Joyce implored his team at every opportunity to get stops with the aim being three in a row while scoring on the other end.

During Saturday’s practice he challenged his team’s second group. He told them their collective effort could be the difference between winning and losing.

To show just how serious he was about his messaging, he kept that five on the floor for 15 consecutive reps until they figured it out.

Joyce came into Sunday’s game hoping what he said hit home. Consider the message sent.

THE BEST OFFENSE

After the St. Bonaventure loss, Joyce was asked about Guinyard setting a career high with 12 assists, which also just so happened to equal the program record.

While Joyce was excited about the individual effort, it was clear there was more work to do both individually as well as collectively.

Joyce understands Guinyard’s professional basketball aspirations and instead publicly challenged him to achieve that same growth on the defensive end.

Guinyard’s defensive role could be considered the most important on the court in that he is the point guard and how he defends is direct messaging and communication to how his teammates should guard as well.

Sunday’s returns were quite positive for Joyce, another positive sign moving forward.

“Tarence Guinyard was picking up full court, he tried to set a tone and that’s a lot of what we talked about,” reflected Joyce. “He took initiative tonight and guarded that guy full court and he did that for 34 minutes which isn’t an easy task. It was important to him. He set the tone especially in our man-to-man defense. Our zone was strong today throughout the game, it gave them some problems. The shots they did get were shots we were comfortable and we rebounded well out of the zone.”

Considering how proficient the defense was, perhaps it was no surprise that the offensive effort was similarly precise. Duquesne had a slash line of 44% from the field, 44.4% from three-point range and perhaps most impressively 90.9% from the free throw line.

The charity stripe number was not just encouraging because of the success rate but because it was over a high volume of free throws, seeing Duquesne convert 20 in 22 total opportunities.

“When we defend like we did today, it just makes it all better on the offensive side because we got all of the energy from the defensive side,” Guinyard analyzed. “It’s a lot easier to make shots.”

Duquesne was the more physical team, playing with a willingness in the post, the fact that it outrebounded Rhode Island by 10 and having a consistent ability to be a counterpuncher.

Joyce was struck by his team’s confidence in the face of adversity, remaining poised throughout the process.

Duquesne had an answer for each run and it started by getting stops on the defensive end. These things are all important to the Dukes, a sign of progression and something to build on.

That build becomes even more crucial as George Mason, Wednesday’s foe, provides a different challenge. The Patriots sit in second place in the A-10, the lone setback thus far being the aforementioned losing effort to Rhode Island.

A large dose of Duquesne’s strategy was seen on Sunday, now it is just tinkering that in certain areas.

While the result is not known, there stands to be an understanding that Duquesne has some definite belief in itself.

“All in all, it does something for our guys’s confidence,” concluded Joyce. “We’ve been trying our butts off, and we’ve come up short in different ways. The losses we accumulated weren’t for a lack of trying.”