By Steve DiMiceli
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Duquesne fans got a rare treat this summer with some bonus basketball to help make the longest off season in sports seem a little shorter. With the Greentree Pro - Am long finished and a trip to Canada along with an open practice in the books, here are ten things I think we learned as the events heated up.
10) Eric Evans found that step he lost. - EE seemed quicker and had that smooth and confident first step back. Hard to believe he's already a senior.
9) West Virginia is going to be bad, real bad - Shame we don't get to play them because they have a shell of a basketball team this season. I was also not to impressed with their recruits either. Huggins must be recruiting for character or something. Expect a losing record this year and possibly next year.
8) Don't judge PJ Torres from one summer league game - Seriously, the haters were out and I was a even a little concerned as he simply didn't appear quick enough to get by defenders. He had a great trip to Canada and was among the 5 best players at the open practice. He will challenge for minutes immediately.
7) Derrick Martin is still raw - Basketball players are a lot like Thanksgiving turkeys. The bigger they are the longer they take till they're ready. Martin has some advanced skills, but overall he's not ready to eat a ton of minutes. That does not mean he is a bust.
6) Andre Marhold is getting better - And thankfully too. Kid's going to be in the starting lineup.
5) Unorganized summer league Sean Johnson = Bad, Organized Summer Tour Sean Johnson = Good - Maybe it was the structure of the Canadian games or maybe it was just a cold spell and rust at the Pro-Am but Johnson sure looked like a different player up north.
4) Herrera can shot the three, but needs to get better on defense - Opponents are going to hate him by the time he is done at Duquesne. He is a gamer in terms of his ability to flat out shoot. They don't make them like Daniel anymore. His minutes will be limited though till he can play at both ends of the floor.
3) TJ is good - Lead his Pro - Am team to it's second championship in a row and showed that his shot was returning after some struggles with finishing at Greentree. He appears ready to take on a bigger scoring role.
2) BJ can be the man - Consistent efforts over the course of the summer lead me to believe that BJ Monteiro can fill in some of the scoring lost with the departure of Bill Clark. He could have a major breakout year.
1) Even though it looked bad at first, it's ok to be a little optimistic - I think a losing season is less likely than I did after the first few Pro - Am games, but I wouldn't look for the team to take a major step forward either.
