With the good comes the bad. Yesterday, I looked at reasons for optimism. Now, I'll look at reasons to dial that optimism back.
The Team Is Still Young
A blessing and a curse. This feels great for the long term, but it will still cause issues in the short. Hopefully, the team takes advantage of its cupcake non - conference slate and it's ample November practice time and grows up fast.
Probably Only One All Conference Player Right Now
While I think there are some players with huge upside on the team, I doubt anyone save for Micah Mason has a strong chance to make the All-Conference team this season. History suggests that you need at least two elite players to make a real splash in the league.
Defense Needs to Improve
If the Dukes want to struggle again this season, they should simply defend the way they did last season. They will not improve if they don't make stopping the opposition a priority.
Offense Needs to Work Without Ovie
While the Dukes return more players with experience in the system than they have previously under Ferry, I'm not really sure how similar the system will be. Ovie Soko was the heart and soul of last year's squad and with him gone, the team will need to make some major adjustments.
The CBI Is Likely The Ceiling
I included this as a reason for concern last year, but it's difficult for me to envision twenty wins and a trip to the NCAA sanctioned post season. Sorry.
Very Few Certainties in the Lineup
You can look at the lack of clarity in the Duquesne line up in two ways. Either they have a lot of depth and won't lose much from starter to sub or they haven't got many players that have distinguished themselves as top options. We saw the former serve Dayton well this year, but aside from Mason and evidently LG Gill, it doesn't sound like any horse has pulled far enough ahead of the players they're hoping to replace.
***Bonus Optimism***
Let me end this on a bright note when I say that 6 Reasons for Concern was much more difficult to write than 6 Reasons for Optimism. It's much easier for me to see projection in this program now than it was last season. Problem is, we still probably have to wait another year to get back to the NCAA sanctioned offseason. 2014-15 has the potential to be a good one and this team has enough talent to surprise. However, they're going to need to grow and grow quickly if they hope to get there.
