Monday notes: St. Louis thoughts, Marhold update

Monday, 23 January 2012 13:35

Written by Jenn Menendez

Dukes Coach Ron Everhart talked about his team’s lack of consistency this season on this morning’s A-10 conference call.

Big win. Big loss. It’s a pattern we’ve seen a few times, particularly this week with a big home win against Massachusetts followed by a 68-41 loss at Saint Louis.

“We’ve got to go back, get our guys' heads right, kind of get straightened out, trying to get better and evolving this basketball team into one that’s a little more consistent," said Everhart. "Right now we’re a little too up and down.”

The Dukes obviously had trouble scoring, and Everhart said watching film didn’t go a long way to explaining why.

The Dukes shot just 30.9 of FG's (17-of-55) with 26.7 from 3-point range (4-of-15).

“We’re obviously a little disappointed about our game Saturday. We didn’t play very well and have to give Saint Louis credit,” he said.

“Our youth kind of showed as the thing progressed into the second half. From watching the film it’s hard to figure out how, obviously Saint Louis is a good defensive team, but we’re disappointed we couldn’t get the ball in the basket.”

***

(Update 3:15 p.m.: Marhold's evaluation has been pushed to Tuesday.)

Andre Marhold has missed the last two games with a concussion suffered at Rhode Island and will be evaluated later on today, said Everhart.

Marhold won’t be cleared to play until he is symptom free, but Everhart said the team is hopeful his return is quick.

“We hope we’re going to have him back for us to practice today, at the very latest tomorrow,” he said.

The Dukes have played with various lineups since the A-10 season opened, the loss of Marhold the latest in a string.

“It’s funny when you hear guys talk about their team, cohesiveness. We haven’t had a full team. BJ being out, Andre out now the last two games. It’d be nice to get him back. He’s been progressively - up until the injury at Rhode Island – getting better. In terms of being able to play a part of rebounding the offense, a guy we can throw it to down low and expect to have an opportunity.

“His evolution as a player has gotten better.”

Marhold was scoring 5.7 points a game, getting 4.4 rebounds - but has 29 blocks, 10th in the A-10.

MarholdHeadshot