Commitment, tactical changes driving Duquesne's defensive improvement

Duquesne basketball coach Keith Dambrot grabbed his phone after Wednesday’s practice and opened up a spreadsheet that illustrated his team’s defensive improvement in recent weeks.

Not to brag. Just to confirm the numbers.

And maybe to convince himself a little bit that the jump in defensive performance is as legit as he believes.

“That’s our defensive rating right now: 119,” Dambrot said Tuesday, pointing to the KenPom defensive efficiency rankings. “At one point in the season, we were, like, 225.”

Dambrot clicked to the page listing Atlantic 10 Conference-only rankings for defense. Once conference play got in gear, that’s when Dambrot felt the team defense began to resemble the way his squads normally perform on that end of the floor.

Dambrot listed off the ratings. In KenPom defensive efficiency, the Dukes are second behind VCU. Fourth in effective field-goal-percentage-defense. Second in turnover percentage. Tops in two-point percentage defense. Number eight in three-point-percentage-defense. Steal percentage is second.

And if you want a number that’s a little bit more basic, the Dukes are now fifth in league play in points allowed at 66.9. That’s better than the 70.8 they were allowing before the conference season began.

Dambrot’s defense has been particularly good during the club’s recent three-game winning streak, holding George Washington, George Mason and St. Bonaventure to an average of 57.6 points per game.

“Our guys have bought in. That’s the biggest thing. They’ve bought into being a good defensive team,” Dambrot said after his team’s 56-54 win Saturday over St. Bonaventure. “We have to continue to cut the head off the snake. We’ve taken the best passers and put them in uncomfortable situations.”

There was evidence of that effort against the Bonnies, as the Dukes forced 25 turnovers, the most in one game during Dambrot’s six years as Duquense’s coach. The Dukes have forced 191 turnovers in conference play. Only first-place VCU (198) has more. Guard Jimmy Clark III leads the A-10 in steals (11th nationally) at 2.4 per game.

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During his press conference, Dambrot cited two significant tactical changes that have instigated the improved defensive play. The first was moving 6-foot-7 power forward Tre Williams back into the post on defense. That’s something Williams did a lot last year. But when Bowling Green transfer Joe Reese (who is almost 6-foot-9 with a long wingspan) joined the program this off-season, the presumption was he’d patrol down low while Williams would guard out on the floor.

But Dambrot thinks the Dukes are getting better results with those two switching roles.

“Tre Williams guarding the post, that’s been the biggest thing that’s really helped us. And Reese has done a good job on the perimeter. We were not sure if he could do it or not. But Tre is so (darn) strong,” Dambrot said on Saturday.

The second detail Dambrot points to is adjustments on ball-screen defense.

“Our ball-screen defense has really gotten better,” Dambrot added. “We’ve made some subtle, little changes that have really helped us. … We have a lot of guys that can guard.”

But point guard Kareem Rozier says the “buy-in” factor Dambrot referenced has been the biggest variable.

“Now we don’t always have to rely on our offense. We did do that early on. Relying on offense. Relying on the jump shot. But now we are actually having fun playing defense. Guys were talking about it in the locker room the other day. That’s what wins games,” Rozier said Saturday.

A lot of the theories about Duquesne’s defensive improvement will be put to the test Wednesday night as they host St. Joseph’s. The Hawks come in averaging 74.0 points per game, second best in the A-10. Duquesne beat St. Joe’s in a 92-80 shootout in Philadelphia on Jan. 11.

The Dukes enter the game in fifth place in the Atlantic 10 standings at 7-5 (17-8 overall). St. Joe’s is tied with St. Bonaventure for sixth at 7-6 (13-12 overall). Both teams have won four of their last five. The Hawks defense has gotten good of late as well, yielding 66.5 points per game in those four victories. That’s a noticeable improvement on the 71.6 points per game they’ve allowed over the course of the season.

So maybe the 172 points posted between the two teams last month won’t be in play, but it’s still a good barometer for how much both teams have improved guarding their own baskets.