Duquesne Basketball: 5 takeaways from first 10 games of 2021-22 season

Primo Spears and his inconsistency

When Sincere Carry left the team midway last season, Duquesne was looking for a point guard ever since. But it turns out they found one in its freshmen class in Amir “Primo” Spears, a three-star recruit out of Hartford, Connecticut. There was a question as to who would start between him and fellow freshman Jackie Johnson but it was Spears that got the start against Rider, going for 14 points and a season-high seven assists.

The 6’3 guard has been the starter ever since but his play has been nothing but erratic. When Spears is on, he’s one of the best guards in the Atlantic 10, with six games of at least 14 points, including a 21 and 23-point game on the early season. However, he’s been bad in the other four, scoring six or fewer. Not surprisingly, all four of those games ended in losses.

Spears has proven to be a rhythm player, capable of scoring in bunches. But that streakiness has its negative sides too, combining to go for 0-15 in the Weber State and DePaul. On the season, the freshman is shooting 35% from the field and 29% from deep. And as a ball-handler, his 29/21 assist-to-turnover ratio is an issue as well for the point guard, as the Dukes rank in the bottom-30 of the country in overall assists.

Continuing the comparison to Carry, the former Duke also had his ups and downs as a freshman, before turning it around and going for at least nine points in the final 20 games of the 2018-29 season. Spears doesn’t have to go for 20+ every night but definitely needs more than six. Spears is at 11.9 ppg in 10 games and if he can do that every night, Duquesne’s odds will be higher going forward.