Atlantic 10 Basketball: Impact of league’s “European Influence”

Matúš Hronský’s impact at Duquesne

Matúš Hronský‘s first season at Duquesne was an absolute roller coaster. He debuted in the season opener against Montana, played twenty-nine minutes off the bench and scored a still career-high thirteen points. After the calendar flipped to 2023, he played just thirty-four minutes total over the remainder of the season, due to a bout with covid that left him physical affected all the way through a portion of the offseason.

It was a long recovery process and Duquesne Coach Keith Dambrot even noted at the beginning of the season that the goal was for Hronský to be a significant contributor to the team by January 1st. The wheels are now in motion towards that day, as Hronský physically built back up enough in practice to finally return to game action this week against UC Irvine.

Even once he gets back in full, Hronský is in for a huge fight to get minutes. He’ll mostly back up two of the best players in the A-10, Dae Dae Grant and Jimmy “Tre” Clark III, and with a plethora of big forwards, Dambrot has most often opted to give those minutes to Hassan Drame, a senior who started all of last season on conference rival La Salle. But Hronský has the asset of his extremely unique skill set, as standing at 6’8″ and possessing quick feet, he can potentially guard four different positions.

Hronský’s best contributions are going to come on the offensive end, with his excellent passing instinct and ability to shoot over basically anyone who guards him (respectable 33.3% from deep last season). When I asked Hronsky what his best asset was on the court, he didn’t want to sound cocky by saying it was his IQ, but Dambrot backed him up, “he’s got a big brain.”  Dambrot also elaborated into how all of physical and mental tools come together, “He’s big and he knows how to play. When you’re big like that, you can see over the ball screens, you can pass it. He’s also got a good shooting stroke and he’s versatile.”

At his best, when he is fully healthy and playing confidently with the ball in his hands, Hronský could provide the Dukes with a much needed second playmaker when either Clark or Kareem Rozier is on the bench.  And while it’s not as pressing for Duquesne to find additional bench scoring, he has already proven he can do it all over the floor.

https://x.com/CBB_Europe/status/1590261862423482369?s=20

As for finding a role this season, Dambrot called him “a swiss army knife,” but noted freshman Jakub Necas brings a similar versatility to the team. It just so happens that Hronský and Necas will probably need to primarily battle each other for the backup wing minutes the remainder of the season, which reminds us of the dichotomy of the best and worst of relationships in sports. Hronský and Necas will more or less be rivals for playing time, while at the same time having become great friends.

After a season as the lone European on the Duquesne roster, Hronský (Slovakia) feels more comfortable, as he is now joined by Necas (Czech Republic), Andrei Savrasov (Russia) and Dusan Mahorcic (Serbia). As sons of the now broken up Czechaslovakia, Hronský and Necas technically speak different languages but the Slovak describes it as “the difference between UK english and American english,” and noted that getting to speak in his native language makes him feel like he’s back home. Dambrot is sees it as having a “calming effect” as well but is also an occasional problem, “I get on them all the time because they are speaking foreign languages and Jakub’s english isn’t as good as Matus’ so I get on Matus to make sure he’s speaking english so that he can improve.”

Hronsky has also been able to find a very unique connection back to home, a rarity for college players over from other countries. Marian Bucha and his family live in Pittsburgh but he is originally from Slovakia, where he once had a math teacher who happens to be Hronský’s  grandmother. On a vacation back, Bucha found out that Hronský was heading to Duquesne and reached out. Hronsky now refers to the Bucha’s as his “second family” and has gotten so close with them that Marian’s young adult children consider him a cousin. Marian Bucha can be found during Duquesne games with a Slovakian flag hanging in front of him.

https://x.com/LeagueRDY/status/1490037102964350989?s=20

Hronský originally came to the United States in the hopes of getting an education along with playing basketball. He is majoring in economics and international business and hopes to travel and do business around the world if he doesn’t stick with basketball after school. His mother Jana says that Matus so often spoke of coming to America that she would joke and tell him “The US is waiting for you,” but when he got the chance to do so, it made the whole Hronský family that much more excited for him. Jana has gotten the chance to come to Pittsburgh and visit Matus a few days during each of his two seasons and even brought his grandmother this year, who was happy to watch a game that wasn’t in the middle of the night.

The journey from Slovakia to Pittsburgh included a few years in between in Utah of all places, and just like Max Shulga, Hronský’s favorite thing about Utah was the scenery, “Utah is beautiful country, just mountains and quiet, not a big city. It felt like home.” That home of Poruba sits in the Slovakian countryside and boasts a population of just 1,300, a far cry from the size of Pittsburgh, but Hronský likes his new home as well, “Pittsburgh isn’t too big, it isn’t too small.” He’s enjoyed getting to go to “ice hockey games” and likes that the environment outside the city is similar to rural Slovakia.

However, Pittsburgh can’t measure up to an older nation in terms of what Hronský sees as unique about his home country, “We have beautiful nature, beautiful national parks and forests and a lot of mountains. One fun fact, we are one of the countries with the most castles.”

One thing stood out about Matúš Hronský through all of my conversations, he is extremely likable. Dambrot says he gets along with everybody and is “hard not to like.” Bucha called him “the nicest guy” and that they have a lot of laughs when he comes over. He’s already got the likable personality and the on-court IQ, if Hronský can stay healthy this season, he has a chance to become a fan favorite up at Duquesne.