Dukes Down Drexel

JMU provided the CAA tournament’s only first round upset last night with a 77-65 victory over Drexel. Brady had the boys playing with a ton of energy and for once the Dukes kept the intensity up for 40 minutes. Here are some quick thoughts before we focus our attention on this evening’s game  against William & Mary.

Thumbs Up

Coach Brady – His team had every reason in the world to mail it in last night and end the misery of the season. He had them ready to go and kept the team playing hard all night.

Denzel Bowles – Todd, Uncle Ron, Jamie, and I were chatting about the game yesterday and we were expecting the big man to have a huge game as soon as the announcement was made that he was snubbed from the All-CAA first team. Our hunch was correct and Denzel finished with 22 points, 10 rebounds, 6 assists, and a block.

Pierre Curtis – The senior PG had a huge first half before injuring his ankle. He was definitely hurting, but stepped up big and had a great night.

Julius Wells – Everyone knows that I think Wells is talented, but has serious shot selection issues. The shot selection was still suspect, but Wells was great from the free throw line on a night when it really mattered, hitting 8 of 10.

Thumbs Down

The steaming video – I opted to go with Schikman’s call on Madizone because I was suspicious of the video feed’s quality. Todd confirmed my suspicions just after tip-off. The CAA has to get it together and provide a better option next year.

The officials – With about 7 minutes to go, I seriously started to worry that the game would end with about 8 players on the court. 55 fouls and 73 free throws! Give the whistles a rest and let ’em play.

Denzel Haters – The fact that he ended up on the second team for All-CAA is just ridiculous (Larry Sanders is good, but Denzel outplayed him head-to-head and had a league leading 11 double-doubles). The fact that so many Dukes’ fans continue to dump on Denzel is pure insanity. He’s pretty much unstoppable on offense and last night showed that he can play both ends of the court.

That’s it for now. Time to move on to the rubber match with William & Mary. Tip-off is scheduled for approximately 8:30 and the game is on The Comcast Network. Go Dukes!