In Which We Attempt To Convince Oursleves Things Are Alright
In what has become somewhat of annual ritual for me this time of year, I’ve been slow to transition from college football to college hoops. Instead of jumping in with both feet, I’ve sort of watched this year’s JMU team from the fringes so that I could convince myself their was reason for optimism. Of course this strategy went out the window on Wednesday night when the Dukes played against the George Washington Colonials in a nationally televised game that I felt I had to watch. And I’m assuming that by now you know that JMU lost. And they lost to a, hmm, not very impressive GW team. And they lost in a fashion that was brilliantly described on Twitter as “just so outstandingly JMU-ey“. Yes, JMU-ey. Given the past two decades or so of relative futility in hoops, JMU-ey is the perfect word to describe a loss in which JMU couldn’t even attempt a shot to tie because two seniors (5th year seniors by the way) failed to connect on an inbounds pass. And while we’re at it, the fact that many fans appeared to be legitimately cheering a meaningless buzzer beating three pointer that resulted in the Dukes still losing by one, should probably be described as JMU-ey as well. But all is not lost. In fact I’m here to tell you that it’s way too early to throw in the towel for your 2012-2013 JMU Dukes. And it’s too early because JMU has a least a couple things going for it. And here are two of those things.
1. The CAA is Bad
I’m not trying to be funny here or join the legions of VCU fans claiming that the league is in shambles since they left. It’s not in shambles. Thus far though, it’s not really a threat to be a multi-bid league. The league lacks any high-profile upsets. Sure Delaware and Mason both beating UVA (technically a real ACC team) was at least encouraging. Two wins over the same middle of the road team from a BCS conference that isn’t nearly as good as it used to be, probably won’t do much to improve the CAA’s standing come selection Sunday though. The season is still in its infancy, but the CAA has an overall winning percentage of .428. And there are only two teams (Mason & Northeastern) with winning records. It’s a small sample size, but it sure doesn’t look this is the strongest the CAA has ever been. Mason, Northeastern, Drexel, and Delaware might be solid. There are whole bunch of teams that on any given night could end up playing anywhere from really bad to marginally mediocre. Which means a whole lot of games will be toss-ups.
Further diluting the quality of the CAA is the fact that Drexel, the consensus preseason favorite, lost Chris Fouch to a season-ending ankle injury. Fouch was the Dragons leading scorer before he went down. His injury brought Drexel back to the pack and created an opportunity for another team to step up and win the league. And with only seven teams eligible for the conference tournament, there is no reason to pack the bags and give up on JMU’s chances now. In fact, it wouldn’t surprise me if this is one of those years where a team just flat out steals the tournament. All a team needs to do is get hot for a game or two and boom, the bid is theirs. It doesn’t even look like a team would need to upset a particularly strong team to do that. So despite the fact that JMU hasn’t looked great, the league is still very winnable simply because it ain’t that strong.
2. The Freshman Have Upside
All summer Coach Brady was telling folks that this year’s freshman class was the most talented he’s had in his tenure. We’re only 6 games into the season, but it sure seems like Brady was right. Andre Nation introduced himself to a nationally televised audience by scoring a game high 19 points against GW. He also had 4 boards, 3 assists, 5 blocks, and 4 steals. That’s not a bad stat line, but more importantly Nation played with a ton of energy and effort and seemed to inspire his teammates to do the same. If you’ve watched JMU basketball over the past few years, you’ll know that energy and effort were sorely lacking at times. Nation’s classmate, Charles Cooke has displayed some great potential up to this point. And it’s clear that fellow freshman Ron Curry and Tyler Bessick have the talent to push for major minutes and make real contributions. In short, Brady has assembled a young nucleus of talent that could help JMU contend for CAA Championships in years to come. Or they might even be athletic enough to peak at the right time and surprise everyone this year. Whatever their ceiling is, at least they hustle and appear to give a damn. Unfortunately, you can’t say that for a few of the seniors who’s minutes they’re taking.
And Now the Caveats
Many of you probably think I’m writing this just to try to convince myself to keep the faith, and well, you’re 100% correct. I realize how sad it is that JMU has one of the most experienced rosters in the CAA and I’m pinning my hopes to Andre Nation and the other young guys before conference play even starts. There a number of things JMU does not do well. And a few of those things like playing defense and rebounding the basketball, are shall we say, rather critical. There is obviously also trouble in A.J. Davis land, but I’m OK with Brady benching him. I don’t know Davis, so it wouldn’t be fair to judge him personally. From the outside looking in however, he appears to have a very Javale McGee-esque attitude and aloofness. If he focused and actually bought into a team game, I really think he’s got All-CAA potential. He’s never done that though. Brady is either going to turn this around with guys who play team basketball and elevate their games, or he’s going to be a dead man walking. I’d rather he try to send a message to A.J. now in hopes that he gets it before CAA play, than let him do his own thing and destroy the team concept in the process.
Yes, things haven’t looked too bright for the Dukes thus far. But CAA play hasn’t even started yet. Let’s wait a few months before we’re writing the obituary and firing up the coaching search. The point is that Brady has some young guys who seem ready to play for him and appear to have more upside than some of the upperclassman. We’re only six games into the season. I’d just rather cheer for the guys and hope they improve enough to surprise us, then throw in the towel and spend the next 4 months blogging about Justin Thorpe and Mickey Matthews’ shortcomings.
“this year’s freshman class was the most talented he’s had in his tenure. ”
…As bad as we suck that really doen’t mean anything. That’s like being the brightest crayon in a box of pencils.
On another note, I was forced to swallow the small shred of pride I had left this morning, and admit to a group of ODU-alum co-workers that our football program is nothing special and that with all this conference realignment stuff, we are kind of screwed right now. I officially have zero pride left. Hope you’re happy, Mickey Matthews.
I was at the Basketball home opener the other night and it looked as bad in person at times as I am sure it did on TV. There was a stretch in the first half that JMU was playing well and appeared on the verge of taking control of that game. Then Matt Brady subs in 4-5 different players and all momentum and continuity was lost.
My take for what its worth:
The freshmen play hard/effort, play defense, and take good shots. They have decent size – by that I mean good height and not string beans. Andre Nation appears to be the best. I think Curry and Cooke looked good too. Bessick I think will be good but it is harder for an inside player to transition to college play. But Bessick is big and can stand up inside.
The best rebounder by far is Goins so he needs to be in the game more…not sure why Brady was subbing him out so much.
Enoch Hood looked better and adding a little bulk.
Devon Moore is a mystery to me – sometimes he looks great then other times 2 minutes later he looks awful. That inbounds play at the end of the game was all on him. He threw right to the guy.
I think the team will be better when Semenov is back in action. He gives the team another shooter and he plays good defense and plays with an attitude something that JMU needs.
AJ Davis is probably the most talented player on the team. I actually think he may be the Justin Thorpe of the basketball team. He appears to be a lazy, me-first player, who does his own thing regardless of the play called or what the team is trying to accomplish. I personally applaud the stand the Brady is taking with him this season (did not have that luxury last season with the injury situation). It looks plain and simple….if AJ does not play defense and hustle his butt will be glued to the bench and I don’t have a problem with that. I would rather lose with kids that are executing and hustling than lose with a lazy player on the court. Brady is doing to AJ what MM would not do with Thrope and I applaud that. For that very reason I will give this team the benefit of the doubt and look for improvement over the course of the season. My opinion is is JMU cannot have a .500 conference record Brady has got to go. And with his job/livelihood on the line he is not about to trust AJ with that……if MM had his balls in the vice from the JMU Brass I doubt he would have trusted JT for so long.
Sorry I diverted back to football – but it is a very similar situation between coach and player and handled night/day differently.
Oh and Doufe is well Doufe – a nice role player that should be shooting less.
I agree with the Davis and Thorpe comparison Shady_P. And I also applaud Brady for drawing a line and benching A.J. Even though JMU lost, I enjoyed watching Nation, Hood, Cooke, etc play hard the other night way more than I enjoyed watching Davis mail it in during a few wins last year.
So we are crucifying the football program that went 7-4 in one of the toughest FCS football conferences in the country but we are supposed to have faith in the basketball team that has “earned” a 1-5 record against a mostly mediocre pre-season schedule?
First of all, I don’t think I’ve ever crucified the football team. I’ve stated my opinion that they didn’t play well and failed to meet expectations, but I’ve never advocated that anyone be fired or anything like that. I’m pretty sure all of the calls for termination and other things that could be characterized as “crucifying” have come from the comments section.
Second of all, JMU football and JMU basketball are apples and oranges. Football has more support and resources than many (if not most) FCS/peer programs. Basketball does not. And the football team was expected to compete for a title this year and woefully underachieved. Basketball doesn’t have the same expectations.
Finally, I’d argue that football’s 7 wins came mostly against programs they completely overmatched. Yes, the basketball team is losing, but they haven’t played the equivalent of a St. Francis, Alcorn State, or URI.
Lets see football is the flagship progam since JMU canned Lefty about 20 years ago and is the one that year after year under acheives and the one that has state of the art FCS facilities…..so to answer your question YES.
JMU basketball has to learn to walk again and is a definite work in progress….and this is Brady’s make or break season.
When is MM make or break season????
I’ve been saying that for years. This used to be a basketball first school and hasn’t been the same since they made the stupid, knee jerk, ego play decision to get rid of Lefty.
By the way, JMU was invited to the Atlantic 10 when Lefty was here and chose to remain small time. To make football the top program was short sighted. FCS football is a joke. It didn’t take Old Dominion long to think big time.
Steve_J, I just re-read my comment and I apologize if it came across as argumentative or harsh. That wasn’t my intent. It’s just that I think hoops is different because it’s digging out of a nearly 20 year hole, while football has pretty much been placed on a pedestal and given tremendous advantages over most of the other CAA programs.
Sorry if I came across like a jackass.
No worries, Rob….no offense taken. I know you don’t generally “crucify” people or things, but some of our commenters sometimes seem to…i.e. MM. I’m not looking to restart that conversation as it was covered pretty thoroughly during the season by everyone here.
That being said, your template of “The good, the bad, and the ugly” is 66% non-positive by definition, yes?……I’m not trying to pick, it’s just that I always hope to see good things being said about the Dukes…not delusional things, just balanced (and I think you really try to do that and generally achieve it). A suggestion that may just be semantics and not really impact the content of each category’s commentary, I almost wish the categories were at least presented as ‘positives, pushes, and things to learn from’ or something similar to that.
As for football, I think we have a great program, great facilities, and good fans. Yes, ODU has momentarily passed us by but their recent spectacular on field performance can really be summed up in 2 words…Taylor Heinecke! He almost single handedly overcomes ODU’s horrible defense to win games. The Dukes may have fallen short of our expectations this year but the FCS playoffs are expanding next year and will likely guarantee us a spot in postseason with a season like this year’s….and all it takes is an invite and getting hot at the right time to roll all the way to Frisco. I enjoy the FCS playoffs and would find little joy in jumping to FBS only to have our dream be a bid to the Liberty Bowl. That being said, after seeing NIU make it to the BCS Orange Bowl, I wonder if any of the sports blog group’s opinions regarding a potential bid to the MAC has changed recently?
Regarding basketball, I was in school when we opened the Convo, rocked it with sellouts by the real Electric Zoo, threw toilet paper at Ralph Sampson, won 3 first round March Madness games, and I was in Greensboro when we played UNC for the 2nd year in a row in the tourney and saw little Sally Nay get run over retrieving toilet paper from the court. It pains me to watch a game on TV like the GW game last week and see the Convo so empty and relatively lifeless compared to the old days. The basketball program is where I think we should be calling for immediate change (and I know you have discussed this possibility in the past). This is where we have been bypassed by the likes of fellow CAA members and schools like Butler, Gonzaga, etc. JMU and Richmond were 2 of the original March Madness giant killers. We can’t say that about the Dukes these days. It’s sad.
And baseball, yes, we were the first VA school to reach the College World Series while I was in school too. Unfortunately, we faced Roger Clemens of Texas when we got there, but we made it there.
I am so proud of JMU as an institution. I was proud when I was a student there and I still am today. As a contrast, I live in VA Beach and occasionally tag along with my ODU friends to their football games. Let me tell you…yes, they have a good team but their tailgates don’t compare, their campus is ugly, and their football stadium is a dump (except for the endzone suites and Big Blue area). Taking all that into account, you hear nothing but positives about ODU from their alumni, the local media, their coaches, and the high profile AD.
I just don’t want to see our own love and passion for our the Dukes, aka high expectations, get carried away to the point that we lose sight of how good we really have it. As alumni, we need to Be The Change ourselves and I think we need to go about it in as positive a manner as possible. Our best days are still ahead of us! Go Dukes!