Moving On After That Loss to William & Mary
The Dukes lost to William & Mary on Saturday. And it wasn’t close. The Tribe coasted to a 78-56 win in Williamsburg. JMU is now 6-13 overall and 1-4 in CAA play. William and Mary moved to 10-6 and 2-1 in league play. After a decent start to the game, the Dukes let William & Mary go on a little run. And then Charles Cooke went down with an ankle injury and things got ugly. The Tribe shot lights out in the first half and broke the game wide open. Despite a terrific game from Andre Nation, JMU never really had a chance after Cooke left.
While it would be very easy to just vent and point out all the things that went wrong Saturday, it wouldn’t make things any better. Yes, this team is struggling. Badly. And if Cooke is out for an extended stretch, things could be tough. But can we talk about Andre Nation for a second? Because he is really good. Despite the fact that everyone in the gym knew he was basically JMU’s only option on offense, he still managed to score a career high 25 points. And he also led the Dukes in both rebounding and assists. He has played four games since returning from suspension. In three of those games he has been either the leader or co-leader for rebounding. Since he’s a guard, that’s either impressive or worrisome depending on your perspective however.
I was a little worried JMU fans were inflating Nation’s potential after his tremendous scoring effort in last year’s season ending loss to Indiana. We weren’t. In fact we might have been downplaying it a bit. He’s that good. Here’s the thing though, it kind of looks like some of his teammates are as enamored with his talent as most JMU fans are. Yes, this might just be me and Todd rationalizing the four game skid. But it definitely seems like since Nation returned, there is a whole lot of standing around and waiting for him and Cooke to work their magic. That’s got to stop. And hopefully it will once the guys get used to playing with him.
If we’re looking for other positives in Saturday’s loss, Ron Curry started knocking down jumpers again. He hit 3 from long range. If he gets his stroke back, it can only help the Dukes. He had a stretch right before Nation returned where he was hitting shots and playing with a ton of confidence. With a confident and aggressive Curry running the point, the Dukes strung together a couple of wins. JMU needs Curry to get his swagger back, especially if Cooke is out for a few games.
And negatives, well we said we didn’t want to vent or dwell on the past. But it’s safe to say that the bench is not getting the job done. Nation and Cooke should be able to carry the scoring load on most nights. And Curry, Semenov, and Bessick should be able to collectively fill up a box score (the fact that they haven’t lately is concerning). Which means Coach Brady needs the freshman guys off the bench to just chip in as role players. Unfortunately, during this four game losing skid, that’s not happening. Since Nation’s return the leading scorer off the bench has had 3, 2, 4, and 3 points in each game. JMU doesn’t need any one guy to score in double figures off the bench each game. Getting a group effort that resulted in more than 10 points would be nice though.
Next up is a rematch with College of Charleston at home on Saturday. It should be a tough match-up, but JMU can win. Provided of course that they don’t spend the game alternating between launching ill advised threes and standing around watching Nation and Cooke play.
I was at the game. I agree that Nation’s return appears to have affected chemistry. At the same time, the guy was calling for the ball at times when open and Jackson Kent, thinking he is some kind of scorer, wasted another position with another turnover while clumsily driving the lane or bricked a layup or clanged a jumper.
The issue with the freshmen is Brady recruited the exact opposite kind of players that won JMU the championship last year. Remember the smaller team that was able to press, run and slash to the basket? Other winning teams in the CAA have quickness and athleticism as well as the ability to shoot.
Brady recruited a bunch of large stiffs who aren’t even tough enough to stand in their position to get a rebound. I saw guys getting pushed around inside against W&M, while the Tribe racked up rebounds. It was really an embarrassing performance. I don’t think Cooke’s injury can be used an excuse since that happened close to halftime with the Dukes already getting totally out hustled and crushed.
I wouldn’t blame Kent for not passing. I think Coach Brady wants him to shoot. He is a good player, very smart, but he isn’t very scrappy or strong. In terms of athleticism, I think Ivan Lukic is the best freshman. It will take time. I still think we will be good by the end of the season.
Mark my words: one of these days Yohanny Dalembert is gonna have a 10 point game. I can see him confidence and effort increasing.
What JMU did last year and what W&M is doing this year shows just how valuable experience is in mid-major play. Very few teams in college basketball have the recruiting power to build strong squads with underclassmen. CAA doesn’t have that pull. If you can recruit kids who may not be superstars as freshman, but can develop into a cohesive team over time, you can win this conference. We made the most of the senior-laden team from last year, and it was terrific. Goal this year is to keep Nation in Harrisonburg, and develop a team around him. We’ve not had a player that dynamic since Wil Davis. If some of the big stiffs can bulk up/toughen up coming into next year, that would go a long way toward a successful 2014-15 campaign.
non-hoops request — any chance of getting a summary of the commits/de-commits and transfers (out/in) since the coaching change in football? the bubble is difficult to track. thanks for this blog.
hoops observations:
1. another 20+ loss season seems inevitable (this year is the down side of the see-saw that is jmu hoops)
2. what are the odds that nation stays at jmu as opposed to transferring to a high level program, a la Luke Hancock (gmu to louisville)?