JMU Drops to Tie for Third With Atrocious Shooting Night vs. UNCW
The Dukes shot horribly and made just the right amount of stupid plays to drop out of first and are staring at a Sunday matchup at potent but defensively challenged William & Mary to avoid falling out of the first four spots in the CAA and back into what used to be called “Pillow Fight Friday” territory.
18 – That’s really the only number you need to know from to explain how the Dukes lost by five points, 78-73 to UNCW tonight. 18 is the number of missed free throws by JMU on the night. Forget that they also made 28 in a chippy, odd night that was dominated (not in any way unusually in the CAA by the way) by trips to the line. But watching YoYo and Morgan shoot free throws is downright painful and they certainly weren’t alone as Dukes up and down the lineup missed clutch freebie after clutch freebie in the second half. No team at any level can complete a comeback without handling their business at the line. Dukes lost by 5 and left 18 points on the line. Nothing else matters.
36, 31 – Those are the Dukes FG and 3P percentages respectively. Basically they couldn’t throw the ball off a dock and hit water tonight. And that was in no small part because UNCW, at least at the top of their rotation, is probably the most athletic team we’ve seen in the CAA. They clearly had a little more juice in the starting lineup, though Brady did an admirable job trying to test their bench and fitness by using JMU’s superior depth and diversity throughout the game (and acknowledging early on that the Seahawks athleticism called for a lot more Morgan/Grays/McLean and a lot less Kent/Vodo. In the end, UNCW almost made enough dumb, tired plays of their own to let the Dukes get all the back, but this is the one opponent we don’t want to see in the bracket in Baltimore if they can be avoided.
THIS is the only thing the Dukes appear to be aiming at from the free throw line
Positives – Yes, there were positives. First, Ron Curry matched his career high with 28 and in doing so moved into 11th on JMU’s all-time scoring list. His massively improved outside shot has turned him into one of the CAA’s best players. Next, the bench provided some great performances tonight. Satkus was a big part of steadying the ship in the first half, Morgan was a huge spark in the late-game near comeback despite his flat, awful, no good, very bad motion from the line, and Grays is just a player we are coming to love. His all-court game and especially his smart, gritty defense is just impossible not to enjoy.
Now go beat the Nerds and don’t pull this crap at the line again. I mean seriously, can we get them some video of Canyon Barry – yes THAT Rick Barry’s kid – from Charleston who was shooting a Steph Curry-esque percentage underhanded before his season-ending injury?!
Excellent points. Free throw shooting was horrid, and that turnover near the end of the game by Vodanovich when he was spelling Satkus was another killer.
Instead of occasionally changing the starting lineup based on opponent, I’d like to see a shakeup of the starting lineup based on performance. Reward guys who are busting their butts.
Morgan deserves some more playing time. He hustles. And Satkus has displayed a combo of toughness and touch the last couple games. One recent disappointment has been Cabarkapa. He still doesn’t seem to get it that a forward needs to spend time rebounding UNDER the basket instead of standing out beyond the three point line, and he needs to play defense.
The high screen on offense has picked up some cheap fouls resulting in change of possession as well. I’d do that a little less often.
It was a bad and long night for the Dukes, but there is still a lot of basketball to be played, and we are only one game out of first place with a gigantic game at William and Mary on Sunday on TV. Let’s not forget the fact that the Dukes are undefeated on the road this season, as well as beating teams like Northeastern and Hofstra, who were picked to finish at the top like we were. Those wins were huge. This team could still very much end up in the NCAA tournament come March. They just have to make slight improvements in every aspect of the game, and then they will be golden.
Last night was extremely frustrating to watch, but there is a lot to like about this team.
JMU has never had a team that goes so deep without a huge dropoff. And I love the team’s attitude and hustle.
I think coach Brady has done a great job with this group. Players like Morgan are ready when their name is called. That requires a lot of skill on the coach’s part and maturity on the player’s part.
The positive from last night was that on a terrible night where the team doesn’t even come close to playing up to their ability and the shots are not falling, the Dukes were still in the game with less than a minute to go against the first place team in the league.
On to W&M.
GO DUKES!!