The Dukes’ six game winning steak came to an abrupt halt today with a 64-63 loss to Georgia State. The loss was bad enough on its own . Coming at the hands of the lowly Georgia State Panthers on a buzzer beater made it worse. The fact that a stupid technology screw up caused temporarily fooled me into thinking JMU won made it cruel beyond words.
I tuned in for the online broadcast and was not encouraged by the Dukes’ play in the first half. About the only thing 
more disappointing than JMU’s play was the quality of the Georgia State produced broadcast. It was awful. Long periods of silence interrupted by some voice from above announcing Georgia State baskets. I’m not even sure if it was a commentator, some low budget computer voice simulation, or a delayed feed from the in-house PA. Whatever it was, it was driving me crazy and so was the play on the court. In my typical nervous fashion I decided to mix it up and run some errands while following the game online via the ESPN Scorecenter App for my Droid. I’m never doing that again. Never again.
The play by play on the app made it clear the Dukes were not playing well. Just as I was about to give up chalk up a JMU loss, things started to turn around. Under a minute left and JMU ties it up. Then inexplicably the next update says the Dukes got the ball back. What? How? Whatever. Next thing I know Georgia State fouls and Devon Moore hits one free throw. JMU is up 63-62 with just seconds left! I’m ecstatic at this point. Devon Moore shoots like 80-something percent from the line. It’s in the bag. One more update comes in, saying Georgia State ball with 3 seconds. OK. No clue what happened with the second free throw, but still feeling good. Then it happens, no update, no nothing. Just the words “Final” appearing under James Madison 63 – 62 Georgia State. Yeah! Huge win to avoid the crushing upset. I popped over to Twitter to see if I could find any details and NOOOOOOOOOOOOOO! I see the tweet from JMU Sports that Georgia State put one in at the buzzer to win. Damn you ESPN Scorecenter App! Damn you! A minute or two later the final score was changed on the planet’s worst app.
Anyway, this was a bad loss since Georgia State is one of the bottom feeders of the CAA. I’m not sure if it’s a terrible loss or if I’m just particularly bitter since I thought JMU won thanks to the app who’s name shall no longer be mentioned. Denzel had another strong game leading all players with 21 points and 14 rebounds. Julius Wells was the only other Duke in double figures, with 14. JMU pulled down a season high 43 rebounds, but shot the ball terribly as a team, hitting 31% from the field. The Dukes have won some ugly games this season largely due to clutch free throw shooting down the stretch. Today was a different story, with the Dukes missing 5 free throws in the final 3 minutes. It’s only one game, but it was a game JMU really should have won.
So I went “cone of silence” tonight to watch the MASN delayed feed and therefore haven’t been able to check the Boards or follow Dudley, Barber, and co. on Twitter. Seems the best way to approach this post is to steal from Simmons and just keep a running journal of this FarmVegas Extravaganza sponsored by Centra Southside Hospital (production value for this one could be legendary!)
1st Half 20:00 – Atmosphere is outstanding. First ever televised game for the Longwood Lancers (really, the Lancers? I don’t know why, but this just doesn’t make sense to me for some reason) and they’ve clearly sold out the 1700 seats they have. Could be tough for the Dukes as this is like a great high school game. Honestly had zero idea Longwood had students into this enough paint their chests and make signs. Props to the Farmville faithful, known to themselves as the Lancer Lunatics.
19:50 – Wells launches his first turnaround three right out of the gate and I actually thought to myself, “Wow, that wasn’t actually that bad for Wells since the hand was not literally touching his face.”
18:30 – Ref gives the Dukes a HUGE break by gifting a charge call when he could easily have whistled Denzel for his 2nd. Longwood then knocks down a three off glass. Crowd really into it.
17:00 – Humpty Hitches hits second trey in a row. Man that was nice of the NCAA to get him eligible. JMU (Emmons and Hitch) and Auburn are clearly showing the man is gettin’ soft.
Under 16:00 timeout: Back-to-back school ads. JMU’s underwhelming, but cool Join the Movement 25k Strong football ad preceded by an absolute winner from Longwood. Reporter to student: So, you’ve been working at a law firm? Student: Yeah, and I haven’t even graduated. What he didn’t say: Shredding documents and cleaning toilets is killer.
14:23 – Bowles picks up second on offense, Flores in. Sweet reverse layup pulls the Lancers (still am amused it’s the Lancers) w/in 1.
11:45 – Third layup in row for Longwood, now up 18-16. Lazy-assed defense from the Dukes. Goins must have thought the game was outdoors as he’s wearing what appears to be a parka under his uniform. Seriously, his long sleeves are thick enough to make you think he’s got handwarmers tucked away in there.
Under 12 timeout: Club seating at Bridgeforth commercial. Never gets old. Back to action and Bowles gives up another layup to avoid picking up his third, then Jackson promptly turns it over. Jackson’s going to be great, but every time he comes in he is apparently obligated to commit a Bill Walton “terrible” turnover. Wells takes a charge, first time for everything, but looked annoyed doing it.
8:30 – Back-to-back wide open threes for Longwood, Dukes down six. JMU could make Rich Rodriguez look like a defensive genius right now. Pathetic.
8:00 – Two possessions, two horrendous launches from Wells. Second one hit nothin’ but net. Julius’ game in a nutshell. Dukes back within five.
1: 29 – Dukes down six, terrible D so far. But Humpty hits another three to halve the lead. Seriously impressed with Longwood crowd. Should serve as a reminder that bigger is not always better, especially in basketball. Always better to have a full, tiny gym than a half-empty big gym.
Halftime: 41-36 Longwood after a solid defensive stop by Uncle Ron favorite Ben Louis. 41 points to Longwood. Nothing more to say really. Nice history of Longwood basketball. Amazing optimism for a team with no conference. During halftime interview with Longwood president, he gets a roll call cheer led by a guy in whiteface. Really? whiteface? really? For the Dukes, 20 minutes to prevent the “horrendous loss” on the resume. New JMU Basketball commercial using holograms developed using the same special effects guy from Return of the Jedi.
19:41 – Lots of individual heckling leads to quick turnover from JMU and bucket for Longwood. Not a good omen.
14:53 – Hitchens with a 5-0 run of his own to cut it to one, Longwood scores immediately. Bowles reverse thunder back to one, Longwood hits a three. Great action, never had an under 16 timeout until 13:41 since no stoppages. Dukes down four and still seems to have zippy idea what they’re doing on defense. But they are taking it a little more seriously right now.
11:19 – Semenov makes his second steal after hitting a three, Dukes down three. Announcer mentions its time for Devon Moore to step up. Surprisingly comptenet team on the mics even with a few anachronistic basketball terms here and there.
10:23 – Third foul on Longwood’s big gun, Carter, could be useful. Followed up by another cheapie against the Lancers and the mini-crowd is getting restless.
9:40 – Dunk by Moore on the open break gives JMU it’s first lead since early in the game at 60-59. Carter picks up his fourth, JMU needs to take a advantage! Moore drives and has a chance for a three-point play. Finally figuring out he’s the fastest in the gym.
8:44 – Jam for Bowles, Dukes now up six. Shoutout to Nate Frost as the Hammer is indeed down, Ward! Lancer Lunatics not giving up yet though as crowd comes to life again.
6:56 – Semenov draws offensive foul with classic Euroflop! Vlade would be proud. Good thing Louis is involved in the cap n’ trade program to offset any rubbing off Wells has done on teammates’ defensive games. Foul was on Carter and he’s out. Tough way to go.
6:29 – Tech on Longwood for something off camera and now we know for sure that Longwood should NEVER be confused with Liberty. Very un-family-friendly cheers raining down in unison. Well played, Lancer Lunatics. Hopefully FCC doesn’t have the resources to audit Fox Sports Atlantic on a Wednesday in December.
3:44 – Dukes have been threatening to go full PyschoKiller and put this one away but a rare turnover from Denzel gives Lancers life down 10. Semenov has put on a defensive clinic to bring the Dukes all the way back in the second half. Great floor game from Moore who has come to life offensively and Bowles is just filling the stat sheet like usual now.
1:30 – Dukes by six, great effort to come back from Longwood. This season is going to rise and fall on whether Wells can go full Les Miles, forget critics like me, and get his mojo back. JMU is getting great contributions from lots of guys playing their roles well, but he’s the x-factor for sure.
Dukes are winning going away. Terrible defensive first half, but a very strong effort in the second half along with good coaching (Semenov’s insertion, telling Moore to go to the hole) allowed talent to overcome energy and emotion from a very game Longwood team. 88-78 Final. 6-1 on the season and starting to come together.
The news broke today that UMass might be leaving the CAA to play football in the MAC. If it happens, UMass would play a provisional FBS schedule the next two seasons and then join their new conference in 2013.
It also so happens that just yesterday the powers that be in the CAA tweeted that a major announcement was to be made today. Folks who hoped it would be related to this UMass news were probably disappointed. It turns out the “big announcement” was that CAA tourney tickets go on sale this week, making the news the real world equivalent of “be sure to drink your Ovaltine.” Unfortunate timing aside, if the CAA won’t comment, JMUSB will.
Assuming UMass makes the move, that would make UNH and Maine virtually cut off from the rest of the league. Rhode Island announced that they are leaving for the NEC, and Northeastern and Hofstra already closed shop. Add in the fact that UNH and Maine don’t have the facilities or fan support of many of the other CAA schools and the fact that they are football only schools, and it sure seems feasible that they’d be open to finding a new conference.
We also need to consider the fact that Villanova could be on the way out. They’ve got an offer on the table from the Big East. So even with the addition of ODU and Georgia State, the CAA could be down a few teams by 2013. If that happens, there might not be that many schools able to fill in. App State would be most fans’ choice, but they are seriously looking into moving to FBS already. The CAA is the premier FCS conference so you’d think schools would be eager to join. I’m not sure there are schools ready to commit the resources required to be competitive in the league however.
This really might be a situation where the dominos are starting to fall in a way that not only changes the CAA, but drastically alters FCS football as a whole. It just isn’t feasible for the CAA to replace members by poaching the top programs from other leagues. There isn’t enough depth in the other leagues to withstand the losses and stay competitive. You can’t make a “super conference” in FCS so that the playoffs are literally less of a challenge than the regular season. Nor can you expect schools try to compete “on a budget” while other schools like, say JMU, invest tens of millions of dollars in their programs. It just won’t work. FCS football isn’t the moneymaker BCS football is.
We don’t know what is going to happen, but I think it’s pretty clear JMU won’t be playing in this CAA in a few years. A serious shake up is coming. Whether that means JMU, the CAA, and a select few try to form a FBS league on their own, it becomes a mad dash for each school to go it alone, or something else altogether is unknown. However it plays out, JMU is in a good position. The school is investing big time in the program and should be set to compete for FCS championships, or move up if the opportunity presents itself. Assuming of course the offense can score more than two touchdowns a game that is.
Making free-throws look this easy!
While we were all pondering whether gluttony really is the best sin, the Men’s Basketball team was finishing off a HUGE week with a victory over Eastern Michigan in front of a light – er, non-existant- crowd at the Convo last night. Denzel Bowles set a Dukes record by going 13/13 at the foul line and the Dukes completed an equally perfect 4/4 week to raise their record to 5-1. Full story from JMU Sports here.
This team is living up to the preseason hype so far, and it’s nice to see the depth Coach Brady has begun to amass turning this group into a grind-you-down second-half team. Longwood coming up Wednesday and the CAA opener in Atlanta against Georgia St. next Saturday.
In other news, congrats to Dawn Evans on surpassing the 2000 point mark. Now if only the women’s team can begin to gel like last year after some fits and starts early this season.
Finally, a few thoughts on football. First, at the FCS level, as was predicted in this space last week after the selections were announced, South Carolina St. promptly rewarded the committee’s misguided, politically correct faith in the MEAC by getting themselves beat like a red-headed stepchild at Georgia Southern. Seriously, find a book that takes FCS action and double your kids college fund against Bethune-Cookman this weekend. No line is too big. (For recreational purposes only of course). All four CAA teams had byes and will begin whoopin’ folks this weekend.
On the FBS level, I did see quite a few things this weekend that reminded me to be careful what I wish for in relation to JMU-to-FBS plans. First, there was Gordon Gee reminding all of us pretty much everything that’s wrong with college football. Biggest disappointment of the weekend wasn’t even Boise losing, but rather that Ohio St. is going to miss the chance to get their ass kicked in the Rose Bowl by TCU thanks to Wisconsin taking the Little 11’s bid.
As they say in Godfather II, here’s a list of folks very clearly “wetting their beaks” from the BCS fountain. Seriously, by the time all these idiots take their cut, it really does leave you wondering what’s left for the actual schools in the conference’s involved. Also makes you realize ‘Nova has the golden ticket and JMU going anywhere except a BCS conference is a dicey proposition. In ascending order of how much money they are depositing in the Royal Bank of St. Kitts and Nevis:
Refs in the Oregon/Arizona game, refs in the Auburn/Alabama game, the entire Fairley family (seriously, did you watch the Marcus Dupress 30 for 30?! just incredible the Fairley’s are back), Gary Danielson, Craig James, Chris Spielman (who has come out of the woodwork to defend Gee), the Newton family ministries, and finally, Kyle Brotzman (BSU kicker). If you think you’d enjoy a reality show about grand larceny, make sure and catch the first half of the Oregon/Oregon St. game this weekend.
I haven’t done the research, but I’m fairly certain that last season we never used the words “balanced attack” to describe the JMU basketball team. This year is a different story however. JMU cruised past Bucknell 85-75 in the final game of the CBE O’Reilly Auto Parts Harrisonburg Sub-regional or whatever they called it. Denzel Bowles was named the Most Outstanding Player for this tournament that wasn’t really a tournament and Rayshawn Goins was selected to the all tournament team. The win over Bucknell however, was a total team effort.
Andrey Semenov poured in 20 points off the bench, nailing 5 three pointers. As a team, JMU hit 52% of their shots behind the arc. Rayshawn Goins bested Semenov and finished with 21 points to lead the team. Joining Goins and Semenov in double figures were Denzel Bowles, Devon Moore, and Humpty Hitchens. Bowles had a relatively quit night by his standards and finished with 11 points, 5 rebounds, and 4 assists. It’s nice to have that be considered an off night for a Duke. After a tough shooting night against Presbyterian, Hitchens went 3 for 3 from long range. Julius Wells chipped in 7 points and went over 1,000 points for his career.
JMU outrebounded the Bison and finally held the turnovers in check, limiting themselves to 9 in the game. I’m still rather perplexed about what this entire tournament was, or why the Dukes hosted a sub-regional that doesn’t appear to feed into or even connect in any way to any other regional. Whatever the tournament was though, I’m glad the Dukes hosted it. It gave the Dukes a chance to host three more home games and an opportunity to continue to gel. For a team with as many new parts as JMU’s, these pre-conference games could prove to be immensely valuable.
The Dukes played games on three consecutive nights and won all three. JMU showed something different in every win. They rode Denzel to a big comeback win against Princeton, got it done without their “A” game against Presbyterian, and had a total team effort for a comfortable victory against Bucknell. This team still has a ways to go before anyone is making plans for March, but I’m really pleased with the progress so far.
Happy Thanksgiving Everyone!
JMU defeated Presbyterian 65-56 last night in the Convocation Center. The victory moved the Dukes to 3-1 on the year. They’ll attempt to win their 4th straight, when the face Bucknell this evening in their third and final game of the Harrisonburg Subregional of the O’Reilly Auto Parts CBE Classic. As best I can tell, this wasn’t a tournament in any real sense. It was simply a chance for O’Reilly to throw its name on a bunch of teams playing each other in round robin format. But I digress.
After Monday’s thrilling comeback win against Princeton, last night’s game was bit of a letdown. This wasn’t a pretty win for JMU by any means, but it showed that this team might have that little something extra needed to grind out wins when they’re without their A game. Here is a quick take on some of the highs and lows.
Thumbs Up
Rayshawn Goins – After a tough game against Princeton, in which he failed to reach double figures, Rayshawn bounced back and led the Dukes with 17 points. He played aggressively and looked determined to get things going early. His scoring was especially important, since Denzel Bowles’ minutes were limited due to foul trouble.
Julius Wells – Wells played a very mature game and demonstrated far more patience offensively, than he usually does. I think it might have been the first time I’ve ever heard an announcer say “Wells thinks about it…no dishes the ball.” The last two games make me optimistic that Wells is getting into a comfort zone and accepting his role on this team. He took good shots and finished wiht 14 points. He’s got skills and his play could push the Dukes over the top in some games.
Hustle and Intesity – JMU won the battle of the boards, outrebounding the Blue Hose (seriously, that’s Presybterian’s name) 29-22. They also outhustled Presbyterian all night. With the game still in reach and time winding down, Presbyterian seemed content just to call it a night. The Dukes were still playing hard until the end. Denzel Bowles hit the floor for a loose ball with 2 minutes to go. It’s great when role players do that. The fact that the team’s star did it, is a great sign.
Thumbs Down
Turnovers – If the Dukes can’t get a handle on things and cut down on the turnovers, this could be their achilles heel. JMU had 17 turnovers for the game. Better than Princeton, but still way too high.
Perimeter Defense – Overall the Dukes’ renewed commitment to Defense is paying dividends. They seem to really be struggling guarding against the three however. It was apparent from the opening tip against Kansas State and it hurt them. They allowed Presbyterian to hit over 50% from behind the arc in the first half last night. Things were much better in the second half, and the Blue Hose ended up shooting 38% for the game. JMU has to do better than they did in the first half though. Better teams will make them pay.
Unstoppable.
We’ve long assumed JMU was better than Princeton in a countless ways. Tonight we have definite proof that the Dukes are better at basketball. The Dukes defeated the Tigers 65-64 in the Convo to move to 2-1. Princeton appeared to have the game in the bag, before a furious second half rally by the Dukes. JMU was down by as much as 20, but came out of the locker room and took control of the game in the second half. Denzel Bowles led the way with 29 points, 10 boards, and 4 blocks.
We’re only 3 games into the season and it’s clear that Todd and I are going to need to invest in a thesauras to find new ways to describe Denzel’s game. To say he was dominant, wouldn’t be doing it justice. He was virtually unstoppable all night. He followed up his 10 for 12 effort on Saturday, by going 11 for 14 from the field. He hit 2 free throws to give JMU a 65-64 lead with 28 seconds, then buckled down on defense to deny the post and help save the game. The outstanding defense was just the icing on the cake of an outstanding game. Bowles and his teammates limited the Tigers to 17 second half points, after heading into the break down 47-34. I don’t know what Coach Brady said to the team at halftime, but whatever he said lit a fire under them.
There was a lot to like about this game. Obviously, Bowles play is exciting. He’s well on his way to becoming the best post scorer in JMU history. And apparently he was serious when he said he was committing himself to playing better defense. The team as a whole played great D and was terrific from the line, hitting 81% for the game. Julius Wells had an off shooting night, but led the team with 6 assists and wisely seemed intent on feeding Bowles instead of looking for his own shot. Wells and his teammates did a much better job of taking care of the ball as well. JMU had only 8 turnovers and the normally disciplined Tigers had 13. Rayshawn Goins was quite offensively, but Humpty and Devon picked up the slack and scored in double figures. Again, there was a lot to like about the game.
This was an outstanding win for the Dukes. It’s exactly the sort of game they would have given away last year. Instead of folding, the entire team buckled down on D and continued to feed the hot hand. I know it’s really early, but a 20 point come from behind victory like tonight’s has me very excited for this JMU squad.
The CAA announced its awards for the 2010 football season today and JMU’s Stephon Robertson was selected as the Defensive Rookie of the Year. The redshirt freshman linebacker was JMU’s second leading tackler and the twelth leading tackler in the CAA. Stephon graduated from Edison High School in Alexandria and had been hyped by our good friend Million, an Edison alum, ever since he signed with the Dukes. We’re pleased to say he lived up to Million’s hype. He also was selected to the All-CAA Third Team defense.
With a defense as good as JMU’s, it’s no surprise that Robertson was not the only defender selected to one of the All-CAA teams. Senior defensive tackle Ronnell Brown was a first team selection. Four other Dukes made All-CAA on offense. RB Jamal Sullivan, OL Roane Babbington and Theo Sherman made the second team and Dae’Quan Scott got the nod as a 3rd team punt returner.
So JMU had 4 players from the offensive side of the ball make All-CAA and 2 make it on defense. The defense that was ranked 2nd in the CAA. The offense was a little further down the list. I guess it just goes to show you how impressive this defense was as a unit and is a huge credit to all of the players and coaches on that side of the ball. Congrats to Stephon and all the JMU honorees.
First, a quick word on the FCS Playoff Brackets that were announced today. It may be “better” to play it out on the field, but only so much. Incredibly, the Missouri Valley got three teams into the field and even more INSANE, like DMX driving onto the airfield at LAXwith a car full of guns and coke insane, the MEAC got TWO bids. Seriously, if South Carolina State and Bethune-Cookman score more than 20 points combined in their first round games it will be downright shocking to those actually paying attention. Hard to believe, but I actually feel bad for Liberty and Montana today, two much more deserving snubs. Almost makes you wish for the mixed-up, CBS-influenced world of March Madness “bubble watch,” where at least you have some sense the AD’s in the room have possibly watched a game and political correctness doesn’t enter the equation (wonder what Feinstein would make of that comment?). In the interest of supporting the CAA without supporting a bunch of babies (Delaware) or someone who the Dukes recruit against (W&M), I’ll be rooting for Villanova and New Hampshire. Now let’s put this disappointing season behind us and remember that on September 10th next year, we’ll be able to join 24,999 other Madison fans in a great new stadium to support a team that’s only losing a handful of seniors.
Final Note on Fall Sports: Congrats to Cross Country for winning the ECAC championship. Congrats to Volleyball on a great season despite the tough five-set loss to Northeastern in the CAA semis on Friday night.
The Man!
On to the good news:
Basketball is off and running! MBB overcame a sluggish first half on the road at the Citadel to post their first victory of the year and even the record at 1-1. Denzel Bowles shrugged off a sore hand and took over in the second half to finish with 20 points. Citadel is coached by former JMU assistant coach Chuck Driesell and led at the half before the Dukes gained control.
WBB also came from behind to defeat Central Florida in overtime Saturday night although they seem to be stumbling a bit under the weight of increased expectations so far in the young season.
HUGE week for the Men’s team with four games on tap. The Turkey week extravaganza begins at the Convo Monday night in a challenging matchup with Princeton. Let’s Go Dukes!
Cuffee and the D came through all season
The JMU Dukes’ defense has come up big nearly every week this season. Today, they came through when it mattered most and stopped Maine just short of the endzone as time ran out to save the game. JMU defeated Maine by the final score of 14-10. The win gets the Dukes to 6-5 and gives them their seventh straight winning season.
Maine marched down into JMU territory with time winding down and the Dukes clinging to a 4 point lead. With 12 seconds left, the Black Bears found themselves with second and goal from the JMU 3. Rather than throwing the ball into the endzone however, Maine tossed it to Jeff Falvey in the flat?!?! Taveion Cuffee and Jonothan Williams met Falvey head on, tackled him, and time ran out. It was a fitting way for the 2010 season to conclude.
After last week’s dynamic offensive performance (relatively speaking) we were hoping to see the Dukes pick up where they left off. They didn’t follow through. Today’s game was another gritty (or ugly) offensive effort. Dae’Quan Scott saw the majority of the snaps at QB as expected. Scott completed his first collegiate pass (good). He also threw his first interception (not good). For the game, Scott only had 61 yards, with 43 of those yards coming on an exciting TD scamper that put the Dukes up for good. In his final game at JMU, Drew Dudzik saw limited action, but played very well. He was mostly brought in for passing situations and he completed 5 of 6. He also had a classic Drew Dudzik run in the 4th, willing his way to a first down for JMU. Unfortunately, he appeared to get hurt on the play and had to be helped off the field.
This game wasn’t pretty, but it was a fair representation of the Dukes season. The offense didn’t do much, except for briefly coming to life for a TD drive in the closing minutes of the first half and Scott’s long TD on the first drive of the second half. JMU also fell for 2 fake punts in what seemed to be about a 5 minute span, making the Dukes the team Jim Zorn most wants to coach against in the future. The Defense played a classic “bend but don’t break” game, buckling down and only giving up 10 points despite Maine reaching the redzone 5 times. For the season JMU surrendered only 11 TDs in 36 trips inside the redzone by the opposition.
This has been an up and down season and ultimately, a fairly disappointing one. At least the Dukes ended on a high note though, with back-to-back wins and a 6-5 record. There are lots of questions to address in the offseason. Interestingly enough, Mike Barber of the DNR tweeted that Matthews refused to answer one of the biggest ones in the post game presser. Mickey wouldn’t say if Dae’Quan Scott would be playing QB, WR, or RB next season. Let the speculation begin!
