Senior Days
So this weekend brought senior days at the Convo for both the men’s and women’s teams. And while on the women’s side a senior class that’s been one of the best in school history pulled out a heart-stopping victory, their regular season isn’t even over and we’ve got a feeling there are at least a few more games left in their season to discuss the brilliance of Gwathmey, Perez, Mickens, and Jones (and technically P. Hall, though thankfully for JMU Nation she’ll get another shot next year) so we’re going to focus on the men’s game. Note that the women have an extra week before their CAA Tourney.
The men snapped a five-game losing streak to the rival Griffins, generally played a steady game from start to finish, earned their way back out of pillow-fight Friday at the CAA tourney and into a share of third place with a solid “meets expectations” record of 21-10, 11-7 on the year. And they did it all with a noticeably hobbling (even in street clothes) Shakir Brown out of the lineup and Ron Curry in foul trouble for the entire first half. How?
0-10
That’s what the featherless Tribe shot from 3 in the second-half. And that’s just one part of the 33% shooting overall they were held to by the Dukes’ consistently strong defensive efforts. Ron Thompson, who’s not our favorite CAA color analyst generally, did a good job of noting just that on the telecast and it certainly bodes well for next weekend in Baltimore. The Dukes, maybe better than any team in the conference, have been able to weather cold stretches because of their CAA-leading defense and that certainly seems like something that could help a team win three straight.
The Road Ahead
Towson, JMU, and W&M all finished tied for 3rd with the tiebreaker giving the three seed to the Tigers, the four to the Dukes and the five to the Tribe. Which coincidentally means the Dukes will play this very same Tribe team in the quarterfinals at 2:30 p.m. next Saturday at Royal Ghetto Arena. Congrats to Hofstra, who closed strong to catch UNCW at the top of the league. Although we might rather have drawn Towson than W&M in the quarters, the good news with Hofstra getting the top seed is that the Dukes will definitely avoid UNCW – who has been a nightmare matchup for the Dukes this year – on their side of the bracket. That’s not to say a W&M/Hofstra/UNCW road would be anything other than brutal, but it’s a small silver lining.
Ron Curry
With four more points, Mr. Curry will pass Dukes’ great Darren McLinton for fourth all-time in scoring at JMU. When you look back to the trio of freshman that played in the NCAA tourney a few years back, it’s hard to believe Curry is the one on such a precipice and that he’ll surely have his number hanging from the rafters in the new arena a few years hence. And we cannot possibly be more proud of, and thankful for, a student-athlete we’ve had the privilege to watch during our time doing this silly little project. Curry has weathered every storm, grown into one of the conference’s finest players and leaders, and most importantly, unquestionably improved his game every one of his four years. The three-point assassin, big-shot making, floor general and defensive pain in the ass we get to watch hopefully about six more games is light-years better than the backup guard shakily playing a few minutes in the Indiana loss. Thank you Ron Curry for everything!
In the penultimate game of the CAA regular season, JMU lost to Towson by the score of 69-67. The loss dropped JMU to 20-10 (10-7). Towson’s win vaulted them past the Dukes in the standings, moving them to 20-10 overall, but 11-6 in CAA play. Ron Curry had 20 points in the loss to lead JMU. The senior struggled to find his rhythm for much of the night, before getting going late in the second half. Unfortunately, it was too little, too late. Tom Vodonavich was very effective, scoring 12 points. Yohanny Dalembert contributed 11 points and a team high 8 boards. Let’s break down the game by the numbers.
48
Seconds JMU had the lead. That’s it. The scoreboard says it was only a 2 point win for Towson, but the Tigers pretty much went wire to wire. Curry got it going in the end, and JMU managed to hit enough buckets in garbage time to briefly turn it into kinda-sorta-exciting time. Towson hung in there and closed it out though. JMU had a shot. Truth be told though, if the Dukes won, they would have been stealing one.
9 and 8
JMU shot 9% better than Towson from the field, and 8% better than the Tigers from behind the arc. Curry was slow to get going, but the Dukes didn’t lose because of poor shooting. To the contrary, they shot the ball pretty well. They hit 49% overall and 41% from long range. Those are percentages Matt Brady would take most nights. Especially on the road.
0
That’s the number of times I’ve mentioned Shakir Brown in this post. He led JMU with 14 points in the seasons’ earlier win over Towson. He’s averaging double figures in scoring. Yet, he was invisible tonight and seems to disappear for games at a time. He’s too talented not to be a factor night in and night out. JMU needs him to step up in Baltimore.
14
How many offensive boards Towson pulled down. Watching the game, it seemed worse than that. If you would have asked me to guess, I would have said that Towson had about 20 offensive rebounds. I wouldn’t have doubted you if you told me they out-rebounded the Dukes by 10+ boards overall. They did not. They grabbed 35 rebounds to JMU’s 31. And despite all those offensive rebounds, they only managed 17 second chance points to JMU’s 14. Not overwhelming, but significant in a 2 point game.
6
If you guessed the number of free throws JMU missed, you are techincally correct. It’s easy to point to that and say its why JMU lost. But that’s not really it. Six is also the number of free throws Towson’s Byron Hawkins hit in the final 45 seconds of play. Let me repeat, he hit 6 free throws in the final 45 seconds. He knocked down 11 of 13 for the game. That’s how you close out a tight game. And it was the difference for Towson tonight.
Vad Lee was one of, if not the best, QBs in JMU history. And when it comes to producing JMU highlight videos, grad assistant Zach Lantz is absolutely the G.O.A.T. Give him the full video archives of Lee’s career and let him loose and this is what you get. Ten minutes of pure awesomeness highlighting just some of the amazing things Lee did on the field. It probably could have been 1o hours. Enjoy.
Damn, there are only 10 teams in that graphic. We guess that means, wow, Mickey Dean and the Dukes are a Top 10 team! For good measure, senior Jailyn Ford was also named National Pitcher of the Week. The senior went 2-0 last week with 18 strikeouts in 13.2 innings. She also held her opponents to a .104 batting average. Pretty good. Pretty, pretty good.
The men’s basketball team sort of had an uneventful weekend, which is just what was needed. Curry is clearly still working his way back from injury, thankfully no one else appeared to suffer an injury, and the team got healthy with a win over a truly atrocious Delaware team (seriously, what the hell is going on in Newark?! it’s like they’ve completely given up).
The women’s team kept rolling as usual and as of this writing, might even lock up the number one seed in the CAA tourney tonight if other results go their way later. Also, in spring sports news, the ranked lacrosse women continue to justify that preseason respect despite their first road loss 12-10 at UConn.
But the squad we really need to discuss is Softball. This team has come out of the gate on fire and with something to prove. And with no disrespect intended towards other Dukes’ programs of recent vintage, this isn’t a “gaudy record in the CAA but that’s because the CAA sucks” type thing. This team went down south the first couple weeks of the season and has pretty much romped through a loaded early season schedule! The one loss was 2-1 in a nip-and-tuck affair against #5 Alabama. The teams they’ve beaten on the way to a 9-1 start include #17 UCF, #12 Tennessee (who they run-ruled 9-0 in 5 innings), and this weekend #3 Auburn. They also took two from the B1G’s Rutgers and handled the Big 12’s Oklahoma St. That’s to say nothing of the fact they’ve simply outclassed the non power-conference teams they’ve played so far. Needless to say, when they come back to the ‘Burg for a grab-bag of those teams next weekend (Binghamton, Toledo, Robert Morris, and St. Joe’s) we expect they’ll handle their business again then too. Who knows where the #20 Dukes will be ranked when the new poll comes out this week, but let’s just say folks are taking notice and with a one-two punch of sophomore Megan Good and senior Jailyn Ford in the circle, it’s not unrealistic to dream of the Dukes being true national contenders this year. Jump on the bandwagon now!
JMU fans were treated to free basketball tonight. It ended up not being the bargain we were hoping for. The Dukes fell to Northeastern by the score of 95-94 in triple overtime. Ron Curry made his return to the court after missing last game at UNCW. He came off the bench to score 21 points in the loss. Yohanny Dalembert had a monster game with 26 points and 10 boards. Joey McLean continued to impress, pouring in 15 points, while Jackson Kent added 12. Yet, JMU lost. And it was primarily because Northeastern’s Quincy Ford hit all the baskets, dropping 36 points on the Dukes. Let’s break down the game by the numbers.
41
The number free throws Northeastern attempted. If you’re scoring at home, yes that is 20 more than JMU shot for the game. Before we go down the road of ranting about the officiating, let’s point out that this was largely due to JMU settling for jumpers far too often instead of going to the hole. The Dukes could have closed the game out in regulation and again in OT with a simple bucket, but Ron Curry opted to shoot threes. To his credit, he adjusted his game and went aggressively to the bucket to force a third OT. Too many times tonight though, the Dukes were forced to settle for jumpers away from the basket with the shot clock winding down. And I know we said we wouldn’t complain about the officials, but 20 free throw attempts in a triple overtime game? Come on.
23
Believe it or not, that’s the number of assists JMU had. The Dukes assisted on 23 of their 36 field goals. That’s a sign of some unselfish play.
15
How many times the lead changed hands tonight. We’re working through the frustration from the loss, but this was a tight game that really could have gone either way. Still hurts though.
10.1
That’s the difference between the two teams’ shooting percentages. JMU hit 47.4% from the field and held Northeastern to 37.1%. Quincy Ford racked up a bunch of buckets, but he didn’t shoot particularly well from the field. He was a respectable 10 for 26. The rest of the Huskies went 15 for 41. JMU actually played pretty good defense.
1
How many three pointers Ron Curry hit. He attempted 8. It was great to see Curry back on the floor. He played a good game and helped keep the Dukes in the game all night. But he didn’t have his long range game tonight. Shooters get cold. It happens.
7
Looking at the boxscore, it’s really tough to see how JMU lost. In a 3 OT game we could point to any single mistake, such as one of the Dukes’ missed layups. Or we could chalk it up to one particular nice play by the Huskies, such as Quincy Ford’s buzzer beating three to close the first half. Or we could point out that JMU missed 7 of its 21 free throw attempts. And if we’re being honest, one of those was supposed to be a miss to give JMU a shot at a rebound and late bucket. Regardless, JMU shot 67% from the line. That’s not terrible, but it’s not good enough to win a close game either.
Like many of you, our lives were profoundly impacted by our time at JMU. College represents the proverbial quest for knowledge, and we did in fact learn a great many things as undergrads. One of those things that we have carried with us the longest is a deep appreciation for the Waffle House. Late night breakfasts after being slightly over-served were a regular occurrence for us as undergrads. And they were terrific. Scattered, smothered, & chunked and a chicken melt with a sweet tea just can’t be beat sometimes. So when we found out some guy had to spent 30 straight hours in Waffle House as a punishment for losing his fantasy football league, of course we had to weigh in.
It almost goes without saying that this is not a punishment. At all. Punishments by definition are supposed to unpleasant or even painful. Getting the chance to spend 30 hours in cozy little restaurant, filled with friendly people, a jukebox that is guaranteed to have both the “Waffle House Song” and a variety of Johnny Cash classics, while having virtually unlimited access to all the waffles, hash browns, and patty melts you can eat? Not a punishment.
The guys in this fantasy league are either clinically insane or the most spoiled people on earth. The loser gets 30 uninterrupted hours of bliss in one of our country’s iconic institutions. What do you get for winning the league, a personal chef and a goose that shits hundred dollar bills? It’s nuts. Implement this sort of a “punishment” in any fantasy league we’ve ever played in and suddenly it becomes pure pandemonium. We’re talking full on tankapolooza and fist fights over the right to draft Cleveland Brown’s QBs in the first round. It would be a total race to the bottom. Spending 30 straight hours a Waffle House is more bucket list stuff than punishment. But maybe that’s just us.
Really not all that much to say about this weekend’s beatdown at the beach. The Dukes lost to CAA-Leading UNCW 78-68 in a game that wasn’t really that close. The Dukes game planned well and tried to go inside against UNCW’s smaller but more athletic lineup but gave up a 20-3 run in the first half, trailed by 13 at the break and never really threatened. We mentioned after the Dukes’ first loss to the Seahawks that UNCW was the scariest team in the conference for JMU matchup-wise because a few of our players are just out-classed athletically, but without Ron Curry those issues were even more glaring. We’re actually not down on the team after this one considering other players were being asked to take over ball handling duties in the conference’s toughest possible game (@UNCW). But JMU has fallen into a logjam for third-place and someone from the CAA’s current top five is going to end up playing on the dreaded Pillow-Fight Friday in Baltimore as only the top four teams earn byes.
If anything, JMU’s rally to win at Charleston after Curry went down during what had to be one of the Dukes ugliest performances is even more important and impressive in hindsight.
Speaking of Curry, official word is “knee sprain, will return this season.” We’re not doctors, but that seems like as good a news as we could’ve hoped for. No idea which ligament that means, but hopefully something like a very mild MCL which could mean a fairly rapid return. In a one-bid, low-major league where only the tourney champ is going dancing though, there is no reason to rush back before Baltimore, even if it means having to play an extra game versus an awful Drexel or Delaware team on the first day. Now everyone cross your fingers.
JMU picked up a critical road win tonight with a 56-52 victory over College of Charleston. The Dukes are now 19-7 (9-4). CofC fell to 15-9 (7-6). Ron Curry carried the load for much of the night, before going down with an apparent knee injury in the second half. He still led all scorers with 16 points. With Curry on the sidelines icing his knee, Jackson Kent and Joey McLean rallied the Dukes to a late comeback win. McLean scored 8 points, including knocking down 3 of 4 free throws in the closing minutes to seal the win. Jackson Kent contributed 8 points and 5 rebounds, while playing with poise and maturity the Dukes needed in Curry’s absence.
Elsewhere in the CAA, Hofstra knocked off W&M. The result created a 3 way tie for second in the CAA between the Pride, Tribe, and the Dukes. UNCW, the team JMU will face on Saturday, sits alone at the top of the standings.
The first half of tonight’s game couldn’t have been much uglier. JMU shot 10 for 30 from the field, yet still somehow carried a 25-23 lead into the break. That was possible because CofC shot just as poorly, making only 7 of 21 field goals. It was an ugly half of hoops. Things picked up after the break though, with both teams putting together runs. Curry of course, was pacing the Dukes and keeping them in the ballgame. Then he went down after a collision near midcoast. With Curry writhing in pain on the floor, things looked really bad. But his teammates rallied to earn a huge road victory.
The win was great, but Curry’s injury unfortunately might be the bigger story. In the post game presser, Coach Brady said Curry will be out against UNCW on Saturday and that they’ll need to wait before they know more. JMU announced that there is no official diagnosis and that Curry is scheduled for an MRI tomorrow. We’ll hope for the best and update everyone when more details are made available.
h/t to @DarenStoltzfus for the photo
Head coach Mickey Dean has quietly built JMU softball into a bit of a juggernaut. We’re far from experts on college softball, but thankfully Brian Hansen is. He put together this outstanding preview and offered to let us run it. We hope you enjoy it.
As hard as it is to believe, what with the nearly two feet of snow that have fallen outside my window over the last two weeks, softball season is less than a week away. JMU opens up its 2016 campaign ranked 19th in the nation and begins the year playing in the UCF Knights Invitational in Orlando, Fla. That tournament features some tough opponents, but is highlighted by a showdown in No. 5 Alabama on Saturday afternoon.
This weekend ought to be the start of a really fun season. There are probably a dozen storylines that are going to make it a joy to follow this team, but for the time being, here are the things I think it best to know heading into the 2016 year.
The Senior Class
The Dukes graduated just one player for the 2015 team that went 48-10 and hosted an NCAA Regional. And while they are sure to miss both the consistency and leadership of Heather Kiefer, this year’s senior class should be able to overcome the absence of the three-time All-CAA selection.
Between the three of them, Erica Field, Jailyn Ford and Hannah Hayes have started 531 over the previous three years. That number is notable because it means that all three of them have been in the starting line up for each of the 177 games played by JMU over that span. It is quite an amazing feat to have such a success come from one recruiting class. It reminds me a lot of what Kenny Brooks was able to do with his first recruiting class at JMU of Meredith Alexis, Andrea Benvenuto, Shirley McCall and Lesley Dickinson.
I think most people are familiar with the contributions of Ford and Field, but may not be aware of just how good Hayes has been for Coach Dean and his staff. I don’t think there has been a season where she hasn’t had to fight off competition to earn a starting spot and each year she has won that battle and found her name on the lineup card on opening day. She’s improved her offensive production each year and grown into a true leader for her younger teammates.
It would be an easy argument to make that is is amongst the most successful classes that has come to JMU in any sport. It has been enjoyable to watch each of them grow up with the JMU softball program and I’ll bet they go out making a ton of noise nationwide.
Can’t lose if you don’t give up any runs
Even if JMU wasn’t return the best offense in the conference and one of the best in the country, it may not matter much because between the combination of Jailyn Ford and Megan Good, it is going to be awfully tough to score on the Dukes in 2016. The duo makes up one of the best pitching staffs in country as they have combined for three All-America honors and last year won 45 games and struck out nearly 391 batters over 330 innings. They complement each other well with Ford being a lefty with an impossible-to-track breaking ball and Good being a righty that can touch 70 miles per hour with her fastball.
Combine that with two-time CAA Defensive Player of the Year in catcher Erica Field, and JMU may just have the best battery combo in the country.
That schedule though …
No one was ever going to accuse Coach Dean of padding his schedule with easy wins, but just to make sure the fourth-year coach went out and schedule a dozy of a slate for 2015. This includes matchups with big-name powers like Alabama, Tennessee, Auburn, Oklahoma State, Arizona, Arizona State, Nebraska, Virginia Tech and North Carolina as well as games against top “mid-majors” like DePaul, UCF, BYU and East Carolina. This schedule will keep JMU up near the top of the RPI and the more the win, the higher they’ll be. Even more, it will have them ready for games against similar programs if/when Madison faces them in the NCAA tournament. This is the type of the schedule that will certainly help them secure an NCAA at-large bid if they cannot win the auto birth. It may even put them back in position to host another NCAA regional or Super Regional should the opportunity arise.
World Series or Bust
That may be a bit of an exaggeration, but I don’t think it is just happenstance that the schedule on JMUSports.com ends with the Women’s College World Series. Coach Dean has pretty publically declared that he wants to bring his team to Oklahoma City and this just might be his best shot to do it since he got to Harrisonburg.
The CAA is a bit of mystery after JMU this year. Hofstra always finds a way to compete, but this is the first year I am aware of that the Pride has more questions than answers in the pitching circle. Charleston, Elon, Towson, UNCW, Delaware and Drexel are all unknowns to me. Until more is known about the freshman classes and any transfers it is hard to predict who will be the four teams battling it out in the conference tournament come May.
The one thing that is known is that it sure should be fun to watch it unfold.
