{"id":10872,"date":"2019-03-03T19:31:17","date_gmt":"2019-03-04T00:31:17","guid":{"rendered":"http:\/\/jmusportsblog.com\/?p=10872"},"modified":"2019-03-03T19:31:17","modified_gmt":"2019-03-04T00:31:17","slug":"dukes-all-set-to-open-caa-tournament-in-the-dean-keener-round","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/jmusportsblog.com\/?p=10872","title":{"rendered":"Dukes All Set to Open CAA Tournament in the Dean Keener Round"},"content":{"rendered":"\n
\"\"<\/figure>\n\n\n\n

The Dukes defeated Hofstra, the CAA Champion for the regular season, last weekend and opened the door every so slightly to finishing in the top 6 and avoiding the play-in round. Then the slammed the door shut by losing to Elon and William & Mary at home. Thus, the Dukes finished in 8th place and will start the CAA tourney by playing in the opening round against 9th seeded Towson. The winner will face top seeded Hofstra. The worst part? The game is on Saturday, so we can’t even call it Pillow Fight Friday anymore. Actually that’s not the worst part. The worst part is that it’s the third year in a row that the Dukes have failed to avoid the opening round. That’s bad. <\/p>\n\n\n\n

There’s no shame in losing to William & Mary. The Tribe was red hot down the stretch and is a team with plenty of talent. But losing to Elon is bad. Doing so at home with a lot on the line is ever worse. And doing it for the second time this season, is downright brutal. And the Dukes under Coach Rowe are a perfect 3 for 3 in finishing in the bottom four. <\/p>\n\n\n\n

Both of the most recent losses came down to poor shooting. JMU was an abysmal 25-69 against the Tribe and 22-51 against the Phoenix. That’s the story with these Dukes. The offense looks pretty much the same game in and game out. Whether or not they win, seems to come down to purely if they get hot shooting. It rarely varies. If they hit shots then win. If the shots aren’t falling though, then watch out. Because to most fans’ eyes, it doesn’t seem like they adjust their offensive approach. Lots of one on one play and launching threes. <\/p>\n\n\n\n

Frankly, it’s exhausting to be a JMU hoops fan right now. The Dukes can’t even finish in the top half of a CAA that is nowhere near as strong as it used to be. As of today, it’s the 18th ranked league in D1. And JMU is one of the teams dragging the league down. <\/p>\n\n\n\n

The Dukes showed flashes this season, but barring something truly extraordinary happening next weekend, this season will be a major disappointment. Nobody expected JMU to compete with Hofstra and Northeastern for the title. But nobody expected the Dukes to get swept by Elon either. <\/p>\n\n\n\n

Last year JMU played a lot of close games and had us excited to see the young team develop. This year the team struggled to show any consistency and often played down to their opponents. With only two seniors and a roster built around sophomores and freshmen, there’s reason to believe they could improve. But this is not where JMU wants to be and a decision on Rowe’s future must be made after the season. Do you judge him on the record and cut ties now? Or do you focus on the talent and the peaks and give him a chance to turn things around? It’s a big debate. And JMU can’t afford to get it wrong.<\/p>\n