Received a text from a friend (the good Doctor Nelson)\u00a0on this gloomy morning after the Dukes big chokejob in the tourney against the Caucasian Tribe.\u00a0 Simply said: “If Lefty was runnin’ things, this team could’ve spent all night at Club Velvet and still beat William & Mary by 20.”<\/p>\n
While that does put quite a hipster-chic sepia tone on the up and down reign of the Dukes supposed glory days, the sentiment is correct.\u00a0 Coaching is to blame for this group disappointing and there is no way to sugarcoat it.\u00a0 After a restless night trying to put this behind me, I’ve managed to forget the missed front ends and defensive lapses by the players and , gasp, even the hideous officiating is fading in my memory, but the coaching issues are what remain front and center in my mind.<\/p>\n
If the Dukes had won, I’d launch into a tirade about the 37-16 free throws attempted discrepancy or the fact a Technical Foul could surely have been called earlier in the game if you were annoyed with Brady as opposed to waiting until 3 minutes were left in a tight game and then throwing that dagger.\u00a0 But they lost, so it sounds crappy to blame the refs alone.\u00a0 That said, last night was the ultimate proof that I am on the right side of the argument in wishing for FBS in that I may have cute,\u00a0provinicial love for the CAA, but it’s\u00a0a darnright low-rent, bush league operation.\u00a0 It’s downright sad that while the play and talent in the conference\u00a0have shot through the roof, but officiating, production value, and administration still look like an\u00a0NAIA steaming pile of shit.<\/p>\n
But this is my list of things I can’t forget:<\/p>\n
1) Not pressing earlier.\u00a0 The Dukes have much better athletes than WM, WM was shooting free throws horribly last night, and JMU had no rythm on offense since Denzel spent so much time on the bench last night.\u00a0 Might’ve made sense to crank it up a little earlier after WM’s mid-2nd spurt.<\/p>\n
2) Never getting the bench ready.\u00a0 The Dukes never varied their starting lineup till very late in the season and when more hands were needed, those players had not played significant enough minutes to be prepared.\u00a0 Chad Jackson on defense and Andrey Semenov on offense were nearly enough to save the Dukes last night, but as the season wound down, they were the only players Brady trusted enough to use off the bench.\u00a0 This isn’t the players fault, this is the coach’s not using them earlier.\u00a0 So what if it costs you against Presbyterian, we needed minutes from Trevon Flores last night in Bowles’ absence, but the season-long pissing contest had cost the squad that ability.<\/p>\n
3) Down three, under :10 to go, Coach Brady didn’t even have a plan in place to funnel the ball to Kitts or another of WM’s weak free throw shooters.\u00a0 Actually appeared the Dukes just threw in the towel at this point but that’s even worse.\u00a0 Instead, I’ll assume they wanted to win, but just had not prepared and let WM’s point guard catch the ball uncontested.<\/p>\n
4) Down 3, JMU ball, :25 to go, WM shooting free throws poorly.\u00a0 Classic case of let Devon Moore drive, at least get the 2, extend the game, see what happens and maybe get lucky w\/ an old-fashioned 3-point play.\u00a0 But no, the Dukes run a confused screening action clearly going for the three.\u00a0 Just garbage and of course WM was ready and defended it so well that JMU ended up with Humpty, not Julius, taking a double-clutch three that essentially ended the game.<\/p>\n
5) The waiting too long for a timeout.\u00a0 2nd half, around 10 minutes to go, WM spurts.\u00a0 Brady, as he has all season waits two or three possessions too long for a timeout.\u00a0 Yes, he was trying to wait for the under 8:00 media timeout, but by the time he finally called it he a) couldn’t even wait for the media time even though it was now under 8, and b) the damage was already done.\u00a0 Probably the fifth or sixth time this season the coaching staff (and I do think assistants get some blame on timeout management) has completely botched it.<\/p>\n
In conclusion, this whole blog project sometimes messes with our perception.\u00a0 You watch so much so intently that you begin to excuse coaches because you like them, but in this case you gotta call it what it is, piss poor.<\/p>\n