{"id":3563,"date":"2012-02-02T23:05:45","date_gmt":"2012-02-03T04:05:45","guid":{"rendered":"http:\/\/jmusportsblog.com\/?p=3563"},"modified":"2012-02-02T23:07:19","modified_gmt":"2012-02-03T04:07:19","slug":"dukes-go-down-swinging","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/jmusportsblog.com\/?p=3563","title":{"rendered":"Dukes Go Down Swinging"},"content":{"rendered":"
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JMU lost to ODU tonight by the score of 80-71. The loss dropped the Dukes to 10-14 overall and 3-9 in the CAA. With the win, ODU improved to 15-9 and 10-2 in the league. A.J. Davis paced JMU with 23 points and Andrey Semenov chipped in a season high 22, including 6 three pointers. Chris Cooper was the star for ODU. He pulled down 117 rebounds, with several dozen of them on the offensive end (both numbers unofficial).<\/p>\n

This Could (Should?) Have Been Much Worse<\/strong><\/p>\n

Once again, this was a game that JMU had no business being in, but they hung in there and made it a game. I lost track of how many times I thought ODU was about to blow JMU out of the gym, only to have JMU battle back. I understand most of you will say this is loser talk, but I was proud of the way JMU battled. The Dukes easily could have packed in it when ODU built up double-digit leads. They didn’t though. They stormed back and even pulled to within 5 points with under 2:00. And they did it largely without Devon Moore, who has a wrist injury and only played 9 minutes.<\/p>\n

These Guys Are Gassed<\/strong><\/p>\n

Humpty Hitchens had a pretty awful shooting night. He never found his groove and finished with only 9 points on 4 of 15 shooting. It’s easy to see why. He played 40 high energy minutes tonight. In fact, the senior has played 7 games in the past 2 weeks and he’s sat out a grand total of 5 minutes. A.J. played 38 minutes tonight. Semenov played 39. This team has played a lot of games in a short period of time and they have no bench. So while it was incredibly frustrating to see ODU players shoot wide open threes all night, I understand why it’s happening. JMU is worn the hell out. It’s not an excuse by any means. It’s just a fact. And this team struggles to rebound when they’re fresh. Put them up against a particularly strong rebounding team like ODU, and the result is a 29-22 rebounding edge…for JMU’s team over ODU’s Chris Cooper. As a team, ODU actually pulled down a whopping 47 boards.<\/p>\n

This Is Not a Popular Opinion<\/strong><\/p>\n

At some point we’ve got to give Matt Brady some credit. I know. This is loser talk. I get it. For the overwhelming majority of JMU fans, the die has been cast and Brady is a dead man walking. I’m not saying that the guy has earned an extension or even that he doesn’t deserved to be fired. He has kept this depleted roster playing for a full 40 minutes night in and night out though. A few weeks ago, I thought he had lost the team. Now they’re hovering near the bottom of the standings with nothing to play for, but somehow they’re still battling. And they’re more banged up then ever. So I know I’m on an island here, but I think he deserves some credit. He’s not quitting and neither is his team.<\/p>\n

Finally, I really haven’t made up my mind on whether or not he should be brought back and I probably won’t until after the season. I do find it sort of funny though that so many fans are convinced JMU is going to fire him and eat almost $300K of salary next year. This is the same athletic department whose conservative financial tendencies brought us bidgate. Forgive me if I’m not convinced they’ll break out the checkbook on this one.<\/p>\n

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