Top 3 Finish without injury bug or tom foolery.

McLean and Kent development is commendable, whole team really has developed some framework for an identity.

(10-27-2016 02:34 PM)Centdukesfan Wrote:  well this doesnt seem very optimistic.

Yeah, I'm optimistic about Lou...not about this year's team. Give Lou a year or two and I think we'll be back in the top 2-3 in preseason conversations, just not there yet. Dukes!

I'd expect Brady at a 5th/6th place finish this year. If Lou doesn't make top 4 with this team, it'll just show JMU BB is in for more of the same from my point of view. Really rootin for Barkers to be right and get that top 3 though!

Hopefully that 209 ranking by CBS is totally bogus and Kenpom is more accurate -- that's usually the case as its methodology is sound. Those were my impressions when initially saw it and I'm sticking to it!

The conference was ranked 9th last year, which was very good. UNCW, W&M, Hofstra, Towson, Charleston and JMU should all be very solid. Elon should be improved and NE should fall back without Walker and Ford. Drexel and DE both hired good coaches and are wild cards, I suppose. DE lost Kory Holden but got back Corbett (believe coach convinced him to come back after he sat out last year due to injury). Hard to say where conference will fall this season, as some significant players have graduated and there have been three coaching changes, not to mention significant additions. NE picked up a late grad transfer that was rated 4 stars at one point....he's eligible immediately.

Does anyone know of a preseason scrimmage? The Dukes are only 8 days away from opening night at ODU. The season is sneaking up on us and we have little intel

team scrimmaged Norfolk State last week. Not sure how it went. Played minus a few guys (suspensions).

Speaking of the CAA, Drexel could be better than expected. They picked up a couple of transfers, who might be available this season. One is Miles Overton from Wake Forest, a player that Brady recruited. New coach is also accustomed to working with less than stellar talent and producing results.

Last time I checked a couple of weeks back, opener at ODU is not televised. Any updates on that?

Overton is available...transfer from Missouri is sitting out this season for Drexel. One of their freshman, point guard Kirk Lee, was recruited by JMU under Brady.

Also of note, Jordan talley suspended indefinitely for UNCW

i bet the dukes crushed

because the dukes are the best

I do think that YoYo and Shaq have the potential to be all league players their Senior season. I disagree that Shaq can't get his own shot- I think he can both inside and from behind the arc.
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Shaq can always get his shot off, the problem is that in most cases last year it was forced and not a good shot. After some early success he really tailed off last year. On a positive note, coach Rowe has somehow managed to get him to lose some weight and he is now in pretty decent shape. Most of that baby fat that you saw last year is gone. When lou first got here Shaq was the only player who could never make the sprint times in practice. He may not be the first player across the line but he now manages to make most if not all of the required times. Snowden really porked out last year but in the last three months he has lost over twenty pounds and is now actually starting to make some jump shots. As I said in an earlier post, don't be surprised to if Ivan is starting. He is really flourishing under coach Rowe. Unfortunately Tom is going to be the big question mark. It would not surprise me at some point if he simply stopped playing.

I think this new staff and system may fit Lukic better. I hope Tom V. plays a role and doesnt stop playing, but if he were to do that, oh well, we move on without him.

We need Vodanovich, if for nothing else, to make the team tough.
He can use 5 hard fouls on the interior and get some garbage buckets on rebounds

(11-04-2016 04:38 PM)Hart Foundation Wrote:  We need Vodanovich, if for nothing else, to make the team tough.
He can use 5 hard fouls on the interior and get some garbage buckets on rebounds

Plus Vodo has a real knack for getting under the other teams skin. Hope he stays in the rotation this year.

Lindy's picks JMU third with Brown a first team and Dalembert a second team selection. They also mention the strange treatment of Brady, as did Athlon's really in its comments, saying he had been let go after winning 40 games the last two seasons. Impressions from the outside looking in, and I'm paraphrasing.

SI has Dukes at 113 nationally and 3rd in CAA.

A couple of other pre-season rankings for JMU MBB. Blue Ribbon has JMU 6th behind UNCW, COC, Towson, Hostra, and W&M. They give JMU a C on intangibles I think because Rowe is a new /first time coach but I'd argue that the intangibles are probably pretty good on this team due to the 7 seniors and fact that they have all played together for a few years.

CBS ranked the best teams by state. JMU ranked in the 200s (overall) and behind UVA, VCU, VaTech, Richmond, ODU, W&M and Liberty (ugh) in Virginia.

Let's go prove them wrong starting on Friday night. A poster- I believe it was Bogey- had suggested that Snowden may suit up. It would be great to have him off the bench. As a Norfolk area kid who was once going to ODU (before the Jones coaching change) I'm sure he would be motivated to contribute and help JMU pull off the W. Any word on whether he will play Friday?

(11-08-2016 07:40 AM)NJDuke97 Wrote:  A couple of other pre-season rankings for JMU MBB. Blue Ribbon has JMU 6th behind UNCW, COC, Towson, Hostra, and W&M. They give JMU a C on intangibles I think because Rowe is a new /first time coach but I'd argue that the intangibles are probably pretty good on this team due to the 7 seniors and fact that they have all played together for a few years.

CBS ranked the best teams by state. JMU ranked in the 200s (overall) and behind UVA, VCU, VaTech, Richmond, ODU, W&M and Liberty (ugh) in Virginia.

Let's go prove them wrong starting on Friday night. A poster- I believe it was Bogey- had suggested that Snowden may suit up. It would be great to have him off the bench. As a Norfolk area kid who was once going to ODU (before the Jones coaching change) I'm sure he would be motivated to contribute and help JMU pull off the W. Any word on whether he will play Friday?

What's up with Ramone? Has he been injured or something? Why would he not be playing?

(11-08-2016 03:06 PM)ODU BBALL Wrote:  

(11-08-2016 07:40 AM)NJDuke97 Wrote:  A couple of other pre-season rankings for JMU MBB. Blue Ribbon has JMU 6th behind UNCW, COC, Towson, Hostra, and W&M. They give JMU a C on intangibles I think because Rowe is a new /first time coach but I'd argue that the intangibles are probably pretty good on this team due to the 7 seniors and fact that they have all played together for a few years.

CBS ranked the best teams by state. JMU ranked in the 200s (overall) and behind UVA, VCU, VaTech, Richmond, ODU, W&M and Liberty (ugh) in Virginia.

Let's go prove them wrong starting on Friday night. A poster- I believe it was Bogey- had suggested that Snowden may suit up. It would be great to have him off the bench. As a Norfolk area kid who was once going to ODU (before the Jones coaching change) I'm sure he would be motivated to contribute and help JMU pull off the W. Any word on whether he will play Friday?

What's up with Ramone? Has he been injured or something? Why would he not be playing?

I believe in football we were pre-ranked behind W&M and Richmond. Those pre-rankings don't mean anything.