(12-30-2017 04:43 PM)bcp_jmu Wrote:  lots and lots of trouble finishing within 2 feet of the net...dunks people...dunks

This...If I'm Coach (albeit armchair), every missed shot by the rim I'm asking why they didn't try to flush it...or draw the foul.

Went to the game...here are some quick impressions:

1. We are not a well-coached team on either side of the ball. If you read Walfish's recap, he hits the nail on the head with respect to the defensive breakdowns, especially on switches. NE had all sorts of direct line drives to the basket and wide open threes throughout the game.
2. Some commented on the missed layups by JMU in this thread. JMU's offense consists of one against three and one against four drives to the basket forcing what's not there. That's why you see the missed layups....many of the shots are forced. Very little player or ball movement. Team lacks shooting and a true point guard and most importantly an offensive system.
3. By contrast, NE, a well-coached team, had few defensive breakdowns and plays within an offensive system that uses player and ball movement.
4. Losing Scissom hurts the team, as he would have provided some outside shooting, if nothing else. Perhaps he panicked with his lack of playing time. He would have been better off, as would the team, had he stayed.
5. Not too many positives to take away from tonight other than the play of Dwight Wilson. Tonight, he looked like the freshman with the highest upside potential.
6. I probably sound like a broken record but Rowe won't be in this position for long if he doesn't learn to incorporate offensive and defensive coaching philosophies that are sustainable. His approach so far has resulted in two dreadful seasons. I was not in favor of letting Brady go and so far it looks like a big mistake.
7. Pusika was an impressive player tonight and I'm with Hart on the 6-10 big from NE -- he showed so much promise and is now an afterthought on the Huskie team. Pusika will have a long professional career if he keeps playing like this.

I went to the game today. The telling stat was 1-9 from 3 pt. land. NU made 8. We had a tough shooting day. Gave up to many easy lay ups to NU.

These guys are young and it shows at times. Lou played his Freshman a bunch and should continue to do so. The only way to develop young players is to play them.

Wilson played well but he needs to lose 15-20 pounds of baby fat. His girth was a challenge for NU. Philips struggled to finish. Joey is short, skinny and a half step slow to be playing the point. It hurts him on the defensive end. He made some nice shots today but I feel he should be used to give the other guards a blow. He should play 12-15 minutes a game.

I am seeing these Freshman be more aggressive. They attacked the basket today.

Stuckey finished well in the lane for the most part but missed every shot from long range. That hurt JMU today. They did not have anyone who was a threat from 3 point range.

JMU did not shoot well enough today to overcome their defensive deficiencies. Until these Freshman learn that college games are won at the defensive end of the floor, they will continue to experience close losses. These Freshman need to fill out their Freshman bodies too. I hope their strength coach is a good one. He could make or break the future of this young team.

Even though the JMU and Northeastern both had 15 assists the difference in ball movement between the 2 offenses was pretty stark. There were a few good defensive possessions by JMU but by in large the defense was not very good. Way too many drives down the lane or to the basket or open 3s deep in the shot clock. Northeastern was in control the whole game and seemed to know they would get their shot if they were patient. JMU on the other hand looked disjointed on offense. They were able to compensate with some nice drives to the basket but the ball movement wasn't great and the flow was non existent.

Even though JMU didn't shoot well- they didn't shoot enough. It's difficult to win taking only 9 3 point shots. Wilson is a presence on both sides of the ball. His size/wide frame causes issues for the opposition and he has a decent touch around the basket. This is why earlier in the year when Walfish said Wilson wouldn't play much because of his size it was a head scratcher. Conditioning, positioning, yeah I get it but the dude is a man child in terms of size.

I disagree on Scissum- I would have liked to see him stay in the program and maybe show us something but to say the team will miss him I'm not sure I agree with that- I think he was likely a non factor. Smith would have helped as a big who can block shots/defend the rim. Phillips had been playing really well for a stretch in the OOC schedule. He was more active. It seems like when he picks up a foul or things don't go right he lacks the energy that he had .

I also disagree with the middling Northeastern comment. Since getting back from the Pk80 event they have now won 6 of 7. I think they will be in the top 3 or 4 in the conference. I also think that Coen is likely the best coach in the CAA. He runs a solid program.

The Dukes need to make some adjustments and play tougher for the entire shot clock. I think that W&M will present the same challenges for the Dukes to defend but they should have an easier time getting their shot against the Tribe.

Mostly agree with the 3 posts above. My takeaway is that if this team chooses to NOT play defense like yesterday, they won't win a single CAA game. The players and Rowe should all be ashamed of themselves for the lack of effort defensively. When guys are routinely getting layups in halfcourt sets, it is inexcusable. Still early in the CAA schedule, but will be a very rough next 2 months if THAT is what we are going to get on the defensive end.

Was just re watching some of the game and JMU came out ok- need to be more resilient when things don't go their way (like the two easy missed layups to start)- too many lapses. I think the drives for easy buckets really exploited the JMU zone- same could be said for the open 3's. The zone when they have to implement it when the other team is bringing the ball up (from a miss or turnover) full court has a ton of holes in it.

Northeastern's man defense was pushing the Dukes out and the Terriers have pretty good length on the perimeter but Snowden needs to be more aggressive and pull the trigger on his 3 point shot. He's a pretty good shooter from deep- like in years past- Brady years as well- Dukes need to be more difficult to defend. When you don't keep the defense honest aside from a one on one drive for a bucket or a foul the outcome usually isn't great.

(12-30-2017 08:32 AM)Hart Foundation Wrote:  JMU 70
Northeastern 69

The Dukes need to get some wins at home this week before the CAA grind kicks in. Northeastern definitely looks different this year with Pusica jumping into the void that POY TJ Williams left. Kids, Be careful how you pronounce Pusica’s name in mixed company.

We’ll see if Rowe sticks with the offensive formula that has generated a poor start in OOC play. Is he going to keep Mosley off the ball or put him back as a primary ball handler? Sure that will take away a few shots per game, but it will make JMU’s overall offense better. Mosley led Toledo in assists as a Sophomore and at JMU Rowe has turned him into a shooting guard despite knowing this team needs a PG more than anything else. Rowe doesn’t have to look any farther than what TJ Williams did at Northeastern last year. He led the CAA in scoring and in assists with a tremendous amount of points coming at the free throw line. Mosley has shown the ability and his left handed dribble is sure to create driving opportunities.

Maybe Rowe will make a different move and insert Lewis as the starting PG. He could remove Banks or Snowden from the lineup to make room for small ball. Lewis has shown the ability to penetrate and create, but his shooting is the worst on the team. Perhaps Rowe could give him the red light for any shots outside of 10 feet thereby forcing him to be pass first.

On to the defense - JMU has been weak on that side of the ball despite Rowe being a self-proclaimed defensive coach. The Dukes are 264th nationally in opponent FG % and 305th in opponent 3pt FG%. If that doesn’t change, this will be another long year. I’ve been a little surprised that JMU hasn’t pressed more this year to leverage some athleticism. There are some teams in the CAA that can be had with pressure and tempo and Northeastern is the first that fits that mold.
I suspect JMU will force Pusica into 6 or 7 turnovers in today’s game and that will be the difference maker.

BTW, what has happened to Northeastern’s Jeremy Miller? That guy was a matchup nightmare 2 years ago as a 6’10 SF freshman and it doesn’t seem like he gets much playing time anymore. Not many big guys can shoot it like he can from all over the court.

FWIW Mosely had 6 assists (0 turnovers) yesterday- McLean was in foul touble as is usually the case and Lewis played some PG as well.

Keep in mind with Jeremy Miller that Northeastern also lost Sajon Ford - he was Quincy Ford's younger brother and another 3 star recruit. Tough to find reliable bigs in college hoops even when they have size and talent sometimes it doesn't all come together.

Just a few additional points to amplify on what I posted.

1. I agree with 97 with respect to NE. They might be the second best team in the league behind Charleston. That will be borne out.
2. I agree with Nation on Wilson, and have said this before with respect to his conditioning. To be the player he can ultimately be, he needs to get in better shape. He's tremendously strong, though, and has really good hands and a nice shooting touch around the basket.
3. If you read Walfish's article regarding Scissum, he talks about competitive depth, meaning that players like him add to the program in practice and by providing depth going forward. I saw him in a scrimmage before the season and he had a really nice shooting touch from deep, albeit with an unusual shooting stroke. In any event, Walfish's point is well made and he talks about how teams without it get worn down as the season advances.
4. Lastly, I disagree with Dukeman2 regarding the benefit of free throw shooting as being foundational going forward.

Duke84 11/2/17

"I think that Wilson will contribute at the 4 and 5 positions. He's skilled around the basket, is strong and weighs 260 pounds"

"Scissom, to me, is a perfect guy to come off the bench, as his best skill is the ability to pick and pop from the outside"

"The other guy that's probably good off the bench is Pinkard, who's quite athletic and can score"

"Both Banks and Lewis are very good players for freshmen. I think Lewis can run the point if necessary, giving the team three guys at that all important position"

"this team is skilled and can really shoot the ball"

"Should be an entertaining and fun season in any event"

What strange scheduling. Four of the first five games are against the Tribe and NU.

I was at the game yesterday. I like Rowe and the freshmen class he recruited but his coaching short comings are obvious. I gave Lou a pass last season and I gave him a pass during the OCC games but now conference play has started and I cannot overlook how poorly coached our team looks on both sides of the ball. Also, the crowd at the game was small and will look even smaller in a new 8,500 seat arena.

Rowe will get 3 years as he should. A wise man once said the best thing about freshmen is they become sophomores. Having said that, if these freshmen don't start putting more effort into playing defense, then Rowe will be fired at the end of their sophomore seasons. But, I must remind myself they are just freshmen. Relying heavily on freshmen is normally a recipe for disaster - with the exception of the the blue bloods of course (and even they underachieve most of the time versus the hype).

This isn't on the freshmen though. If this CAA season starts circling down the toilet, then Rowe should die with players who will return next season. For now, I'd find 5 guys who want to play defense and play them until their tongues are dragging the floor. Don't care what year they are, how much they've played (or haven't played) so far, or whether they are a likely part of the future. Send a message, Lou. You either play defense, have the guts to step in front of a guy driving to the glass to take a charge, or you sit.

I've been thinking about this for awhile. It seems to me that a way to fight this cycle of almost never having all of the needed pieces is to more strategically use redshirting during down years.

This team has about 6 parts of a really, really good team. Unfortunately there are only two players who fit the role of what they are asked to do. Mosely could be anyone's lead scorer and Snowden is a perfectly fine glue guy.

Four years ago, we had a freshman class that included 4 big, strong, slow guys. We couldn't use all of them, but I sure wouldn't mind having one of them for 10-12 minutes per game now. There is absolutely no reason either Satkus or Lukic should not have been redshirted.

That same season, Yoyo joined less than two years after first picking up a basketball. If that is not a perfect redshirt candidate, I don't know what is. It did not even have to be his first year. It could have happened after the stars began leaving the program. He did have a health issue last year, but he is playing pro ball now, so it was not career ending.

Just adding Yoyo and (say) Lukic back to this team allows Phillips to be the energy guy who plays 20 minutes per game and does not have to worry about foul trouble. It allows Banks and Lewis to never have to be more than the fourth or fifth option, a position they are both perfectly suited for right now. It allows Wilson and Jones and Jacobs to sit a year so that they might become dominant players as they get older. All of a sudden, we are a Jordan Sheppherd away from being at least a legitimate NIT contender, and being able to point to a real plan may have helped convince him to stay (admittedly this part is purely speculative, but certainly a possibility).

I don't know, maybe kids are more likely to leave if they are redshirted. Otherwise, I see this as a tool not being utilized by JMU.

(12-31-2017 05:27 PM)purplesanman Wrote:  I've been thinking about this for awhile. It seems to me that a way to fight this cycle of almost never having all of the needed pieces is to more strategically use redshirting during down years.

This team has about 6 parts of a really, really good team. Unfortunately there are only two players who fit the role of what they are asked to do. Mosely could be anyone's lead scorer and Snowden is a perfectly fine glue guy.

Four years ago, we had a freshman class that included 4 big, strong, slow guys. We couldn't use all of them, but I sure wouldn't mind having one of them for 10-12 minutes per game now. There is absolutely no reason either Satkus or Lukic should not have been redshirted.

That same season, Yoyo joined less than two years after first picking up a basketball. If that is not a perfect redshirt candidate, I don't know what is. It did not even have to be his first year. It could have happened after the stars began leaving the program. He did have a health issue last year, but he is playing pro ball now, so it was not career ending.

Just adding Yoyo and (say) Lukic back to this team allows Phillips to be the energy guy who plays 20 minutes per game and does not have to worry about foul trouble. It allows Banks and Lewis to never have to be more than the fourth or fifth option, a position they are both perfectly suited for right now. It allows Wilson and Jones and Jacobs to sit a year so that they might become dominant players as they get older. All of a sudden, we are a Jordan Sheppherd away from being at least a legitimate NIT contender, and being able to point to a real plan may have helped convince him to stay (admittedly this part is purely speculative, but certainly a possibility).

I don't know, maybe kids are more likely to leave if they are redshirted. Otherwise, I see this as a tool not being utilized by JMU.

I agree with you and was wondering last year about why they didn't redshirt Lukic. He hardly played and could have started this year.