Good win for the women today over Drexel. 4-0 in the league.

(01-07-2018 08:07 PM)Dukesfan71 Wrote:  Good win for the women today over Drexel. 4-0 in the league.

Great start to the CAA season.

Great start for the Lady Dukes in conference play after a rough OOC schedule. Wife and I did not make it down to the Convo todat as we got back from Frisco too late. Had to get out of BWI, drop off younger daughter and by the time that all transpired and hit the road to the Convo we would have missed the entire 1st half at a minimum. So we went home and watched the game on the Roku thing.

As usual Drexel played the Dukes tough. The Dragons always seem to bring out the worst in the Dukes (and many other teams also). However the second half was the Dukes time to work hard and get moving and they pulled away after Drexel was up by 2 at the half. Great defensive play and solid efforts by all and in particular Smalls, Lexie, Aneah, Devon and Hailie. I am really enjoying the energy and hard work that both Aneah and Devon bring to the game off the bench.

So 4-0 with a tough game coming up Friday against Elon. Will be there for that game. Need to convince Elon that we want our nets back!!

Brian

Game yesterday was classic JMU-Drexel. At the beginning of the game, Drexel (particularly #12) could do very little wrong and JMU was having a slow start. We seemed to find our rhythm in the middle of the second quarter to end the half down by only two. JMU came out like a house on fire after halftime and jumped out to an 11-point lead. Hailee had a great night and it was fun to watch her 3-point shots falling. After letting Drexel get back into the game in mid-fourth quarter, JMU rallies to win by 8. My vote for performances of the day were Aneah and Devon. Both came in with great energy and were able to shut Drexel down.

High fives and kudos to the five Pep Band members who played yesterday - they were fabulous. With the extra amplifiers they brought in they were almost as loud as a normal Pep Band show - we told them "Start Wearing Purple" just does not sound the same when it comes from a CD like they played Friday night. We invited them to the Crown Club reception so at least they were well-fed for their efforts. Very nice young men.

I think Coach O will have the team well-prepared for Friday against Elon. Should be a good ball game - I will be cheering from Chicagoland.

Really looking like that challenging OOC schedule is paying off.

(01-08-2018 08:59 AM)JMad03 Wrote:  Really looking like that challenging OOC schedule is paying off.

As it should when you are fielding a good team but maybe not great. There is a point when you have to realize you are good and when you are not good. Our WBB is good. Our MBB is not good, the players and fans of the MBB team need to experience a lot of winning. As much as I'd like to see our men play good competition, we need wins more than anything else and should seek out a lot more games against regional OOC competition (Radford's, Longwood's, High Point's, Liberty's, VMI's) and less against "The Uni. of Florida" types until we learn to win. One thing that stands out to me is that we are not getting blown out in our games, we simply have no idea how to win.

I apologize for turning a WBB thread into my thoughts on the MBB team.

Drexel is actually one of the better teams in the conference and we should realize that. They have been in the mix the last few years. That Bailey Greenberg is a killer, and their D is pretty good. We overcame it, though. I think it's good, as I said before the start of the season, when the scoring is spread around. they kind of shut Kamiah down, but Hailee was on with her 3s. Devon was really effective under the basket where Kelly just had an off day and bobbled everything that came her way. I like Devon better all the time! She is going to be something extra before she's done here!

Oh yeah, and don't forget---Elon was beat by DELAWARE this week. They might be feeling a little unhappy when they get up here. And Towson must have been unhappy yesterday, they turned around and beat Wm & Mary who had been unbeaten in conference play also. We're the only ones left. And we're the only ones who played such a challenging OOC schedule. I'd say it paid off even if we did lose a bunch of games. We learned a lot from those losses.

``The guys haven't learned much, sorry to say, and will keep hemorrhaging. They need a new coach, IMNSHO. That's why I don't bother with the men's games. It's like it used to be at Tennessee...."MEN play basketball at JMU?" (This is directed at Bleeding Purple)

(01-08-2018 01:59 PM)orange-to-purple Wrote:  Drexel is actually one of the better teams in the conference and we should realize that. They have been in the mix the last few years. That Bailey Greenberg is a killer, and their D is pretty good. We overcame it, though. I think it's good, as I said before the start of the season, when the scoring is spread around. they kind of shut Kamiah down, but Hailee was on with her 3s. Devon was really effective under the basket where Kelly just had an off day and bobbled everything that came her way. I like Devon better all the time! She is going to be something extra before she's done here!

Oh yeah, and don't forget---Elon was beat by DELAWARE this week. They might be feeling a little unhappy when they get up here. And Towson must have been unhappy yesterday, they turned around and beat Wm & Mary who had been unbeaten in conference play also. We're the only ones left. And we're the only ones who played such a challenging OOC schedule. I'd say it paid off even if we did lose a bunch of games. We learned a lot from those losses.

``The guys haven't learned much, sorry to say, and will keep hemorrhaging. They need a new coach, IMNSHO. That's why I don't bother with the men's games. It's like it used to be at Tennessee...."MEN play basketball at JMU?" (This is directed at Bleeding Purple)

I'm not a fan of the 4 person rockband/guitar hero disguised as a pep band. The worst part is there will be more of these.

(01-08-2018 10:31 PM)Deez Nuts Wrote:  I'm not a fan of the 4 person rockband/guitar hero disguised as a pep band. The worst part is there will be more of these.

Why do you say that? Curious, not snarking. At least they were there and their sound was better than the CD's that had to be used on Friday. I completely agree that it is not an ideal situation, but given the timing and circumstances I thought it was a good alternative.

40 people yelling, heckling, coordinating cheers, etc sounds like 400 people yelling, cheering, and supporting the team.

4 people sounds like 4 people. It's JMU music dept going on the cheap and lazy. It's directors not wanting to direct.

I have a major problem with cutting the "band" as a function of supporting the team. The teams can NOT be in favor of this route.

Enjoy the Rockband version at the Men's game this Saturday everyone.

(01-09-2018 08:51 AM)LovethoseDukes Wrote:  

(01-08-2018 10:31 PM)Deez Nuts Wrote:  I'm not a fan of the 4 person rockband/guitar hero disguised as a pep band. The worst part is there will be more of these.

Why do you say that? Curious, not snarking. At least they were there and their sound was better than the CD's that had to be used on Friday. I completely agree that it is not an ideal situation, but given the timing and circumstances I thought it was a good alternative.

Also - regarding timing - there's nothing about this that was related to "ohh the band is traveling to Texas", or "ohh the students are on break". The 250 MRDs who traveled to Texas returned to Harrisonburg Saturday night. The rest of the general student body was returning for class yesterday. There were players available. I promise you.

Agree that something is way better than nothing. The music selection at JMU basketball is not good at all, and I can't think of a year it ever has been since 2002. You can only pack so much Maroon 5 into a basketball game, but it's what our library is licensed for.

Not to come off as snarky either. Just spitting facts here.

I remember back in the 2005-06 timeframe having a lot of fun "singing" those Maroon 5 songs. So good.

(01-09-2018 09:25 AM)HyperDuke Wrote:  So good.

I assumed the small group was due to Texas and/or students not back yet. Guess that's what happens when I assume.....

I cannot see any reason for a small group at Saturday's MBB game. I hope you are wrong....

(01-09-2018 09:51 AM)LovethoseDukes Wrote:  I cannot see any reason for a small group at Saturday's MBB game. I hope you are wrong....

Book it.

(01-09-2018 08:51 AM)LovethoseDukes Wrote:  

(01-08-2018 10:31 PM)Deez Nuts Wrote:  I'm not a fan of the 4 person rockband/guitar hero disguised as a pep band. The worst part is there will be more of these.

Why do you say that? Curious, not snarking. At least they were there and their sound was better than the CD's that had to be used on Friday. I completely agree that it is not an ideal situation, but given the timing and circumstances I thought it was a good alternative.

I thought they were pretty decent too and was glad they were there.

Looks like the Marching Royal Dukes will actually be doing some marching this weekend at the VA Governor's Inauguration parade, so I imagine that's the excuse/reason for rockband vs pepband.