(11-07-2019 01:39 PM)Longhorn Wrote:  What's the prognosis for Wilson? I heard he hurt his back in practice.

reported as an ankle sprain.........being in a walking boot has nothing to do with your back.

(11-07-2019 01:46 PM)ShadyP Wrote:  

(11-07-2019 01:39 PM)Longhorn Wrote:  What's the prognosis for Wilson? I heard he hurt his back in practice.

reported as an ankle sprain.........being in a walking boot has nothing to do with your back.

To be a little more specific, it's a high ankle sprain.

(11-07-2019 12:24 PM)ShadyP Wrote:  A couple of observations while watching the game in person last night.

- The changes on the coaching staff are very positive and seems like the support Lou needed to go along with his ability to recruit. The interactions among them looked very well and all the coaches seemed to understand their roles.
- The Freshmen are legit with the size to play immediately. None of them appear to be project players.
- Everyone brought energy and effort throughout the game and always exhibited good body language (aka - no one looked like Deville Phillips)
- The style of play is enjoyable to watch, which is a change from the previous 10 years (Brady offense was awful, pass it around the 3 point line for 25 sec and jack something up and Lou's had been similar)
- Coaches made excellent adjustments out of timeouts and switch from man to zone was huge.
- Most improved players -- Jacobs and Parker. At all times JMU had 5 players on the court that were willing to shoot and were capable of scoring (in past forever that number was 2-3 players you had to defend)
- Ball movement and passing on offense was fairly crisp and did not stagnate.
- Let's hope the FT shooting was an aberation b/c it has to be 65-70% minimum. I mean Lewis is an 80% FT shooter and was 7-14 last night.
- Great job by the freshmen who were thrown into the deep-end of the pool in the opener, with Wilson hurt 24 hours prior to game and Banks severely limited by foul trouble (Banks has to be smarter than that as a Junior).
- Very encouraged from what I saw, after the timeout with the game 31-19 at about the 12 minute mark of the 1st half, JMU played pretty well the remainder of the game. It was nice to see them play well with a lead in the 2nd half and not immediately give the lead up.
- It was interesting to see Jordan Shepherd (r-jr) play, given a 1 game sample size......I would take all of our veteran perimeter players (Parker, Lewis, Banks) over him.
- Now 3-0 against UNCC over last 3 years and 2-0 against Sanchez who folks on this board think is the is next coaching genius b/c he on Tony Bennett's staff at UVA. Given the salary he demanded, not too impressed with his results in 1 year + 1 game (small sample size)
- JMU scored well against UNCC's pack line defense (UVA-lite). Got good looks on the perimeter as well as drives to the basket (Parker owned #1 on drives anytime he wanted it). It will be tougher against UVA, but think the game will not be a blood-bath.....remember JMU is not playing last year's veteran UVA team with 3 NBA draft picks.

Yeah I wasn't impressed with Charlotte or Shepherd. JMU was giving them ample opportunities to take the game but they weren't up to the task. They were too complacent against the zone and I felt that certain players were too timid about pulling the trigger on the 3. I think Sanchez plays a bland style as well which I'm sure JMU fans would gripe about especially for what they are paying him.

I think folks are being too hard on Lewis which I guess comes with the territory. Yeah at times he forces it and takes bad shots but he also makes some very good shots and the balance in scoring was pretty good last night. If Lewis took over it was likely because JMU was without Wilson inside and Banks was in foul trouble most of the night. Lewis had 13 rebounds as a SG. That's pretty impressive. He also managed 4 assists. Those numbers don't strike me as a selfish me first player.

The JMU guards were clearly quicker than Charlotte's - Parker can get to the rim and finish pretty well and Lewis and Banks could as well even though they didn't convert as many of them as they are capable of.

97 --

Lewis doesn't play efficiently...he takes too many bad shots and forces too many others. If he tightens that up, he'll be a much better player and JMU will be that much better off. In another thread, I posted an analytics site, which not surprisingly rates Jacobs and Parker as JMU's best players after one game.

(11-07-2019 02:23 PM)NJDuke97 Wrote:  

(11-07-2019 12:24 PM)ShadyP Wrote:  A couple of observations while watching the game in person last night.

- The changes on the coaching staff are very positive and seems like the support Lou needed to go along with his ability to recruit. The interactions among them looked very well and all the coaches seemed to understand their roles.
- The Freshmen are legit with the size to play immediately. None of them appear to be project players.
- Everyone brought energy and effort throughout the game and always exhibited good body language (aka - no one looked like Deville Phillips)
- The style of play is enjoyable to watch, which is a change from the previous 10 years (Brady offense was awful, pass it around the 3 point line for 25 sec and jack something up and Lou's had been similar)
- Coaches made excellent adjustments out of timeouts and switch from man to zone was huge.
- Most improved players -- Jacobs and Parker. At all times JMU had 5 players on the court that were willing to shoot and were capable of scoring (in past forever that number was 2-3 players you had to defend)
- Ball movement and passing on offense was fairly crisp and did not stagnate.
- Let's hope the FT shooting was an aberation b/c it has to be 65-70% minimum. I mean Lewis is an 80% FT shooter and was 7-14 last night.
- Great job by the freshmen who were thrown into the deep-end of the pool in the opener, with Wilson hurt 24 hours prior to game and Banks severely limited by foul trouble (Banks has to be smarter than that as a Junior).
- Very encouraged from what I saw, after the timeout with the game 31-19 at about the 12 minute mark of the 1st half, JMU played pretty well the remainder of the game. It was nice to see them play well with a lead in the 2nd half and not immediately give the lead up.
- It was interesting to see Jordan Shepherd (r-jr) play, given a 1 game sample size......I would take all of our veteran perimeter players (Parker, Lewis, Banks) over him.
- Now 3-0 against UNCC over last 3 years and 2-0 against Sanchez who folks on this board think is the is next coaching genius b/c he on Tony Bennett's staff at UVA. Given the salary he demanded, not too impressed with his results in 1 year + 1 game (small sample size)
- JMU scored well against UNCC's pack line defense (UVA-lite). Got good looks on the perimeter as well as drives to the basket (Parker owned #1 on drives anytime he wanted it). It will be tougher against UVA, but think the game will not be a blood-bath.....remember JMU is not playing last year's veteran UVA team with 3 NBA draft picks.

Yeah I wasn't impressed with Charlotte or Shepherd. JMU was giving them ample opportunities to take the game but they weren't up to the task. They were too complacent against the zone and I felt that certain players were too timid about pulling the trigger on the 3. I think Sanchez plays a bland style as well which I'm sure JMU fans would gripe about especially for what they are paying him.

I think folks are being too hard on Lewis which I guess comes with the territory. Yeah at times he forces it and takes bad shots but he also makes some very good shots and the balance in scoring was pretty good last night. If Lewis took over it was likely because JMU was without Wilson inside and Banks was in foul trouble most of the night. Lewis had 13 rebounds as a SG. That's pretty impressive. He also managed 4 assists. Those numbers don't strike me as a selfish me first player.

The JMU guards were clearly quicker than Charlotte's - Parker can get to the rim and finish pretty well and Lewis and Banks could as well even though they didn't convert as many of them as they are capable of.

I've not watched enough to have an opinion, but the way he is described reminds me of how people use to talk about David Fanning. (not saying they are similar in size or style, just that people believe they need to pass more)

(11-07-2019 02:39 PM)Dukes84 Wrote:  97 --

Lewis doesn't play efficiently...he takes too many bad shots and forces too many others. If he tightens that up, he'll be a much better player and JMU will be that much better off. In another thread, I posted an analytics site, which not surprisingly rates Jacobs and Parker as JMU's best players after one game.

Parker and Jacobs had great games, Lewis had a subpar game. after one game, I dont need an analystics to tell me who played more efficiently.

every team needs a guy that can take, and make bad shots, while mis-firing on some. there are times when a great shot is not available and someone needs to put it up. lewis is our guy. get used to it. that allows less aggressive, and less confident guys to take their shots and be more efficient.

as i said before, if we keep him within the rails, that is fine. last year, many times he was off the rails. i can live with last night. he was 7-18, not awful, and 1-7 from 3. he will hit his share of 3's. he was 7-14 on fts, so drew a bunch of fouls. you need him on that wall.

I don’t think any player should be allowed to take bad shots as a pattern of behavior. It is a team game and the ones that play together better will win more. Tried and true.

But we know Rowe’s take. He has said many times that he likes Lewis to play free and uninhibited. So whatever you allow it just keeps happening.
Lewis can get plenty of good shots every game without forcing the crappy ones. He just elects to do it and there has never been a threat of benching for bad shot decisions. Good college coaches would not allow it and it would have been fixed long before now.

I think Lewis could be an outstanding player with more discipline. The potential is there. We all see it. I would much rather see 10 good shots a game than 13 shots a game with 3 of them being bad. His Basketball IQ needs to go way up.

If you are a fan of one on one NBA basketball then you will love his style. However the substance has not been there as evidenced by his shooting numbers after 65 career games.
I always prefer substance over style and winning over losing.

I still think he is a good shooter, just takes lots o’ bad shots.
I also think he is the lynch pin for this team to be good. Maybe Offensive coordinator Oppenheimer will be able to convince Rowe that less is more.

(11-07-2019 03:57 PM)Hart Foundation Wrote:  I don’t think any player should be allowed to take bad shots as a pattern of behavior. It is a team game and the ones that play together better will win more. Tried and true.

But we know Rowe’s take. He has said many times that he likes Lewis to play free and uninhibited. So whatever you allow it just keeps happening.
Lewis can get plenty of good shots every game without forcing the crappy ones. He just elects to do it and there has never been a threat of benching for bad shot decisions. Good college coaches would not allow it and it would have been fixed long before now.

I think Lewis could be an outstanding player with more discipline. The potential is there. We all see it. I would much rather see 10 good shots a game than 13 shots a game with 3 of them being bad. His Basketball IQ needs to go way up.

If you are a fan of one on one NBA basketball then you will love his style. However the substance has not been there as evidenced by his shooting numbers after 65 career games.
I always prefer substance over style and winning over losing.

I still think he is a good shooter, just takes lots o’ bad shots.
I also think he is the lynch pin for this team to be good. Maybe Offensive coordinator Oppenheimer will be able to convince Rowe that less is more.

Very good post Hart and we obviously agree.

(11-07-2019 03:14 PM)PGJMU2 Wrote:  

(11-07-2019 02:39 PM)Dukes84 Wrote:  97 --

Lewis doesn't play efficiently...he takes too many bad shots and forces too many others. If he tightens that up, he'll be a much better player and JMU will be that much better off. In another thread, I posted an analytics site, which not surprisingly rates Jacobs and Parker as JMU's best players after one game.

Parker and Jacobs had great games, Lewis had a subpar game. after one game, I dont need an analystics to tell me who played more efficiently.

every team needs a guy that can take, and make bad shots, while mis-firing on some. there are times when a great shot is not available and someone needs to put it up. lewis is our guy. get used to it. that allows less aggressive, and less confident guys to take their shots and be more efficient.

as i said before, if we keep him within the rails, that is fine. last year, many times he was off the rails. i can live with last night. he was 7-18, not awful, and 1-7 from 3. he will hit his share of 3's. he was 7-14 on fts, so drew a bunch of fouls. you need him on that wall.

If last night is a bad game from Lewis I will take those every game. True he was 7-18, which is not great but I also don't think 1-7 for 3 and 7-14 is typical for his shooting. So I call last night an off night from that perspective. I think he would have had fewer shots (probably @13) and less forced shots had Wilson been available and had Banks not been in foul trouble. That accounts for probably 10-15 shots that someone else had to take last night.

(11-07-2019 03:14 PM)PGJMU2 Wrote:  

(11-07-2019 02:39 PM)Dukes84 Wrote:  97 --

Lewis doesn't play efficiently...he takes too many bad shots and forces too many others. If he tightens that up, he'll be a much better player and JMU will be that much better off. In another thread, I posted an analytics site, which not surprisingly rates Jacobs and Parker as JMU's best players after one game.

Parker and Jacobs had great games, Lewis had a subpar game. after one game, I dont need an analystics to tell me who played more efficiently.

every team needs a guy that can take, and make bad shots, while mis-firing on some. there are times when a great shot is not available and someone needs to put it up. lewis is our guy. get used to it. that allows less aggressive, and less confident guys to take their shots and be more efficient.

as i said before, if we keep him within the rails, that is fine. last year, many times he was off the rails. i can live with last night. he was 7-18, not awful, and 1-7 from 3. he will hit his share of 3's. he was 7-14 on fts, so drew a bunch of fouls. you need him on that wall.

I like Jacobs and have been a fan of his potential- his game was up and down. He had a tough first half defensively and continues to miss bunnies inside because he doesn't go up as strong as he should. His 3 shot seems better which is more in line with what he was as a very good high school player. I'd like to see him and Wilson on the court at the same time. Wilson can be a real beast down low- and Zach can block shots and play off him while popping out for the occasional 3.

Parker just keeps improving- such a tough point guard.

(11-07-2019 02:42 PM)Dukester Wrote:  

(11-07-2019 02:23 PM)NJDuke97 Wrote:  

(11-07-2019 12:24 PM)ShadyP Wrote:  A couple of observations while watching the game in person last night.

- The changes on the coaching staff are very positive and seems like the support Lou needed to go along with his ability to recruit. The interactions among them looked very well and all the coaches seemed to understand their roles.
- The Freshmen are legit with the size to play immediately. None of them appear to be project players.
- Everyone brought energy and effort throughout the game and always exhibited good body language (aka - no one looked like Deville Phillips)
- The style of play is enjoyable to watch, which is a change from the previous 10 years (Brady offense was awful, pass it around the 3 point line for 25 sec and jack something up and Lou's had been similar)
- Coaches made excellent adjustments out of timeouts and switch from man to zone was huge.
- Most improved players -- Jacobs and Parker. At all times JMU had 5 players on the court that were willing to shoot and were capable of scoring (in past forever that number was 2-3 players you had to defend)
- Ball movement and passing on offense was fairly crisp and did not stagnate.
- Let's hope the FT shooting was an aberation b/c it has to be 65-70% minimum. I mean Lewis is an 80% FT shooter and was 7-14 last night.
- Great job by the freshmen who were thrown into the deep-end of the pool in the opener, with Wilson hurt 24 hours prior to game and Banks severely limited by foul trouble (Banks has to be smarter than that as a Junior).
- Very encouraged from what I saw, after the timeout with the game 31-19 at about the 12 minute mark of the 1st half, JMU played pretty well the remainder of the game. It was nice to see them play well with a lead in the 2nd half and not immediately give the lead up.
- It was interesting to see Jordan Shepherd (r-jr) play, given a 1 game sample size......I would take all of our veteran perimeter players (Parker, Lewis, Banks) over him.
- Now 3-0 against UNCC over last 3 years and 2-0 against Sanchez who folks on this board think is the is next coaching genius b/c he on Tony Bennett's staff at UVA. Given the salary he demanded, not too impressed with his results in 1 year + 1 game (small sample size)
- JMU scored well against UNCC's pack line defense (UVA-lite). Got good looks on the perimeter as well as drives to the basket (Parker owned #1 on drives anytime he wanted it). It will be tougher against UVA, but think the game will not be a blood-bath.....remember JMU is not playing last year's veteran UVA team with 3 NBA draft picks.

Yeah I wasn't impressed with Charlotte or Shepherd. JMU was giving them ample opportunities to take the game but they weren't up to the task. They were too complacent against the zone and I felt that certain players were too timid about pulling the trigger on the 3. I think Sanchez plays a bland style as well which I'm sure JMU fans would gripe about especially for what they are paying him.

I think folks are being too hard on Lewis which I guess comes with the territory. Yeah at times he forces it and takes bad shots but he also makes some very good shots and the balance in scoring was pretty good last night. If Lewis took over it was likely because JMU was without Wilson inside and Banks was in foul trouble most of the night. Lewis had 13 rebounds as a SG. That's pretty impressive. He also managed 4 assists. Those numbers don't strike me as a selfish me first player.

The JMU guards were clearly quicker than Charlotte's - Parker can get to the rim and finish pretty well and Lewis and Banks could as well even though they didn't convert as many of them as they are capable of.

I've not watched enough to have an opinion, but the way he is described reminds me of how people use to talk about David Fanning. (not saying they are similar in size or style, just that people believe they need to pass more)

Fanning did have the ball a lot, but I don't recall as many times thinking "why on earth did he take that shot?" Lewis airballed a 3 last night that made no sense to me why he made the decision in the first place.
But to be fair, I thought that Lewis had less of them last night than last season. He did make some good decisions but seemed to revert to his old ways when the pressure was on.
For Fanning, it seemed like he was a guy that thrived under the pressure.

(11-07-2019 05:25 PM)JMad03 Wrote:  

(11-07-2019 02:42 PM)Dukester Wrote:  

(11-07-2019 02:23 PM)NJDuke97 Wrote:  

(11-07-2019 12:24 PM)ShadyP Wrote:  A couple of observations while watching the game in person last night.

- The changes on the coaching staff are very positive and seems like the support Lou needed to go along with his ability to recruit. The interactions among them looked very well and all the coaches seemed to understand their roles.
- The Freshmen are legit with the size to play immediately. None of them appear to be project players.
- Everyone brought energy and effort throughout the game and always exhibited good body language (aka - no one looked like Deville Phillips)
- The style of play is enjoyable to watch, which is a change from the previous 10 years (Brady offense was awful, pass it around the 3 point line for 25 sec and jack something up and Lou's had been similar)
- Coaches made excellent adjustments out of timeouts and switch from man to zone was huge.
- Most improved players -- Jacobs and Parker. At all times JMU had 5 players on the court that were willing to shoot and were capable of scoring (in past forever that number was 2-3 players you had to defend)
- Ball movement and passing on offense was fairly crisp and did not stagnate.
- Let's hope the FT shooting was an aberation b/c it has to be 65-70% minimum. I mean Lewis is an 80% FT shooter and was 7-14 last night.
- Great job by the freshmen who were thrown into the deep-end of the pool in the opener, with Wilson hurt 24 hours prior to game and Banks severely limited by foul trouble (Banks has to be smarter than that as a Junior).
- Very encouraged from what I saw, after the timeout with the game 31-19 at about the 12 minute mark of the 1st half, JMU played pretty well the remainder of the game. It was nice to see them play well with a lead in the 2nd half and not immediately give the lead up.
- It was interesting to see Jordan Shepherd (r-jr) play, given a 1 game sample size......I would take all of our veteran perimeter players (Parker, Lewis, Banks) over him.
- Now 3-0 against UNCC over last 3 years and 2-0 against Sanchez who folks on this board think is the is next coaching genius b/c he on Tony Bennett's staff at UVA. Given the salary he demanded, not too impressed with his results in 1 year + 1 game (small sample size)
- JMU scored well against UNCC's pack line defense (UVA-lite). Got good looks on the perimeter as well as drives to the basket (Parker owned #1 on drives anytime he wanted it). It will be tougher against UVA, but think the game will not be a blood-bath.....remember JMU is not playing last year's veteran UVA team with 3 NBA draft picks.

Yeah I wasn't impressed with Charlotte or Shepherd. JMU was giving them ample opportunities to take the game but they weren't up to the task. They were too complacent against the zone and I felt that certain players were too timid about pulling the trigger on the 3. I think Sanchez plays a bland style as well which I'm sure JMU fans would gripe about especially for what they are paying him.

I think folks are being too hard on Lewis which I guess comes with the territory. Yeah at times he forces it and takes bad shots but he also makes some very good shots and the balance in scoring was pretty good last night. If Lewis took over it was likely because JMU was without Wilson inside and Banks was in foul trouble most of the night. Lewis had 13 rebounds as a SG. That's pretty impressive. He also managed 4 assists. Those numbers don't strike me as a selfish me first player.

The JMU guards were clearly quicker than Charlotte's - Parker can get to the rim and finish pretty well and Lewis and Banks could as well even though they didn't convert as many of them as they are capable of.

I've not watched enough to have an opinion, but the way he is described reminds me of how people use to talk about David Fanning. (not saying they are similar in size or style, just that people believe they need to pass more)

Fanning did have the ball a lot, but I don't recall as many times thinking "why on earth did he take that shot?" Lewis airballed a 3 last night that made no sense to me why he made the decision in the first place.
But to be fair, I thought that Lewis had less of them last night than last season. He did make some good decisions but seemed to revert to his old ways when the pressure was on.
For Fanning, it seemed like he was a guy that thrived under the pressure.

If I recall correctly I think he carried us on a home game versus WVU and I think the date was December 5. I recall the date because I was so excited about that game for a long period leading up to it. Watch the date not be incorrect, or he did not play versus WVU. Thankfully BDK does not follow basketball.

(11-07-2019 01:58 PM)JMad03 Wrote:  

(11-07-2019 01:46 PM)ShadyP Wrote:  

(11-07-2019 01:39 PM)Longhorn Wrote:  What's the prognosis for Wilson? I heard he hurt his back in practice.

reported as an ankle sprain.........being in a walking boot has nothing to do with your back.

To be a little more specific, it's a high ankle sprain.

Thanks. Ankles (high sprain considered) is better than something related to his back for a big man.

Dang-those high ankle sprains can be a bear. Tevin Coleman of the 49ers had one this year. Injured during the 1st week and didn't return till week 5. And anyone who was a Redskins fan in the 80s will remember George Rogers and the amount of time he missed with that thing. If it's a legit high ankle sprain, no chance we see him on Sunday. Getting him back for the second half of the OOC would be a great outcome.

(11-07-2019 03:14 PM)PGJMU2 Wrote:  

(11-07-2019 02:39 PM)Dukes84 Wrote:  97 --

Lewis doesn't play efficiently...he takes too many bad shots and forces too many others. If he tightens that up, he'll be a much better player and JMU will be that much better off. In another thread, I posted an analytics site, which not surprisingly rates Jacobs and Parker as JMU's best players after one game.

Parker and Jacobs had great games, Lewis had a subpar game. after one game, I dont need an analystics to tell me who played more efficiently.

every team needs a guy that can take, and make bad shots, while mis-firing on some. there are times when a great shot is not available and someone needs to put it up. lewis is our guy. get used to it. that allows less aggressive, and less confident guys to take their shots and be more efficient.

as i said before, if we keep him within the rails, that is fine. last year, many times he was off the rails. i can live with last night. he was 7-18, not awful, and 1-7 from 3. he will hit his share of 3's. he was 7-14 on fts, so drew a bunch of fouls. you need him on that wall.

Last year until we got to the meat of our schedule and going up against conference opponents, Lewis was a turnover machine. It didn't appear to be his weakness against Charlotte.

My opinion is Lewis is a very good player, who will continue to get better as he matures. Coaching will help him to know good shot or bad shot and when to take either. Saw him in person put 40 on Hofstra. Lets be happy we have him for 2 more years, and hope he gets the guidance he needs to take his game to another level.

(11-08-2019 08:50 AM)nyduke Wrote:  My opinion is Lewis is a very good player, who will continue to get better as he matures. Coaching will help him to know good shot or bad shot and when to take either. Saw him in person put 40 on Hofstra. Lets be happy we have him for 2 more years, and hope he gets the guidance he needs to take his game to another level.

Lewis is a junior. I would agree a bit more if we were talking about last year, but he is an upperclassman and leader. I agree that he needs to mature, but with as much time as he's played his first two years I was hoping he would have learned some of those things already.
Rowe really hyped Lewis last year and while he did show signs of brilliance, for the most part he disappointed (purely my opinion).
But you are right- we do have him two more years, but he needs to eliminate his issues sooner rather than later.

(11-07-2019 05:25 PM)JMad03 Wrote:  

(11-07-2019 02:42 PM)Dukester Wrote:  

(11-07-2019 02:23 PM)NJDuke97 Wrote:  

(11-07-2019 12:24 PM)ShadyP Wrote:  A couple of observations while watching the game in person last night.

- The changes on the coaching staff are very positive and seems like the support Lou needed to go along with his ability to recruit. The interactions among them looked very well and all the coaches seemed to understand their roles.
- The Freshmen are legit with the size to play immediately. None of them appear to be project players.
- Everyone brought energy and effort throughout the game and always exhibited good body language (aka - no one looked like Deville Phillips)
- The style of play is enjoyable to watch, which is a change from the previous 10 years (Brady offense was awful, pass it around the 3 point line for 25 sec and jack something up and Lou's had been similar)
- Coaches made excellent adjustments out of timeouts and switch from man to zone was huge.
- Most improved players -- Jacobs and Parker. At all times JMU had 5 players on the court that were willing to shoot and were capable of scoring (in past forever that number was 2-3 players you had to defend)
- Ball movement and passing on offense was fairly crisp and did not stagnate.
- Let's hope the FT shooting was an aberation b/c it has to be 65-70% minimum. I mean Lewis is an 80% FT shooter and was 7-14 last night.
- Great job by the freshmen who were thrown into the deep-end of the pool in the opener, with Wilson hurt 24 hours prior to game and Banks severely limited by foul trouble (Banks has to be smarter than that as a Junior).
- Very encouraged from what I saw, after the timeout with the game 31-19 at about the 12 minute mark of the 1st half, JMU played pretty well the remainder of the game. It was nice to see them play well with a lead in the 2nd half and not immediately give the lead up.
- It was interesting to see Jordan Shepherd (r-jr) play, given a 1 game sample size......I would take all of our veteran perimeter players (Parker, Lewis, Banks) over him.
- Now 3-0 against UNCC over last 3 years and 2-0 against Sanchez who folks on this board think is the is next coaching genius b/c he on Tony Bennett's staff at UVA. Given the salary he demanded, not too impressed with his results in 1 year + 1 game (small sample size)
- JMU scored well against UNCC's pack line defense (UVA-lite). Got good looks on the perimeter as well as drives to the basket (Parker owned #1 on drives anytime he wanted it). It will be tougher against UVA, but think the game will not be a blood-bath.....remember JMU is not playing last year's veteran UVA team with 3 NBA draft picks.

Yeah I wasn't impressed with Charlotte or Shepherd. JMU was giving them ample opportunities to take the game but they weren't up to the task. They were too complacent against the zone and I felt that certain players were too timid about pulling the trigger on the 3. I think Sanchez plays a bland style as well which I'm sure JMU fans would gripe about especially for what they are paying him.

I think folks are being too hard on Lewis which I guess comes with the territory. Yeah at times he forces it and takes bad shots but he also makes some very good shots and the balance in scoring was pretty good last night. If Lewis took over it was likely because JMU was without Wilson inside and Banks was in foul trouble most of the night. Lewis had 13 rebounds as a SG. That's pretty impressive. He also managed 4 assists. Those numbers don't strike me as a selfish me first player.

The JMU guards were clearly quicker than Charlotte's - Parker can get to the rim and finish pretty well and Lewis and Banks could as well even though they didn't convert as many of them as they are capable of.

I've not watched enough to have an opinion, but the way he is described reminds me of how people use to talk about David Fanning. (not saying they are similar in size or style, just that people believe they need to pass more)

Fanning did have the ball a lot, but I don't recall as many times thinking "why on earth did he take that shot?" Lewis airballed a 3 last night that made no sense to me why he made the decision in the first place.
But to be fair, I thought that Lewis had less of them last night than last season. He did make some good decisions but seemed to revert to his old ways when the pressure was on.
For Fanning, it seemed like he was a guy that thrived under the pressure.

Where is he these days? Was the only one worth going to see 20 years ago now.

Not to beat a dead horse (which I'm doing, of course), but Lewis shot 37.6% as a freshman and 38.5% last year, a slight improvement. The other night, his 7 for 18 is 38.9%. The last two years combined he's averaged 15.5 points. It's interesting, however, that among his HS accomplishments was that he shot over 48% from the field as a junior while averaging 15.7 points. He played for the son of legendary HS coach Morgan Wooten, of course, while in HS. So yes, he's capable of improving in that area.

(11-07-2019 05:58 AM)HyperDuke Wrote:  GOAT HCLR shows again why Sanchez isn’t GOAT HCRS.

One game in and so it begins.

Well done.


I did listen in at spots while in car, seemed a pretty typical MBB game, series of runs and answers. Get up, they have a mini run and we're back within 3-4 pts.

Good news is, as that same old creepy feeling was beginning to take hold, the near patented JMU blown lead and 5 pt loss after leading most of the night, didn't take happen here.

As noted several times above, we hit some FT's (those are "free" correct? No hand in face etc.?!?) and this thing isn't really that close. But, even with that glaring hole they managed to close it out for a season opening W. Take that W, stick it in the back pocket, on to the next one. Job reasonably well done.

If this team can continue to progress (*cough FT's cough*) and show this program still has a pulse, people may well begin to tune in again.

Faaaar to early to tell, of course, but the early season optimism blooms anew.