So the Hoops team has played 11 of its 31 regular season games and has been impressive with the exception of the inexplicable home loss to Tennesse-Martin.
Typically coaches have their rotation set by this time of the year, but I think Brady is still not sure what he will go with as the conference games approach. It appears he could use one more ball handler/penetrator, but is not giving minutes to Devontae Morgan who has that skill set. If CAA opponents pressure the Dukes he may need to consider that option and just put a red light on Morgan's shooting. No layup, no shot.

The 3pt shooting has been stellar and 4 Dukes are connecting at 40% or better rates. I think the team has enough shooters that the % will stay high during the year, but Shak will obviously go down as he takes way too many bad shots. Curry will likely pick up the slack as his early % is down from last year.
There is no reason Cabarkapa and Kent can't continue draining their 3's when they get open looks.

I've been most impressed with the team rebounding. It has allowed the Dukes to win games even when their shooting is off. Shak has done well from the wing and Vodanovich has embraced his thug role. I also think the rebounding edge will continue since Dalembert hasn't really hit his stride yet. When he does, he will be one of the most prominent interior forces in the league. The Dukes will be able to play inside out and that will make him a double double threat on any given night.

So we have a team that shoots very well and very often from downtown. We also have a team that rebounds very well.
Even with average defense the Dukes have a formula for lots of wins.
March in Baltimore should be fun.

Is anybody else as impressed as I am 1/3 of the way into the season? I was thinking the team would be better this year, but their record might be similar to last year due to the CAA being better.
Perhaps they have enough to push for the CAA title.

I like the team and I love the depth - although, it seems like Brady is struggling to find a rotation. I think that he'd like Morgan to play more minutes, but Morgan's play hasn't been deserving of more minutes than others.

The 3 point shooting has been great. I haven't checked the stats, but I'm under the impression that the perimeter defense has been much improved. Perimeter defense is something that most of Brady's teams have struggled with.

Like you said, the UT-Martin loss at home was a weird one. But anything can happen in CBB and the wins against Richmond and GMU make that one hurt much less.

Rebounding has also been a pleasant surprise. As has Vodo's improvement - but I'd prefer that he cut down on the 3s early in possessions.

I also think that this team is not firing on all cylinders right now with YoYo working his way back from injury. A Sr. point guard, good inside presence once YoYo is back, good shooting, 3 guys that can really give defenses trouble, decent rebounding, a grinder (Vodo), good depth. There is a lot to be optimistic about here.

I don't think they have hit their stride yet- the positive for me is that they are very deep- they are even getting contributions from Lukic (looks improved), Satkius has cut down on his turnovers, and Dimitre is a weapon on offense (inside and out). Obviously Curry YoYo and Brown are their best players but they have some good role players most of whom are upper classmen with toughness and experience. I will be curious to see how they play against the CAA's better teams- the conference is up this year but I think the Dukes are a better team as well with the potential to become even better. Brady is a solid game coach as well and hopefully they keep winning so that the home crowds are solid. I think they finish OOC 10-3 and I could see a 14-4 first place CAA finish in their future. Brady has said that this has the potential to be his best team at JMU and I believe that's he right- when they move the ball they can be tough to defend and their depth, size/length can make it tough on opposing offenses to score.

I'm also very excited! The biggest difference I see this year is their ability to not fall behind early in the game. I remember last year if we were down by less than 15 at the half I would be satisfied and think it was a good half for us (we were always a 2nd half team)

Also, would like to see more Morgan. I feel like aside from Curry, we have no one that can fully penetrate to the rim...it would be nice to have a threat in there to give our guys more space on the perimeter for shots when needed.

I agree with nj duke, this time is no where near hitting its stride yet. This team likes one another more so than any duke team in recent years. Also, there are few if any distractions with selfishness or academics and hopefully this continues. In the near future i think we need to discuss extending bradys contract so hes not hindered with recruiting for the class of 2017 when we lose 9 players. I do think you will some redshirts next year, possibly Lukic and or Hollywood.

So far so good. 11-7 in the CAA would be a very good league record. Hofstra, Northeastern, William and Mary, UNCW, Towson and Charleston all have looked good. Delaware always has talent. I am looking forward to game next Sunday vs ECU.

the caa is going to be formidable this year, but we need to be alot better than 11 n 7....with our talent and skill level im expecting more like 13-5

Mike Barber has a good article in the Richmond Times Dispatch today on the Dukes. It features Ron Curry and the "shot doctor". Picture of Ron dunking at JPJ.

I had not seen JMU in person this season until the last game versus Mason. JMU is vastly improved over last season, when I saw them four times in person (UVA, High Point, Drexel and Hofstra). All of the players on scholarship can play, even the 11th and 12th men, Morgan and Kangni, both of whom are extremely athletic. Ivan Lukic is quite skilled now...not sure how many have noticed that. And if you listen to Brady prior to the Mason game, he notes how much stronger the forwards now are. I agree that the team looks more confident, physically stronger, more skilled and better conditioned. If they can stay healthy, there's no one on the schedule they can't beat. I don't know what happened versus Oral Roberts and UT Martin, but perhaps those losses provided a valuable lesson going forward. And I agree that they have yet to reach their stride....good things are in store if they can stay healthy going forward.

I think the team is looking good so far and a bit better/ahead of where I thought they would be at this point of the season. I think Brady will need to trim that rotation down to 9 guys to better maintain a steady flow without quite so many quick substitutions. Is hard to get a cohesiveness going and into the flow of the game is trying to find playing time for 11 guys. As far as I can tell Brady has given them all a chance to earn there playing time for the rest of the year in Nov & Dec. Conference time is around the corner and got to trim that rotation now.

From what I have seen JMU has played very well on the road and aside from that perplexing showing against UT-Martin solid at home. It's basketball and you are gonna have a stinker or two early in the year so I will just chalk that up to that at this point. Forget it and move on down the road.

Shooting looks good, defense looks good, rebounding looks good. I think JMU is poised to have a pretty good year if they keep working hard. One thing I really like is that this team seems to really get along and like playing the game together. They don't seem to care who is scoring.

Keep in mind when speaking of the need to have a set rotation- this years depth allows Brady to game by game maneuver the rotation- meaning that barring some bad foul trouble or a big score differential he has been playing with a set rotation game to game. It's why some of us have questioned why Morgan isn't getting more run because in a game if McLean, Grays, etc. are giving him enough in the backcourt he doesn't expand the rotation for that game to include more players. You have the same 6-7 core guys who will play every game and then 4-5 others who's playing time will vary based on opponent/matchups , foul trouble, how the team is playing etc. Now that Brown is a starter and Kent and Satkius are playing better I'm more comfortable with how's he's managing minutes game by game.

http://www.rpiforecast.com/teams/James%20Madison.html

The latest College Insider podcast is on the Dukes
http://www.collegeinsider.com/college-ba...-podcasts/

They're also receiving the most votes of those unranked in the mid major poll, esentially making them number 26

I Have yet to go to a game but have watched several on Madizone.(wasted money on season tickets...) This appears to be the most fundamentally sound and cohesive Madison team since 1999. I think cohesiveness and chemistry has been our biggest issue instead of talent. Due to recruiting difficulty's and culture shock, Brady has had trouble getting the exact players he wanted and in turn just got the best talent he could muster and threw them on the court---This allowed him to rally enough wins-- An NCAA appearance and a CAA regular season title, to get some footing in recruiting and target more of "his" style guys instead of the best available player. Which in turn will provide cohesion and better chemistry. This will give us a better chance to make a run, and look good doing it, as we continue to build. I expect us to be the Banner carrier of the CAA in the near future(as long as we stay in it). I really am happy with this team--(Every mid-major has a bad loss or two in a season). Go Dukes!

IMO the NCAA helped recruiting (YoYo was brought on post tourney) but I also think that Brady has learned and evolved- maybe not as quickly as you would hope but they put more of a priority on skill and addressed specific needs- inside toughness as an example while balancing the need for good students. I think the staff has done a good job in skill development with this group. Every player to a man has gotten better (shooting, inside post moves, defense) and stronger. Seems like a coachable group and a better culture as a result. I think he's found a formula moving forward for JMU to be a more consistent 75-100 RPI level team (everything from scheduling to the composition of the team, to the style that they play, etc.) . All fans (myself included) would like for them to strive for more obviously. The recruiting formula is a combination of 4 year local/regional kids, selective Juco and 4 year transfers, with an eye on foreign talent where available. He likes big guards and forwards who can shoot the 3. Hope to see this philosophy put to work in the 2017 class. The team has an identity and fits better now than it once did.

(12-15-2015 10:05 AM)lexduke398 Wrote:  I Have yet to go to a game but have watched several on Madizone.(wasted money on season tickets...) This appears to be the most fundamentally sound and cohesive Madison team since 1999. I think cohesiveness and chemistry has been our biggest issue instead of talent. Due to recruiting difficulty's and culture shock, Brady has had trouble getting the exact players he wanted and in turn just got the best talent he could muster and threw them on the court---This allowed him to rally enough wins-- An NCAA appearance and a CAA regular season title, to get some footing in recruiting and target more of "his" style guys instead of the best available player. Which in turn will provide cohesion and better chemistry. This will give us a better chance to make a run, and look good doing it, as we continue to build. I expect us to be the Banner carrier of the CAA in the near future(as long as we stay in it). I really am happy with this team--(Every mid-major has a bad loss or two in a season). Go Dukes!

That's a very astute observation Lexduke, and I agree with it.

(12-15-2015 12:53 PM)NJDuke97 Wrote:  IMO the NCAA helped recruiting (YoYo was brought on post tourney) but I also think that Brady has learned and evolved- maybe not as quickly as you would hope but they put more of a priority on skill and addressed specific needs- inside toughness as an example while balancing the need for good students. I think the staff has done a good job in skill development with this group. Every player to a man has gotten better (shooting, inside post moves, defense) and stronger. Seems like a coachable group and a better culture as a result. I think he's found a formula moving forward for JMU to be a more consistent 75-100 RPI level team (everything from scheduling to the composition of the team, to the style that they play, etc.) . All fans (myself included) would like for them to strive for more obviously. The recruiting formula is a combination of 4 year local/regional kids, selective Juco and 4 year transfers, with an eye on foreign talent where available. He likes big guards and forwards who can shoot the 3. Hope to see this philosophy put to work in the 2017 class. The team has an identity and fits better now than it once did.

Brady is not out of the woods just yet, but we can't forget that he was nearly fired after Year 4 and that he was effectively given a 3-year extension after making the NCAAs in Year 5. His uncertain employment status has not helped with recruiting, I dare say, including this past fall when JMU only got one commit. The guy has had more lives than a cat, but the administration has largely done him no favors. Will be interesting, as always, what unfolds following this season with respect to his retention. I guess one could argue that his tenuous employment status has helped him (on balance, I don't think so because of its impact on recruiting).

(12-15-2015 02:13 PM)Dukes84 Wrote:  

(12-15-2015 12:53 PM)NJDuke97 Wrote:  IMO the NCAA helped recruiting (YoYo was brought on post tourney) but I also think that Brady has learned and evolved- maybe not as quickly as you would hope but they put more of a priority on skill and addressed specific needs- inside toughness as an example while balancing the need for good students. I think the staff has done a good job in skill development with this group. Every player to a man has gotten better (shooting, inside post moves, defense) and stronger. Seems like a coachable group and a better culture as a result. I think he's found a formula moving forward for JMU to be a more consistent 75-100 RPI level team (everything from scheduling to the composition of the team, to the style that they play, etc.) . All fans (myself included) would like for them to strive for more obviously. The recruiting formula is a combination of 4 year local/regional kids, selective Juco and 4 year transfers, with an eye on foreign talent where available. He likes big guards and forwards who can shoot the 3. Hope to see this philosophy put to work in the 2017 class. The team has an identity and fits better now than it once did.

Brady is not out of the woods just yet, but we can't forget that he was nearly fired after Year 4 and that he was effectively given a 3-year extension after making the NCAAs in Year 5. His uncertain employment status has not helped with recruiting, I dare say, including this past fall when JMU only got one commit. The guy has had more lives than a cat, but the administration has largely done him no favors. Will be interesting, as always, what unfolds following this season with respect to his retention. I guess one could argue that his tenuous employment status has helped him (on balance, I don't think so because of its impact on recruiting).

I agree that he's not out of the woods. A lot can happen over the next few months, good and bad. Brady has greatly benefited from the administration's unwillingness/inability to buy out a contract. That won't be an issue after this season.

(12-14-2015 05:27 PM)Dukes84 Wrote:  http://www.rpiforecast.com/teams/James%20Madison.html

According to that we'd only be home 'dogs vs. W&M and our likely record would be 20-10 to 18-12