(11-28-2020 12:51 AM)olddawg Wrote: Contrary to what some think, the team that beat them today is talented, albeit from the MEAC[/b]. They returned 10 players from a team that went 12-4 in conference a year ago.
Good point. I think Curt said NSU had their top 10 players (in terms of minutes played) returning this year. With disjointed practice time, a new coach & philosophy to learn and basically a whole new roster for JMU, that kind of continuity gave them a big advantage.
Unfortunately, that statement isn’t accurate. They did not return their top 10 players. We can’t explain this one away.
-Norfolk State was playing its very first game
-their coach admitted they only had 4 full practices in the last 40 days due to quarantines and injuries.
-they were supposed to return 3 starters, but they graduated key players in their #1 and #3 scorer. Their #2 scorer from last year also sat out yesterday as we found out right before game time.
-yes NSU was 12-4 in the MEAC last year which is the worst rated conference in the country. They were also a miserable 1-11 OOC for a total of 13-15. Not a good team and ranked in the 250 to 280 range last year depending on what rating you look at.
- so not very good last year, missing #1,#2,#3 scorers for this game and their offense simply played much better than JMU’s offense.
We shouldn’t try to fool ourselves that this was a good opponent. It was an upset At home and it should sting. Certainly not the way any of us wanted the AUBC opening to go.
At least Coach By and the team can scout Radford today In person as they play Norfolk State in the AUBC. The team needs to salvage something out of this holiday weekend and the OOC will be over before you blink. After tomorrow, 3 of 8 scheduled OOC games will be complete.