just back from a week in jamaica and all i can say is never plan to stay that long anywhere the liquor is free. now i need two weeks in palm springs at the betty ford clinic to get over my vacation. but for now, it's back to ncaa hoops and i'm going to pick up where i left off last week - on the vcu rams. lots of stats and numbers reasons for the play, but i thought this writeup from the harrisonburg paper was particularly noteworthy:
What?s Wrong With The Dukes?
The injuries may not be dramatic, but James Madison?s basketball players and coaches say they?ve been every bit as damaging as the broken feet suffered by Mickey Dennis and Ron Anderson last season.
Tendinitis. A banged-up shoulder. A chipped bone. A concussion. An aching foot.
Taken together, those little maladies have turned a once-promising season into a near disaster for the Dukes, who enter today?s game against Virginia Commonwealth with a 3-8 record in the Colonial Athletic Association.
"Every day I go into practice, and there?s somebody else out," fifth-year coach Sherman Dillard said Tuesday. "That?s been going on for the last month now."
It might sound like an alibi ? aren?t all teams hurting this time of year? ? but the Dukes insist insidious injuries are the chief reason for the team?s slide, a slide that has fans on those ever-chatty Internet message boards screaming for Dillard?s head.
JMU has compiled a 3-7 record since Jan. 1, reversing a 7-3 start that raised expectations. After finishing 12-17 and tying for seventh in a then nine-team league a year ago, the Dukes were picked in the preseason to place sixth this winter.
Instead, they?re in ninth place in the expanded 10-team CAA with seven games left ? just ahead of lowly Towson.
Last year, Dillard cited youth for Madison?s problems. Now, with three juniors and two sophomores in the starting lineup, the Dukes (10-10 overall) are no longer fuzzy-faced. They are, however, nicked up ? and that?s where Dillard lays the blame for a slump that has seen his club lose seven of its last 10 outings.
"I feel like the Dutch boy, trying to stick his fingers in the dyke," Dillard said.
The injuries don?t pack the visual punch of a cast on a foot. Not the tendinitis in Tim Lyle?s left knee, nor Pat Mitchell?s partially dislocated right shoulder, nor Chris Williams? almost-broken left foot, nor Jerian Younger?s concussion, nor David Fanning?s sore foot.
But they do limit practice time and they can diminish performances during games.
So what?s a coach to do? Dillard, who has three years left on a five-year contract, has decided to place renewed emphasis on defense, particularly after allowing William & Mary to score on nine of its last 11 possessions Monday night to rally from a six-point deficit for a victory.
JMU has held only one of its last seven opponents to under 40 percent shooting. In the season?s first 13 games, the Dukes did so nine times.
"Our ability to contain the dribble penetration is not there right now, and that opens up all kinds of problems," Dillard said. "Now, you?re forcing guys to rotate, and we?re in a scramble mode."
Williams, for one, admitted his defense isn?t what it should be.
"Personally, for me, it?s hard for me to guard quick guards with my foot hurting," Williams said. "It?s hard for me to anticipate which way they?re going or whatever. But we just have to play together. If I get beat, I have to trust my big men to help me out."
Trust was a topic during a players-only meeting conducted Tuesday before practice. The Dukes met for about 20 minutes and "got a lot of things out on the table," according to Williams. Mitchell, a junior forward and one of the most vocal players on the team, called the meeting.
"We just have to look at ourselves, take a look in the mirror and see what we can do better as players," Williams said. "We?re the ones out there on the court."
Dillard, who owns a 98-115 record at Madison, also is searching for a way to re-energize his team.
"It appears to me, we seem like a tired team, very tired," Dillard said. "I think a lot of that has to do with the rough, rugged away schedule that went from mid-December through mid-January [in which JMU played 10 of 12 games on the road]. It took its toll on us. These are still kids. We?re not an NBA team. And I think we?re seeing some of the results of that now."
Dillard second-guessed himself for putting Madison through a hard, yet short, workout on Sunday ? the day between losses to George Mason and W&M. He took the opposite approach Tuesday, having the team spend only about 45 minutes on the court walking through offenses and defenses.
In a pair of significant categories, one on offense (assists) and one on defense (steals), the Dukes rank last in the CAA.
JMU averages just 10.9 assists and 5.0 steals a game. While Dillard said the few assists are not a big concern to him ? he thinks the team is getting good shots -- he is uncomfortable with the steals total.
"I think the number of steals you get is indicative of just how aggressive you are defensively," Dillard said. "While we don?t want to gamble defensively, we still need to be aggressive enough to force some turnovers. Yes, we want to play more containment-type defense, but in doing so we have maybe become a little too conservative."
The Dukes have also tended to withdraw into a shell in the waning moments of close games. Perhaps the most damaging defeat of the season ? a 51-50 loss Jan. 3 at Delaware that snapped a four-game winning streak ? occurred because JMU failed to score in the final 4:30.
Madison has lost all three of its games decided by five or fewer points, and five of six conference games decided by 10 or fewer. It is shooting 39 percent in CAA games, eighth in the league.
"Winning is a learned habit, and losing becomes learned, and you develop some bad habits," Dillard said. "You can?t play tight."
With apparently nothing to lose in their next two games ? JMU will be underdogs against conference pace-setters VCU and North Carolina-Wilmington ? the Dukes have their opening to return to the form that lifted them to early-season upsets of West Virginia and Penn State ("upsets" only because both are power-conference teams).
"I really don?t think anybody can really sleep on us," Williams said. "Hopefully, you get going, get on a little roll before the conference tournament starts, and hopefully go into the conference tournament as a hot team."
But time ? and excuses ? may be growing short.
What?s Wrong With The Dukes?
The injuries may not be dramatic, but James Madison?s basketball players and coaches say they?ve been every bit as damaging as the broken feet suffered by Mickey Dennis and Ron Anderson last season.
Tendinitis. A banged-up shoulder. A chipped bone. A concussion. An aching foot.
Taken together, those little maladies have turned a once-promising season into a near disaster for the Dukes, who enter today?s game against Virginia Commonwealth with a 3-8 record in the Colonial Athletic Association.
"Every day I go into practice, and there?s somebody else out," fifth-year coach Sherman Dillard said Tuesday. "That?s been going on for the last month now."
It might sound like an alibi ? aren?t all teams hurting this time of year? ? but the Dukes insist insidious injuries are the chief reason for the team?s slide, a slide that has fans on those ever-chatty Internet message boards screaming for Dillard?s head.
JMU has compiled a 3-7 record since Jan. 1, reversing a 7-3 start that raised expectations. After finishing 12-17 and tying for seventh in a then nine-team league a year ago, the Dukes were picked in the preseason to place sixth this winter.
Instead, they?re in ninth place in the expanded 10-team CAA with seven games left ? just ahead of lowly Towson.
Last year, Dillard cited youth for Madison?s problems. Now, with three juniors and two sophomores in the starting lineup, the Dukes (10-10 overall) are no longer fuzzy-faced. They are, however, nicked up ? and that?s where Dillard lays the blame for a slump that has seen his club lose seven of its last 10 outings.
"I feel like the Dutch boy, trying to stick his fingers in the dyke," Dillard said.
The injuries don?t pack the visual punch of a cast on a foot. Not the tendinitis in Tim Lyle?s left knee, nor Pat Mitchell?s partially dislocated right shoulder, nor Chris Williams? almost-broken left foot, nor Jerian Younger?s concussion, nor David Fanning?s sore foot.
But they do limit practice time and they can diminish performances during games.
So what?s a coach to do? Dillard, who has three years left on a five-year contract, has decided to place renewed emphasis on defense, particularly after allowing William & Mary to score on nine of its last 11 possessions Monday night to rally from a six-point deficit for a victory.
JMU has held only one of its last seven opponents to under 40 percent shooting. In the season?s first 13 games, the Dukes did so nine times.
"Our ability to contain the dribble penetration is not there right now, and that opens up all kinds of problems," Dillard said. "Now, you?re forcing guys to rotate, and we?re in a scramble mode."
Williams, for one, admitted his defense isn?t what it should be.
"Personally, for me, it?s hard for me to guard quick guards with my foot hurting," Williams said. "It?s hard for me to anticipate which way they?re going or whatever. But we just have to play together. If I get beat, I have to trust my big men to help me out."
Trust was a topic during a players-only meeting conducted Tuesday before practice. The Dukes met for about 20 minutes and "got a lot of things out on the table," according to Williams. Mitchell, a junior forward and one of the most vocal players on the team, called the meeting.
"We just have to look at ourselves, take a look in the mirror and see what we can do better as players," Williams said. "We?re the ones out there on the court."
Dillard, who owns a 98-115 record at Madison, also is searching for a way to re-energize his team.
"It appears to me, we seem like a tired team, very tired," Dillard said. "I think a lot of that has to do with the rough, rugged away schedule that went from mid-December through mid-January [in which JMU played 10 of 12 games on the road]. It took its toll on us. These are still kids. We?re not an NBA team. And I think we?re seeing some of the results of that now."
Dillard second-guessed himself for putting Madison through a hard, yet short, workout on Sunday ? the day between losses to George Mason and W&M. He took the opposite approach Tuesday, having the team spend only about 45 minutes on the court walking through offenses and defenses.
In a pair of significant categories, one on offense (assists) and one on defense (steals), the Dukes rank last in the CAA.
JMU averages just 10.9 assists and 5.0 steals a game. While Dillard said the few assists are not a big concern to him ? he thinks the team is getting good shots -- he is uncomfortable with the steals total.
"I think the number of steals you get is indicative of just how aggressive you are defensively," Dillard said. "While we don?t want to gamble defensively, we still need to be aggressive enough to force some turnovers. Yes, we want to play more containment-type defense, but in doing so we have maybe become a little too conservative."
The Dukes have also tended to withdraw into a shell in the waning moments of close games. Perhaps the most damaging defeat of the season ? a 51-50 loss Jan. 3 at Delaware that snapped a four-game winning streak ? occurred because JMU failed to score in the final 4:30.
Madison has lost all three of its games decided by five or fewer points, and five of six conference games decided by 10 or fewer. It is shooting 39 percent in CAA games, eighth in the league.
"Winning is a learned habit, and losing becomes learned, and you develop some bad habits," Dillard said. "You can?t play tight."
With apparently nothing to lose in their next two games ? JMU will be underdogs against conference pace-setters VCU and North Carolina-Wilmington ? the Dukes have their opening to return to the form that lifted them to early-season upsets of West Virginia and Penn State ("upsets" only because both are power-conference teams).
"I really don?t think anybody can really sleep on us," Williams said. "Hopefully, you get going, get on a little roll before the conference tournament starts, and hopefully go into the conference tournament as a hot team."
But time ? and excuses ? may be growing short.
