(11-19-2019 03:22 PM)Dukester Wrote: (11-19-2019 02:54 PM)Dukes84 Wrote: Dukester --
If Rowe is retained, which team -- JMU or W&M -- will have a better record next season (2020-21)?
W&M will lose some key seniors, and we won't. We bring back all our key players. We will walk into a new Arena. They will retain an updated Kaplin arena. It should be a no brainer, but I'm not that confident JMU would be the better team.
'84 - Did you watch the W&M game last night? Did they appeared to be well coached? Do you walk away from JMU games feeling we are well coached?
Dukester --
I did not watch the W&M game, but I followed the moves that W&M made closely after firing Shaver. And I read up on his replacement and thought he would be good in time. I also know that for this season, they have Nathan Knight (saw him in at least one top 50 ranking of players), who is a legit NBA prospect; a 7 foot fifth year Big Ten transfer that just won CAA player of the week; and I believe two other grad transfers in their starting line-up. All of those four players will be gone after this season. I said before the season that I thought that W&M, Towson and DE were all undervalued. So far, I've been correct on that and DE has yet to add the Villanova transfer (Painter, brother of JMU TE) until next month. Next season, therefore, and perhaps the one after, W&M will be taking their lumps, while JMU could be loaded next year.
Rowe's greatest strength is his ability to recognize talent, recruit talent and then build relationships with his players. I've advocated that he hire better assistants to help him with the X's and O's. He's seemingly done that, perhaps at the prompting of the JMU Admin. In fact, he's added three new coaches to his staff. On top of that, 7 of the 13 players on the roster are technically freshman, plus there's one sophomore. Are they where they need to be at this point? No, but I understand that the changes will take time and will require adjustment. On top of that, they've got a couple of post players that are injured.
To be perfectly honest, I don't think their offensive philosophy is sustainable. And on defense, they're getting eaten up inside. Having said that, I believe they will adjust and I've seen growth and improvement, especially on Saturday night. I'm hoping that they will continue to make rapid improvement and that they will be a very competitive team later in the season.
Playing UVA, Mason and ODU on the road is not an easy task. All three of those teams are coached by excellent coaches. Mason's faithful wanted Paulsen fired a year ago after he got out to an 0-3 start. Instead the administration stood by him and he was extended, I believe, and they turned their season around after that. In any event, you can see how well coached his team is, especially on the defensive side of the ball. And I do think he's improved his talent level, with this year's team having the most talent under his tenure. Is JMU's talent better? I don't know. JMU is perhaps more athletic, but Mason's players are very skilled. Paulsen has also been a head coach for many years and at different levels. That gave him a chance to develop. Rowe is a novice, by comparison.
I would suggest letting the season play out and then assessing at the end. Too early to make too many judgments at this point. I do like the freshman class, though.