NAIA

Game write up: https://www.dnronline.com/sports/dukes-i...6fe81.html

Interesting note on the 'style points' of destroying them by 95 points: I'm just looking at Massey, but JMU played an NAIA and won by 95...jumped 79 spots to #126. ODU played VA Wesleyan (D3) but only won by 20 (80-60) and they dropped 39 spots to #177. Come tourney time and trying to force our way into an at-large bid, those style points matter. Even if the selection committee has changed their rubric and says they don't pay attention to stuff like that, a 95 point win against NAIA vs 20 point win against D3 makes a difference.

It was good to not see the guys slacking off last night. Both teams played hard from buzzer to buzzer. Once we got up by 50 early in the second half it would have been easy to just slack off and go through the motions. Hopefully our football team (and coaches) were in attendance last night to see what it looks like to play at 100% until 0:00 even when you're up by a bunch.

(11-10-2021 10:05 PM)bridgeforthduke Wrote:  

(11-10-2021 09:46 PM)JMU Wrote:  What a joke. Glad we won, but, WTF with the scheduling. Not a good look for the Dukes.

Apparenrly the story is we were supposed to play Fordham but they backed out. Then Carlow called us up because they were already scheduled to play VMI so we took it.

Curt Dudley said exactly that in an interview - Carlow was up here for VMI Tuesday and called us up to see if we would play so we took it. Carlow knew what they were getting into.

(11-10-2021 06:37 PM)JacksonHall Wrote:  Shortest JMU men's basketball team in history? One 6'8 guy and two 6'7 guys. Gonna get brutalized against real competition. Enjoy Carlow.

ODU's tallest player is 6'8" with a few more 6'7" guys on the roster.

I would take 6'8" and 6'7" athletic, explosive, quick players with some range over a 6'10" or taller "clunky" slow player.

Basketball has changed. You dont need tons of size to compete in today's age. Gotta keep up with the times.

(11-11-2021 09:15 AM)dukesfan4010 Wrote:  Basketball has changed. You dont need tons of size to compete in today's age. Gotta keep up with the times.

I agree especially as Byington wants to get into the passing lanes and force turnovers on defense through pressure going into the break, big guys will just hamper that. Our bigs won’t get every rebound but I count on them being just as explosive as our backcourt and wings.

Reminds me of the Golden State Warriors’ “Death Lineup” which forced the NBA to ditch 7’0” front courts.

A lousy opponent to be sure, but it gave JMU fans a chance to see the new faces on the team, save Ihenacho and Molson. The five new guys (Falden, Sule, Stinson, McConnell and Savage) we did see were all impressive. Even Shane Feden, a walk-on, showed he could shoot the deep ball. I would argue those new guys represent a significant upgrade in talent. Of the three freshman, perhaps Stinson was the least known (although he played on a top ten team nationally in HS), but boy does he look like he's going to be very good and pushing for a starting slot in the not too distant future.

With respect to size, one can argue it either way, but Byington's style is based on a torrid pace, three-point shooting and relentless defense. They also have the depth now to play with a frenetic pace for 40 mins. They were among the national leaders in pace last season (say top 40 teams or thereabouts, if my memory serves on that).

speaking of new faces, I won't know anybody on this team when I go see my first game. Definitely some new faces to learn. I felt like I only knew half of the WBB team Tuesday night.

(11-11-2021 09:15 AM)dukesfan4010 Wrote:  Basketball has changed. You dont need tons of size to compete in today's age. Gotta keep up with the times.

Yep. the game has changed.

75% of "big guys" today roam the perimeter and shoot 3s.

the classic beefy, back to the basket big guy....who has any skill whatsoever...is either going to the pros or going to a P5. There isn't any available for the mids of the world anymore.

I RARELY see a good big outside the p5 anymore.

positionless basketball is how it goes. Coach By's strategy of recruiting talented guards/swingman with size and a couple of mobile power forwards is the right way to go.

I like the makeup of our roster.

Sule, Amadi, Wooden...these 3 "bigs" are more than good enough to help along with the slew of 6'5"/6'6" wings we have. Rebounding should not be an issue for us.

I'll be interested to see how we play against ODU who seems to be similar level team. Not that I did not enjoy the game against the Washington Generals.

(11-11-2021 11:09 AM)Duke Dawg Wrote:  

(11-11-2021 09:15 AM)dukesfan4010 Wrote:  Basketball has changed. You dont need tons of size to compete in today's age. Gotta keep up with the times.

Yep. the game has changed.

75% of "big guys" today roam the perimeter and shoot 3s.

the classic beefy, back to the basket big guy....who has any skill whatsoever...is either going to the pros or going to a P5. There isn't any available for the mids of the world anymore.

I RARELY see a good big outside the p5 anymore.

positionless basketball is how it goes. Coach By's strategy of recruiting talented guards/swingman with size and a couple of mobile power forwards is the right way to go.

I like the makeup of our roster.

Sule, Amadi, Wooden...these 3 "bigs" are more than good enough to help along with the slew of 6'5"/6'6" wings we have. Rebounding should not be an issue for us.

I don't disagree. That said, we have a razor thin margin in case of injury to one of our bigs. In certain situations, foul problems could exacerbate this as well. Be nice to have an additional body and I'm sure Coach will address that in the off season.

Speaking of Sule I was impressed by his athleticism and his ability to handle the ball in the open court. A few times he got the rebound or TO moved the ball up the court made a nice pass to a guard and then got it back for the bucket. Obviously the competition was not great, but you can see he has a lot of upside and is going to be a good pickup for the Dukes.

Sent from my SM-G988U using Tapatalk

Carlow has real good free throw defense.

Dukes only made 8 of 16 last night.

So, at least they have that going for them.

Didn't Carlow just lose 106-0 in football? Did I dream that?

I wish Byington had passed on this game. Maybe he owes somebody from Carlow with mob connections some money or something.

(11-11-2021 12:55 PM)olddawg Wrote:  

(11-11-2021 11:09 AM)Duke Dawg Wrote:  

(11-11-2021 09:15 AM)dukesfan4010 Wrote:  Basketball has changed. You dont need tons of size to compete in today's age. Gotta keep up with the times.

Yep. the game has changed.

75% of "big guys" today roam the perimeter and shoot 3s.

the classic beefy, back to the basket big guy....who has any skill whatsoever...is either going to the pros or going to a P5. There isn't any available for the mids of the world anymore.

I RARELY see a good big outside the p5 anymore.

positionless basketball is how it goes. Coach By's strategy of recruiting talented guards/swingman with size and a couple of mobile power forwards is the right way to go.

I like the makeup of our roster.

Sule, Amadi, Wooden...these 3 "bigs" are more than good enough to help along with the slew of 6'5"/6'6" wings we have. Rebounding should not be an issue for us.

I don't disagree. That said, we have a razor thin margin in case of injury to one of our bigs. In certain situations, foul problems could exacerbate this as well. Be nice to have an additional body and I'm sure Coach will address that in the off season.

Right and that was my other point. Lefty had a bunch of 6'8 and 6'7 guys and it was fine. We have 3 total.

(11-11-2021 05:48 PM)Dukes94 Wrote:  Didn't Carlow just lose 106-0 in football? Did I dream that?

I wish Byington had passed on this game. Maybe he owes somebody from Carlow with mob connections some money or something.

You were dreaming it as they don't have a football team.

They are 1-3 this year with a win and a close loss at their level. Not sure if it was a worthwhile game or not, but I don't think it will have any bearing on how we do against ODU.

I have a feeling we will be pleasantly surprised on Saturday with how well the team does.

(11-12-2021 12:13 PM)jmu98 Wrote:  

(11-11-2021 05:48 PM)Dukes94 Wrote:  Didn't Carlow just lose 106-0 in football? Did I dream that?

I wish Byington had passed on this game. Maybe he owes somebody from Carlow with mob connections some money or something.

You were dreaming it as they don't have a football team.

They are 1-3 this year with a win and a close loss at their level. Not sure if it was a worthwhile game or not, but I don't think it will have any bearing on how we do against ODU.

I have a feeling we will be pleasantly surprised on Saturday with how well the team does.

I was just making a reference to that 106-0 high school football game.