Byington for MVP. Brought in a bunch of quality, unselfish, high-character transfers and freshman, not an easy task in today's game.

If I have to pick for the first 25 games it would be Bickerstaff. He has blossomed at JMU with more opportunity after being a complementary player elsewhere at BC and Drexel.

I still think the award will be won in Pensacola. Who will play well when the bright lights are on ? Could be any one of 7 guys.

(02-11-2024 08:16 AM)Duke Dawg Wrote:  Depth is our mvp.

It can’t be one guy.

Team doesn’t have a true go to guy/star, despite what people think of edwards.

We are winning because we have 9 really solid players, whereas most mid major teams might have 4-5 and the rest are average or below. For those teams, when a couple of those solid guys have off days, they are in trouble. And most guys are not going to be on every game.

But it’s unlikely we’ll have all 9 of our solid guys have off days at the same time. There is always a couple to three guys who are having a day.

Bickerstaff, edwards, wooden, green, freidel, brown, Carey. You can look back over the season and find a game for almost every one of those guys and say they were the mvp that day and had a game and we don’t win without them.

Yesterday was Green. I don’t think we win without his threes and steady point play. Who saw that coming pregame? That’s what makes us win. Someone always steps up on the day.

This! And please don’t forget Horton. He is the unsung hero IMO. The balance of this team is the key to our success. We do not rely on one or two players. That is a good formula for winning. Go Dukes!!


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That there is a debate and numerous players have been mentioned tells you everything you need to known there’s not one “most valuable” but numerous “valuable” players. Games like yesterday when guys like Wooden and Freidel aren’t scoring others pick you up, and nobody thought it would be Green. A team like Akron has 2 guys and while Tribble stepped up his game they would’ve needed far more than that to offset what we had. When they get in tournament play and the opponent either shuts down one of those two and/or they’re in foul trouble that team is doomed while our squad has shown numerous guys can step up when needed.

MVP - Friedel
Unsung Hero - Horton

Noah has an impact on nearly every play. Strong defense, deflections, rebounds, diving on the floor, offensive threat any time he’s left open…he’s also been clutch in situations we need him in. Last night not his best offensive night but hit the back breaker 3 ptr. I still am reliving him scoring 5 points in the last 3.8 seconds against Kent State as well. I think Edwards is our most skilled offensive player but Friedel has been my MVP.

Shooters are going to have off nights, more concerning to me were Noah’s two head scratching fouls as the clock was expiring. Have to clean that up before the tournament. I did love how he bounced back from the second bad foul and hit the 3 that pretty much iced the game. The team is gritty and plays so hard and unselfishly.

I also appreciate Bryant Randleman’s play. He is calming on the floor and always seems to make the right play. And don’t look now, but he is shooting over 50% from the field amd 43% from 3! Yikes on his free throws.

Big game(s) Thursday night. There will be a JMU Women’s basketball game at 5 pm and a JMU men’s basketball game at 8 pm. Both games will be played against Georgia State. Good luck to both the men and the women. Go Dukes.

(02-11-2024 10:02 AM)84Breeze Wrote:  

(02-11-2024 08:16 AM)Duke Dawg Wrote:  Depth is our mvp.

It can’t be one guy.

Team doesn’t have a true go to guy/star, despite what people think of edwards.

We are winning because we have 9 really solid players, whereas most mid major teams might have 4-5 and the rest are average or below. For those teams, when a couple of those solid guys have off days, they are in trouble. And most guys are not going to be on every game.

But it’s unlikely we’ll have all 9 of our solid guys have off days at the same time. There is always a couple to three guys who are having a day.

Bickerstaff, edwards, wooden, green, freidel, brown, Carey. You can look back over the season and find a game for almost every one of those guys and say they were the mvp that day and had a game and we don’t win without them.

Yesterday was Green. I don’t think we win without his threes and steady point play. Who saw that coming pregame? That’s what makes us win. Someone always steps up on the day.

This! And please don’t forget Horton. He is the unsung hero IMO. The balance of this team is the key to our success. We do not rely on one or two players. That is a good formula for winning. Go Dukes!!


Sent from my iPhone using Tapatalk

definitely not forgetting Horton.

he might be our most consistent guy. He doesn't do anything flashy or stand out in the box score, but seems every game he finds a way to contribute something meaningful.... a key bucket, rebound, defense.

He's a key player for us because of that consistency and his jack of all trades versatility.

I love Horton.

Don’t know that anyone maximizes their talent more than him.

Not MVP, but love the kid.

Agree 100% on Horton. Loved seeing him get more minutes. I think By originally used Horton and Brown together for defensive pressure to create turnovers and momentum. Both getting more minutes now .

In addition to being a great defender, Horton seems to have that natural instinct of where to be on the court. Kind of an intangible...like Dennis Rodman getting rebounds. A feel for court awareness to be impactful. Love his motor and his game.

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(02-10-2024 07:40 PM)Polish Hammer Wrote:  Beauty is we have multiple options and nobody has to be the MVP every night, one or two guys can be down and others pick it up.

And who would’ve guessed our 8th leading scorer would carry us when others were down and we badly needed someone to step up?

(03-12-2024 02:55 PM)Polish Hammer Wrote:  

(02-10-2024 07:40 PM)Polish Hammer Wrote:  Beauty is we have multiple options and nobody has to be the MVP every night, one or two guys can be down and others pick it up.

And who would’ve guessed our 8th leading scorer would carry us when others were down and we badly needed someone to step up?

I've said it for a long time any of 7 or 8 players can lead or even carry this team on any given game.

Clayton Ritter is the MVP every year

(02-11-2024 09:21 PM)Halz87 Wrote:  Agree 100% on Horton. Loved seeing him get more minutes. I think By originally used Horton and Brown together for defensive pressure to create turnovers and momentum. Both getting more minutes now .

In addition to being a great defender, Horton seems to have that natural instinct of where to be on the court. Kind of an intangible...like Dennis Rodman getting rebounds. A feel for court awareness to be impactful. Love his motor and his game.

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Don’t underestimate the sneakiness! He back-door cuts are awesome!

One of the great things about this team is that they are going to be really tough to prepare for.
There is no single player you can key on to slow the offense down.
This team can get it done on the inside or from three.
Shut down one or two players, then the rest of the team will make up the slack.
This team is dangerous.
They are good enough to legitimately make a run in this tournament.

(03-13-2024 07:29 AM)JMad03 Wrote:  One of the great things about this team is that they are going to be really tough to prepare for.
There is no single player you can key on to slow the offense down.
This team can get it done on the inside or from three.
Shut down one or two players, then the rest of the team will make up the slack.
This team is dangerous.
They are good enough to legitimately make a run in this tournament.

As the season has gone on, they and the coaching staff have gotten better at figuring out who the defense is trying to stop, normally it's been Edwards, and making adjustments to distribute the rock accordingly. By the time we are through two segments, we go on a run. Excellent all the way around, and like you said, dangerous on offense. We just need to make sure the defense shows up like it did in the SB tourney.

(03-13-2024 08:00 AM)CarRamrod Wrote:  

(03-13-2024 07:29 AM)JMad03 Wrote:  One of the great things about this team is that they are going to be really tough to prepare for.
There is no single player you can key on to slow the offense down.
This team can get it done on the inside or from three.
Shut down one or two players, then the rest of the team will make up the slack.
This team is dangerous.
They are good enough to legitimately make a run in this tournament.

As the season has gone on, they and the coaching staff have gotten better at figuring out who the defense is trying to stop, normally it's been Edwards, and making adjustments to distribute the rock accordingly. By the time we are through two segments, we go on a run. Excellent all the way around, and like you said, dangerous on offense. We just need to make sure the defense shows up like it did in the SB tourney.

By mid season each year, Mark seems to lock in on his substitution patterns. He does not always have his best 5 players start the games. Also I think he's as good as any I've seen in utilization of time-outs. Master of drawing up plays.

Lot of great things he does.

MVP of the Sun Belt Tourney was, Noah Friedel! He does everything for the Everything University.