Convo Time
JMU Has A Chance To Move Up In Standings
Posted: January 22, 2013
HARRISONBURG — After practice Monday evening, more than half of the James Madison basketball team hung around the Convocation Center to put up extra shots, attempt flashy dunks, talk to coaches or play one-on-one against each other.
The Dukes were having fun, clowning around a bit. They looked comfortable and at home.
They can get used to the feeling.
JMU (9-10 overall, 3-3 in the Colonial Athletic Association) will play five of its next six games – all against CAA foes – in the Convo. The stretch, beginning with Wednesday’s game against Delaware, might spark a team that has performed far better at home than on the road.
“Obviously, we’re not doing good on the road this year,” point guard Devon Moore said. “Just to be at home is great. To have the extra energy and support system is great to have at home.”
The Dukes are 5-2 at home and each loss was by a single point, to George Washington and Richmond – both of the Atlantic 10. They are 3-1 in neutral-site games, but a wretched 1-7 in true road games after losing 73-47 at Towson on Saturday.
JMU’s 25.5 percent shooting in that game was the team’s worst mark since 2000. While that number is an extreme, it corresponds with a trend: the Dukes have shot 47.8 percent in seven home games this season, 43.2 percent in four neutral games and just 37.2 percent in eight true road games.
“We’re more used to shooting on these rims,” freshman guard Andre Nation said. “There’s no excuse for us to be one and whatever we is on true road games. We better than that. I don’t know what’s going on with that.
“Fourteen of 55, whatever we went at Towson, that’s just horrible.”
JMU was indeed 14-of-55 from the field at Towson, and it’s not as if the Tigers’ defense was irrepressibly dominant. The Dukes missed open shots they often hit. They clanked the first five attempts of the second half, allowing Towson to extend its lead to double digits and pull away from there.
“Having watched the film again and again, there’s really nothing in the game-plan we’d change,” coach Matt Brady said Monday at his weekly press conference. “We had a number of – I thought – really good shots, in both halves. We start the second half in a close game and we miss our first [five] shots. And I would take probably [most of those] shots all over again.”
In CAA play, Madison has won both its home games (vs. North Carolina-Wilmington and Drexel), but is just 1-3 on the road.
After Wednesday’s game against Delaware, the Dukes host Old Dominion on Saturday. They play at UNCW on Monday, and then return home to play Hofstra on Jan. 31, George Mason on Feb. 2 and William & Mary on Feb. 6.
The home stretch is critically important for the Dukes, who are tied for fifth place in the 11-team CAA (fourth among the seven teams eligible for the league tournament).
JMU is 2-0 at home and 1-3 on the road in Colonial action this season. Home teams are 17-14 within CAA play this year; last year, they were 62-46. JMU (2-7 at home, 3-6 on the road) was one of two teams to post a better road record last year – not that the Dukes were stellar anywhere.
It’s been a different story this season. JMU has looked like a completely different team based on a game’s location.
“It’s certainly much more comfortable for freshmen to play at home than on the road,” said Brady, who has relied on four freshmen in his rotation. “The disappointing thing for us is that our seniors have not played well, I don’t think, on the road this year.”
Nation, the freshman guard, is the poster child for the Dukes’ home-away imbalance. He’s shooting 24-for-48 (50 percent) at home, 9-for-24 (37.5 percent) at neutral sites and 13-for-58 (22.4 percent) on the road.
What’s the difference?
“That traveling, it drains you – like physically, mentally,” Nation said. “It’s tough. But there’s no excuse to be one and whatever we are on the road.”
The Dukes average 61.9 points per game on the road, 63 in neutral locations and 70 at home. Strength of schedule might be a factor, but the Dukes’ slate hasn’t been so tilted that it alone would produce such a drastic difference.
How about the purple-clad crowd?
JMU is averaging 3,145 fans per game. They’re loud enough to be noticed but not enough to single-handedly alter a game. But, when given a menu of potential reasons for the home-away imbalance, Brady said he thinks the home fans are the biggest reason for JMU’s success at the Convo.
“We maintain one of the great home-court advantages in the CAA,” he said. “We’re thankful that we’ve played well at home and we’ve gotten some wins. I think that we’re a pretty good home team; I think that we’ve played better basketball at home than on the road, and hopefully that support will continue.”
The Dukes were having fun, clowning around a bit. They looked comfortable and at home.
They can get used to the feeling.
JMU (9-10 overall, 3-3 in the Colonial Athletic Association) will play five of its next six games – all against CAA foes – in the Convo. The stretch, beginning with Wednesday’s game against Delaware, might spark a team that has performed far better at home than on the road.
“Obviously, we’re not doing good on the road this year,” point guard Devon Moore said. “Just to be at home is great. To have the extra energy and support system is great to have at home.”
The Dukes are 5-2 at home and each loss was by a single point, to George Washington and Richmond – both of the Atlantic 10. They are 3-1 in neutral-site games, but a wretched 1-7 in true road games after losing 73-47 at Towson on Saturday.
JMU’s 25.5 percent shooting in that game was the team’s worst mark since 2000. While that number is an extreme, it corresponds with a trend: the Dukes have shot 47.8 percent in seven home games this season, 43.2 percent in four neutral games and just 37.2 percent in eight true road games.
“We’re more used to shooting on these rims,” freshman guard Andre Nation said. “There’s no excuse for us to be one and whatever we is on true road games. We better than that. I don’t know what’s going on with that.
“Fourteen of 55, whatever we went at Towson, that’s just horrible.”
JMU was indeed 14-of-55 from the field at Towson, and it’s not as if the Tigers’ defense was irrepressibly dominant. The Dukes missed open shots they often hit. They clanked the first five attempts of the second half, allowing Towson to extend its lead to double digits and pull away from there.
“Having watched the film again and again, there’s really nothing in the game-plan we’d change,” coach Matt Brady said Monday at his weekly press conference. “We had a number of – I thought – really good shots, in both halves. We start the second half in a close game and we miss our first [five] shots. And I would take probably [most of those] shots all over again.”
In CAA play, Madison has won both its home games (vs. North Carolina-Wilmington and Drexel), but is just 1-3 on the road.
After Wednesday’s game against Delaware, the Dukes host Old Dominion on Saturday. They play at UNCW on Monday, and then return home to play Hofstra on Jan. 31, George Mason on Feb. 2 and William & Mary on Feb. 6.
The home stretch is critically important for the Dukes, who are tied for fifth place in the 11-team CAA (fourth among the seven teams eligible for the league tournament).
JMU is 2-0 at home and 1-3 on the road in Colonial action this season. Home teams are 17-14 within CAA play this year; last year, they were 62-46. JMU (2-7 at home, 3-6 on the road) was one of two teams to post a better road record last year – not that the Dukes were stellar anywhere.
It’s been a different story this season. JMU has looked like a completely different team based on a game’s location.
“It’s certainly much more comfortable for freshmen to play at home than on the road,” said Brady, who has relied on four freshmen in his rotation. “The disappointing thing for us is that our seniors have not played well, I don’t think, on the road this year.”
Nation, the freshman guard, is the poster child for the Dukes’ home-away imbalance. He’s shooting 24-for-48 (50 percent) at home, 9-for-24 (37.5 percent) at neutral sites and 13-for-58 (22.4 percent) on the road.
What’s the difference?
“That traveling, it drains you – like physically, mentally,” Nation said. “It’s tough. But there’s no excuse to be one and whatever we are on the road.”
The Dukes average 61.9 points per game on the road, 63 in neutral locations and 70 at home. Strength of schedule might be a factor, but the Dukes’ slate hasn’t been so tilted that it alone would produce such a drastic difference.
How about the purple-clad crowd?
JMU is averaging 3,145 fans per game. They’re loud enough to be noticed but not enough to single-handedly alter a game. But, when given a menu of potential reasons for the home-away imbalance, Brady said he thinks the home fans are the biggest reason for JMU’s success at the Convo.
“We maintain one of the great home-court advantages in the CAA,” he said. “We’re thankful that we’ve played well at home and we’ve gotten some wins. I think that we’re a pretty good home team; I think that we’ve played better basketball at home than on the road, and hopefully that support will continue.”