Moore Power For Madison
Posted: February 9, 2013
HARRISONBURG — Frantz Massenat adorns the cover of this season’s CAA Basketball Yearbook because the Drexel junior received the most votes for the league’s preseason Player of the Year honor. But if the vote were taken now, two-thirds of the way through the Colonial Athletic Association season, Massenat might fall behind another of the conference’s point guards.
James Madison senior Devon Moore, who has boosted his production in the last two weeks, is putting together an increasingly noteworthy season for the Dukes (14-11 overall, 8-4 in the CAA), who will try to sweep Drexel on Sunday in Philadelphia.
“I wouldn’t trade him for any point guard in this league, and he’s certainly exactly what we need,” JMU coach Matt Brady said of Moore, a four-year starter.
Both Moore and Massenat are in the race for spots on the CAA’s second and third all-league teams, based on an informal poll of several beat writers around the league.
The tale of the tape is tight.
Basic stats: Moore is averaging 11 points, 3.4 rebounds, a league-leading 4.5 assists and 1.3 steals per game. Massenat is averaging 14 points, 2.7 rebounds, 4.3 assists and 0.6 steals.
While Massenat scores more, he’s less efficient than Moore. The Ewing, N.J., native — who was second behind George Mason’s Ryan Pearson for final Player of the Year voting last season — is shooting 36.8 percent (down from 42.9 last season) and 33.7 percent from 3-point range (down from 45 percent.).
Moore meanwhile, is making 49.2 percent of his shots, including 40.5 percent from 3, which would rank fourth in the conference if he had enough attempts to qualify. He’s also perhaps the best perimeter defender in the league.
Does Moore think he’s the best point guard in the CAA?
“I wouldn’t say that. I’m doing well, but there are a lot of guards who are doing well and leading their team,” Moore said Friday after practice. “I’m having an OK year this year — just got to keep it up.”
That’s typical humility from Moore, who calls every opposing team a “great team” and goes out of his way to praise individual opponents. Like, in this weekend’s case, Massenat.
“There are a lot of guards out there that are doing a lot better things than I am,” Moore said. “Massenat still, regardless of his numbers, he’s by far one of the best guards in this league.”
Northeastern’s Jonathan Lee and Georgia State’s Devonta White are also in the mix when considering the league’s top point guards. Delaware’s Devon Saddler and William & Mary’s Marcus Thornton both score in bunches but are more combo guards than pure point guards.
Offensively, Drexel (9-14, 5-6) relies on Massenat more than JMU does Moore. Massenat’s usage rate — a metric that measures how often a team’s possessions end with a shot, free-throw attempt or turnover when that player is on the floor — is 48.5 percent. Moore’s is just 36.2 percent.
Drexel coach Bruiser Flint has said that Massenat, sensing his team’s struggles, has tried to do too much at times this season.
When JMU and Drexel last met, on Jan. 12 at the Convocation Center, the Dragons were without leading scorer Damion Lee and starting center Daryl McCoy. Massenat led Drexel with 13 points on just 4-for-15 shooting in an ugly 51-43 loss. Moore, along with forward Rayshawn Goins, led the game with 14 points on 5-for-11 shooting.
If the Dukes are to register their third series sweep of the season — something they haven’t done since 2002-03 — it might be without Goins on Sunday. The senior big-man missed Wednesday’s 81-71 win over William & Mary with an injured right foot, and still hadn’t returned to practice as of Friday. Brady said Friday he was unsure of Goins’ status.
Drexel, meanwhile, should have its previously injured starters in the lineup, although Lee, who’s averaging 17.2 points per game, went scoreless in a home loss Thursday against Old Dominion. Flint said after the game that the sophomore guard was playing sick.
Drexel, the preseason pick to win the league, has been a major disappointment. The Dragons are in seventh place and became the first CAA team to lose to ODU, which played its first game under interim coach Jim Corrigan after the school fired Blaine Taylor on Tuesday. Stout defensively in prior seasons, Drexel allowed Old Dominion to score 78 points, the highest total of the season for the Monarchs.
“We’ve only got seven games left, and if you are not woke up now, you aren’t going to wake up,” Flint said after the loss.
The Dragons dropped to 2-7 at home. JMU, which played three of its past four at the Convo, is just 2-7 on the road, where it will play four of its last six regular-season games. Madison did win its last road game, and it was mostly because of Moore, who took over in the second half at North Carolina-Wilmington on Jan. 28.
He finished with 19 points that night. The Dukes’ next game, against Hofstra, Moore was quiet, scoring just two points in 23 minutes before leaving with an ankle injury. He bounced back to tally a career-high 25 last Saturday in a loss to George Mason, and then notched 17 points and 12 assists in Wednesday’s win against W&M.
Moore said he’s being more aggressive this season, though his 7.5 shots per game are the fewest since his freshman year. The one area in which he’s struggled is at the free-throw line, where he’s making just 72.3 percent of his tries.
Still, the Dukes want the ball in Moore’s hands at the end of any close game, which Sunday’s 7 p.m. matchup should be.
“You never know what you’re going to get,” Moore said of Massenat. “He can shoot, he can drive, he’s great at leading his team. You definitely know it’s going to be a war with him.”
James Madison senior Devon Moore, who has boosted his production in the last two weeks, is putting together an increasingly noteworthy season for the Dukes (14-11 overall, 8-4 in the CAA), who will try to sweep Drexel on Sunday in Philadelphia.
“I wouldn’t trade him for any point guard in this league, and he’s certainly exactly what we need,” JMU coach Matt Brady said of Moore, a four-year starter.
Both Moore and Massenat are in the race for spots on the CAA’s second and third all-league teams, based on an informal poll of several beat writers around the league.
The tale of the tape is tight.
Basic stats: Moore is averaging 11 points, 3.4 rebounds, a league-leading 4.5 assists and 1.3 steals per game. Massenat is averaging 14 points, 2.7 rebounds, 4.3 assists and 0.6 steals.
While Massenat scores more, he’s less efficient than Moore. The Ewing, N.J., native — who was second behind George Mason’s Ryan Pearson for final Player of the Year voting last season — is shooting 36.8 percent (down from 42.9 last season) and 33.7 percent from 3-point range (down from 45 percent.).
Moore meanwhile, is making 49.2 percent of his shots, including 40.5 percent from 3, which would rank fourth in the conference if he had enough attempts to qualify. He’s also perhaps the best perimeter defender in the league.
Does Moore think he’s the best point guard in the CAA?
“I wouldn’t say that. I’m doing well, but there are a lot of guards who are doing well and leading their team,” Moore said Friday after practice. “I’m having an OK year this year — just got to keep it up.”
That’s typical humility from Moore, who calls every opposing team a “great team” and goes out of his way to praise individual opponents. Like, in this weekend’s case, Massenat.
“There are a lot of guards out there that are doing a lot better things than I am,” Moore said. “Massenat still, regardless of his numbers, he’s by far one of the best guards in this league.”
Northeastern’s Jonathan Lee and Georgia State’s Devonta White are also in the mix when considering the league’s top point guards. Delaware’s Devon Saddler and William & Mary’s Marcus Thornton both score in bunches but are more combo guards than pure point guards.
Offensively, Drexel (9-14, 5-6) relies on Massenat more than JMU does Moore. Massenat’s usage rate — a metric that measures how often a team’s possessions end with a shot, free-throw attempt or turnover when that player is on the floor — is 48.5 percent. Moore’s is just 36.2 percent.
Drexel coach Bruiser Flint has said that Massenat, sensing his team’s struggles, has tried to do too much at times this season.
When JMU and Drexel last met, on Jan. 12 at the Convocation Center, the Dragons were without leading scorer Damion Lee and starting center Daryl McCoy. Massenat led Drexel with 13 points on just 4-for-15 shooting in an ugly 51-43 loss. Moore, along with forward Rayshawn Goins, led the game with 14 points on 5-for-11 shooting.
If the Dukes are to register their third series sweep of the season — something they haven’t done since 2002-03 — it might be without Goins on Sunday. The senior big-man missed Wednesday’s 81-71 win over William & Mary with an injured right foot, and still hadn’t returned to practice as of Friday. Brady said Friday he was unsure of Goins’ status.
Drexel, meanwhile, should have its previously injured starters in the lineup, although Lee, who’s averaging 17.2 points per game, went scoreless in a home loss Thursday against Old Dominion. Flint said after the game that the sophomore guard was playing sick.
Drexel, the preseason pick to win the league, has been a major disappointment. The Dragons are in seventh place and became the first CAA team to lose to ODU, which played its first game under interim coach Jim Corrigan after the school fired Blaine Taylor on Tuesday. Stout defensively in prior seasons, Drexel allowed Old Dominion to score 78 points, the highest total of the season for the Monarchs.
“We’ve only got seven games left, and if you are not woke up now, you aren’t going to wake up,” Flint said after the loss.
The Dragons dropped to 2-7 at home. JMU, which played three of its past four at the Convo, is just 2-7 on the road, where it will play four of its last six regular-season games. Madison did win its last road game, and it was mostly because of Moore, who took over in the second half at North Carolina-Wilmington on Jan. 28.
He finished with 19 points that night. The Dukes’ next game, against Hofstra, Moore was quiet, scoring just two points in 23 minutes before leaving with an ankle injury. He bounced back to tally a career-high 25 last Saturday in a loss to George Mason, and then notched 17 points and 12 assists in Wednesday’s win against W&M.
Moore said he’s being more aggressive this season, though his 7.5 shots per game are the fewest since his freshman year. The one area in which he’s struggled is at the free-throw line, where he’s making just 72.3 percent of his tries.
Still, the Dukes want the ball in Moore’s hands at the end of any close game, which Sunday’s 7 p.m. matchup should be.
“You never know what you’re going to get,” Moore said of Massenat. “He can shoot, he can drive, he’s great at leading his team. You definitely know it’s going to be a war with him.”