JMU?s basketball team plays Hofstra tonight in New York.
The talk at the James Madison basketball team?s practice Tuesday wasn?t about how the Dukes performed in their loss to Virginia Tech -- or in any of the other six losses in their last seven games, for that matter.
Instead, the JMU staff went back further and talked about how the squad performed in two losses last season.
The Dukes were reminded of how close they came to beating Hofstra, the team they play at 7 p.m. today in Hempstead, N.Y. Even with an injury-depleted lineup and a squad that was low on talent, JMU came within three points of beating the Pride at home and took them to triple overtime before falling 95-88 on the road.
Still, the Dukes and Hofstra are on different planes in the Colonial Athletic Association.
Hofstra, which finished 21-9 last season, returned four starters this winter and has bolted to an 8-2 start, including 1-1 in the CAA. JMU?s woes in recent years are well-documented, and the Dukes (3-7, 0-2) are on pace for another sad season.
Nevertheless, they?re approaching tonight?s date with optimism, partly perhaps because forward Mike Radziejewski -- who scored 21 points in the triple-overtime game and 11 in the first meeting last season ? is gone.
"The game last year was a real close game," sophomore forward Gabriel Chami said. "Obviously, triple overtime. This year, they have the same team except for the other big man. We are coming with a better team. That gives us an opportunity to get a win in the CAA."
In fact, the Dukes are even talking about being back to .500 in the league by the end of the weekend.
"We can go from the bottom to the top in a matter of a game or two," junior guard Ray Barbosa said. "That really says it all. It?s a new season, like we said. We just gotta go out there and take it one game at a time and surprise some people, get up there in the CAA tournament and try to win the whole thing."
Of course, that kind of optimism requires a certain amount of ignorance. The Dukes might have a stronger roster than they did last year, but they will be missing two players who had big nights in the triple-overtime game.
Junior forward Cavell Johnson, who is tied with freshman forward Juwann James for the team lead in scoring with 13.4 points per game, will be serving the fourth game of his now season-long suspension for violating an undisclosed team rule. Johnson had 21 points and 15 rebounds in last year?s game.
Senior forward David Cooper is also likely to be out, still working back to full strength after knee surgery. Cooper had 13 points and 10 rebounds in that game. Redshirt freshman guard Joe Posey is also out, serving his fourth game of an indefinite suspension for "conduct detrimental to the team."
Plus, the last two games haven?t been pretty for the Dukes. They looked clueless on offense at times in their 77-58 loss to Virginia Tech and were pounded 93-52 by Texas A&M-Corpus Christi in the most lopsided loss in JMU history.
And they?ll be playing a team that, regardless of last season?s results with JMU, is one of the best in the CAA.
"Those certainly were two really good games," JMU coach Dean Keener said. "And some things have changed for them, but they still have a really talented team."
The squad is built around junior point guard Loren Stokes, a 6-foot-3, 175-pound lightning quick slasher who finished second in the CAA last year with 18.3 points per game and was named first-team all-conference. This year, he?s averaging 14.1 points.
The Pride also is benefiting from the maturation of sophomore guard Antoine Agudio, last year?s unanimous CAA Rookie of the Year. After averaging 15.1 points per game in 2004-05, he?s at 15.5 a game this year and coming off a 23-point performance against La Salle that earned him conference Player of the Week honors.
"He?s only a sophomore, but he?s becoming a leader for us," Hofstra coach Tom Pecora said. "And he spends so much time working on it, he can only get better and better."
In Agudio, junior guard Carlos Rivera (9.4 ppg) and senior forward Aurimas Kieza (8.5 ppg), the Pride have three dangerous outside shooters. Inside, Kieza is becoming more of a force with 7.1 rebounds per game, and senior forward Adrian Uter, who previously played at Broward Community College in Florida, has developed into an intimidating post presence. He averages 10.1 points and 8.4 rebounds.
"I told him when I recruited him, ?I?m not going to run a play for you. You?re going to defend and rebound and score on stickbacks,?" Pecora said. "But I lied. I am running plays for him. He?s developed into a pretty good post player."
And one the Dukes will likely have to slow down if they want to start the "new" season with a win.
The talk at the James Madison basketball team?s practice Tuesday wasn?t about how the Dukes performed in their loss to Virginia Tech -- or in any of the other six losses in their last seven games, for that matter.
Instead, the JMU staff went back further and talked about how the squad performed in two losses last season.
The Dukes were reminded of how close they came to beating Hofstra, the team they play at 7 p.m. today in Hempstead, N.Y. Even with an injury-depleted lineup and a squad that was low on talent, JMU came within three points of beating the Pride at home and took them to triple overtime before falling 95-88 on the road.
Still, the Dukes and Hofstra are on different planes in the Colonial Athletic Association.
Hofstra, which finished 21-9 last season, returned four starters this winter and has bolted to an 8-2 start, including 1-1 in the CAA. JMU?s woes in recent years are well-documented, and the Dukes (3-7, 0-2) are on pace for another sad season.
Nevertheless, they?re approaching tonight?s date with optimism, partly perhaps because forward Mike Radziejewski -- who scored 21 points in the triple-overtime game and 11 in the first meeting last season ? is gone.
"The game last year was a real close game," sophomore forward Gabriel Chami said. "Obviously, triple overtime. This year, they have the same team except for the other big man. We are coming with a better team. That gives us an opportunity to get a win in the CAA."
In fact, the Dukes are even talking about being back to .500 in the league by the end of the weekend.
"We can go from the bottom to the top in a matter of a game or two," junior guard Ray Barbosa said. "That really says it all. It?s a new season, like we said. We just gotta go out there and take it one game at a time and surprise some people, get up there in the CAA tournament and try to win the whole thing."
Of course, that kind of optimism requires a certain amount of ignorance. The Dukes might have a stronger roster than they did last year, but they will be missing two players who had big nights in the triple-overtime game.
Junior forward Cavell Johnson, who is tied with freshman forward Juwann James for the team lead in scoring with 13.4 points per game, will be serving the fourth game of his now season-long suspension for violating an undisclosed team rule. Johnson had 21 points and 15 rebounds in last year?s game.
Senior forward David Cooper is also likely to be out, still working back to full strength after knee surgery. Cooper had 13 points and 10 rebounds in that game. Redshirt freshman guard Joe Posey is also out, serving his fourth game of an indefinite suspension for "conduct detrimental to the team."
Plus, the last two games haven?t been pretty for the Dukes. They looked clueless on offense at times in their 77-58 loss to Virginia Tech and were pounded 93-52 by Texas A&M-Corpus Christi in the most lopsided loss in JMU history.
And they?ll be playing a team that, regardless of last season?s results with JMU, is one of the best in the CAA.
"Those certainly were two really good games," JMU coach Dean Keener said. "And some things have changed for them, but they still have a really talented team."
The squad is built around junior point guard Loren Stokes, a 6-foot-3, 175-pound lightning quick slasher who finished second in the CAA last year with 18.3 points per game and was named first-team all-conference. This year, he?s averaging 14.1 points.
The Pride also is benefiting from the maturation of sophomore guard Antoine Agudio, last year?s unanimous CAA Rookie of the Year. After averaging 15.1 points per game in 2004-05, he?s at 15.5 a game this year and coming off a 23-point performance against La Salle that earned him conference Player of the Week honors.
"He?s only a sophomore, but he?s becoming a leader for us," Hofstra coach Tom Pecora said. "And he spends so much time working on it, he can only get better and better."
In Agudio, junior guard Carlos Rivera (9.4 ppg) and senior forward Aurimas Kieza (8.5 ppg), the Pride have three dangerous outside shooters. Inside, Kieza is becoming more of a force with 7.1 rebounds per game, and senior forward Adrian Uter, who previously played at Broward Community College in Florida, has developed into an intimidating post presence. He averages 10.1 points and 8.4 rebounds.
"I told him when I recruited him, ?I?m not going to run a play for you. You?re going to defend and rebound and score on stickbacks,?" Pecora said. "But I lied. I am running plays for him. He?s developed into a pretty good post player."
And one the Dukes will likely have to slow down if they want to start the "new" season with a win.
