NCAAT: College Station, TX Experience

First off, I want to say congratulations to a great season to the JMU women's basketball team and to Coach Kenny Brooks for getting his first NCAA women's tournament win. I also want to thank the two seniors Kirby Burkholder and Nikki Newman for giving the Harrisonburg community 4/5 years of wonderful college basketball. They will certainly be missed.

I had a great time at College Station, TX and I can say with certainty that they were a great fan base who loved our team, our fans, and especially our band. I honestly would enjoy seeing a home and home with this team. I met a lot of people and I truly felt at home there. I remember telling one TAMU employee that College Station reminded me of back home in that there is a sense of community. Terrain wise, College Station is mostly flat, but the community was outstanding. I was able to visit some of the sites in the area, one site was the Bonfire memorial when in 1999 12 Aggie students lost their lives when the Bonfire collapsed.

Bonfire Memorial

I was quite surprised at how the community got involved with the process as well. One community member told me that they used to provide the cranes and lumber to help build the structure and that all lumber was hand cut. You really got a sense of how they truly embody their tradition of "The 12th Man." While visiting, I was taking back to the time when the Harrisonburg Community along with other communities in the state worried about their own sons and daughters when a mentally ill student went on a shooting rampage at Virginia Tech. Another interesting tradition they have is before games and I was very intrigued. by it. Here is a video of it:

I was also able to visit the Alamo and walk the river walk in San Antonio, TX. If you haven't visited those places yet, I hear the first two weeks in December are absolutely amazing.

The River Walk in San Antonio, TX

Anyway, lets get to the actual games.

What an amazing first game, it was superb. The girls came out on fire and maintained the intensity all the way through. I truly thought they were the better team. After the game you really got a sense that this team could go far into the tournament. I remember one comment from an Aggie fan: "Your team is amazing," and "they can win this thing." Those words in my opinion were true, especially how well the played (which wasn't even at their best). It was a great step forward for the program as a whole and it showed that yes, the team under Kenny Brooks can win NCAA tournament games. At the hotel I was staying at there was a cameraman who commented how good our team looked and quite impressed. People who don't think people notice should realize, that the big wigs do notice, but sometimes they do not want to acknowledge and give credence to the smaller schools.

The Texas A&M game was every bit the game I thought it was going to be. I had this terrible feeling before the game that the refs were going to call a lot of fouls on JMU. Don't know, you just got the sense that the game was going to be a game that guaranteed the Aggies a sweet 16 trip. Now that isn't to say that the Aggies didn't play good, because they did. They made the plays when they needed to. But to say it was a fair game in that how it was called by the officials is a complete farce. Instead of allowing teams to play the game and decide who was going to win the game, the referees dictated the tempo of the game and forced JMU to play a zone defense which ultimately allowed A&M back into the game and the eventual win. People may disagree because they will say, well the stat sheet says JMU had 27 fouls verses A&M's 19 fouls, but remember, the first half when JMU had 16 fouls called on them putting the team into major foul trouble on several of our key players. They were jobbed in my opinion and it is a shame that these refs ruined the game by not allowing the teams to play--well, they would allow A&M to play, but JMU? Forget about it. It has been a couple of days and I am still upset about it. This is a big reason why I cannot legitimately say that A&M won the game fair and square. Personally, if the refs kept out of it, I truly believe JMU would have won the game by 4 or 5 points. If you remember when JMU was playing their game in the first part of the first half, they were up by 6 points, but as soon as JMU got into foul trouble in the second part of the first half, JMU was forced to play a softer defense and a softer offense that eventually allowed A&M back into the game. So I feel like the team was robbed. But in the end, you still have to play through the bias and make plays. What was worse was we only made like 2 3 pointers the whole game. You will not win many games shooting that poorly beyond the arc. Secondly, because we were not able to aggressive in the paint due to foul trouble we were unable to stop their big from scoring. If there is a take away from this game, it was even after foul trouble, JMU was still able to hang with TAMU. Another great thing was the TAMU fans stood up and cheered for Kirby when she fouled out, They truly appreciated Kirby and her efforts. On to next year!

Time To Win In The NCAA Tournament!

I am sure everyone is still shocked about the James Madison Dukes being sent to College Station, TX. While not the ideal location for fans, it offers the greatest opportunity to advance in the tournament. You cannot control where you are sent, but you can control how you view the situation and how you will react to that situation. What has made this team fun to watch is their zeal to win and to find ways to dig deep within themselves.

In reality it doesn't matter where you go because in the end you still have to play the game. Coach Brooks stated on TV and in newspapers that he thought JMU was better than an 11 seed, while I agree, it is time to put your words into action and win in the tournament. If this team feels they are better than an 11 seed and that they can win a few games in the tournament, then prove it!

The last couple of trips though have ended with disappointing loses to Temple and Oklahoma. Both were good teams, but both teams were teams that JMU could have beaten. The team then was lead by a prolific scorer Dawn Evans who wowed everyone with her shooting effort. But even with a descent support staff around Dawn, JMU failed to advance past the first rounds. In fact, I thought we played poorly at times in those contest. Perhaps it was the inexperience, perhaps, our opponents played defense well, or perhaps, our team lacked key components to truly become a contender. Whatever the reason, those were indeed good teams.

Then the next two years we played great in the WNIT, going all the way to Oklahoma State in 2012 for the WNIT final and again, came up short while not playing our best basketball. And that was a great tournament in which JMU had victories over Davidson, Wake Forest, South Florida, Virginia, and Syracuse. It was by far the best tournament I have ever been a part of. It was exciting. But to come up short and to play the final at Oklahoma State due to a scheduling conflict was disappointing because we all knew if JMU played at home, they would have won the championship.

In 2013, we had another disappointing year by not making the NCAA tourney (never understood why), but again had a great run in the WNIT, and faced the now NCAA tournament team Florida. But we fell short to a team that was on fire during that game, disappointing, but truly we left everything on the floor that game.

This year, we are now back in the NCAA tournament and will be facing a very tough Gonzaga team. Looking at this team, you get the feeling that they are practically mirror images of James Madison, they are tall, athletic, and boy can they shoot. They have weapons. They can rotate up to 10 players in a game and can play various styles of basketball. They are slightly taller in key areas, but remember, Syracuse? Nothing that we haven't seen before. If I had to guess the starting five, it would probably be Palmer, Greinarcher, Sherbert, Albanez, and Cheslek. Although, Redmon could be a starter as well. Their defense allows around 56 points, whereas JMU allows 54.8. Gonzaga scores on average about 75.4 points, whereas JMU scores on average about 75.2 ppg. JMU is slightly better from the 3 point range and Gonzaga is better from inside the arc. So pick who you think is going to win, because in reality it is a toss-up.

What worries me the most, is how the team will react to a slightly taller team inside and against a team that press and play man-to-man defense well. We all saw what happened at Charleston and if we play as poorly as we did overall in that game against Gonzaga, it will be an early trip home. This has the makings to either be a defensive game that will be scored in the 40's or it will be an all score fest like we saw against Green Bay last year and Vanderbilt this year.

What gives me hope is how we played against North Carolina, St. John's, and even Vanderbilt. Three teams that are in the tournament and all ranked higher than JMU. We need stellar play from everyone. Burkholder has to show why she is the CAA player of the year (she is due for a big shooting night), as well as Precious Hall, Nikki Newman needs to show why she is the CAA defensive player of the year, Giggets, Okafor, and Griffin have to have big games inside. They need to shoot well and they need to get stops against 6'5"/6'4" players. Gwathmey must continue to prove why she is the MVP. Angela Mickens? Yeah we need you too. In other words, we need to play well in all positions.

Gonzaga is fast, but honestly, I think JMU is faster. They do shoot slightly better than JMU, but I do think our defense can shut them down enough to keep them from scoring a ton of points. Rebound, Rebound, Rebound! A key factor in the game for sure. This team has the goods to advance, but as stated earlier, do they have the mental fortitude and killer instinct to make it happen? They showed it in the CAA tournament, now it is time to show it in the NCAA tournament. Time for Coach Brooks to finally get his tournament wins!

JMU Has A Lot To Prove

Coach Brooks and the JMU women's basketball team have a lot to prove in this upcoming CAA Tournament. For one, they have to prove they are a tournament type team who can play well under pressure. Two, they have to perform well at the Show Place Arena. Last year, JMU played a poor first game verses Towson, but still won by 11 points. The next game was against Drexel, in what would become one of the worst games JMU has ever played in the modern game. It was that bad. So naturally we ended the season with a WNIT bid. Great for experience, but not the big dance. So this tournament has a lot to prove and a lot to avenge for the last two years.

Coach Brooks' NCAA tournament record the last couple of entries have been short-lived with his teams leaving in the first round. Granted those teams were mainly a one person team with descent support staff, but lets face facts, Coach Brooks needs to prove he can win in the NCAA tournament. We all loved watching the teams of the past , but each NCAA tournament ended with disappointment and underachievement. Obviously you cannot make your players play well and you cannot tell other teams to not guard your best player. This years team has potential, just like the teams in the past. They have shown they can play with bigger programs and win. But can they find the resolve, the mental fortitude to win in big stage games like the NCAA tournament?

What makes this team different than teams in the past is that this is truly a team and not a team with one, maybe two good players. This is a team that has 7 to 8 good players on it. The bench is deep and just about anyone can come off the bench and provide stout minutes. If this team gets into foul trouble early, then how they play is greatly affected and this was certainly proven with Charleston

I think the loss to Charleston was a blessing in disguise even though I hate losing. But in reality, several games before Charleston you could see the team drifting into a rut. So while a shock, this team proved in the next two games they are a foe to be feared.

The latest bracketology has JMU as a #9 seed playing in Knoxville verses Oregon State. If JMU wins that game, then they will play #1 Tennessee. Now that may seem like an impossible task and most teams will look at that bracket and automatically place JMU as a loss. And if past experience proves right, then they have justified their bracket decision on JMU.

What cannot be determined by bracketologist and by teams is the teams heart, the players zeal to win and while it may seem like Goliath, in reality it is just another team in the way of achieving something special. To think you have already lost, is to accept defeat and to accept defeat is giving up and personally I do not see the JMU women's basketball team laying down for anybody. This team can beat good teams, they can beat UCONN, TN, Standford, and so on.

This is a team with heart, with great leadership, and a team that loves to play defense. To believe you can achieve what most call the impossible, is to accept that you are better than what people are saying, that you can achieve great things and you are great!