By Kyle Kandetzki – Assistant Sports Editor Originally published 1/24/15
The Hofstra Pride men’s basketball team was able to stop their second set of consecutive losses this season with a dominant victory over the Drexel Dragons their last time out. They will now complete a three game homestand with their first meeting with the James Madison Dukes. The Dukes sit just one game behind the Pride, but are they that close in competitiveness with Hofstra?
THE BASIC INFORMATION: JMU is located in Harrisonburg, Virginia, and is named after the 4th president of the United States. James Madison has over 20,000 students; their team name/mascot is the Dukes, and sports purple and gold jerseys.
HISTORY: The Dukes have had a basketball program since 1945, and have been a part of the CAA since its inception in 1979. They’ve made five NCAA Tournament appearances, with a surprising amount of success for a mid-major program. They made three straight appearances from 1981-1983, and had first round victories in each year (but made it no further). In each year, they were the lower seed (10th twice, and one 9th seed).
They were a first round departure in 1994, and just two seasons ago they appeared in the opening round “First Four”, battling for a spot in the 64-team field as a 16th seed. They won this game, but swiftly lost in the first round.
LAST YEAR: James Madison finished 7th in the CAA, one spot above Hofstra. The Dukes went 6-10 in CAA play, and 11-20 overall. They split the season series with Hofstra, losing their regular season finale to the Pride, 82-71.
They were eliminated in the quarterfinals of the CAA Tournament by Towson.
THIS YEAR: James Madison sits two games behind first place Northeastern at 4-3 in conference. But due to a three-way tie at second spot, JMU is in fifth place. Their overall record is 11-9.
James Madison’s non-conference slate featured two major national powers to bump up their strength of schedule in Virginia (currently ranked 2nd) and Ohio State (ranked 16th at the time). But both games were double-digit losses for JMU.
Bad losses included an OT defeat to Norfolk State, a team the Hofstra previously beat, a 79-52 loss to Valparaiso, and an 80-71 loss to High Point. Though both of those last two teams aren’t giants, HP is at the top of the Big South, while Valparaiso is 18-4.
Similar to Hofstra, JMU took down mostly weak teams before conference play started (Campbell, Longwood, Colgate, Ball State are on the list, all are under .500). But a major statement win for the Dukes was a five-point victory over Richmond, a team that is 78th in RPI currently.
In conference, they’ve already been swept by conference favorite Northeastern, including a 23-point loss on Thursday. Their other loss comes against William & Mary. So as a positive for JMU, their losses all have come to teams heavily favored this season. Their wins have come against Towson, Charleston, Drexel, and Elon.
THE COACH: In season number seven is Matt Brady. Brady has run a very average ship so far, as he is 110-111 at James Madison. He was the head coach of the Marist Red Foxes before taking his current job.
CURRENT ROSTER: The Dukes most notably have no huge offensive threat. Their top weapon only averages 11.1 PPG, though they do have four players in the range of 8.8-11.1 point range.
The 11.1 PPG man is sophomore forward Yohanny Dalembert. The Haitian Dalembert is 6’8” and 225 pounds, and leads the team in several other categories: rebounds (5.4), blocks (1.2), and field goal percentage (61%). Dalembert has quickly emerged as this team’s top threat after only averaging just over two points last season.
Manning the point guard spot is preseason All-CAA honorable mention Ron Curry. The junior adds the conference’s third most assists with 4.3 per game (behind Juan’ya Green and UDel’s Kory Holden) along with 10.9 PPG and 3.7 RPG. Joining him in the backcourt is 6’7” shooting guard Jackson Kent. Kent also adds double-figures in the point column with 10.2 PPG, while being one of the team’s only three-point options, leading the squad at 41%.
This JMU team needed a third guard to step up this season due to off-court issues (more on that later), and the replacement has been junior college transfer Winston Grays. The Cleveland native has been an efficient choice, scoring 8.8 PPG on 44% shooting.
The final starting spot belongs to 6’8” forward Tom Vodanovich, who puts up about 5 PPG. But it is worth noting that this JMU team has a surplus of forwards, who rotate in place of Vodanovich and for Dalembert as well (he only averages 25 MPG). Freshman Hari Hall is the top scoring forward behind Dalembert at 5.9 PPG, while Paulius Satkus also checks in off the bench with more scoring than the starter at 5.2 PPG.
NOT SO CURRENT ROSTER: Missing from the team is JMU’s former leading scorer, guard Andre Nation. The preseason All-CAA first team selection had been in trouble with the program in the past, including already being suspended for the first five games of this season, when he was dismissed on January 14th.
Nation scored 15+ PPG last year, but a more limited role dropped him to 9 PPG in 2014-15 before his dismissal.
STRENGTHS: Though JMU sits at just 120th in the nation in team field goal percentage, going down their roster shows that their players are consistently above average. Dalembert is the only big contributor with great numbers at 61%, but every other player on this team that plays 10+ minutes except for one shoots 39% or better. Shooting around 39-45% (like many JMU players are) is no exciting feat, but having no players dragging this team way down in efficiency like most do is a positive.
And as mentioned before, though none of the reserve forwards measure up to Dalembert’s impact, having such a large arsenal of them to substitute in is a great asset. Having fresh players under the hoop at all times is a plus Hofstra has rarely seen this year.
WEAKNESSES: For a team with all of this help at forward, though, they have a serious rebounding problem. Just 3.8 RPG is enough for second place on this team, who averages 32 per game, among the bottom 50 programs in the nation.
And with such a large set of forwards comes the other end of the spectrum, not much depth at guard. Beyond Curry, Kent, and Grays, only one other guard plays more than 2 minutes on average (Joey McLean: 4.5 PPG).
And as is apparent by the stats, this team doesn’t have a huge offensive weapon, and as a whole don’t score much. They average 65 PPG, have scored 61 points or less in five of their seven CAA games, and their top scorer has only gone above 16 points once.
THE MATCHUP: James Madison’s occasional successes have been unconventional (a 54-35 win stands out), but it doesn’t seem like these quirks will work in their favor against Hofstra. A small guard rotation will have trouble against such a stacked lineup of Juan’ya Green, Brian Bernardi, Dion Nesmith, etc. Rebounding issues could mean a great matchup for Rokas Gustys, who has a prowess for offensive boards. Three-point shooting from opponents has been a way to counter this Pride offense, but JMU doesn’t seem to have that ability.
But can they pull it off? There is definitely a chance. James Madison has the ability to out perform their stats, as they put up 75 on Elon and 73 on William & Mary, games that call back to some of Hofstra’s own losses. Meaning: giving up a lot of points to offenses that are typically not so prolific (i.e. 82 to Columbia, 79 to UNC-W). The Hofstra defense has vastly improved over the course of the season, but their losses earlier this week prove it isn’t completely fixed.
On one hand, the Dukes only scored 54 in a win a few days ago, but on another, if the Pride defense doesn’t hold its own, JMU can hang around.
WHAT TO WATCH FOR: The top tier of CAA teams hasn’t changed, despite surprise teams like UNC-W. It remains Northeastern, William & Mary, and Hofstra. Though every game matters, and JMU isn’t a low-tier team like Drexel was, a game like this has to be like a prep for the next, a road showdown vs. the Tribe of W&M. The Pride didn’t have enough for Northeastern the first time around, but William and Mary are on a similar level, and a win there is huge. So before that game, a good performance vs. JMU will provide good momentum going in.
Quietly, Moussa Kone has worked his way from rusty to improving, to now being a trustworthy threat. Kone isn’t an electric player who can tear up the game from inside, but he has been very efficient as the year has progressed. Over his last three games Kone has scored 34 on 14-for-21 shooting.
PROJECTED STARTING LINEUPS Pride Green (17.4 PPG, 4.9 RPG, 6.5 APG, Last game: tied season-high 11 assists) Bernardi (12.6 PPG, Last game: Tied season-high for 3-pointers w/ 6) Nichols (6.3 PPG, 5.1 RPG,) Tanksley (18.4 PPG, 50% FG, Last game: season-low 9 pts) Kone (7.4 PPG on 61% FG)
Dukes Grays (8.8 PPG, 3.2 RPG) Kent (10.2 PPG, 3.9 RPG) Curry (10.9 PPG, 4.3 APG, Last game: 21 pts) Dalembert (11.1 PPG, 5.4 RPG, 61% FG) Vodanovich (4.8 PPG, 3.3 RPG)
NEXT UP: 1/28 @ William & Mary
This is “The Scouting Report”, an online feature from The Hofstra Chronicle where we go in-depth on the Pride’s upcoming opponent. Stats and insight will be provided to help Hofstra fans know what to expect with each coming matchup.