It’s not a stretch to say that in recent years, James Madison couldn’t stop anyone. The Dukes were routinely a poor defensive team, and that was their fatal flaw since it’s not like they lacked the ability to score. Last season marked the third season in a row in which opponents shot over 48 percent from the field against the Dukes. Colonial Athletic Association opponents shot over 50 percent against them last season.
But after seven games in 2008-09, the Dukes are making strides in that direction. The sample size is small, but the Dukes have held opponents to 43.2 percent shooting thus far, and while it certainly won’t rank among the best in the country, it is a sign of progress. Despite shooting a little under that on offense and having 24 more turnovers than assists, the Dukes are 4-3 after seven games. While it’s not the 6-1 mark they had at that point last season (they would win another to go to 7-1), they’ve done it despite having Juwann James, their top player the past three seasons, playing in just one game due to pericarditis (inflammation of the membrane surrounding the heart) and with Abdulai Jalloh struggling mightily while bothered by an unknown right shoulder injury.
“We’ve talked about field goal percentage defense being a barometer for how I view our play,” said head coach Matt Brady. “It’s not so much offense, because it’s a new coach, three new freshmen add to the mix, a key player not in the game, Juwann James, our second-leading returning scorer. For us, we have to play terrific defense to have a chance to win.”
The off-season hire of Brady is supposed to change the defensive struggles, and in turn change the program’s fortunes overall. The program was a mess when Dean Keener took over, and he cleaned it up a lot but didn’t win enough games. The Dukes looked poised to contend last season before injuries and more defensive issues turned a promising start into another losing season.
During Brady’s four seasons at Marist, the Red Foxes improved their field goal percentage defense significantly. The only time they didn’t improve it was from season two to season three, with the difference there being three-tenths of a percent as they went from 43.3 to 43.6 percent. In his first season, opponents shot over 46 percent from the field, which was next-to-last in the MAAC. By his final season, the Red Foxes rode the MAAC’s best defense to a solid 18-14 record, holding opponents below 42 percent from the field.
Since practice began in October, Brady has spent a great deal of time on defense. At each practice, at least an hour is devoted to three main defensive drills, and when preparing specifically for an opponent, there is more time spent on it. Game time is no different, and even after the game. In fact, after Sunday’s 73-53 win at Fordham, in which they held the young Rams to 34.4 percent shooting, they said they heard plenty about it in the locker room.
“Non-stop,” said junior guard Pierre Curtis when asked how much defense has been stressed.
“We just heard a lecture in the locker room,” said freshman forward Julius Wells. “We’ve got to get better. We can’t get complacent with the way we’re playing right now.”
In four of their first six games, the Dukes held opponents below 40 percent shooting. Brady noted that last season, the Dukes held an opponent below 43 percent just three times all season.
Certainly, against Fordham the Dukes had help. The young Rams played like an inexperienced team, with some questionable shots taken along the way. But the Dukes did everything they could to make it difficult for the Rams, and aside from allowing 16 offensive rebounds on 40 missed shots, there wasn’t much to complain about.
While the Dukes lost at Longwood on Wednesday, that loss had as much to do with another problem area last season – turnovers – as it did with defense. Longwood shot over 53 percent in the second half, but the Dukes committed 19 turnovers and gave up 28 points off them. The Dukes shot over 48 percent from the field.
The Dukes will carry this improved defense into Saturday’s CAA opener against Northeastern. While they aren’t a team that will routinely shut down others, they are improved at that end of the floor, and they could frustrate a Husky team that has had some struggles of late at the offensive end.
Brady has this team believing in defense, a marked change from previous seasons. Whether or not that immediately changes the fortunes of the program remains to be seen, but he’s already making progress toward changing the culture of the team and program. That will give them more chances to win this season, and more importantly, in the seasons ahead.
