(06-08-2018 04:42 PM)NJDuke97 Wrote:  

(06-08-2018 12:26 PM)ShadyP Wrote:  

(06-08-2018 10:14 AM)JMU08 Wrote:  While I'm not worried about our 1-3, the fact is, they were awful at the 3%. Looks like they have worked hard on correcting that, and all signs point to a team that's going to make a lot of shots.

Phillips was already a good player last year. I'm not sure why some don't think so or are underplaying his value, but his year was almost as good as Lewis's. If he improves at all, which he should be guaranteed if only because of better guard play, he'll be one of the best in the CAA.

I'm not sold on Wilson until I see him in great shape. There are many bigs that struggle with weight and never get in under control, I hope he is not one of them.

The biggest question I have is Pinkard. The general vibe I got was that he was good enough to be a starter last season, but was academically ineligible, which was fixed. He may be the player that makes the biggest impact next season.

For me my view of Phillips has absolutely nothing to do with his talent-level. The talent is there to be a VERY good player in the CAA. What I question from watching him play a lot over the course of an entire season is his heart/attitude/hustle. There were quite a few games where it appeared to me (granted I am not in the huddle or the locker room) but it appeared he had sorta checked out and not into the game. It also appeared that Coach Rowe was visibly frustrated with Phillips on numerous occasions for this lack of effort/hustle where he was benched basically on more than one occasion.

The talent is definitely there I don't question that when he 'wants' to play or does not get frustrated.

I never questioned the hustle/heart/effort from Wilson, Jones, or Jacobs. I hope I am proven wrong but it is hard to teach hustle/heart if you don't have it.

I have disagree on topic of Phillips being almost as good as Lewis last year......8.8 ppg to 14.5 ppg for a freshman who only started 15 games after McClean got hurt. Phillips did avg twice as many rebounds as I would expect since he is plays inside. Lewis had a lot put on him as a freshman with regards to ballhandling, etc. I would say Lewis had an outstanding freshman season. Phillips has to improve his horrid Ft% to improve his effectiveness.

I would say Mosely/Lewis/Banks (to a lesser degree) had similar seasons and then there was everyone else.

I'm guessing 08 meant Banks when he said Phillips. Banks was a fellow freshman with Lewis last season so they will always be linked together. Both were very good as true freshmen and both will get even better.

As some have said Wilson is a key- I think Phillips is- JMU needs consistent production from him. He needs to be reliable on the foul line, he needs to play with energy stay out of foul trouble and give them 25-30 minutes a night. He's a legit 6' 9" with a good wing span. When he's on he makes a real difference on both sides of the ball.

No, I genuinely meant Phillips. He was a core piece to the team IMO. He was one of the most reliable players offensively for our team. Obviously his 2pt% is a bit distorted because of the shot selection, but even if you factor in his abysmal FT%, his shooting percentage was still the most efficient scorer on the team. Lewis may have played less games, but in conference he played 658 Minutes, compare that to Phillips 409. If he just makes more free throws, he'll have a chance to be all CAA, if he gets better at guarding and not fouling, he may be the best player on the team.

I still think Lewis had the best year, especially when you factor in the challenges he faced, but I just don't think Phillips was as far behind as posters are alluding to.

I think this is a bit of an old school new school debate- Phillips plays close to the basket most of his field goals are layups and dunks and worth 2 points. Lewis plays on the perimeter his shots are often worth 3 points. The advanced stats are interesting. Phillips per 40 minute numbers are good the only problem is he's never playing 40 minutes based on motor and foul trouble. I like Phillips- he just needs to be more consistent especially now as a Senior second year in playing real D1 minutes. He also needs to be in the gym this summer continuing to get stronger and shooting probably 500 -1000 free throws per day. I have no doubt that Lewis will get better while I hope Phillips will.

The one interesting stat to me was +/- defensive box score. Lewis was negative. I actually think he's a pretty good defender with ability on that side of the ball so I think that will improve as he gets a better feel for where to be on the floor.

https://www.sports-reference.com/cbb/sch.../2018.html

Phillips was a wasted scholarship. He plays well once in a while which gives fans the false hope that he has the potential to be good. The reality is he is what he is. A guy with flashes of good play but not someone a coach can rely on night in and night out.

A wasted scholarship? Wut?

(06-09-2018 08:36 AM)JMUNation Wrote:  Phillips was a wasted scholarship. He plays well once in a while which gives fans the false hope that he has the potential to be good. The reality is he is what he is. A guy with flashes of good play but not someone a coach can rely on night in and night out.

It is difficult to find 6'9" reliable post players at the mid major level. If they were reliable at that height they would be a major conference prospect. Often the successful big's at the mid major level are a little undersized relative to Phillip's height. I think Wilson can be one of those guys.

Phillips has talent and adds something to the team on both sides of the ball. I think if he can get better at the line he can be a productive big man in the CAA. It's a good use of a scholarship and he was a solid recruit for the team last year despite his inconsistency and flaws.

(06-09-2018 08:36 AM)JMUNation Wrote:  Phillips was a wasted scholarship. He plays well once in a while which gives fans the false hope that he has the potential to be good. The reality is he is what he is. A guy with flashes of good play but not someone a coach can rely on night in and night out.

One of the more absurd viewpoints I've read on this board - and that's saying a lot.

Walfish with an article about Urbach (and WBB transfer from Syracuse)... https://jamesmadison.rivals.com/news/urbach-joins-dukes

(06-09-2018 08:57 AM)Centdukesfan Wrote:  A wasted scholarship? Wut?

Sorry guys but when a guy is a Junior and you have to bench him for not playing with energy as Lou did during the UD game and he gets in foul trouble most games due to being out of control, then I don’t see a lot of value in that player. He also was the reason many games were lost because he could not make a free throw. When your big man is on the bench due to fouls, lacks energy at other times and shoots 50% from the line, his value to the team is marginal. Being 6’ 9” makes him an even more frustrating player to watch. An athletic guy with his height should dominate the CAA.

Lou Rowe must not think much of him either because by the middle of the season his playing time was reduced and he was on the bench late in games.

If Phillips was a Freshman last year, then I would be talking about his potential and looking forward to seeing him grow as a player. What I see in Phillips is a guy who has the athleticism to be one of the best bigs in the league but instead is a guy who is underperforming. Players who have to be encouraged to play hard are pretty much worthless imo. Sorry if that offends some of you.

(06-10-2018 07:30 AM)JMUNation Wrote:  

(06-09-2018 08:57 AM)Centdukesfan Wrote:  A wasted scholarship? Wut?

Sorry guys but when a guy is a Junior and you have to bench him for not playing with energy as Lou did during the UD game and he gets in foul trouble most games due to being out of control, then I don’t see a lot of value in that player. He also was the reason many games were lost because he could not make a free throw. When your big man is on the bench due to fouls, lacks energy at other times and shoots 50% from the line, his value to the team is marginal. Being 6’ 9” makes him an even more frustrating player to watch. An athletic guy with his height should dominate the CAA.

Lou Rowe must not think much of him either because by the middle of the season his playing time was reduced and he was on the bench late in games.

If Phillips was a Freshman last year, then I would be talking about his potential and looking forward to seeing him grow as a player. What I see in Phillips is a guy who has the athleticism to be one of the best bigs in the league but instead is a guy who is underperforming. Players who have to be encouraged to play hard are pretty much worthless imo. Sorry if that offends some of you.

I think you are exaggerating a bit. Let's not dog Phillips. He's a player with potential and just because he may not show it outwardly I think he has the drive to get better. These are college aged students- they are going to have games unfortunately where it doesn't click due to foul trouble, energy from the opposition, etc.

His first year coming in as Juco was pretty solid. I expect him to be better and more consistent this year. Coach Rowe is going to rotate guys and give guys minutes. Phillips was shooting better from the line early in the year and then went through a slump- it's a mechanical thing- not enough loft on the shot which can be a problem for a taller guy.

(06-10-2018 09:07 AM)NJDuke97 Wrote:  

(06-10-2018 07:30 AM)JMUNation Wrote:  

(06-09-2018 08:57 AM)Centdukesfan Wrote:  A wasted scholarship? Wut?

Sorry guys but when a guy is a Junior and you have to bench him for not playing with energy as Lou did during the UD game and he gets in foul trouble most games due to being out of control, then I don’t see a lot of value in that player. He also was the reason many games were lost because he could not make a free throw. When your big man is on the bench due to fouls, lacks energy at other times and shoots 50% from the line, his value to the team is marginal. Being 6’ 9” makes him an even more frustrating player to watch. An athletic guy with his height should dominate the CAA.

Lou Rowe must not think much of him either because by the middle of the season his playing time was reduced and he was on the bench late in games.

If Phillips was a Freshman last year, then I would be talking about his potential and looking forward to seeing him grow as a player. What I see in Phillips is a guy who has the athleticism to be one of the best bigs in the league but instead is a guy who is underperforming. Players who have to be encouraged to play hard are pretty much worthless imo. Sorry if that offends some of you.

I think you are exaggerating a bit. Let's not dog Phillips. He's a player with potential and just because he may not show it outwardly I think he has the drive to get better. These are college aged students- they are going to have games unfortunately where it doesn't click due to foul trouble, energy from the opposition, etc.

His first year coming in as Juco was pretty solid. I expect him to be better and more consistent this year. Coach Rowe is going to rotate guys and give guys minutes. Phillips was shooting better from the line early in the year and then went through a slump- it's a mechanical thing- not enough loft on the shot which can be a problem for a taller guy.

I guess I see it different than the others who have already posted on Phillips. If Lou ends up with a bunch of Juniors with potential, he won’t make it past his next renewal.

Phillips was competing for playing time with a bunch of Freshman. I see him as nothing more than a role player this year unless he improves. Worse case is he ends up playing very limited minutes as the other big men take up his minutes.

I don’t feel I am exaggerating as I personally don’t think he is very good but hey, we all have our opinions and if he turns it around this year, I will be the first person to applaud his effort. I want him to be the player others feel he is.

I thought the knock on Phillips coming in was he had a questionable motor/motivation. He got in foul trouble quickly in a number of games this past season and he had the third highest usg% on the team aside from mosley/lewis, so they want to go to him but he tended to be overly aggressive in the wrong spots. I got the impression he's committed to what Rowe & co. are trying to do but he has to channel his aggression better. Its generally true for a lot of cbb teams - if you pick up two quick fouls as a starter, the potential minutes you would normally play get cut by 60-70% the rest of the game.

https://jmusports.com/news/2018/6/7/mens...18-19.aspx

our last open offer for Dima Zdor is off the table - he committed to Weber State over the weekend. I suppose its possible we pick up a transfer, but its looking like this team is pretty well cemented.

(06-18-2018 08:28 AM)Centdukesfan Wrote:  our last open offer for Dima Zdor is off the table - he committed to Weber State over the weekend. I suppose its possible we pick up a transfer, but its looking like this team is pretty well cemented.

Yep. Assuming no unexpected attrition, going with 12 on ship this season works fine. Offers up an additional ship for Rowe and staff to have 3 to offer again for the '19 class. Even if we get a grad transfer that pops up out of nowhere (at least at this point), that's just gravy as it still allows for 3 signees - hopefully in November. I like the luxury of getting a signing class done in the early period so the staff can focus on high school juniors in recruiting as well as the season at hand from Nov thru March/April.

I think once JMU got a commitment from Flowers they weren't actively recruiting Zdor. That said I think Illinois and others still were because the Illini just offered another 2018 front court player Percy Hall today so that's a good get by Weber State.

Don't see too many grad or 4 year transfers on the horizon- a few I had thought JMU may be a fit for have gone elsewhere. I think the 2018 roster may be set.

Walfish with a few tweets today that JMU was hosting a grad transfer big today that would be the 13th scholarship for 2018.

(06-20-2018 11:18 PM)NJDuke97 Wrote:  Walfish with a few tweets today that JMU was hosting a grad transfer big today that would be the 13th scholarship for 2018.

That would be perfect. Doesn't tie up a ship for next signing class. Can still sign 3 and help balance out the classes some. At minimum, we get experience, depth, 5 extra fouls and someone for practice. And, who knows, we may stumble upon a guy who can give us 10+ minutes a game, block some shots, snag some boards and occasionally put the ball in the rim. Anything more than that at this point is just gravy.

(06-21-2018 06:25 AM)Wear Purple Wrote:  That would be perfect. Doesn't tie up a ship for next signing class. Can still sign 3 and help balance out the classes some. At minimum, we get experience, depth, 5 extra fouls and someone for practice. And, who knows, we may stumble upon a guy who can give us 10+ minutes a game, block some shots, snag some boards and occasionally put the ball in the rim. Anything more than that at this point is just gravy.

It seems like a good way to get an extra 'coach' on staff too. Find someone who wants to get into the business and can act as a player/coach/mentor to the young bigs and parlay it into an entry level Dir. of Ops job the following year.

In the Walfish article today, Rowe is talking about 3 openings for next season. Sounds like 1 scholarship will be left open.

(06-27-2018 12:43 PM)Dukes84 Wrote:  In the Walfish article today, Rowe is talking about 3 openings for next season. Sounds like 1 scholarship will be left open.

Walfish tweeted last night that the grad transfer who visited JMU recently was Hassan Hussein. I thought he may be due to the Rowe/FIU connection. Hussein committed to Illinois Chicago last night so it's a moot point. Virginia kid- 6'9" but thin. Ironically one of his best performances last year was vs. JMU. Could have helped but not sure how much.

http://www.fiusports.com/roster.aspx?rp_id=4161

In the recruiting article they specifically mention a SG to replace Mosely (a SG with size in particular) and a Center to replace Phillips (someone who can run the floor, who you can dump it in to for an easy bucket and who can protect the rim).

Not sure if they will carry over the remaining scholarship as open or with a grad transfer. Walfish tweeted something that was a little vague about a possible contingency plan for this year. Not sure if that's another grad transfer big (there aren't many left) a 4 year transfer or some late reclassified 2019 to 2018 kid. Either way it sounds like maybe admissions is part of the coordination or a kid graduating over the summer to be eligible to transfer that needs to take place there but that's pure speculation by me.