When we look at JMU heading into Friday’s season opener against Rutgers, we see rebounders, gritty defenders, capable playmakers…
But hey, where’s the alpha (Duke) dog?
You know, the alpha, the quick-trigger, get-on-my-back shooter that typically fuels – and defines – the JMU offense. Last year, for example, the remarkable Precious Hall attempted 732 shots, the most in Division I and well over three times the total of any other Duke. Not surprisingly, Hall’s usage rate – the percentage of JMU’s plays she used – was a Westbrookian 40.1 – the highest of any D-I player. In short, no women’s college basketball player in America carried a greater offensive load.
The previous year, Jazmon Gwathmey was among Division I’s top 25 in usage rate, led the CAA in shots and attempted well over 200 more than her second-most prolific teammate. The year before that, Hall’s CAA-leading 616 attempts more than doubled Gwathmey’s second-place output (294) among Dukes.
We could keep going, but you get the point. And in nine of the last 10 years, this pattern has played out – the Dukes have played, and usually thrived, with an attack centered on the exploits of one high-volume scorer.
But we’re not sure such a player exists on JMU’s 2017-18 roster, and coach Sean O’Regan acknowledged as much during the CAA media teleconference last month.
“You won’t see a 24-points-a-game scorer coming out that locker room, that’s for sure,” O’Regan said.
Fortunately for JMU fans, the one season in the last 10 that the Dukes used a more balanced approach provides hope. In 2013-14, JMU’s shot attempts were spread out relatively equally among leading scorers Hall, Kirby Burkholder and Toia Giggetts.
That team finished with a 29-6 record and became the first JMU squad to win an NCAA tournament game since 1991.
Starting Friday, we’ll begin finding out if O’Regan and Co., make the no-alpha approach work again.
Tipoff time for the Rutgers-JMU game is 7:30 p.m. at the Convo in Harrisonburg.
Other games Friday
Hampton at North Carolina, 3:30 p.m.
Wagner at Virginia Tech, 3:30 p.m.
Liberty at Old Dominion, 4 p.m. in Preseason WNIT
Longwood at Marshall, 5 p.m.
George Mason at No. 24 Michigan, 7 p.m. in Preseason WNIT
Richmond at Fairfield, 7 p.m.
Virginia at No. 7 Mississippi State, 9 p.m.