Dukes struggle to rebound from losses

JMU loses seven of eight games, team trying to identify roles of several new players

Drew Wilson / senior photographer Freshman guard Ray Barbosa (34) shoots over a VCU defender.

With the majority of the student body home for Winter Break, the men's basketball team was mostly on the road, not enjoying much success.

The Dukes lost seven of eight games from Dec. 6 when it fell to the University of Akron, 78-70, through Monday, when it lost to the University of Delaware, 80-66.

"We did not handle [the eight-game stretch] very well at all," Coach Sherman Dillard said. "We knew going into it that it would be a treacherous trek for us. It kind of snowballed."

In all eight games, JMU was out-rebounded in every contest, including the team's lone win against Florida Atlantic University Dec. 20. The Dukes' effort on the glass has been a glaring problem that Dillard sees as something his young team will need to fix.

"We don't seem to have our legs the way we did in the beginning of the season," Dillard added. "And we played some pretty doggone good competition."

Dillard believes that the team was on the verge of getting over its slump against Delaware Monday night. But, with eight minutes to go in the game, senior guard/forward Dwayne Broyles missed one of two free throws, which could have given the Dukes the lead. Instead, the game remained tied at 55 and, after that, Dillard said, the team just unraveled again.

With the rebounding statistics not in the Dukes' favor, Dillard and the coaching staff still are trying to identify and clarify specific roles for their players. Losing a majority of the team's players who did most of the rebounding and scoring from last season, this team currently is one that is growing and coming together.

"I think spending that much time together [on the road], this team has become a lot closer," Dillard said. He believes that a good deal of bonding took place, and his team has taken an "us-against-them" attitude.

Freshman guard Ray Barbosa and Broyles were the hot hands early for the Dukes on offense, but they have since cooled off. But, senior guard Chris Williams and junior guard Daniel Freeman both recently have stepped up their play.

Freeman scored a career-high 19 points Monday against the Blue Hens, and Dillard said Williams is playing his best basketball since being at JMU.

Dillard sees the Dukes having better success when he can get Williams, Freeman, Barbosa and Broyles all on the same page at the same time. He needs all four to contribute, but so far he's only gotten two at a time.

"Unfortunately, we kind of dug this hole for ourselves and we are still trying to find a way to fight out of it," Dillard said.

The coach likes his team's style of play and he cannot fault the effort of his players, but things just have not clicked yet for the team.

Dillard added that he was not trying to sound like an internal optimist but, "Our best basketball is ahead of us."