Dillard encouraged with renewed hope in CAAs

Dukes, Seahawks set to battle Friday

File Photo / Christopher Labzda Senior point guard Chris Williams attempts a shot against Towson University earlier this year.

Surely when the pairings were announced for the Colonial Athletic Association's postseason tournament, JMU was not delighted to be matched up with two-time defending champion University of North Carolina-Wilimington in a play-in game Friday night.

Although several key players — most notably two-time CAA Player of the Year Brett Blizzard, have departed from the team — UNC-W has defeated JMU the last nine times the teams have met.

JMU lead for a mere total of 33 seconds during a pair of games played this year that were never close at any point. UNC-W — ranked 17th in the nation in scoring defense and allowing 59.9 points per game — utilized first-half scoring runs in both games that put the Dukes in a deep hole and forced them to play catch-up.

While the 10th-seeded Dukes limp into postseason play at 7-20 (3-15 in the CAA) and losers of their last six, the seventh-seeded Seahawks finished their regular season at a disappointing 13-14 (9-9 CAA) mark. Although the Dukes finished last in the CAA for the first time in school history and will have to defeat four higher-seeded opponents in order to win the conference title, coach Sherman Dillard likes to look at conference tournaments as a chance for a clean slate.

"The great thing about tournament play is that it's a chance for renewed hope," he said. "When you're preparing for tournament play, somehow you have a tendency to focus on the ‘what-if' scenarios in a positive sense.

"They give you enough energy to make sure that you prepare well for the tournament," Dillard added, "And you can go into it riding a whole new wave of excitement and rejuvenation."

A renewed energy and focus could be crucial to a freshmen-laden team that struggled its way to a 2-12 record away from the Convocation Center. While Dillard attributes part of his team's road woes to youth and inexperience, he hopes they have matured enough to be able to win games at the neutral site of the CAA tournament — Richmond Coliseum.

"The neutral site is not quite as difficult as playing on an opposing court, since both teams are playing in an environment that they're not comfortable with," Dillard said. "You'd hope that, after the course of a year, that a team grows somewhat. I think that these young guys have grown up a little bit and should feel a little bit better on a neutral court."

One player who has been through several road games and is entering his final days as a Duke is senior forward/guard Dwayne Broyles. Broyles, who enters the CAA tournament with 1,118 career points, wants to extend his playing career as far as he possibly can.

"Every game that I play in in the postseason could be my last game ever as a JMU Duke," Broyles said. "I'm approaching each game as if it's my last and giving 110 percent [effort] for 40 minutes."

A key feature that separates the regular season from the postseason is a heightened intensity level. Broyles has seen this before, and knows that JMU will have to turn it up a notch if the team plans to advance in the CAA tournament.

"When the (CAA) tournament starts, everybody's looking to go to the NCAA tournament, and their intensity definitely picks up," Broyles said. "Even teams like us that are at the bottom of the league feel like it's a new season."

While fellow senior and co-captain point guard Chris Williams acknowledges the intensity of the postseason, he compares the single-elimination format to a playground basketball game.

"It's kind of like when you're playing on the playground; if you lose, you're out," Williams said. "I don't think anybody wants to go home, so everybody steps it up another level."

Part of the reason why so many people become engrossed with the phenomenon known as March Madness every year is the passionate and exciting single-elimination format that NCAA Division I basketball utilizes in all postseason venues. This single-elimination format is what Dillard said was the beauty of college basketball.

"[The tournament] is single elimination, but it's up for grabs, regardless of whether you're playing in the play-in game or whether you're [going to] be playing in the quarterfinals," Dillard said. "Everybody has a chance now to dance."

To keep the season alive, JMU knows that it has to snap a nine-game losing streak against the two-time defending conference champion and then defeat three of the best teams in the CAA.

The Dukes also know that their next loss will be the last game at JMU for Broyles, three-year starter Williams and possibly Dillard.