Valpo @ James Madison 12/29/14

[talksalot]

As we look forward to the start of the new year... the guys have a little work to do...  At Harrisonburg, VA on Monday night 12/29, 6pm CENTRAL at the "Convo"

Video Link is showing on the JMU website:

http://jmusports.com/schedule.aspx?path=mbball


Interesting Roster for the "Dukes"...  count the number of seniors...we're talking serious youth !

http://jmusports.com/roster.aspx?path=mbball

They've lost two straight at home (Norfolk and High Point) after beating Ball State in Muncie by 20.

They seem to be a hot-cold team...

Wins over:  Richmond, Campbell, Sacred Heart, Colgate, Longwood and Radford...
Losses to:  Virginia by 28, THE Ohio State by 17, East Carolina by 12, High Point by 9 and Norfolk State by 3 (OT)

They have a 7-man rotation... and have had 7 different game-leading-scorers this season.  they've had 6 different game-high-rebounders, 4 different assist leaders,  7 different steals leaders, and 5 different shot-block leaders.

Same 5 guys have started all 12 games (with one exception)..

Jackson 6-7 sophomore
Dalembert 6-8 sophomore
Curry 6-4  junior
Grays  6-2 junior   (missed one start) ~~ Father is Winston Grays of Cleveland State 86-89)
Satkus  6-8 sophopmore

They've had 4 20-point games this year... from 4 different players.

As of 12/23... RealTimeRpi has us a 4-point dog....67-71...

[vu72]

After seeing their Ball State score I was a little worried.  Not so much right now.  Vashil has another big game and we win by 12, 72-60.
Merry Christmas!!   

[valpotx]

Valpo 74
JMU 64

[covufan]

I hope that we can win by 10 or 12, but think it will be closer.

Valpo 68
JMU 61

[LaPorteAveApostle]

yeah...you all know i'm a bit on the optimistic side of things...but I'm always leery when we're on the road, especially at a distracting time of the year...long trip, etc.

"in 1939 Adolf Hitler had the greatest war machine that history has ever known. He had more tanks, more submarines, the most highly trained soldiers and the best organized leadership, and he had his whole country behind him 100 percent.  But in 1945, Berlin stood in ruins and his whole war machine was in shambles for one reason: Hitler couldn`t win on the road."
--Marv Levy

On a side note would have loved to have flown up there for a game as my good friend and daughter's godfather is a priest in H-burg.  But...meh.  long flight for me too.

[a3uge]

yeah...you all know i'm a bit on the optimistic side of things...but I'm always leery when we're on the road, especially at a distracting time of the year...long trip, etc.

"in 1939 Adolf Hitler had the greatest war machine that history has ever known. He had more tanks, more submarines, the most highly trained soldiers and the best organized leadership, and he had his whole country behind him 100 percent.  But in 1945, Berlin stood in ruins and his whole war machine was in shambles for one reason: Hitler couldn`t win on the road."
--Marv Levy

On a side note would have loved to have flown up there for a game as my good friend and daughter's godfather is a priest in H-burg.  But...meh.  long flight for me too.

So if they lose, they're basically the Third Reich?

[hailcrusaders]

I vaguely remember Dalembert from last year's matchup. Did we decide if he was related to Samuel Dalembert? Samuel is only 33 so father/son seems unlikely. Cousin? Nephew? Coincidence?

[talksalot]

I see RealTimeRPI has changed the spread to 68-70...we are now only a 2-pt underdog...

[wh]

I vaguely remember Dalembert from last year's matchup. Did we decide if he was related to Samuel Dalembert? Samuel is only 33 so father/son seems unlikely. Cousin? Nephew? Coincidence?

Personal:
•   Son of Cassandra Derrosiers
•   Half-brother of Samuel Dalembert, who will begin his 13th NBA season in 2014-15 with his sixth different team, the New York Knicks.
•   Samuel Dalembert was a member of the Philadelphia 76ers when the 2010 Haiti Earthquake occurred, prompting him to aid Yohanny and sister Severine to relocate to Philadelphia.

[LaPorteAveApostle]

So if they lose, they're basically the Third Reich?

I don't think that's the reich answer

[usc4valpo]

ba dah bum ding!

Merry Christmas to you and your families and all the best in 2015.

Best of Luck to USC in the Holiday Bowl against Nebraska!

[historyman]

ba dah bum ding! Merry Christmas to you and your families and all the best in 2015. Best of Luck to USC in the Holiday Bowl against Nebraska!

Merry Christmas to you, usc4valpo, and all the Valpo fans on this message board!

[VUfan]

A Close one, after a slow start a 70 to 68 win. The win gets Valpo two points in The National Ranking!!   And a chance to go 16 and 0 fro the rest of the year.

[a3uge]

I had a dream we got blown out by JM and Peters tore his ACL.

[LaPorteAveApostle]

[historyman]

Nothing going to happen with my ACL, guys!

I'm planning on scoring 35+ and blow those Dukes away!

[LaPorteAveApostle]

OK, guys, time to shake off the holiday lethargy and get back into fighting shape.

Much of the key personnel for each team is different from last season's game. James Madison point guard Ron Curry, averaging 10 points and 4.9 assists this season, was sidelined for the game with an injury. Guard Andre Nation missed the game as part of a 15-game suspension before going on to average 15.4 points and 5.3 rebounds; he was named to the Colonial Athletic Association first team this preseason before being suspended for five games. Nation has averaged 9.4 points in seven games since his return.

http://posttrib.chicagotribune.com/sports/31897588-556/college-basketball-adekoya-back-in-mix-for-valparaiso.html#.VKDFILgPAMY

...Andre Nation is an amazing name.  Unfortunately, he seems to get suspended like Bryce takes jackets off.  It wouldn't surprise me if he did something to get suspended between now and the tip.

Last year Nation was suspended for 15 games for a violation of athletic policy and the JMU student newspaper speculated and asked head coach Matt Brady if it was drug related based on a clause in the the JMU Student-Athlete Handbook which states that a player with a second positive drug test will "be suspended for 50% of the competitions during the championship season of their respective sports."

Brady responded, "I wouldn't want anyone drawing any conclusions from that. But what I will say is that he's immature and he's made some mistakes that aren't helpful."

http://www.midmajormadness.com/2014/10/6/6925999/james-madison-suspends-andre-nation-and-tom-vodanovich

and my PERSONAL favorite line from http://jmusportsblog.com/?p=7109

For a guy who makes pretty good decisions on the basketball court, Andre Nation seems to make some bad ones off it.

OK i have to quote the rest of it it's good stuff.  Hilarious really.

Nation was suspended indefinitely from the JMU basketball team today. Because of course he was. Along with Nation, sophomore forward Tom Vodanovich was also suspended indefinitely. The two players reportedly got into a fight at Vodanovich's residence Saturday night. The police were called, Vodanovich was hospitalized with facial injuries, and Nation was arrested. The DNR's Nick Sunderland is reporting that Nation was charged with public swearing/intoxication, disorderly conduct, and assault. Vodanovich was charged with public swearing/intoxication, disorderly conduct, and underage possession. To be clear, this was a dumb move by both guys. Nation's suspension will draw way more attention though. That's the price he pays for being the star of the team and for this not being his first off the court issue during his time at JMU.

Depending on whether you count last season's voluntary leave of absence (or however JMU phrased it), this is either Nation's third or fourth suspension. Regardless, it puts him one strike closer to the apparently infinite number required to be permanently kicked off the team. Go ahead and assume all the normal caveats apply here; "this doesn't mean he's a bad person", "college kids do dumb stuff", "we don't know the whole story", etc. The fact is that this is more than a trend. It's a pattern. As a JMU hoops fan, hearing the news that Nation was suspended, is sort of like a football player take his first hit in training camp. It's really just a sign that the season is almost upon us.

We wish Andre well and hope this is the last time we're discussing his off the court issues, but we'd be lying if we said we're confident it will be. If history is any indicator, it's really more a question of "when", not "if" when discussing Nation doing something to jeopardize his status with the basketball team. And that's incredibly sad because he's a heck of a basketball player, who we love to cheer for. Again, we're not saying he's a bad guy. But he's certainly not dependable, and has caused a number of distractions for the program. The only real question now, is how much rope is Brady going to give him?

and we thought we had discipline issues?

tomcreanshakingheadsadly.gif

or just this

[historyman]

...Andre Nation is an amazing name.  Unfortunately, he seems to get suspended like Bryce takes jackets off.  It wouldn't surprise me if he did something to get suspended between now and the tip.

This is the second year in a row Valpo has played James Madison and the day of the return game in Virginia is the first time we have heard of the "colorful" Andre Nation? We are slipping a bit. 

His name sounds like he is his own fan club. "Andre is worshiped by the fans of Andre Nation."

It's always hard to speak at a press conference after a loss but this presser is mucho de-pressing.

2014-15 JMU MBB - Players High Point Post-Game - Dec. 20, 2014


In the wise words of the great Andre Nation (on left): "(mumble) won 'em the game. They simply just......they just killed us."


Link for live video broadcast of Valpo at James Madison, Monday, December 29, 6:00 pm central time

[LaPorteAveApostle]

the day of the return game in Virginia is the first time we have heard of the "colorful" Andre Nation?

in our defense, he was suspended for the last one. and he does have 10 hours to get suspended again.

of course I get the feeling the next one won't be a suspension...

[usc4valpo]

OK, I have recovered from the shoutout in San Diego on Saturday night, which was a great game played by the Trojans and the Huskers. Time to get into Crusader winning mode.

Valpo 78
JMU 74

Go Valpo and Fight On!

[FWalum]

I'm glad that I haven't seen us make players come out for a press conferences by themselves without a coach. That was awfully hard to watch.

[Valpofan00]

Will there be video for this game??

[humbleopinion]

A link was posted at the beginning of this thread.

[crusadermoe]

Vegas has us favored by 2.  word is that it is being played as heavily as bama vs buckeyes.

[historyman]

Will there be video for this game??

A link was posted at the beginning of this thread.

Look at the post 4 above your original post. I made it larger so it would be harder to miss. This is the actual website for the game broadcast.