HARRISONBURG — As James Madison and Towson get ready for an all-important rubber match, the Dukes face a distinct disadvantage as the teams meet for a third time in the opening round of the Colonial Athletic Association Tournament.
When the tourney begins 4 p.m. today in North Charleston, S.C., JMU will almost certainly be without sophomore swingman Darius Banks. Banks, who averages 12.5 points per game, is Madison’s third-leading scorer and the CAA’s most accurate 3-point shooter at 48.6 percent. But perhaps more importantly for a matchup with the Tigers, he’s also JMU’s most versatile defender.
JMU will also be without senior big man Develle Phillips, who will miss the tourney due to an undisclosed violation of team rules.
“This program holds itself to certain standards and we will not compromise them,” JMU coach Louis Rowe said in a statement released by the school. “When those standards are not met, there are consequences. We regret that Develle will not be with us, but no individual is bigger than the culture we have built and continue to build in this program.”
Now, the Dukes must figure out a way to slow down Towson’s inside-out threat Brian Fobbs. Fobbs ranks sixth in the conference in scoring at 17.5 points per game and he exploded for 29 points on 11-of-15 shooting against in JMU’s loss at Towson a month ago.
“They are a team we compete well with,” Rowe said of the Tigers. “But they are a team that has really gelled as a team. Brian Fobbs really came into his own and guys accepted roles. There is a lot of respect for that team.”
In the game at Towson, the Dukes struggled to find any way to slow Fobbs down. When sophomore guard Matt Lewis tried to guard him, Fobbs simply used his size to back Lewis down in the paint.
When the Dukes switched to Banks on Fobbs, the Tigers ran him off multiple screens around the 3-point arc and got Banks in foul trouble.
Still, matching Banks up on Fobbs probably would have been the Dukes best bet this time around. But Banks injured his left hand last Thursday against Elon and sat out Saturday against William & Mary.
Early this week, his hand was in a cast and it Rowe said it was unlikely he would play in the CAA Tournament.
So how do the Duke check one of the league's best scorers?
“As a staff we have to figure out a way to give him different looks,” Rowe said. “It makes sense to throw different looks at a really good player. Maybe play some zones, throw different guys at him. Matt's going to guard him. He's going to take the challenge and guard him, but maybe we'll have Deshon [Parker] on him. We've got to mix it up.”
Like JMU, Towson enters the tourney coming off losses to William & Mary and Elon. The team that does the best job rebounding from a disappointing week will get a shot at No. 1 seed Hofstra in the quarterfinals, and it may come down to executing the simple things.
“We'll go down and play hard,” Towson coach Pat Skerry said. “But all the teams are going to play hard. You don't reinvent the wheel this time of year. When our defense has been good and we've done a good job of taking care of the basketball, we've been in position to beat some really good teams. My hope is we are going to be in that position again, and maybe stuff can go our way.”
