As Goes Agudio, So Goes Hofstra?
Posted 2008-01-05
JMU May Find Out Today In New York
By Dustin Dopirak
HARRISONBURG - As of Friday afternoon, the answer to the question everyone in the Colonial Athletic Association was asking was "yes."
The league's most talked-about left ankle was stable and Hofstra senior guard Antoine Agudio was considered a "go" for today's 4 p.m. game against upstart James Madison (9-3 overall, 2-0 in the CAA) in Hempstead, N.Y.
"He is going to play," Hofstra coach Tom Pecora said of Agudio, the nation's third-leading scorer. "He just went through some drills and played live in practice. We're going to go in now to the training room and see how it responds."
Pecora said he's not sure if his sharpshooter will be 100 percent, however.
"He may be limited," Pecora said. "But we'll see."
Having Agudio back at 60, 70 or 80 percent is better for the struggling Pride (2-9, 0-2) than not having him at all.
After Loren Stokes, the 2007 CAA Player of the Year, and Carlos Rivera graduated from last year's 22-10 team, Pecora had to thrust basically everything on Agudio's shoulders in the Pride's perimeter- oriented system. With freshmen Charles Jenkins and Nathaniel Lester the team's other starting guards, Agudio would have to carry more of a load than any other player in the league.
That meant Agudio couldn't just be the catch-and-shoot player he was when Stokes was slashing and Rivera was running the point. He had to be able to score off the dribble, and occasionally distribute, and he also had to be able to defend and rebound.
Through eight games before hurting his ankle, Agudio averaged 39.8 minutes - the most in the nation - and 26.8 points, a number that leaves him behind only Tennessee-Martin's Lester Hudson (27.6 ppg) and Niagara's Charron Fisher (27.4) in Division I. He's also the Colonial's best 3-point shooter, leading the CAA in percentage (47.7) and 3-pointers per game (4.0).
"I told him that with greatness comes responsibility," Pecora said. "I was brutally honest with him. I wanted more. Even though he was putting up big scoring numbers, I needed him to rebound the ball and defend better, and when he did, we beat a good Charlotte team."
Hofstra upset the 49ers 70-68 on Dec. 15 to improve to 2-5. It lost its next game to Rhode Island, however; then, Agudio rolled his ankle in practice on Dec. 27, two days before Hofstra played Virginia Tech in the Holiday Classic at Madison Square Garden. He's missed the last three games, leaving his young teammates to fend for themselves, and the Pride has lost all three.
"It's been tough," Pecora said. "We'd obviously dug ourselves a hole, and we just made it a lot deeper not having him for those three games. But I think this will work out better for us in the long run. We had to put a lot of young guys in pressure situations without Antoine on the floor, so hopefully they learn from that and it makes us better as a team and as individuals."
A few members of Agudio's supporting cast stepped up while he was out. Jenkins looks like a frontrunner for CAA Rookie of the Year honors, averaging 13.5 points, 4.3 rebounds and 2.6 assists. Junior forward Darren Townes has also stepped up, averaging 7.3 points and 5.9 rebounds, including a double-double (19 points, 11 rebounds) in Wednesday's game against Old Dominion.
JMU coach Dean Keener - whose team is suddenly in first place in the CAA after its 62-61 upset of Virginia Commonwealth on Wednesday - had already been preparing his team for Agudio to play and for him to be healthy.
"We gotta prepare as though he is, and if he does, he's the nation's [third] leading scorer," Keener said. "You've got to treat him much like [former Towson star] Gary Neal. He's a guy who can go get 30 points in a hurry."
Keener said Agudio isn't the only player of concern to the Dukes, who likely go into this game as heavy favorites despite having lost their last five games against the Pride.
His biggest concern is inside. Though star forwards Terrance Carter (15.5 ppg, 8.4 rpg) and Juwann James (12.2 ppg, 5.3 rpg) have much better numbers than any of the Pride's frontcourt players, Hofstra has significantly more size. While Carter and James stand 6-foot-5 and 6-6 respectively, the Pride have six players 6-7 or taller and three 6-9 or taller, including massive junior-college transfer Dane Johnson (6-10, 290 pounds).
"Their post players, even though they aren't putting up big numbers, they're able to defend, and I'm worried about that," Keener said. "The four guys that they'll be able to rotate are as big as anyone in the league."
But the scouting report still starts with Agudio.
"He's one of the best players if not the best player in our league," sophomore point guard Pierre Curtis said. "As Agudio goes, Hofstra goes."
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Originally Posted by bigboydan
