I don't like Java even with an IDE, and I especially dislike Maven, but Scala and Clojure are two of the most exciting languages out there, and because they're showing an ability to build communities that Haskell and Ocaml seem to lack (not a fault of the languages, but just because it's really hard to get people to learn "new everything") and so they're probably going to either be "the winners" when the divergence/convergence cycle of PL moves back into a convergent phase, or predecessors of whatever wins. Scala and Clojure are probably the "best bets" right now. The "language of 2020" won't be Java or Ocaml or SBCL, but Scala has a fighting chance.
On standups: if you're going to do a daily status meeting, then standup is the way to go.
That said, I dislike status meetings because I think they burn a lot of time, involve too much context switching, and don't solve problems that are better solved by direct communication. Also, audit-cycles don't have a one-size-fits-all pattern. You might want to ping an entry-level programmer daily in the first six months and 1-2x per week after that, while for a more senior person, a high-level might be appropriate.
One thing I will say is that a formalized status-reporting infrastructure (even one that costs a half hour per day) is much better than ad-hoc micromanagement. I worked at a company where 2-4 daily status pings (that would evolve into half-hour detailed conversations about minutiae) was the norm and that was a massive failure.
This applies to any language, not just Java.
I would argue if you're using Java, using an IDE is the only way to stay sane. Context aware class navigation is pretty much a requirement on any sizable project. Intellij can make Java almost enjoyable to use.
Your comments on agile and standups are spot on. Where I work now we do real standups. The group makes everyone actually standup and keeps the people who can wander during their turn on topic. The meeting is also strictly 15 minutes or less. It's the best daily type meeting I've ever had at any job and it works pretty well.