Mens Hoops Coaching Staff - Let's Discuss

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Polito
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Re: Mens Hoops Coaching Staff - Let's Discuss

Post by Polito »

I'm not sure how anybody can say it has not been.
Simple: Because that is not true.

HU is recruiting the SAME players that high level CAA counterparts and Mid-Low level A10 teams are recruiting. Go look at who HU is losing recruits to, and who they are beating to land the ones they do. Gotta look beyond the initial gut reactions guys - the real issue is different.

What you are really questioning, fairly IMO, is said players PRODUCTION once they hit the D1 court. THAT is the real issue here.

I think HU has enough size, bigs, and bench to succeed this season, and will feel the same next year too. The real question there to me though is whether it's being used properly.

And this goes to the quality of play of the guards they have brought in. For all intents and purposes, the staff has brought in the guys of a high quality level who were SUPPOSED to address the major needs - on paper, they did it right.

But it just hasn't panned out that way yet on the court. There is no reason whatsoever for BB to be shooting the way he is. NONE - it's literally his one job to perfect, and did so before. Pemba is in a major funk and not playing nearly to his level of ability (hey, he's a true frosh). Powers has shocked all of us in his inconsistency distributing the rock. Gustys has struggled mightily in this transition year. Greer has unfortunately been a bit of a bust thus far. I could go on. All of these things are very much undetermined until play actually starts.

I have actually been fairly pleased with their ability to navigate full court pressure this year. It was putrid last couple even with Green. This yr not so bad IMO. And you know who surprised me with his handle? Greer! Shocked me when he brought the ball up the court a few times - he can actually handle the rock surprisingly well for his position/size/skill set lol :shock:

Small item though in the grand scheme of things right now though.

One thing I do agree on though is this staff is BRUTAL with their timing - whoever said it is right, we are always waiting wondering hoping and praying that they are able to address the needs in the late recruiting period, rather than locking down talent earlier like we've seen other CAA programs do with ease.

THAT is something I too find very frustrating and stressful. (See bobe13, contrary to your tiresome narrative, I in fact do not think this staff is perfect, and have no issue critiquing something that warrants it. Feel better about me yet? :P )

I think the caliber of player they're going for lends itself to that kind of scenario to a certain extent. But still, others do it, so I would very much like to see them get better at securing their guys sooner.
ZMAN3
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Re: Mens Hoops Coaching Staff - Let's Discuss

Post by ZMAN3 »

Hadn't read this thread until now - just read it in it's entirety. There are so many good points and differing opinions re the success and failure of this year's team. I'll start with the PG play - it's been sporadic at best. JG had some shortcomings but man do we miss him! I did say Rok would suffer without him because all he can do on "O" is shoot a layup. He's missed more than his share of easy shots and nobody is knocking themselves out to get him the ball. Coaching or just poor PG play ? Wasn't overly enamored with Buie but they miss him because as someone pointed out nobody else can handle the ball.
BB - why the heck is he playing major mins - he is by far the worst defender on team (something we all agree on) and yet he was on Dixon who hit game winning shot. He shouldn't have been on the floor - period! Coaching! The fact he can hoist up any damn shot he pleases without getting hooked ? Coaching!
As I pointed out in an earlier thread on the W&M game a "Big" should have guarded the inbounds pass - everyone does it. Holzman did it, Stevens (Celtics) had Olynyk (7') on inbounds pass Fri nite vs Atlanta and then helped trap ball in corner forcing a lousy shot vs Milsap in Boston's 2 point W. Coaching!
The insistence in playing Zone when it's obvious they can't play it! (as pointed out by our 321st defensive deficiency) He's got a very quick but undersized team - try man! They might get some steals and get out on the break for some easy baskets. Powers and JWF are as fast as any 2 guards playing. Coaching
They have enough depth to play man - they have 15 fouls at the center position - no excuse for Roks' statuesque play! If they do get in foul trouble then go to zone. Definition of insanity...
And my biggest frustration ? The lack of development of probably the best athlete at his size (save for maybe John Irving) HU has had in the 50+ years of following HU basketball - Andre Walker. This kid has enormous talent and athleticism - and yet he sits and sits and sits some more. The fact they (the staff) have gotten basically nothing out of him is almost criminal! That stiff CJ Gettys got minutes every game - now he's transferred to a decent D1 team - he still stinks but he gets minutes. If they won't play him - at least Redshirt him next yr - maybe they'll play him as a senior.
Re recruiting - they are getting decent talent however the "dead" atmosphere certainly doesn't help and when you start to lose the quality of your recruits will go down (see Michigan St FB) How come they can't get a bunch of 6'7" forwards ?- the CAA is stocked with them!
joeg1
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Re: Mens Hoops Coaching Staff - Let's Discuss

Post by joeg1 »

Coach was very positive in his weekly report, and he's right, we did play better against UNCW. Hopefully we can turn it around. I hope we get some fan support. He noted the student support there last week in NC. It won't happen here unless we win.

My issues largely remain who does and doesn't get minutes, and style of D (or lack thereof). I'd like to see a little more flexibility--please give Walker a real shot!
daHUPride
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Re: Mens Hoops Coaching Staff - Let's Discuss

Post by daHUPride »

ZMAN - hit upon so many things that I totally agree with and couldn't have said better.

Juan Green - although not an NBA point guard was a stud mid-major PG. He MADE Gustys. Green/Tanksley/Koon made up our best three man team since Stokes/Agudio/Rivera.
BB - He is a coaches favorite - seems to get railed the least of any player when he makes mistake and is a liability on D, when he has the ball when being pressed and going to the hoop.
Walker - I have been saying it for years - why not play him? He moves, plays above the rim and he's 6'10"!!! I cant not understand his lack of playing time - unless he is a complete "dog" in practice.
Those 6'7'" Guys - I watched NE rump Delaware a few weeks ago - and it SEEMED like they had those type of guys that ZMAN is talking about and the motion, passing and matchup problems created by those players had NE up by 40 points - at HALFTIME.

Listen I give all the credit to this staff for righting the ship over the past 4 years - stability and credibility. But personally I thought we'd be trending even higher - with more and better quality recruits.
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Flying Dutchmen
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Re: Mens Hoops Coaching Staff - Let's Discuss

Post by Flying Dutchmen »

ZMAN3 wrote: The insistence in playing Zone when it's obvious they can't play it! (as pointed out by our 321st defensive deficiency) He's got a very quick but undersized team - try man! They might get some steals and get out on the break for some easy baskets. Powers and JWF are as fast as any 2 guards playing. Coaching
They have enough depth to play man - they have 15 fouls at the center position - no excuse for Roks' statuesque play! If they do get in foul trouble then go to zone. Definition of insanity...

Re recruiting - they are getting decent talent however the "dead" atmosphere certainly doesn't help and when you start to lose the quality of your recruits will go down (see Michigan St FB) How come they can't get a bunch of 6'7" forwards ?- the CAA is stocked with them!
ZMan, I can't agree more that we stink in zone, but I thought the Elon game perfectly showed why man to man is out of the question in most instances. There were possessions late where we had JWF or Bernardi getting backed down by one of Elon's 6-8 forwards for easy layups. We gave away points late in a game that tightened up.

Which is why it goes back to recruiting. I agree, why can't we get some 6-6, 6-7 forwards on this team? Greer is listed at 6-6 but he does not play like a forward, Robinson is too undersized, he's a guard as well. We need some forwards who can matchup with the bigger teams in the conference so we can play man to man and not get completely exploited.

My main issue with the recruiting is we don't bring in enough four year players. Yes, the four year players we've recruited have signed over other CAA and A-10 programs, but we've recruited only six, four year guys in the last three recruiting classes. One is a complete bust, one is redshirting, and one is lost for the season due to injury. Truth be told, only half of our current eight-man rotation is truly CAA-caliber. We've gone with a ton of stop-gap players, and it's worked, but we've been perpetually short on depth, and the lack of talent is burning us this season.

You can say it's just not working out on the court and not blame the recruiting, but I see a team that had major success last year because of great play from #1 and #2 that smoothed over major deficiencies with rest of the team's inability to create shots and handle the ball. Last year's personnel also allowed us to get more aggressive in the zone, which made it a viable defense. We do not have the talent this year to compete, Powers, Pemba, JWF have filled the offensive void, but we need a defensive miracle from this personnel to make the big dance.
HUSID80
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Re: Mens Hoops Coaching Staff - Let's Discuss

Post by HUSID80 »

Wow it's amazing that we've won any games with lousy coaching and poor players! I guess the sky is REALLY falling on this program according to some of you...Lets see what a couple of wins do to all this gloom and doom!
Wags
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Re: Mens Hoops Coaching Staff - Let's Discuss

Post by Wags »

HUSID80 wrote:Wow it's amazing that we've won any games with lousy coaching and poor players! I guess the sky is REALLY falling on this program according to some of you...Lets see what a couple of wins do to all this gloom and doom!
Can't say I blame them since it's five games into the new year and Hofstra is thus far 0-for-2017.

But starting tonight, 5 of the next 6 at home, with the lone road game at Drexel (currently 1-4).

If they can take advantage of that stretch and go 5-1, it cancels out the awful 1-5 start after the first third of the CAA slate and they're at .500 two-thirds of the way in.

SAYING it and DOING it are obviously two different things, especially with the way this team defends. We'll see. Starts tonight.
Cards
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Re: Mens Hoops Coaching Staff - Let's Discuss

Post by Cards »

I will continue to go to every home game and watch away games on the net. I will continue to root for the guys and be the most vocal guy in the area in which I sit. I will continue to be optimistic because 1)that's the way I am, 2) I really enjoy going to the games, 3) The teams seems to be made up of a good bunch of young men 4) The program is going in the right direction 5) The team really does have talent. And its the last item (talent) that makes the last 3 weeks so frustrating. We certainly are or at least can be better than we have been, and I think we all firmly believe that.

Yes the team has some holes, yes the defense could be better, yes players have off days, and yes coaches have off days. That being said, in my opinion, the worst this team should be is middle of the pack. In the end though, as Wags said, "saying it and doing it" are two different things - so we shall see.

I still believe that HU has a long term view of the program that brings higher level talent, a winning philosophy (including dance tickets), and a game experience that is fun and exciting to be at. If you think I'm wrong, please let me know so that I can lower expectations!

I will be there tonight rooting them on :)
joeg1
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Re: Mens Hoops Coaching Staff - Let's Discuss

Post by joeg1 »

Since the Jay Wright era, all of our really good teams had a nice player at the 4, whether Gittens or Kieza or Koon. Clearly we are lacking that this year
joeg1
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Re: Mens Hoops Coaching Staff - Let's Discuss

Post by joeg1 »

Presser ended abruptly when JM was questioned about yelling at the refs at the game's conclusion.

Took another dig at the atmosphere of the Mack....maybe should be focusing more on lack of defense-again?

BB 1/5, 3TOs, zero rebounds. played 36 mins-why?

They were bigger than us at every position and pushed us around. 4 guard set not working!!
Dooku25
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Re: Mens Hoops Coaching Staff - Let's Discuss

Post by Dooku25 »

joeg1 wrote:
Took another dig at the atmosphere of the Mack....maybe should be focusing more on lack of defense-again?
It seems like Joe keeps bringing up the attendance more and more. He's been here 4 years now, does he not realize he plays in a major market? He also took over a program coming off a laptop scandal and 20 loss seasons, not to mention a now 16 year NCAA tournament drought. Hofstra basketball is an afterthought to the average sports fan around here. It's a pro sports area. We aren't in the middle of North Carolina where absolutely nothing is going on except a UNCW hoops game. You want a crowd? Win the CAA. Period. People around here like a winner. They aren't going to waste their time watching us lose to TOWSON. When we had a winning program under Jay Wright making NCAA tournaments, we had sellouts here. Yes there were ticket scalpers outside Hofstra Arena back then. I know that seems hard to believe compared to today's lack of attendance, but it did happen!

Also, does the team really need energy in the building to win a game? They should be able to play in front of 5 people and still have energy to beat the opponent at hand. Of course we would all like big crowds and a true home court advantage, but stop making it an excuse for the team's poor play. I've been going to games for almost 20 years. Most of the previous Hofstra teams played in front of the same lethargic crowds 90% of the time and played a helluva alot better than what your team is playing right now.
Cards
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Re: Mens Hoops Coaching Staff - Let's Discuss

Post by Cards »

joeg1 wrote:Took another dig at the atmosphere of the Mack....maybe should be focusing more on lack of defense-again?
I don't like the attitude. If its such a bad place to play in, why did you re-up and jump at getting an extension to stay :?

Over the years, we all have been to well attended games at HU. Is attendance always great...hardly. But in the past, fans have turned out to watch winning teams.
HUSID80
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Re: Mens Hoops Coaching Staff - Let's Discuss

Post by HUSID80 »

Cards wrote:
joeg1 wrote:Took another dig at the atmosphere of the Mack....maybe should be focusing more on lack of defense-again?
I don't like the attitude. If its such a bad place to play in, why did you re-up and jump at getting an extension to stay :?

Over the years, we all have been to well attended games at HU. Is attendance always great...hardly. But in the past, fans have turned out to watch winning teams.
We won 20 plus games two years in a row and we drew flies...much more going on here.
Polito
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Re: Mens Hoops Coaching Staff - Let's Discuss

Post by Polito »

Back to topic:

This staff still has a LOT to prove in terms of winning in the CAA. So far they've only won with Green, and even then couldn't finish the job.

Coming to the end of year 4, and it's a doozey - if they don't right this and put out a strong winning season next year, their 5th, the questions on their capability to perform at a high level here are going to get a LOT louder.

Accountability and results are not nice to haves, they are expected from ALL leaders. D1 sports especially. Pulling for them...but patience is running thin with the same ol every season. No D has worn out it's welcome.

And they need to stop hiding behind this BS 'hey it's an exciting brand of basketball'. No. It isn't. It's a disrespectful brand of basketball - to the fans, to the program, to the game. WINNING is an exciting brand of basketball. And it takes D to do so.

FIX IT.
ProudofPride
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Re: Mens Hoops Coaching Staff - Let's Discuss

Post by ProudofPride »

Tidbits from the peanut gallery (aka other CAA fans):

"Is there a coach in the league that gets less out of his talent than Joe Mihalik? Good grief. " - JMU Fan
http://csnbbs.com/thread-806869-post-14 ... id14036912

"I've picked against Hofstra nearly every time they've taken the court, and I see no reason to pick them in this one. Your Dragons were impressive against us on Saturday. And Joe Mihalich is the worst coach in the CAA." - UNCW Fan
http://csnbbs.com/thread-806475-post-14 ... id14026075


I'd like to see how they do the year after graduating 60% of their scoring.
Polito
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Re: Mens Hoops Coaching Staff - Let's Discuss

Post by Polito »

It definitely sucks to have opposing conference members talk that way about HU … But I gotta be honest with you here PoP, if you gave Kevin Keats or Shaver or Cohen this talent, they finish in the top half of the league. There is no excuse for the play we've seen from this team all year – I understand a lot scoring graduated, but funny enough scoring is not the issue of this team - I have officially reached my limit of watching zero defense, and absolutely zero improvement in that area over halfway through the season - I have also reached my limit of watching a bunch of players not running any playsets and just chalking up shots left and right like chickens with their heads cut off.

Free-throw shooting is all on the player, but my overall patience and understanding for the staff and the same ol sh!t wvery friggin yr is waning quickly.
ProudofPride
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Re: Mens Hoops Coaching Staff - Let's Discuss

Post by ProudofPride »

Maybe I'm wrong with my thinking, but most games I get the feeling that there's so much pressure on the team to score because everyone is trying to fill Juan'ya and Ameen's shoes, that they completely forget to play defense. Not that defense was any good last year either, but it just seems like they're so focused on scoring that no one can remember there's more to the game than that. This year could've been a great opportunity for the team to reinvent their identity, with so many new faces in the lineup.
daHUPride
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Re: Mens Hoops Coaching Staff - Let's Discuss

Post by daHUPride »

JAM and staff are struggling.
JAM seems like a good guy – he deserves all the credit for saving our sinking ship (after the MC tenure). He was able field a team that competed and also got players (Upshaw and Nesmith) to bridge us to the Green/Tanksley era. He restored our credibility in the basketball community.
With the Green/Tanksley era finished – I’d thought that would have been immediately followed by our strongest recruiting years. We were coming off to strong year (although we could finish with a title or an NCAA bid). JAM showed that good players were willing to follow him - Green/Tanksley. He was getting transfers from major schools – BB, Koon, Powers and Djambo. We were adding big time teams to our schedule – NCS, FSU, Kentucky and Villanova.
However – the freshman recruits that have come in haven’t been stellar and on top of that there aren’t enough of them. The best of them are Gustys, Pemberton, Buie and JFW but for every two good one’s we have a Robinson and Walker. Our JuCo record is great either – Nichols was better than average and Greer and Sabaty (I know HS wasn’t a JuCo but I am lumping him in here).
Player development – has been disappointing. How many players have gotten better with help of this staff? JFW for sure. Gustys – maybe – but I think his game was made by Green and Tanksley and Koon beside him. And hopefully Pemberton, Buie and Truehart. But Bernardi, Robinson and Walker – all had better years 2, 3 years ago.
JAM has his style – from day one – he rips the refs; the team D sucks; foul shooting isn't a priority; teams (without Green) are undisciplined. Does that style work? I watched both NE and Davison play – their style is to move the ball; move without the ball and the coaches seem to coach the game and not constantly berate players for things that don’t work. Teaching is done in practice; coaching is done in the game. JAM does not play a deep bench – we know that – does that hurt recruiting; a kid knows he’s riding pine if he isn’t the top 7?
Fan support. Nothing to do with coaching. LI’ers run and jumps on the bandwagon with a winner and if there is a buzz. You win they’ll come.
I hope – really hope – that we have some recruits in the pipeline ready to come here – because with this group of returning players and the way this staff builds players development and game coaches them – I am not very confident.
joeg1
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Re: Mens Hoops Coaching Staff - Let's Discuss

Post by joeg1 »

No Coach's Report this week, eh?
dutchiedoright
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Re: Mens Hoops Coaching Staff - Let's Discuss

Post by dutchiedoright »

Here's the coaches report (the thread that seems to dry up whenever we win....)

- Took an injury-riddled team and rallied them from 11 down to win -

And here's my observations:

- won (or will win) close to 60 games in 3 years
- got Pemberton and Ray in back-to-back years
- got us Kentucky and Villanova games at HOME !!!!!
- calls plays almost every possession
- changes defense constantly....yes, constantly (not all zones are the same !)

And just some comments for fodder...:

- Shaver ?......give me a break !
- Keats ? .......should be in jail
- Methany, Grant, Skerry ......????? nothing special there

Let's stop the craziness and support our guys down the stretch.

Personally, I see a path OUT of the 7-10/8-9 game. And then, is there anyone you are really afraid of ?

February just started....I'm looking forward to March. This thing is do-able !!!
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