MBB Game 3: vs. North Carolina A&T (Wed 11/14)

[garyg]

Disappointing crowd announced at only 1209....back to norm I guess

[garyg]

Disappointing crowd announced at only 1209....back to norm I guess

[HUSID74]

Could you repeat that? LOL

[HofstraMathew]

I would assume they will try and push a few games a year as big marketing blitzes but you have to start somewhere and the home opener was a great start. Hopefully a bunch of the people that came to the first game end up coming back during the season to other games which can help increase the norm.

Last year the first two games had attendance of 2,703 and 1,013 and this year it has been 4,645 and 1,209. So we are definitely moving in the right direction.

[HU87]

Agreed with a lot of the above. JWF/Buie/Eli are the foundation we need.

I don't want to minimize how incredible those three are, as they allow us to get really excited about this year. With that in mind, it's going to fall on coach to build the 2nd unit behind them, which will make a big difference and contains all of our potential for this season.

The way I see it, we need the following to be consistent to take the leap:

Trueheart- 25 minutes a game, 10 ppg, 6 rebs, 38% from 3
Taylor- 20 minutes a game (due to injury concerns-- it's a long season and it all boils down to the CAA tourney), 8 pts, 8 rebs, 2 blocks, 75% FT
Dwyer- 15 minutes a game, 6 pts, 6 rebs

And finally, these two could be huge difference makers for how this season ends:
Jalen Ray- Playing 20 mpg, but shooting 24% from the field. Needs to become a consistent bench team scorer (6-8 ppg, 40% from the field and from 3) and continue to play aggressive defense.
Tareq Coburn- Our most undervalued asset IMO. He's played a total of 25 minutes this season, which I'd like to see increase. We need someone to come off the bench in the stretch 4 mold, which we've tried to do with him in a few spots over the last 3 games. We don't need him to be Ameen Tanksley, but more of a Malik Nichols, who can be counted on to come in with some size and energy to make an impact with the 2nd unit. All his recruiting information out of HS preached his versatility-- which is exactly what we need right now.

[EvanJ]

I would bet under most of what you said for Trueheart, Taylor, and Dwyer. You want Taylor and Dwyer to have enough rebounds per minute that they would average 12 if they played 30 minutes. Most teams don't have that. You want Taylor and Dwyer have more points per minute than Gustys had last season. It would be great if they could do that well, but I don't think they will.

1,209 is disappointing, but an out of conference game against a team that isn't nearby and is in a bad conference should be one of our lowest attendances. In 2015-2016 when we were good 5 out of 13 home games got under 1,209.

[Wags]

I would assume they will try and push a few games a year as big marketing blitzes but you have to start somewhere and the home opener was a great start. Hopefully a bunch of the people that came to the first game end up coming back during the season to other games which can help increase the norm.

Last year the first two games had attendance of 2,703 and 1,013 and this year it has been 4,645 and 1,209. So we are definitely moving in the right direction.

Beat Maryland, and I bet there's a nice jump in the crowd for CSF next Wed. The casual fan on LI which doesn't really pay close attention all season like we do takes note of doing things on a bigger scale (not just winning CAA regular season games or winning a local rivalry against Stony Brook, or beating a MEAC team like last night). That type of fan knows a school name like Maryland. To establish your own brand, you have to make noise against an already-established brand to pull in the casual fan who couldn't tell you the difference between any of Hofstra's CAA opponents.

[HofstraMathew]

1,209 is disappointing, but an out of conference game against a team that isn't nearby and is in a bad conference should be one of our lowest attendances. In 2015-2016 when we were good 5 out of 13 home games got under 1,209.

Even though they aren't nearby they had three players from Long Island, one from the bronx and the coach is from LI so they definitely had more of a visitor's crowd then you would expect.

[EvanJ]

JFW - it is hard for to say this, but I believe he has signifcantly improved his game - his body control going to the hoop is so impressive.

His field goal percentage and three-point field goal percentage are down a little from last season. His points, rebounds, assists, steals, and turnovers are better than last season. His blocks are up negligibly from 0.2 to 0.3, and his fouls are up from exactly 2 to 2.3. His assist/turnover of 2.6 is higher than any Hofstra player has finished with since at least 2005-2006.

[daHUPride]

JFW - it is hard for to say this, but I believe he has signifcantly improved his game - his body control going to the hoop is so impressive.

His field goal percentage and three-point field goal percentage are down a little from last season. His points, rebounds, assists, steals, and turnovers are better than last season. His blocks are up negligibly from 0.2 to 0.3, and his fouls are up from exactly 2 to 2.3. His assist/turnover of 2.6 is higher than any Hofstra player has finished with since at least 2005-2006.

Thanks Evan - Id prefer to wait tell the end of the year to compare every stat of a player comparison - however my statement of JFW improvement was not stat driven - it was what I SEE - I see a player that is stronger, I see a player with incredible body and hand control when elevating to the rim, I see a player that is trying to get other player more involved. Keep that stats coming as I love them when you provide them. But in this case stats are no substitute for judgement.

Hope he has nice game vs Maryland.

[stuball888]

A scout from the clippers was there looking at JWF Taylor and Tobias Harris youngest brother Terry

[Wags]

A scout from the clippers was there looking at JWF Taylor and Tobias Harris youngest brother Terry

Sat next to him at the game and was talking to him about JWF. He says (as you would guess), they really know a lot about a player before they see them, but the primary reason they go to see them live is to see what a player looks like in person, physically. He seemed to come away with the impression that JWF didn't have the physical body type of an NBA guard (he felt he was a little slight physically), but there are other guards of JWF's size in the NBA. What JWF can do to counter that is to be a true PG more often... after driving and drawing, kick to others, set them up for jumpers or layups, instead of pulling up for jumpers himself (that's fine at times, too, but there has to be the right balance with that). I pointed out to the Clippers scout (which he agreed with) that Hofstra also doesn't take full advantage of his skillset - they don't set enough screens for JWF, who would be adept at getting around those screens and then having one of three options: pulling up for the jumper occasionally, having the screener roll toward the lane for a pass from JWF (perfect to showcase for the pick-and-roll-based NBA), or attacking the basket for a layup or to draw a foul. Would not only help JWF in trying to showcase him for the next level, but would help Hofstra be a better and tougher team to guard this year. One thing we didn't discuss was defense, which was curious because I'm sure he had to be looking at that, and stopping opposing PGs is obviously of huge value at the next level (and would be of huge value for Hofstra when it comes to playing a team like Northeastern with a team like Pusica).

[RIP_HOFUSA]

A scout from the clippers was there looking at JWF Taylor and Tobias Harris youngest brother Terry

Sat next to him at the game and was talking to him about JWF. He says (as you would guess), they really know a lot about a player before they see them, but the primary reason they go to see them live is to see what a player looks like in person, physically. He seemed to come away with the impression that JWF didn't have the physical body type of an NBA guard (he felt he was a little slight physically), but there are other guards of JWF's size in the NBA. What JWF can do to counter that is to be a true PG more often... after driving and drawing, kick to others, set them up for jumpers or layups, instead of pulling up for jumpers himself (that's fine at times, too, but there has to be the right balance with that). I pointed out to the Clippers scout (which he agreed with) that Hofstra also doesn't take full advantage of his skillset - they don't set enough screens for JWF, who would be adept at getting around those screens and then having one of three options: pulling up for the jumper occasionally, having the screener roll toward the lane for a pass from JWF (perfect to showcase for the pick-and-roll-based NBA), or attacking the basket for a layup or to draw a foul. Would not only help JWF in trying to showcase him for the next level, but would help Hofstra be a better and tougher team to guard this year. One thing we didn't discuss was defense, which was curious because I'm sure he had to be looking at that, and stopping opposing PGs is obviously of huge value at the next level (and would be of huge value for Hofstra when it comes to playing a team like Northeastern with a team like Pusica).

Wow that's really cool, can't believe you got that opportunity. Thanks for letting us in on that conversation! That's really interesting.

As a student, I can say that this game was not advertised at all, I was actually shocked by how many showed up. We managed to fill up the lower section of the seating, which I can't remember ever happening outside of a game they didn't hand out free stuff for last season. Maryland is a great opportunity, but definitely expect this year's attendance to be better because the freshman are more into it. I want to be chanting "We want Connor" a lot more this year, because it means good things for our team!

[HUSID74]

Good to hear that the freshmen are more into the games...what can the school do to help you and others promote the games among the students??????

[RIP_HOFUSA]

At the end of the day, the loyalists like me are gonna come (unless I'm working the game at the radio station) to every game but the ones during the week are just gonna be difficult. Honestly, I think Hofstra has done a great job with promoting the games which helped with the big turnout. They personally came to every single door in the residence halls and knocked on them and invited everyone to the opening games. That has never happened before and I had friends that tried to go to the game late and they weren't able to get tickets. So if they keep promoting them the way they are doing, I think we'll see the best turnout since I've been here.

[daHUPride]

At the end of the day, the loyalists like me are gonna come (unless I'm working the game at the radio station) to every game but the ones during the week are just gonna be difficult. Honestly, I think Hofstra has done a great job with promoting the games which helped with the big turnout. They personally came to every single door in the residence halls and knocked on them and invited everyone to the opening games. That has never happened before and I had friends that tried to go to the game late and they weren't able to get tickets. So if they keep promoting them the way they are doing, I think we'll see the best turnout since I've been here.

Keep it up "Young Blood" - the student section use to ROCK - and I noticed that there are some new enthusiastic student - its great to see. We need more like you!

[EvanJ]

Once CAA games start, Hofstra will be home on Thursday and Saturday two days three times. We can help provide information about Hofstra and the CAA that RIP_HOFUSA can relay to other students if he wants.