MBB Game 3 vs Bucknell - 11/13/2019 7pm

[Wags]

Some pretty bad signs in this one:

- Managed to lose by 15 in a game in which they took 16 more FTs (27-11) -- on the road, that should be a great gift, but completely squandered.
- Couldn't defend the 3 (Bucknell 15/28) -- three different Bucknell players each made four 3s.
- Only 9 asts on 24 FGM (37.5%) -- really making it hard on themselves to score by not sharing the ball or setting each other up.
- Beat up badly on the boards (48-33) for the second time in three games.

NY Tech should help in terms of regaining confidence only, but they'll learn nothing from that game. Let's see what kind of trips they have to CA and FL. That will tell a lot more. But so far, they're about as inconsistent as the weather around here lately (temps go up, down, up, down). Hofstra bad, then very good, now pretty bad. They need to somehow bond on these upcoming trips and find an identity in CA and FL. Right now, I don't think even they know what they are or what their identity is as a basketball team yet. Sure, JWF was a tremendous loss and Taylor a big loss as well, but with Eli, Desure, Tareq and Jalen back and a year older, this shouldn't have been as difficult of a transition as we've seen against San Jose State and Bucknell, especially given the first half against Monmouth. Or maybe Monmouth is just that bad. We'll see.

[Hof_Judge99]

Man this Isaac Kante looks dreadful, 2 rebounds in 18 minutes? Out of position, sloppy, never even has his shirt tucked in (lol). The new guys all look bad to me, Silverio is a chucker, haven’t liked anything about the freshman so far. Only guy I think has improved maybe slightly is Coburn. As bad as we miss JWF, not having Jacquil Taylor or even Rokus to me is the big difference. We can’t rebound or defend so far. Not a good combination. It’s early though, that’s about all I can say on a positive note. Feels like the last time we played a good game was on Valentine’s Day against CoC last year. Everything has seemingly fallen apart since then.

[Captain]

Boy are we getting pummeled on the backboards. Shades of the old days when other teams were playing volleyball on the offensive glass. I will be surprised if Trueheart is a rebounding answer. Wondering if Cramer is well enough to play this year.
Maybe he can make a difference on the boards. He is reported to be a leaper and a beast. If he is reasonably healthy, I wonder if burning his redshirt this year would be considered. Otherwise unless we are shooting lights out, the future does not look too pretty.
Hope I am wrong, but it's hard to like what we have seen to date.

[Jojogunne]

Man this Isaac Kante looks dreadful, 2 rebounds in 18 minutes? Out of position, sloppy, never even has his shirt tucked in (lol). The new guys all look bad to me, Silverio is a chucker, haven’t liked anything about the freshman so far. Only guy I think has improved maybe slightly is Coburn. As bad as we miss JWF, not having Jacquil Taylor or even Rokus to me is the big difference. We can’t rebound or defend so far. Not a good combination. It’s early though, that’s about all I can say on a positive note. Feels like the last time we played a good game was on Valentine’s Day against CoC last year. Everything has seemingly fallen apart since then.

Well said, Judge. Taylor is a HUGE loss.

I am willing to give Kante time. He didn't play much at GA and had to sit out a whole year. Maybe Schutte should start?

Why did it take so long to get Hughes in a game?

[Flying Dutchmen]

Objectively we had to expect some growing pains, having the offensive void of JWF and defensive void of JT would always take some time to figure out. But, as always, the team is fatally flawed in it's current state, and it's going to be extremely difficult to compete for the CAA title.

I always support the coaching staff, but it was pretty negligent to think this starting roster would be competitive. I like Kante, he's not a 5, he's just not. He's not big enough to defend any "center" any D-1 school puts out there, it's a physical reality. Honestly, it makes sense, he didn't get recruited to UGA to be a center, he was recruited to be a 3-4 who would mix it up in the paint and hit a jumper from time to time. He's so clearly playing out of position, but I think he would be pretty awesome playing Coburn's current role in the "4," I think he has a bit of a jumpshot that we're not going to utilize. Truth be told, he doesn't look like he's in great shape right now, I'm not sure if that's an actual conditioning issue, or if he's still just getting acclimated to his responsibilities on the court. Regardless it's going to take him some time to get adjusted to playing big minutes on the college level, especially in an uptempo offense.

We've gotten crushed on the boards every game. The only reason the rebounding margin was close in the Monmouth game was because they missed 18 more shots than us. Monmouth still had a superior rebounding percentage. We have no size, no help down low to keep our opposition off the offensive glass. We've rebounded very poorly in man to man, if Kante is on an island to grab the board, we're in trouble.

Regarding the game tonight, I just thought the end result was disappointing because we clawed back to take the lead in the 2nd half. Bucknell's color guy, Pat Flannery, who is definitely a better coach than color commentator nailed it on the head early in the 2nd half, after we went on the run. He said that Bucknell just had to work it inside in our zone, and it would force the guards to cheat inside and open up the perimeter. That has obviously been the blueprint to beat us senseless the last 5 years. I thought we played hard, but Bucknell put on a shooting display, and we're still looking for someone to emerge to be a reliable offensive threat down the stretch, so it got out of control.

That brings me back to my original point that our starting roster is fatally flawed. If you want to tell me our current starting lineup is our 5 best players, I can buy that. The issue is we don't have that same offensive efficiency in the 4 guard lineup this year to offset the beating we're taking inside on our zone and on the glass. We played as perfect as a team could be expected to play last year, and it still wasn't good enough to win the CAA in a down year. This year we clearly don't have the same talent, and we're going with the same style of lineup. The coaching staff has to admit that we're going to need to lean on Schutte and Trueheart more than expected to get the job done defensively, even if that means we're sacrificing some offense. Just admit it now so we're more prepared and dynamic for CAA play. UD plays big, W&M plays big, Towson plays big, we need to have some answers for their size ready by January.

[HUSID74]

Why does everyone think Trueheart is going to be a savior? Right now Schutte is giving us more than Trueheart EVER did. Trueheart is at best a 5-7 minute guy who comes in and chucks up threes...when he hits great but mostly he misses...what's his career shooting percentage?

This team has talent and will get better...my main concern is Pemberton who has shown he can't lead this team on or off the court...WORK IN PROGRESS!

[Cards]

I like Kante, he's not a 5, he's just not. He's not big enough to defend any "center" any D-1 school puts out there, it's a physical reality. Honestly, it makes sense, he didn't get recruited to UGA to be a center, he was recruited to be a 3-4 who would mix it up in the paint and hit a jumper from time to time. He's so clearly playing out of position, but I think he would be pretty awesome playing Coburn's current role in the "4," I think he has a bit of a jumpshot that we're not going to utilize. Truth be told, he doesn't look like he's in great shape right now, I'm not sure if that's an actual conditioning issue, or if he's still just getting acclimated to his responsibilities on the court. Regardless it's going to take him some time to get adjusted to playing big minutes on the college level, especially in an uptempo offense.

Like many of you, I am also concerned about the 5 spot. If IK develops into a Cacok (who was 6'7" 240 lbs) then he will be fine in the 5. Cacok had the Gustys knack for finding the ball and more talent for shooting the ball. So far (and thats a big qualifier), IK has shown neither. Given his "lack" of size, he needs to live up to the "beast" nickname he's been given. If not, he will be abused - even in the CAA.

I don't think IK has any of the skills to play a 4 let alone a 3. Does not have the quickness, and his midrange shot is marginal at best (a 15 footer from a low position launched around his shoulder rather than the forehead). He would need to have shooting and ballhandling skills more like Jerell Brantly (same size) to play the 3/4 (I know its not a fair comparison because JB is very skilled, but you get the idea).

I also noticed that IK was totally out of breath several times last night. Seemed like a 5 minute burst of fast paced ball movement left him totally winded. Considering all the conditioning these guys do, I'm not entirely confident that aspect of his game gets better.

C'mon Isaac - study some film of Cacok - become the beast.

[Mikey77]

Joe is going to have to play two "bigs" for long stretches of the game or we will continue to get killed on the boards. Last night when either Schutte or Kante was defending the shooter Bucknell's other forward was putting in the rebound. HU is not going to beat many decent teams by allowing put-backs and second or third shots to that extent. Joe is stubborn as hell and I'm not confident he'll make that adjustment. The failure to recruit another Taylor or someone close to Taylor will be the Achilles heel to this season. Everyone on this board has been eluding to this for a while, but seems to have been differing to the coaching staff and hoping for the best. The rest of the play has been equally troubling. Hofstra has played only one good half in these three games, being the first half against Monmouth. I'm not seeing a lot of "smarts" on the court and last night looked like a pick-up game. Glad to see Hughes on the floor. He's not going to improve sitting on the pine.

[Wags]

Why does everyone think Trueheart is going to be a savior? Right now Schutte is giving us more than Trueheart EVER did. Trueheart is at best a 5-7 minute guy who comes in and chucks up threes...when he hits great but mostly he misses...what's his career shooting percentage?

This team has talent and will get better...my main concern is Pemberton who has shown he can't lead this team on or off the court...WORK IN PROGRESS!

To your point, here are Trueheart's career stats (not good from 3, decent from 2):
https://gohofstra.com/sports/mens-baske ... heart/6285 (click on Career)

I think people are counting on him for a few helpful minutes per game simply because the bench is thin, the team is small and he's 6-8. Other than that, there doesn't appear to be much hope for significant help there (though I'd like to seem him prove that theory wrong).

Agree on Pemberton - he should be taking that next step from where he was to the senior go-to leader, but has not thus far. That seems to be Buie right now, if anyone. That's fine, but he can't take that role on himself. Pemberton needs to become way more efficient overall and particularly from 3 and as you alluded to, he needs to get in the ears of his teammates and hold them accountable, demonstrating some true leadership qualities. Maybe he is doing that to an extent, but if he is, it certainly didn't show on the floor in the first and third games so far this season.

[Cards]

Regarding our frontcourt issues - we appear to be going from the frying pan into the fire. Our next real game is UCLA. They appear to use an 8-man rotation in which they have two 6'-10" players and two 6'-9" players. I think we can expect to have at least 2 of these guys on the court at any given time. In fact, in thier first two games this season, 3 of the 4 started. YIKES!

[HU76]

Can’t rebound, can’t defend and apparently forgot how to shoot FTs. Otherwise, they’re great. The west coast trip
will be tough. Kante is not the player that was advertised.

[cactus]

Can’t rebound, can’t defend and apparently forgot how to shoot FTs. Otherwise, they’re great. The west coast trip
will be tough. Kante is not the player that was advertised.

I'm willing to give Kante time after a year off, last year people were down on Taylor early on and he ended up being the team's second best player down the stretch.

[Cards]

Can’t rebound, can’t defend and apparently forgot how to shoot FTs. Otherwise, they’re great. The west coast trip
will be tough. Kante is not the player that was advertised.

I'm willing to give Kante time after a year off, last year people were down on Taylor early on and he ended up being the team's second best player down the stretch.

I'm willing to give him a little time as well. Recall that as far as D1 game playing experience goes, he is basically a freshman. We've all indicated the areas that he needs to get better at (and quickly), but he has to be given the OOC schedule to come up to speed. He's got to think Cacok!

I think we all agree that an overall super successful record is likely not in the cards this year (and that pains me, as I am always one to tout that each and every game is important). Lets hope that by the time we have our next home game (SB) we are gelling. Expecting we will leave Cali with a losing record and maybe after Florida we will be at .500 with some momentum.

[Wags]

It may mean nothing because it's a different team now, and JWF and Taylor aren't walking through the door anymore, but as an early call for some patience after only three games, remember that last year's team started 3-3 (alternating wins and losses over its first six games) before winning 16 straight and 19 of 20.

[Flying Dutchmen]

Why does everyone think Trueheart is going to be a savior? Right now Schutte is giving us more than Trueheart EVER did. Trueheart is at best a 5-7 minute guy who comes in and chucks up threes...when he hits great but mostly he misses...what's his career shooting percentage?

This team has talent and will get better...my main concern is Pemberton who has shown he can't lead this team on or off the court...WORK IN PROGRESS!

Who thinks ST is going to be the savior? I don't think there's one person on the board who believes that. The coaching staff needs to accept that we can't run 4 guard sets all day though. I can't believe they didn't see this coming, they have to be more flexible.

Also, Jalen Ray is going to become our go-to guy, not Pemba. Eli can be a complimentary offensive player and provide the intensity on the defensive side to make the impact we need.

[triplec2195]

Its pretty obvious that most of us hardcore fans bought and drank plenty of the cool-aid that was going around hyping up this teams expectations. After being picked for 1st in the CAA and watching the scrimmage we knew what we saw but this after all was just a scrimmage. Could Kante be a super star in the making as described by Stephen Gorchov and Joe saying he has plenty of potential. He certainly looked like an animal on the court and played with a lot of intensity. What about Silverio who looked like an NBA 3PT. machine in the scrimmage and Caleb who looked very poised and super quick in this scrimmage. This wasn't the same kid I saw on the court against Bucknell. What happened to his confidence and swagger? Desure has answered the bell and is playing at a very high level and I think Jalen for the most part is leaving it on the court.Coburn has played well all around for the most part. Kudos to Schutte who I said will surprise some people and could be playing better all around right now then Isaac. I don't worry too much about Kante.People have already made the point that he's a work in progress and will excel at some point. He's not a shot blocker and maybe not an animal rebounding machine but will score and he's big and strong. It shouldn't come as any surprise the Jekyll & Hyde nature of Eli. He has been like this all his career. His next game he'll score 25 points and will be lights out this just seems to be his M.O. So what about our rebounding. How in the world do you take a below average height team and be able to rebound with teams much bigger. While Stafford is not the savior he's going to help. He really should have bulked up more but when you get down to it he's most comfortable as a wing not a post player.

And last but not least we have exhausted ourselves over the years talking about our inept defense. Can we markedly improve it and if so how. Will we see Cramer and if we do will he be the partial answer to our rebounding woes. Joe attributes some of our problems to not boxing out but clearly its more then that. Our soft 2/3 zone can encourage other teams to rain 3's on us like last night. Yeah they hit them but they had good open looks. I know Joe is mad about being picked 1st in this conference because it raises the bar right out of the gate but we all need to temper our expectations. Even he says that if any of these people saw some of our practices they wouldn't have voted for us. I'll use his cliche that it's not a sprint its a marathon and we are only 3 games in but like many of you I'm concerned that we set our goals a bit too high after last years season. Lets hope we evolve into what we all expect this team to be.

[Wags]

Towson, which was picked 6th in the CAA, leads 19-13 at 15th-ranked Florida on ESPN2 right now.

This could be a tough year.

But everything's very different in November. Far too soon to panic.

[HUSID74]

Why does everyone think Trueheart is going to be a savior? Right now Schutte is giving us more than Trueheart EVER did. Trueheart is at best a 5-7 minute guy who comes in and chucks up threes...when he hits great but mostly he misses...what's his career shooting percentage?

This team has talent and will get better...my main concern is Pemberton who has shown he can't lead this team on or off the court...WORK IN PROGRESS!

Who thinks ST is going to be the savior? I don't think there's one person on the board who believes that. The coaching staff needs to accept that we can't run 4 guard sets all day though. I can't believe they didn't see this coming, they have to be more flexible.

Also, Jalen Ray is going to become our go-to guy, not Pemba. Eli can be a complimentary offensive player and provide the intensity on the defensive side to make the impact we need.

Several as a matter of fact, " we r getting killed on the boards they’re getting too many O rebounds and getting second chance points. We could use Trueheart in this game."
To quote a recent poster.

[HUSID74]

Towson, which was picked 6th in the CAA, leads 19-13 at 15th-ranked Florida on ESPN2 right now.

This could be a tough year.

But everything's very different in November. Far too soon to panic.

Totally agree with you Wags. The scrimmage was awesome but it was just a SCRIMMAGE...many of these kids have little or no experience in a Division One game...Give it some time. I believe Kante will emerge as a real good player as will Burgess...overall pleased with what Schutte has shown...can be a strong contributor down low...Trueheart is what he is a wanna be 3 who is soft inside...he will not help rebounding. Would like to see more of Hughes because of his length...had a nice blocked shot against Bucknell.

Forget about the kid from Delaware, he will be red shirting.

Last year we won with only one real big Jaquil, and he started off REAL slowly...expect the same from Kante although this year we have Schutte and Hughes. I hope Joe plays with some different combinations up front during the rest of the non-conference schedule so teams just don't pound us inside. But remember, if we put two bigs in who sits? Pemba? Coburn? Ray? Then we lose a lot of firepower!

[Mikey77]

The problem is there is no firepower if you don't have and can't get the ball.