MBB Game 10 @ Duke, Dec 12 (Tue), 7 PM EST

[EvanJ]

It's hard to shoot as well as we did and lose by 21. Thomas shot well, but his points per game and threes per game decreased. Dubar had an amazing game. Carlos had 9 assists and is up to exactly 7 per game. Kyle Filipowski became the second player from 2010-2011 to now to have at least 28 points, at least 12 rebounds, at least 8 assists, and at least 7 turnovers. The previous player to do that could have the best NBA career of anybody I've seen in person. He is Murray State's Ja Morant, who averaged 26.2 points for Memphis in the NBA last season.

[Wags]

It's hard to shoot as well as we did and lose by 21.

Not that hard when they took 10 fewer shots and allowed even higher shooting percentages than they shot themselves, both overall and from 3.

It turned out that 15 1/2 would have been right on target for the second half only (45-29).

[Polito]

Welp, strong first half, gave us something to root for - then an awful ending to first, and pretty atrocious second. Unfortunately ultimately got embarrassed on nat tv, not the outcome desired at all. Didn't expect a win of course, but you have to make it a competitive final, didn't even cover, and basically got run out of the gym. Duke is not as good as normal this year - barely a top 25 team, really only have 2 players - granted those 2 are VERY good. But pretty disappointing frankly. This is not the same level of a team HU has had in the past.

That said, I will say the guys played hard, they put in effort, this outcome wasn't from lack of trying - they just simply aren't good enough to play with that opponent.

The turnovers were awful, absolutely ridiculous display - bumbling the ball, dribbling off their feet, stepping out of bounds, passing the ball into the stands, getting the ball stolen out of their hands, I mean Duke has some talent of course, give them credit, but this was gross basketball from HU. This was sadly too big a moment for them to sustain a full game.

And good grief, Washington can't finish a play to save his life - seeing this all season from him. Lot's of flash getting to the basket and NEVER finishes. Infuriating. He's here for D and 3, I know, but man this guy at his experience level can't score unless it's from deep.

But positives to work from:

- Awesome experience for this team to play at Cameron! Facing that environment will pay off for them.
- I thought HU did at least try to attack the basket and the mid range, they just got routinely and completely stuffed out when doing so.
- TT, DD, and JC all played pretty well - they had a few gaffs, which hurt. TT just couldn't do enough with doubling.
- Was super pleased to see Fritz play more controlled and stay IN! Big positive from the game IMO.
- And how about HU blocking shots, that was surprising and awesome to see!
- Side Note: I managed to get the game on a big screen in a Boston bar opposite the Celtics game had fun rooting, got a few to join!

Bottom line to me: this is still not a team at the level we've seen from HU in the past - it is a very flawed group that is using some smoke and mirrors to scratch out wins. Can it win the CAA? Sure, weak league, any of the top 4-6 probably can. I just don't see a champion yet. HU STILL has not beaten a team with a real pulse yet - all the wins are over average to below average teams. They need to prove they can beat someone with talent... obviously all that really matters is March, but they are running out of OOC opportunities to show up.

[Jojogunne]

Well said, Polito. Things can only improve, right?

[Wags]

Welp, strong first half, gave us something to root for - then an awful ending to first, and pretty atrocious second. Unfortunately ultimately got embarrassed on nat tv, not the outcome desired at all. Didn't expect a win of course, but you have to make it a competitive final, didn't even cover, and basically got run out of the gym. Duke is not as good as normal this year - barely a top 25 team, really only have 2 players - granted those 2 are VERY good. But pretty disappointing frankly. This is not the same level of a team HU has had in the past.

That said, I will say the guys played hard, they put in effort, this outcome wasn't from lack of trying - they just simply aren't good enough to play with that opponent.

The turnovers were awful, absolutely ridiculous display - bumbling the ball, dribbling off their feet, stepping out of bounds, passing the ball into the stands, getting the ball stolen out of their hands, I mean Duke has some talent of course, give them credit, but this was gross basketball from HU. This was sadly too big a moment for them to sustain a full game.

And good grief, Washington can't finish a play to save his life - seeing this all season from him. Lot's of flash getting to the basket and NEVER finishes. Infuriating. He's here for D and 3, I know, but man this guy at his experience level can't score unless it's from deep.

But positives to work from:

- Awesome experience for this team to play at Cameron! Facing that environment will pay off for them.
- I thought HU did at least try to attack the basket and the mid range, they just got routinely and completely stuffed out when doing so.
- TT, DD, and JC all played pretty well - they had a few gaffs, which hurt. TT just couldn't do enough with doubling.
- Was super pleased to see Fritz play more controlled and stay IN! Big positive from the game IMO.
- And how about HU blocking shots, that was surprising and awesome to see!
- Side Note: I managed to get the game on a big screen in a Boston bar opposite the Celtics game had fun rooting, got a few to join!

Bottom line to me: this is still not a team at the level we've seen from HU in the past - it is a very flawed group that is using some smoke and mirrors to scratch out wins. Can it win the CAA? Sure, weak league, any of the top 4-6 probably can. I just don't see a champion yet. HU STILL has not beaten a team with a real pulse yet - all the wins are over average to below average teams. They need to prove they can beat someone with talent... obviously all that really matters is March, but they are running out of OOC opportunities to show up.

I don't disagree with any of this, and no, this team may not be as good as last year's HU team. But I always go by the one-third mark of CAA play. Six games into conference play is when we'll start to see the beginnings of whether or not they look like a legit contender or pretender in the league. Last year, HU and CofC both set high bars. I don't know that we'll have that this year. It feels like a year when two or three 14-4 or 13-5 teams could by vying for the top seed or two. I think this team is capable of reaching that and if so, being among the favorites in DC.

Also, recall that last year they weren't looking too good, losing four straight and 6 of 8 (after starting 4-0) before beating Old Westbury prior to starting CAA play. Many of the concerns I was hearing then were even worse than they are now. It would be nice to show some better, more consistent ball and get some Ws with these last three OOC games this month, but they don't really need to beat those teams (although agreed, they really should win Saturday). They just need to beat the CAA, and as we saw last year, what they do OOC (limping in to CAA play before going 16-2) doesn't necessarily indicate what will happen when it "starts for real," when the competition level is different and when they're going against teams they know a lot better than who they're playing in Nov & Dec.

[HUSID80]

I was at the game and Cameron was everthing as advertised...awesome environment for college basketball and incredibly LOUD, especially when the Dukies smelled blood in the second half!
As for the game, as has been said, we played real well for most of the first half but Duke wore us down with their press and I knew we could not sustain our effort due to lack of depth and that's what happened.
It wasn't so much our sloppiness with the ball but it was their press...they are a different team at Cameron and it showed.
Shoutout ot Dubar...he really brought it on, shouting at one time "THIS IS MY STATE!" Hope he brings that energy to the rest of the season.
Also shoutout to Fritz who bravely fought with #30 who was given anything he wanted by the refs...many times he would bury his head into Fritz and used his forearm to clear the way...told some Dukies I was sitting near that he should play tight end for the football team.
Hofstra had a great turnout down there and shoutout, again to AD Rick Cole and Pride Guy Bryan Graff who made us all feel special, even allowing us to get on the court for a few shots and photos!
And finally, the team came in well prepared and was not intimidated all all...we just ran out of gas. Spoke to Fran Frichella and he lauded us for our preparation and Speedy as a really good coach!
I believe this team will be fine come CAA time.

[Wags]

Note that this praise from Fraschilla was posted yesterday, even after Hofstra lost at Duke:

https://twitter.com/franfraschilla/stat ... 1235452979

[triplec2195]

Coach Scheyer with some praise for us in an 11 minute post presser. https://goduke.com/showcase/embed.aspx? ... play=false

[HUSID80]

Duke takes down #10 Baylor on a neutral court 78-70...makes our loss look a bit better.