MBB Game 26 @ Drexel, Feb. 15 (Thu), 7 PM

[dutchPride86]

Just brutal. Monmouth 2.0. And the technical foul wound up being the difference.

But can't go 6 mins down the stretch without a FG, give up 46 in the 2nd half, and expect to win.

This team really should be at worst 11- 2 in conference despite all its flaws, instead can pretty much kiss a top 4 seed goodbye. No one to blame but themselves

[Wags]

can pretty much kiss a top 4 seed goodbye. No one to blame but themselves

First, congrats here to Dan. But we'll see your guys again on our floor in a week.

This was one they needed to close and failed to do so, but no shot at a top four seed? They are tied for 5th, a game out of 4th & 3rd with five to play, with a H2H tiebreaker over Towson (in 3rd) and can at worst tie Drexel if they win their next two. They have the two toughest games they can have to close it out but with that scenario in the standings and playing Drexel next week, and five to play, a top four seed is still very much in play at this point.

Thomas and Dubar have to co-exist with leading this team. Dubar was the top guy when Thomas was struggling and now that Thomas has found his game again recently, Dubar's consistency has fallen off. But part of that is the shot distribution. A return to relying too much on the 3 for Thomas again tonight after his mid-range game had sparked his recent turnaround. Thomas took 11 of his 23 shots from 3 and he took half of Hofstra's 22 3s. He only made 4 of those (not terrible but not enough to justify that many). Everyone else made 6 3s on the same 11 attempts collectively. Dubar didn't shoot well but only took 9 shots when a few of those 7 missed 3s from Thomas could have gone to Dubar or setting up Fritz (3/4 fg and 5/7 FT) a couple more times, or to Plotnikov, who only got 16 minutes and only got two shots (despite making both) coming off of his 20-point game last time out. The tech on Thomas kind of sparked things for Drexel, too. Up 64-61 at that point, then the tech, then 10-2, Dragons, and they never trailed again.

This type of game is how they get bounced from the CAA tourney - Thomas gets his 34 pts but half of his shots are from 3 (even though he did get to the line and did get 6 asts) and only one other guy barely reaches double figs, and they come up a just a bit short. Has to be more of a team approach if they are going to have a chance in DC. And time is running out to consistently show that approach before DC. Also still having problems putting two halves together. Yet again, one very good half, one not so good.

4 CAA losses by a total of 9 points and the other, they led by 4 with 6 1/2 left at home. I know it sounds crazy for those (like us) who've watched them all season, but they could really be 12-1, even 13-0, in the league if they knew how to close. Just too many missed opportunities late in games so far this season. Some of that was digging holes and not coming all the way back, barely falling short, but some of it was letting late leads slip away like tonight.

[dutchPride86]

Wags youre right Dubar has basically sulked and stopped playing now that Tyler found his game, and this team has no chance if that continues, but respectfully tonight is not the night to get on Tyler for his shot selection. You want to get on him for the tech, sure, but Tyler carried them and barely forced anything. Had they held on this game probably would have put Tyler back in front in the player of the year race.

Hofstra lost this game because they're not tough enough to play a full 40 min game, they played absolutely no defense in the 2nd half, and Tyler got no help from Dubar and Carlos. Also, after all these close call Speedy has to get called out for this team continuing to look completely unprepared for final play situations. Their one win was a miracle shot from Tyler, but still a disorganized possession.

And there is no way you can expect this team to win either game at Charleston or UNCW, 11-7 is not getting a top 4 seed. Drexel and Charleston should both finish at worst 12-6 with how their schedules look. They don't deserve a top 4 seed anyway

[Wags]

Wags youre right Dubar has basically sulked and stopped playing now that Tyler found his game, and this team has no chance if that continues, but respectfully tonight is not the night to get on Tyler for his shot selection. You want to get on him for the tech, sure, but Tyler carried them and barely forced anything.

I'm not putting that on him tonight, but on the approach from the staff. The can't allow him to get 23 shots, about half from 3 (when he's missing 7) and get no one else (not even Dubar) double-digit shot attempts. That's normally a formula for what happened tonight - Thomas gets his and others are not involved enough to get a win. Have to get others involved more even if Thomas (or in some games, Dubar, or both he & Thomas) is leading the way. It otherwise makes it too easy for the opposing defense, especially down the stretch in a close game (like tonight) to focus on only having to stop one guy.

And there is no way you can expect this team to win either game at Charleston or UNCW, 11-7 is not getting a top 4 seed. Drexel and Charleston should both finish at worst 12-6 with how their schedules look. They don't deserve a top 4 seed anyway

At present, they don't deserve a top 4 seed but that doesn't mean they can't get one. I don't expect them to win at UNCW or at Charleston but that doesn't mean they can't. Those teams are not invincible this year, even on their home floors. And if they're tied with Drexel and maybe even tied with Towson (which has Monmouth and Charleston at home and UNCW away) with a couple or a few games left, they can absolutely get a top four seed. Towson, with that schedule (and without the tiebreaker vs. Hofstra), and Drexel, as shaky as they've been over their past several games, are both more than capable of getting tripped up once or twice down the stretch to open the door for Hofstra. One game back of two teams with five to play when you're playing at home against one of the two teams your trail, a team you only lost two by two points at their place - when you only need to pass one of those two teams to get a top-four seed - is still very much within reach. Can we count on it? Not at all. But impossible? Not at all.

By the way, Hofstra has had a lead with 7 minutes remaining or less in all five of its CAA losses this year.

Also, this shot tonight could end up determining some seeds. It currently made Monmouth 7-6 and Campbell 6-7 instead of vice versa.
https://twitter.com/JomboyMedia/status/ ... 6064532870

[dutchPride86]

By the way, Hofstra has had a lead with 7 minutes remaining or less in all five of its CAA losses this year.

The ultimate tease. Makes it hard to blame the flawed roster.
Championship teams find a way to win. Is it coaching, mental makeup of the players, or chemistry that's most to blame for where Hofstra finds itself?

[Wags]

By the way, Hofstra has had a lead with 7 minutes remaining or less in all five of its CAA losses this year.

The ultimate tease. Makes it hard to blame the flawed roster.
Championship teams find a way to win. Is it coaching, mental makeup of the players, or chemistry that's most to blame for where Hofstra finds itself?

When you lose that many games that were all very winnable it's a combination of all of those things (and perhaps more). But those five CAA losses, the first three were all bad starts being overcome and then falling short in the end because it's tough to hold on all the way to get the wins after expending all of that energy to finally overcome the bad starts. The last two were both good first halves with double-digit halftime leads and then not closing the deals down the stretch in the second halves.

If you total it up, it's 35 minutes - or less than one full game in aggregate - at the ends of five losses that is the difference between 8-5 and 13-0.

[triplec2195]

For fans it has been very frustrating it's the old adage so close yet so far! The game that jumps out at me in the beginning of the CAA season was the one we lost to COC. I bet if we replayed that game from 7-8 minutes left and being in the bonus we would have had different O sets attacking the basket instead of taking those low percentage shots from the outside. If ands and buts!! I thought we had gotten away from the TT show and here we're again revisiting it. TT going one on one while everyone else just watches!! Great game for him but it's about winning.

[cactus]

By the way, Hofstra has had a lead with 7 minutes remaining or less in all five of its CAA losses this year.

The ultimate tease. Makes it hard to blame the flawed roster.
Championship teams find a way to win. Is it coaching, mental makeup of the players, or chemistry that's most to blame for where Hofstra finds itself?

It's giving up easy baskets, open looks, and second chances on defense and being too reliant on Thomas on offense.

The defense is the same old story but everyone knows Thomas isn't an efficient player when the defense keys in on him. As has been repeatedly mentioned above they need to get others involved - which they did a better job of early on - and not get away from it when things get tight.

Carlos has to take that last possession to the basket. He's looking for Thomas, the defense is waiting for it.

[HUSID80]

Very disappointing loss but you just knew they would not hold that ten point halftime lead...what did Drexel score? Six in a row I beleive to open the second half.
Yes we SHOULD BE but we're NOT...Capable YES but able to finish the deal...SO FAR NO.
But as Wags says, there's still some time...we are CAPABLE of winning but will we?

[ZMAN3]

As pointed out the whole game went to pot when Thomas got the tech. Looked like he decided he'd get the points back himself
Way too much standing around watching TT try to do it himself. Also after ridiculous first half shooting team was obviously going to revert back to the mean. Dubar had a tough game - he got good looks and just missed some easy ones he normally makes.

[Wags]

Dubar had a tough game - he got good looks and just missed some easy ones he normally makes.

Perhaps a result of him not being involved frequently enough and thus not being in rhythm while allowing Thomas to do too much?

Only 9 shots for Dubar, 23 for Thomas. More 3s alone (11) for Thomas than total shots for Dubar even though Dubar was 2/3 from 3 himself.

[dutchPride86]

Speedy went right to the word "toughness" in his quick postgame comments, and I really think he's right that toughness is the #1 issue for this team. And toughness means more than like letting a dude box you out for a rebound, toughness is having the mental fortitude to withstand pressure, finish off the close games, and win on the road.

Back to the shot selection last night.. it's also on the other guys to shoot. There were at least 2 or 3 trips where the ball was worked around to Dubar in good position to pull the trigger from 3 but he hesitated, dribbled around, and Hofstra wound up with a poor shot late on the shot clock. Speedy also kept German on the bench for far too long in the 2nd half after he picked up his 3rd foul, further limiting the offensive options. I know where the shot totals wound up, I just never felt last night there was a possession where I was mad at Tyler for the shot he took, unlike the countless possessions where that was the case earlier in the season.

And one final point for Dubar and Carlos not holding their weight....after averaging 8.9 rebounds in 9 games in Jan, Dubar has dropped to all the way to 4.2 reb though 5 games in Feb. Carlos over his last 4 games: 11 total assists/7 turnovers/10 fouls; and has only scored in double figures against 1 opponent other than Stony Brook since Jan 18th.

[Wags]

Speedy went right to the word "toughness" in his quick postgame comments, and I really think he's right that toughness is the #1 issue for this team. And toughness means more than like letting a dude box you out for a rebound, toughness is having the mental fortitude to withstand pressure, finish off the close games, and win on the road.

Mihalich used to say that toughness is more than what's commonly thought of (boxing out, consistently guarding well, getting on the floor for 50/50 balls, being physical, etc.) that it's also toughness on offense too, withstanding the pressure (as you said) and making the right decisions offensively.

And one final point for Dubar and Carlos not holding their weight....after averaging 8.9 rebounds in 9 games in Jan, Dubar has dropped to all the way to 4.2 reb though 5 games in Feb. Carlos over his last 4 games: 11 total assists/7 turnovers/10 fouls; and has only scored in double figures against 1 opponent other than Stony Brook since Jan 18th.

Those 11 total assists in those four games are since Carlos had 10 in the home win against Stony Brook. When the offense consists of four guys standing around and watching Thomas go to work, and the ball stops moving, it's going to create fewer chances for assists, even for Carlos.

Dubar is shooting 51.7% overall and 40.3% from 3 this season. Thomas is shooting 42.5% overall and 36.8% from 3.
Despite that, Dubar hasn't taken more than 17 shots in any game this year while Thomas has done so 14 times.

Dubar should always rebound anyway and should recognize when to not pass up good looks on his own, but it also has to be helped along by the staff, to make sure their more efficient lead scorer is staying more involved and not watching The Thomas Show too often.

[dan10]

Welcome Dan dont be a stranger
For those that dont know Dan is a long time Dragon fan but has always respected Hofstras BB program.
He is one of the more knowledgeable fans
A question for you Dan
Were you ever a member of the Dak pack?

All students were/are. So yes. I was a member of our student section from '07/'08 year through '11/'12 year. And I am not a stranger as I have been posting once in a blue moon since 2015 (and since the caazone days) and generally check in constantly especially in our approach to playing you guys.

[dan10]

We did our best to give it back last night. Every time we slow our offense, bad things happen. Up 8 with 1:43 to go and we started stalling. Just about was a kiss of death to ourselves. With our collapse in full force, I fully expected your final shot to go in. I expect you to get it back in Hempstead next week

[Wags]

And there is no way you can expect this team to win either game at Charleston or UNCW, 11-7 is not getting a top 4 seed. Drexel and Charleston should both finish at worst 12-6 with how their schedules look. They don't deserve a top 4 seed anyway

At present, they don't deserve a top 4 seed but that doesn't mean they can't get one. I don't expect them to win at UNCW or at Charleston but that doesn't mean they can't. Those teams are not invincible this year, even on their home floors. And if they're tied with Drexel and maybe even tied with Towson (which has Monmouth and Charleston at home and UNCW away) with a couple or a few games left, they can absolutely get a top four seed. Towson, with that schedule (and without the tiebreaker vs. Hofstra), and Drexel, as shaky as they've been over their past several games, are both more than capable of getting tripped up once or twice down the stretch to open the door for Hofstra. One game back of two teams with five to play when you're playing at home against one of the two teams your trail, a team you only lost two by two points at their place - when you only need to pass one of those two teams to get a top-four seed - is still very much within reach. Can we count on it? Not at all. But impossible? Not at all.
https://twitter.com/JomboyMedia/status/ ... 6064532870

See what I mean? The very next day of CAA play. Hampton gets its first CAA win against... Towson.

And Hofstra now jumps Towson and is currently 4th with a tiebreaker over Delaware and Towson.

It's the CAA. We know this from past years. Have to let it play out.