2023 NIT

[triplec2195]

Purdue should have made in game changes that would have amounted to something. Not taking anything away from FDU win but this loss for Purdue is mind blowing. Embarrassing!!

[EvanJ]

http://defiantlydutch.blogspot.com/2023 ... nnati.html is Jerry Beach's "I'll Be Quirky: Hofstra vs. Cincinnati." We played consecutive overtime games for the first time since February 21 and 23, 2019. We are 13-4 when Dubar scores double-digits, and 12-1 when Plotnikov scores at least 7. Today will tie 2018-2019 for our most games in a season with 35, so a win will let us break our record. Since postseason tournaments start on weekdays, and we have not won a game in one of them since 2006, I am assuming it is our first weekend game after a CAA Tournament since 2006. We lost by 7 tp South Florida, and Cincinnati beat South Florida by 16 and 19. KenPom expects us to win 77-76. Our only win over Cincinnati in any sport was Volleyball's 3-0 win on November 3, 1984, and I was a fetus then.

http://stats.statbroadcast.com/broadcast/?id=463467 will have statistics. Cincinnati has a great assist/turnover of 1.48.

Edit: We are starting our usual starters. Cincinnati is starting Landers Nolley II (guard, 16.6 ppg, 5.8 rpg), Mika Adams-Woods (guard, 9.3 ppg), David DeJulius (guard, 14.7 ppg, 5.3 apg), Viktor Lakhin (forward, 11.5 ppg, 7.0 rpg), and Ody Oguama (forward, 5.3 ppg, 5.1 rpg).

[Polito]

LET'S ROCK!

Landers Nolley, former Hokie, and DeJulius are their studs. Need big games from Dubar (again) and JC (again). Need intense D, shots to fall, and to fight for rebounds all game. Would love to see AE on fire, but I actually don't want him to have to take over... think HU is a better team when balanced.

This game is winnable - but Cinci will bring a similar game to HU, and they are fighting to return some respect and relevance back to their program - first one that slips off their game will likely fall.

Fam commits all day and night, hate not to be there or to be able to watch on regular TV.... give em heat all game long, loud and proud, for all who are going!

[Wags]

22-13, Cincy at the U12.

13-4, Cincy on the boards, 5-1 on the offensive glass, leading to an 8-0 edge in 2nd-chance pts. Big problem. Cincy clearly bigger and more physical (as we knew).

[Wags]

Key 5-1 close for the half for HU to stay within 40-37 at halftime.

They battled back from nine down to tie, 31-31, but then in it was 8-1, Cincy, to go up 39-32. That could've stayed around there or got to double digits by halftime, but nice job by HU to close strong and stay in it. Good game so far.

The crowd is so disappointing though. They showed up, but they watch like it's a Broadway show instead of a postseason basketball game. They cheer and get loud when HU goes on a mini-run or gets a dunk but for the most part, they are just stoic and quiet. Get in the game! Give your team some energy! There is very little juice in the building.

[dutchPride86]

Good half. Cincy I think by far best backcourt we've faced this year. Estrada still a tad off but effort from team is there. Size issues are what they are

Crowd size good not great, but crowd energy significantly better than last time I was here in person for Stony Brook

[Flying Dutchmen]

Tough loss. Love this team, great season.

[Cards]

AE, TT, and DD showed up. They each scored upper teens and led the team in rebounds. No one else had a positive impact. Our 5s got outrebounded and gave us nothing offensively, in fact they actually hurt on some possessions. JC gave us nothing offensively and got outplayed by a much quicker and experienced guard of the same size. Nothing to speak of from BW and GP.

We simply got beat by a bigger, stronger, and more talented team. I think that when you get to playing against this level of talent, the quality of our bigs gets severley exposed. They started a 6'11" C, a 6'9" PF, and a 6'7" SF/SG - and they were all talented. Round that out with two very savy and high end guards and its a very tough matchup for HU.

[Wags]

AE, TT, and DD showed up. They each scored upper teens and led the team in rebounds. No one else had a positive impact. Our 5s got outrebounded and gave us nothing offensively, in fact they actually hurt on some possessions. JC gave us nothing offensively and got outplayed by a much quicker and experienced guard of the same size. Nothing to speak of from BW and GP.

We simply got beat by a bigger, stronger, and more talented team. I think that when you get to playing against this level of talent, the quality of our bigs gets severley exposed. They started a 6'11" C, a 6'9" PF, and a 6'7" SF/SG - and they were all talented. Round that out with two very savy and high end guards and its a very tough matchup for HU.

Thomas was good and Dubar was their best player today, but AE didn't really show up and that was the difference in Cincinnati pulling away vs. HU being able to hang around for longer and have a real shot at the end. He started 4/17 and was 7/24 for the game. Not his fault really, had some bad luck on some in-and-outs and Cincinnati was just tough, physical and did a good job on him and on Hofstra, but the 18 he scored was a bad 18 and for whatever reason, he was just not the same great player - still pretty good, but not great - that we saw pre-food poisoning incident with the home Stony Brook game and after that incident. It's almost like sitting out that one game threw his rhythm off and he was never quite able to regain his game back to the higher level we saw this year and last year. Nevertheless, it'd obviously be good for him to come back if he does.

Got the feeling from the postgame that Thomas is leaning toward returning next year. He and Speedy were adamant about saying he's not done and did not want to talk about being done at HU. He still could be but the feeling I got is that at least as of today, in his heart, he'd like to return. We'll see.

Not the season they/we all wanted, but a lot of good positives:

* 25 wins
* CAA regular season title
* Estrada: 2nd straight CAA POY
* Thomas: CAA 2nd Team
* Carlos: CAA Defensive Team
* Speedy: 1st CAA COY
* NIT win at top-seeded Rutgers (only the program's 3rd all-time and 3rd D-I postseason win all-time)

[triplec2195]

A tough loss and yes seeing Estrada in the first half having in and out shots was painful. We played a decent half and just to echo what people have said here we got beat by a more athletic more physical team that was just more talented then us. We needed scoring from Carlos and didn't get it but did get 6 assists. In the second half when things started to unravel all of a sudden our game plan was to let Estrada go one on 5 against the entire Cincinatti team while our other 4 players just watched him. It was a joke I started yelling to pass the ball. There were some turnovers and missed shots one after another. Their size killed us they had 15 more rebounds and that pretty much says it all. Their 6'9 PF had 11 rebounds and 14 points while their center had 16 points and 8 rebounds. Their guard who played well DeJulius had 15 points 9 assists and just 1 turnover. We really had no answer for their size give some credit to D-Stone who came to play 16 points and seven rebounds.

Certainly was hoping for a much closer game but they deserve a lot of credit for a really good season and an epic O/T win against Rutgers in a hostile environment in NJ. Hope we can keep Thomas and Estrada but if not wish them the best of luck. Already looking forward to next season.

[Hofstra]

Unsure why the Hofstra Mens Basketball twitter account referred to this season as a "Dream Season." This wasnt a dream season, I would even argue that it was a nightmare the night we lost to UNC-Wilmington. This was a good job, good effort year. It was an awesome win vs. Rutgers, and Charleston. To refer to an NIT birth as a dream season though is underwhelming. Lets set higher standards moving forward.

[Wags]

Unsure why the Hofstra Mens Basketball twitter account referred to this season as a "Dream Season." This wasnt a dream season, I would even argue that it was a nightmare the night we lost to UNC-Wilmington. This was a good job, good effort year. It was an awesome win vs. Rutgers, and Charleston. To refer to an NIT birth as a dream season though is underwhelming. Lets set higher standards moving forward.

It's funny you say that because I wrote "Hofstra’s Dream Season Derailed in Overtime Nightmare" about the UNCW loss. Until that loss, I considered it a dream season, and l guess I had the same feeling as you about that overtime period. I would agree that after that loss, it was no longer a dream season, but more, salvaging what they still could - which to their credit, they did by winning the game at Rutgers, epsecially with the great fight they showed to do that. But the dream by that point had already expired because the primary goal they wanted was gone after losing to UNCW. But I can't blame them for doing that. Every team at every level (pros too) have to do that to promote their team the best they can. I really wouldn't expect anything less. They're just doing their jobs when they do that. And I guess when you only have so many regular season titles, no NCAAT wins, and only two prior NIT wins, and then you get another regular season title and add a third NIT win, in relative terms, you can rightfully call it a dream season (even if others see it the way we did).
https://www.nysportsday.com/2023/03/06/ ... nightmare/

[Wags]

I don't think we spoke enough about Estrada's sneakers this season, which he wore here at Elon and again today:
https://twitter.com/Diro30/status/16372 ... 36/photo/1
Pretty cool, I think. Definitely different. Thoughts?

[Wags]

The attendance was a disappointing 2,228 and most of them watched like they were at the movies. Very little atmosphere. It used to be better. People had to have seen highlights and/or read about the win at Rutgers but they did not show up at all like in 2006 vs. Nebraska or ODU. I bet HU could go to a Sweet 16 next year (I know, if only!) and still have trouble drawing the following season. Nassau County is just not a college basketball area.

[cactus]

I didn't think the crowd was that bad, but it wasn't at a different level in volume or size than a good regular season game, if you were expecting a different gear for the postseason. Plenty of standing, clapping, cheering, and jawing at the refs from our section. Building got very loud for the Washington dunk.

[Wags]

I didn't think the crowd was that bad, but it wasn't at a different level in volume or size than a good regular season game, if you were expecting a different gear for the postseason. Plenty of standing, clapping, cheering, and jawing at the refs from our section. Building got very loud for the Washington dunk.

Yes, for a dunk, for a play here or there, there is reactionary noise. But 90% of the time, it's quiet. And that's every home game, not just this one. Trask Coliseum is not like that. Charleston is not like that. At those places, they provide the energy first and their teams feed of it and play better as a result rather than those fans waiting around for their teams to do something and then making noise. And the loudest The Mack ever usually is? It's when free t-shirts are given to the crowd. There really isn't much of a home court advantage in Hempstead. It could be MUCH better than it is. Even the Lion's Den used to be way more passionate. They used to be loud with lots of signs, etc. during the Jenkins era. Don't see (or hear) any of that now even when they do show up.

[dutchPride86]

The attendance was a disappointing 2,228 and most of them watched like they were at the movies. Very little atmosphere. It used to be better. People had to have seen highlights and/or read about the win at Rutgers but they did not show up at all like in 2006 vs. Nebraska or ODU. I bet HU could go to a Sweet 16 next year (I know, if only!) and still have trouble drawing the following season. Nassau County is just not a college basketball area.

Have to disagree on the crowd. Now my only reference point this year was the Stony Brook game, but I thought the crowd was SIGNIFICANTLY louder and more engaged today (though that might speak more to how bad the stony crowd was). Also while definitely not close to a sellout, surprised the announced number was so low, looked like at least 3000. But no students, and the atmosphere will never reach what it could and should be without rowdy students.

As for the game, like it's been said here already Hofstra just ran out of gas in the 2nd half against a far superior team physically. Just a tough matchup. Shame Estrada couldn't go out with a better game, felt like he was tentative and way too much dribbling and hero ball.

An area for Speedy to improve on is coaching his team out of scoring lulls....against tougher defenses when shots stopped falling felt like the ball stopped moving this season. Quicker passing today when Cincy hedged on the ball screens would have led to more open looks. But credit Cincy, they took Hofstra seriously and came to play, a clear sign of respect for Hofstras talent. Nolley was even jawing with the crowd after a 3 in the 2nd half as they pulled away.

Still a really enjoyable season with a wonderfull moment with the Rutgers win. But unless the rest of the CAA dramatically improves, seasons like this should be minimum expectation going forward, not a "dream season."

[joeg1]

No way that attendance figure was right. Entire lower section was nearly full. Had to be close to 3500. As far as engagement/noise- was probably the best crowd of the year. Shame it happened during spring break, but they were vocal and into the game until CU opened up about a 15 point lead. Got really loud when we tied late first half.

We were physically outmatched, but we have been so other times this year and have prevailed. Did not counter their second half adjustments (they denied 3-ball) and our offense went stagnant. Honestly, I thought Speedy was outcoached. He'll learn from this. It was a game we could have won. Got to credit CU. They shut our best players down the second half, and we did not respond. I expect Estrada will leave, but if TT returns, along with our incoming talent, we'll be fine. I think Speedy has raised the bar in terms of expectations. I went into this game thinking we should win. Optimistic about the future

[Polito]

PREACH Hofstra.

It was a good year. But it was far from great or some 'dream' season. That's what FDU has had. It was a solid year and one to build off of. But it left a lot to be desired as well. HU is close, but they have work to do this offseason. Pretty sucky to see teams HU beat still going dancing.

As for the game, HU just didn't have enough to keep up with them a full 40. Getting annihilated on the boards did them in. Kudos to Cinci. They put this game away easily in the 2nd. Shame because they really aren't that good. But they were definitely better than HU today.

I actually thought the crowd looked pretty decent all things considered. Not 'great', could've been better, but attendance isn't a 'NC issue', it's FULLY HU's own fault. They should try putting some actual effort and $ into it for once. And no, twitter doesn't count.

AE fell off a cliff. Hate to see it for him, but he's been off for over 2 months, and simply didn't perform in these big games when needed most to close out his career. I think he has played himself OUT of at least some money - he's a ? now, and looks like he's lost "it". As much as he's the reason for this good season, he's also the reason they didn't go further.

Certainly want to thank him for making his career here - he's still one of the great HU guards and has been a heckuva player to watch thrive - he made his name, continued HU's winning, and he was a fantastic representative of this U to the very end. Best of luck to him in the future!


HU needs to do 2 things: Find a way to keep TT, and recruit like crazy this offseason.

I like the pieces they have returning, but they need to take it up a notch to fix what they're missing. Like Dubar, JC, German, and Marshall, ALL have the tools and just need more attention to develop their game further for next year. Let's see what Manyang and Farmer got. Barrouk either needs to play next year or exit out. No more players taking up scholly's with no ROI.

Must land:
A) a big time reliable / high % scorer to compliment TT or vice versa like this year - batman and robin.
B) quality big that plays like a grown man down low - a lane dog that will OWN the paint with D, rebounding, and sufficient high % scoring.
C) couple of bigger guards that can play the 3/4 in the 6'5-6'8 range. HU is still too small and can't afford to get crushed on the boards.
D) players that LIVE for the big games and rise to the occasion. Can't keep squandering opportunities because the stars crap the bed.


Despite my disappointment this year, I do think HU is close. Speedy's been good, but not great yet. I KNOW he wants to win on the big stage. He seems to learn from his mistakes, and is willing to change. I like his recruiting, I like his staff. They value defense. They can develop a bench. He LOVES this place. It's all right there. Can taste it.

But there's not sugar coating things. This isn't the 90's. If you want to be considered top flight and doing big things, even at a mid major, then you better dance within 3 years. That's the portal era. No excuse not to. PLENTY of programs do it. And the CAA sucks. Speedy is 0-2. He HAS to dance in '24 or he'll be just like all the rest. The shine wears off quick today.

I think he can. I am actually optimistic. But make no mistake, it's the NCAAT or BUST in 2024. Go recruit like mad!!!

[Wags]

Got really loud when we tied late first half

Right, when they went on the one run at the end of the half, there was reactionary noise. All before that, from the start, all through the second half, basically nothing. Fans just sitting there, waiting for something to cheer about. Again, there's a difference between only reacting to the energy the team initiates itself (which is what a typical Hofstra crowd does) and being the kind of crowd that creates that energy itself for the team to feed off of (which is what many other college basketball enviroments have and which is the kind of enviroment I'd like to see The Mack become, not that I'm holding my beath).

This is no slight on Hofstra at all - they really can't control that. It's more a slight on the types of fans in the Nassau County area who are not the types of fans you see at other places that have much better home court advantages, like at UNCW and Charelston and at many other places around the nation.

I thought the crowd was well over 3,000 too, but the box score says 2,228 and that's usually correct, no?