MBB Game 15 Delaware, Jan 4 (Sat), 2 PM

[dutchPride86]

Thomas 0/8 (0/5 from 3) since starting 4/6 (all from 3).

And almost all contested tough shots too. Don't know what happened to him

Delaware making a clear adjustment to attack the basket with Hofstra playing small. Game far from over

[EvanJ]

In the first 2:05 of the half, the teams combined for 12 scoreless possessions. Fritz committed 2 fouls to make 3, and Plotnikov came in, so I am assuming Sunday is unavailable. With 15:57 left, Delaware is about to shoot their fifth free throw of the half, and we have four fouls. Delaware has three fouls. It could be a long half with lots of free throws.

Edit: Sunday came in right after I typed that. With 13:32 left, meaning less than a third of the way through the half, we committed our sixth foul. Delaware missed their last 5 free throws. Carlos has 7 points in the half to make 9. In one possession, Dubar missed a three and got his own rebound, Plotnikov missed a three and got his own rebound, and Thomas assisted on Carlos's three.

Edit: After not scoring for 20:27, Thomas made 2 twos, and got fouled in the act of shooting a three with 11:52 left. We lead 59-46, and Thomas will shoot after the timeout. Plotnikov leads all players with 4 fouls. I wonder if Sunday would have played if Fritz and Plotnikov did not have foul trouble.

[dutchPride86]

Flo feed crapped out for a minute... looks like I would have been better off it it never came back. Danger zone time.

How about try running some sets for Dubar?!

[Wags]

So, same point I made after Thursday's loss - Dubar 5/11 fg, Thomas 7/23 fg (4/14 from 3 despite starting 6/4 from 3).

I feel like I am yelling into the void but yet again... DUBAR IS MORE EFFICCIENT. Why not give some of these missed 3s from Thomas to Dubar?

At least some have gone to Fritz, which is the only reason they are hanging in up by 2 and haven't blown the entirety of the 16-point lead.

[Wags]

Thomas 0/8 (0/5 from 3) since starting 4/6 (all from 3).

And almost all contested tough shots too. Don't know what happened to him

Delaware making a clear adjustment to attack the basket with Hofstra playing small. Game far from over

Yet again... this is him. He needs help rather than forcing it. Be a #2. It's okay.

[EvanJ]

At least some have gone to Fritz, which is the only reason they are hanging in up by 2 and haven't blown the entirety of the 16-point lead.

Review overturned goaltending, so the lead went down to 4 then, not 2, and the closest it got later was 3. We won 76-71. I'll type more later.

[dutchPride86]

Thomas 0/8 (0/5 from 3) since starting 4/6 (all from 3).

And almost all contested tough shots too. Don't know what happened to him

Delaware making a clear adjustment to attack the basket with Hofstra playing small. Game far from over

Yet again... this is him. He needs help rather than forcing it. Be a #2. It's okay.

Yep. Time for Speedy to recognize that too. They didn't break, despite their best efforts, so credit there I guess

Fritz saved them today, big time effort from him. Take 6 shots a game away from Thomas, and give them to Fritz and Dubar in the post and watch how it opens up the offense.

German played a little better, and I know bryce had 7, but still nowhere near enough from the 5th starter and bench spots.

Schedule opens up a bit now on paper so hopefully can build some confidence a go on a little run, despite the still very concerning trends big picture.

Win today at least bought them some time to try to find it, though still can't be confident they will.

[triplec2195]

Talking about Dubar just watching him in the second half while Thomas was doing his one on one or two show there was a long period of time down the stretch where he didn't even touch the ball. Long time I mean he was invisible on the court where it seemed like both Thomas and Carlos were taking all the shots and missing while letting Delaware back in the game.

[Wags]

Talking about Dubar just watching him in the second half while Thomas was doing his one on one or two show there was a long period of time down the stretch where he didn't even touch the ball. Long time I mean he was invisible on the court where it seemed like both Thomas and Carlos were taking all the shots and missing while letting Delaware back in the game.

You mean this 11-minute stretch, when they went from a game-high 16-point lead after two makes and it got down to as low as four?

Thomas makes the first two (note, both 2s, not 3s!), then misses the next four (two of them, 3s).
Carlos then takes the next two and misses both of those.
Fritz then makes a layup before Thomas takes the next two, missing both (one of them a 3).
Fritz makes another layup before Dubar misses a jumper and Thomas takes the next two key ones and makes them (surprise, both 2s, not 3s!).
Thomas then misses (shock, a 3!)
Dubar makes the next two (a layup and a dunk - because he has balance and scores inside as well as outside).
Thomas misses a jumper.

22-46 13:06-2 JUMPER 23 THOMAS,T 43-57 2
23-47 12:39-2 JUMPER 23 THOMAS,T 43-59 3
23-48 11:06-2 3PTR 23 THOMAS,T
23-49 10:25-2 JUMPER 23 THOMAS,T -2
23-50 09:59-2 JUMPER 23 THOMAS,T -3
23-51 09:05-2 3PTR 23 THOMAS,T -4
23-52 08:36-2 JUMPER 5 CARLOS,J -5
23-53 07:54-2 JUMPER 5 CARLOS,J -6
24-54 07:27-2 LAYUP 11 FRITZ,J 54-63
24-55 06:37-2 3PTR 23 THOMAS,T
24-56 05:44-2 JUMPER 23 THOMAS,T -2
25-57 05:42-2 LAYUP 11 FRITZ,J 59-65
25-58 04:28-2 JUMPER 1 DUBAR,D
26-59 04:22-2 JUMPER 23 THOMAS,T 64-70
27-60 02:59-2 JUMPER 23 THOMAS,T 66-72 2
27-61 02:06-2 3PTR 23 THOMAS,T

Even though Thomas started 4/6 from 3 today, he still finished with almost identical numbers as Thursday:
vs. Charleston: 9/26 fg, 3/15 from 3
vs. Delaware: 8/26 fg, 4/15 from 3 (missed his last NINE 3s).
Speedy said they were good looks and he's not worried. Some were good looks, some were contested, some even over two defenders. I can't see those kinds of numbers continuing past these two games although we've seen it on other games as well this year. Thomas has now shot 41% or less in 8 of 14 games this season.

Thomas had 22 pts on 26 shots (0.85 PPS) - they are not winning anything in DC with that lack of efficiency, so that has to change and plenty of time to improve that. In contrast, Dubar had only four fewer points on half the shots (18 on 13 FGA) - 1.38 PPS (which is about where he's been all season).

They still had 51 of their 66 total shots coming from Thomas, Dubar, and Carlos. That's now 107 of their 126 shots (84.9%) in their two CAA games coming from those 3. Carlos was 4/12 today, so he and Thomas were 12/38 (31.6%)... so, 38 of their 64 shots from guys who shot 31.6%. On Thursday, it was 56 of 62 shots from guys who collectively shot 37.5%. That's just not smart offense.

Unlike Thursday, they did get it to Fritz, who went a perfect 6/6, and frankly, that was the reason they won today. They lose this one and are 0-2 in the CAA without Fritz's contributions today. He absolutely deserved to be at the postgame conference (as he was) and with his 15 pts and 9 reb, was HU's player of the game. His best game in a Hofstra uniform so far. Dubar's 18 (on 7/13) & 9 rebs were also huge.

While Thomas was mainly missing on 26 FGA including 15 from 3 for a second straight game, Fritz, Washington, and Plotnikov went a combined 10/12 from the floor. That absolutely saved them today and it's what they should have done more of against Charleston.

Carlos ended with 10 ast & 4 TO - a little sloppy but his 8 ast & 0 TO in the first half helped them to the 12-point halftime lead, which was just enough to hold Delaware off down the stretch. And finally, a good start again. Speedy noted that today and on Thursday night, noted the poor starts recently before today. Delaware hit that first 3 on the first trip but HU responded with the next 10 points to lead 10-3 and play from in front the rest of the rest of the game because of that. So that was huge too.

Bottom line...
Last year: 8-7 overall, 1-1 CAA with a win over Delaware, ended up 16-2 as the 1 seed.
This year: 8-7 overall, 1-1 CAA with a win over Delaware, a lot of ball left - we'll see what happens.

[Wags]

German played a little better, and I know bryce had 7, but still nowhere near enough from the 5th starter and bench spots.

He did, and that first shot he hit, a 3 that made it 37-25 with just over 3 left in the half was big at the time. And to Thomas' credit (would like to see more of this from him), instead of forcing it, he recognized the double team on the left blocks, and made a good look and nice pass to Plotnikov on the left wing for that 3. Plotnikov also played well at both ends against St. John's, but he has yet to be the spark this season that he showed last year. And please, stay on the floor. He played 10 minutes today and after his first nine minutes, was the only player in the game with four fouls by that point.

[Cards]

FYI - today towson nails a 3 at the buzzer to beat UNCW.
At the half, Stony Brook is leading CoC by 10.

Go figure

[Jojogunne]

SBU is good this year.

[Wags]

Although they made Ray in the second half (13 pts on 6/7 fg) look like Jalen Ray when Jalen was at his best, HU also did a good job of containing Davis, who was held to 11 pts on 4/12 fg. He started 3/4 over the first 8:25 and then finished 1/8. Met Davis' grandparents after the game. Nice people. They didn't realize this was potentially Delaware's last game at The Mack, but although the conferences are based far apart, Delaware's fairly close proximity to Hempstead will hopefully allow the two schools to still meet OOC going forward. Would be nice considering Delaware is the school Hofstra has played the most (now 68-34 all-time vs. the Blue Hens as of today)... and, on that, this tweet is great (although it may give me nightmares LOL): https://twitter.com/HofstraMBB/status/1 ... 5170057364

[Wags]

FYI - today towson nails a 3 at the buzzer to beat UNCW.
At the half, Stony Brook is leading CoC by 10.

Go figure

Was 7 at the half but Charleston has started the second half 21-13 and is now up.

The Towson win was at home, so no huge surprise there. But a good win for the Tigers.

[Cards]

CoC comes back in the second half to beat SB 93-87. A game with very little defense.

[Wags]

CoC comes back in the second half to beat SB 93-87. A game with very little defense.

Both teams shot 56%. Three Charleston points shy of five 20-point scorers in the game (they had guys with 18, 19, and 20; SBU had two with 21 each).

Reyne Smith: 20 pts on 9 shots.
Thomas today: 22 pts on 26 shots.

[EvanJ]

At halftime I would not have expected Christian May (20 points and 10 rebounds) to have the only double-double on either team because he had 3 rebounds at halftime. Carlos (9 points and 10 assists), Dubar (18 points and 9 rebounds), Fritz (15 points and 9 rebounds), and Gerald Drumgoole Jr. (9 points and 11 rebounds) were 1 point or 1 rebound short. The bench played 27 minutes. Delaware had six players play at least 26 minutes. We had more points off turnovers 15 to 4. We blocked 6 shots, and Delaware did not block any. Thomas blocked 3 for the first time in his career, and Dubar, Washington, and Fritz blocked 1. Here are the Analytics:

Efficiency: Dubar 16, Washington 12, Carlos 10, Fritz 27, Thomas 16, Robinson -2, Plotnikov 5, Sunday 0
Game Score: Dubar 20.2, Washington 7.6, Carlos 5.7, Fritz 16.8, Thomas 12.5, Robinson -2.1, Plotnikov 2.5, Sunday 0
Net Points: Dubar -4.2, Washington -8.8, Carlos -2.4, Fritz 2.4, Thomas 10.3, Robinson -5.9, Plotnikov 0.7, Sunday -2.5

In efficiency, Fritz led with 27, Christian Ray and 25, and Dubar and Thomas tied for third with 16. In game score, Dubar led with 20.2, Ray had 19.2, and Fritz had 16.8. In net points, Thomas led with 10.3, and Fritz and Gerald Drumgoole Jr. tied for second with 2.4. Net points added up to -10.4 for us, -19.9 for Delaware, and -30.3 for the teams combined. Thomas led in it, so it must not punish high-scoring players for shooting poorly. Drumgoole Jr. was Delaware's only player with positive net points.

https://gohofstra.com/news/2024/1/6/men ... oints.aspx is our recap titled "Pride Wins Seventh Straight Over Delaware; Dubar Reaches 1,000 Career Hofstra Points."

https://gohofstra.com/sports/mens-baske ... core/12791 is the box score. The attendance was 2,027.

https://bluehens.com/news/2024/1/6/mens ... at-hofstra is Delaware's recap titled "Late Rally Not Enough for Men’s Basketball at Hofstra."

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=U5pPTWW4zRA is highlights.

Towson missed, got an offensive rebounds, and after their three they put 0.4 seconds on the clock. UNCW threw a long intercepted pass to end it.

Charleston won 93-87 at Stony Brook, so Stony Brook scored a lot more hosting Charleston than we did. In the only remaining game, Elon leads 55-47 hosting NC A&T with 8:54 left.

Edit: KenPom's prediction of 74-70 was close. Fritz became the 29th player this season to score at least 15 points without missing a field goal or free throw. He became our second player to do that from 2010-2011 to now. Jacquil Taylor did it with 7 twos and 4 free throws on Decmeber 22, 2018, but that was against non-Division I Rosemont. Elon defeated NC A&T 77-59.

[Wags]

In what may have been Delaware's last visit to The Mack, Hofstra won, 76-71 today.

The Mack opened on 1/2/00, about two months before Speedy led Hofstra to that America East title win over the Blue Hens. The score? An almost identical 76-69.

If only Delaware missed a couple more FTs, the score would have been the same. Speaking of which, if the Hens had made more FTs (just 8/14 today), this may have been a loss. Hofstra's "FT defense" was very good today even with a mostly empty Lion's Den.

[EvanJ]

After scoring 26 in 19 minutes in the first game, Thomas played at least 37 minutes for the 14th consecutive game. He scored over 20 points and went over 20 minutes without scoring. I wish I could find out how rare those two things are.

[Wags]

After scoring 26 in 19 minutes in the first game, Thomas played at least 37 minutes for the 14th consecutive game. He scored over 20 points and went over 20 minutes without scoring. I wish I could find out how rare those two things are.

This is why they can't just give the green light all the time. When he's starting 4/6 from 3 today, great. But they have to know that's not going to last and to recognize it rather than wait until 4/6 from 3 ends up as 4/15 from 3.

And if he wants to shoot 3s, drive sometimes, knock down some mid-range shots, and it'll open up the 3 more instead of airballing them over two defenders. This is what Estrada did as a #1 option (he was called Mr. Mid-range for a reason, but he still made his fair share of 3s too). #1s cannot be #1s without balance. This is where they have to elevate Thomas to or just let him be a #2 and let Dubar be the #1 - at least he mixes it up with 2s and 3s and shoots a lot more efficiently.