MBB Game 26 at Charleston on February 14, 2019 at 7:00 P.M.

[Wags]

You never want to see a huge lead nearly slip away, but that was a huge lead no one expected. It completely changes perceptions. But remember the expectations going into this game.

If someone came here and told us all this afternoon: Hofstra will be up 8 at the half, lead by as many as 9 in the second half and hold on to win by 4, we'd all have been ecstatic and talk about the good statement that would make to Charleston and the rest of the CAA.

I focus far more on this team, beyond all expectations, being good enough to take an 81-57 lead on the floor of one of the best three teams in the league, where that team had been 11-1 before tonight, rather than letting a 24-point lead dwindle to four at the end.

Think of what Charleston's feeling right now. I'm sure they're far more concerned that they had a chance to make a big statement at home, yet trailed by 24, than any positives they can take out of only losing by four after trailing by that much.

Also, we're missing the big picture... the 1 seed is crucial in trying to not go through both NU and CofC in March. Getting this win, however they got it, keeps that multiple game, first-place lead with now only five to play, instead of opening the door for NU (which won again tonight) to get within only one game of first place.

[Wags]

https://twitter.com/HofstraMBB/status/1 ... 3462650882

[daHUPride]

I watched the entire game - SOMETIMES you have to tip your hat to a team that is just having THAT night and scoring and Riller and Brantly were having that night. Do we have a great D stopper on the perimeter? NO. But CofC, in streaks, was having that magical scoring night. Do you think that our opponents have a lousy D night when JFW goes off on them - sometimes you can play good D and just have to give credit to that opponent.

[triplec2195]

Big game tomorrow NE vs COC lets hope that Charleston puts together this same kind of offensive explosion and beats NE. This would be huge for us and all but guarantee a 1st place finish unless we have some kind of collapse in the last few games.

[Pride97]

I watched the entire game - SOMETIMES you have to tip your hat to a team that is just having THAT night and scoring and Riller and Brantly were having that night. Do we have a great D stopper on the perimeter? NO. But CofC, in streaks, was having that magical scoring night. Do you think that our opponents have a lousy D night when JFW goes off on them - sometimes you can play good D and just have to give credit to that opponent.

That’s a great point. Riller and Brantley hit some very tough shots. They were definitely on.

I wish we were able to not let them back in the game, but they are a top 3 team in the conference so we didn’t expect a blow out, right? Have to be happy about dropping 99 on the best defensive team in the conference on their home court though.


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[triplec2195]

I watched the entire game - SOMETIMES you have to tip your hat to a team that is just having THAT night and scoring and Riller and Brantly were having that night. Do we have a great D stopper on the perimeter? NO. But CofC, in streaks, was having that magical scoring night. Do you think that our opponents have a lousy D night when JFW goes off on them - sometimes you can play good D and just have to give credit to that opponent.

That’s a great point. Riller and Brantley hit some very tough shots. They were definitely on.

I wish we were able to not let them back in the game, but they are a top 3 team in the conference so we didn’t expect a blow out, right? Have to be happy about dropping 99 on the best defensive team in the conference on their home court though.


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Yes agreed and Riller has done this to us in the past so it doesn't come as a surprise however the fact that we dropped 99 on the best defensive team (statistically) in the CAA is definitely our statement here. We would have scored over 100 with any luck in this one.

[HUSID74]

I was getting very uneasy at the end of this game and realistically we played pretty good defense in the first half giving up 35 points but letting Riller run loose makes me a bit concerned. There's no question he's a very good player but we let him score on too many one on one drives to the basket. Taylor tried to contest a lot of those but he made some tough shots. A couple of breaks went our way with the technical foul sending Taylor to the line and he calmly sank both of them. I thought at the end we would of had Coburn on the floor and took out Taylor. I think I have bad memories when Rok would have been fouled and couldn't shoot a lick at the foul line. We should have won this game by more much more but we let it slip a way a bit in the last 5 minutes or so. Can someone please explain the reasoning behind Coburn only playing 19 minutes and Ray getting 23 minutes. This doesn't seem to make sense to me especially the game Coburn was having and he was playing with no fouls. Ray didn't seem to bring much to the table in this game offensively. I think he had 19 in the first game but this was not a repeat performance from Ray in this one. Coburn didn't play a lot of minutes in the second half. Was this a defensive decision? Love to know what prompted this.

Ray appears to be in a sophomore slump...as for Tariq I think Joe was saving his legs a bit...we have another game in less than 48 hours...hope he is not dressed. Was Wormley dressed? Not that it matters much but he was not dressed for William and Mary.

[daHUPride]

I watched the entire game - SOMETIMES you have to tip your hat to a team that is just having THAT night and scoring and Riller and Brantly were having that night. Do we have a great D stopper on the perimeter? NO. But CofC, in streaks, was having that magical scoring night. Do you think that our opponents have a lousy D night when JFW goes off on them - sometimes you can play good D and just have to give credit to that opponent.

That’s a great point. Riller and Brantley hit some very tough shots. They were definitely on.

I wish we were able to not let them back in the game, but they are a top 3 team in the conference so we didn’t expect a blow out, right? Have to be happy about dropping 99 on the best defensive team in the conference on their home court though.


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The shooting percentages were impressive for both teams - keeping in mind both teams had extended scoring draughts.
I also hated that we let them back in - or did CofC just step it up when we weren't making shoots at the end? Regardless with shooting percentages like we saw last night that naturally allows more touches for both teams - hey these are W's - and W is W - I cant micro-manage how we could've/would've/should've stopped a hot CofC. We've played better D this year; we are getting road W's - lets hope that continues - as from here this point we have only a precious 2 home games - and lets hope 7-8-9 road games (games away from the Mack).

Yes agreed and Riller has done this to us in the past so it doesn't come as a surprise however the fact that we dropped 99 on the best defensive team (statistically) in the CAA is definitely our statement here. We would have scored over 100 with any luck in this one.

[Wags]

I watched the entire game - SOMETIMES you have to tip your hat to a team that is just having THAT night and scoring and Riller and Brantly were having that night. Do we have a great D stopper on the perimeter? NO. But CofC, in streaks, was having that magical scoring night. Do you think that our opponents have a lousy D night when JFW goes off on them - sometimes you can play good D and just have to give credit to that opponent.

That’s a great point. Riller and Brantley hit some very tough shots. They were definitely on.

I wish we were able to not let them back in the game, but they are a top 3 team in the conference so we didn’t expect a blow out, right? Have to be happy about dropping 99 on the best defensive team in the conference on their home court though.


Sent from my iPhone using Tapatalk

Yes agreed and Riller has done this to us in the past so it doesn't come as a surprise however the fact that we dropped 99 on the best defensive team (statistically) in the CAA is definitely our statement here. We would have scored over 100 with any luck in this one.

Sometimes you have to flip it around to get a better perspective. If Wright-Foreman had put up 43, Hofstra scored 95, including 56 in the second half, and Hofstra still lost by four at home to Charleston (after trying to dig out of a 24-point hole), everyone here would be calling it a terrible waste of offense and of JWF's efforts. So let's gladly take the 'W" on a floor where Charleston had been 11-1 this year and move on. This was a rarity - only the 5th time in 26 games this season Hofstra gave up >73 pts. And although it's the second straight time allowing at least 87, it's a great sign that the offense has been unstoppable (scoring 102, 93 and 99 in the past three) since the offense struggled during the loss in Boston.

[triplec2195]

We're 6th in the country in field goal %, 6th in points scored and 18th in 3 point %. Also 2nd in the country in FT %. We're an offensive machine to be reckoned with and with an improved defense we have proven all year long time and time again we're tough to beat!

[triplec2195]

I was getting very uneasy at the end of this game and realistically we played pretty good defense in the first half giving up 35 points but letting Riller run loose makes me a bit concerned. There's no question he's a very good player but we let him score on too many one on one drives to the basket. Taylor tried to contest a lot of those but he made some tough shots. A couple of breaks went our way with the technical foul sending Taylor to the line and he calmly sank both of them. I thought at the end we would of had Coburn on the floor and took out Taylor. I think I have bad memories when Rok would have been fouled and couldn't shoot a lick at the foul line. We should have won this game by more much more but we let it slip a way a bit in the last 5 minutes or so. Can someone please explain the reasoning behind Coburn only playing 19 minutes and Ray getting 23 minutes. This doesn't seem to make sense to me especially the game Coburn was having and he was playing with no fouls. Ray didn't seem to bring much to the table in this game offensively. I think he had 19 in the first game but this was not a repeat performance from Ray in this one. Coburn didn't play a lot of minutes in the second half. Was this a defensive decision? Love to know what prompted this.

Ray appears to be in a sophomore slump...as for Tariq I think Joe was saving his legs a bit...we have another game in less than 48 hours...hope he is not dressed. Was Wormley dressed? Not that it matters much but he was not dressed for William and Mary.

Thanks for addressing this question SID still perplexed that Coburn didn't get more minutes but we need to keep Ray's confidence level high going into the end of CAA play then moving forward into the tourney. He is really a guy who needs an open look three not a guy who generally creates a three off the dribble. Ray likes the corner three but they were denying him that shot. He needs to prove he can regularly score of the dribble driving to the hoop then he will get a bit more space to shoot the three ball. Trueheart another guy who needs more minutes and appears to be playing with more confidence and aggressiveness. A big plus for us right now.

[Jojogunne]

I was getting very uneasy at the end of this game and realistically we played pretty good defense in the first half giving up 35 points but letting Riller run loose makes me a bit concerned. There's no question he's a very good player but we let him score on too many one on one drives to the basket. Taylor tried to contest a lot of those but he made some tough shots. A couple of breaks went our way with the technical foul sending Taylor to the line and he calmly sank both of them. I thought at the end we would of had Coburn on the floor and took out Taylor. I think I have bad memories when Rok would have been fouled and couldn't shoot a lick at the foul line. We should have won this game by more much more but we let it slip a way a bit in the last 5 minutes or so. Can someone please explain the reasoning behind Coburn only playing 19 minutes and Ray getting 23 minutes. This doesn't seem to make sense to me especially the game Coburn was having and he was playing with no fouls. Ray didn't seem to bring much to the table in this game offensively. I think he had 19 in the first game but this was not a repeat performance from Ray in this one. Coburn didn't play a lot of minutes in the second half. Was this a defensive decision? Love to know what prompted this.

Ray appears to be in a sophomore slump...as for Tariq I think Joe was saving his legs a bit...we have another game in less than 48 hours...hope he is not dressed. Was Wormley dressed? Not that it matters much but he was not dressed for William and Mary.

Do you mean Tareq?

[Jojogunne]

Hofstra was outscored 38-18 in the last 10:33 of the game and still found a way to win. What an incredible 2nd half of basketball.

Wow ... did not realize it was that bad.

[Flying Dutchmen]

https://twitter.com/HofstraMBB/status/1 ... 3462650882

That clip got Hofstra on SNY SportsNite.

I think Ray got more time than Coburn in the second half because he was the only one having any success slowing down Riller.

[EvanJ]

We're 6th in the country in field goal %, 6th in points scored and 18th in 3 point %. Also 2nd in the country in FT %. We're an offensive machine to be reckoned with and with an improved defense we have proven all year long time and time again we're tough to beat!

We're third in points per shot behind one of the best teams, Gonzaga, and a team Joe Lunardi gives a 6 seed, Iowa.

[triplec2195]

https://twitter.com/HofstraMBB/status/1 ... 3462650882

That clip got Hofstra on SNY SportsNite.

I think Ray got more time than Coburn in the second half because he was the only one having any success slowing down Riller.

Yeah Riller was scoring at will and Justin was hitting really tough three's answering on the other side just unbelievable shots but didn't think to be honest anyone was slowing down Riller. IDK how Coburn's defensive game is rated but for sure Ray can play D but sometimes really picks up over aggressive fouls(dumb ones). It might have made sense to have Ray try to slow down Riller but they needed to make him shoot from beyond the arc. They may have shot well yesterday in the second half but r not a good 3 point shooting team and showed that in the first half.

[EvanJ]

When discussing the point spread, I told my dad that if we did 10 points worse than we did hosting Charleston, we would win, and we did 10 points worse.

[daHUPride]

Hofstra was outscored 38-18 in the last 10:33 of the game and still found a way to win. What an incredible 2nd half of basketball.

Wow ... did not realize it was that bad.

But prior to that i think we went a 15 to zilch run ... I feel like we were way to early trying to take the air out the ball and just run clock.

[EvanJ]

It was a 19-0 run from 62-57 to 81-57.

[stuball888]

What Ray and Coburn need to do to make them for effective is to develop that step back jumper. It creates the shot for them by giving them more space between them and their defender. Antoine Aguadio had it as does James Harden. JWF has one of the best at college level. Brian Bernardi never developed it so he was not as effective later in his senior year. Some players are just catch and shoot. A defender can take away that space on the floor from them .