MBB Game 29 - W&M - 2/22/15 - 4:30 - NBC Sports

[HUSID80]

Key to this game was our 13 turnovers, way more than what we average....we turn it over say 8 times and we win going away...I agree with all on the calls...horrible and they ending up winning the game for the Tribe...All in all it was a VERY exciting game and it FINALLY got the crowd going...Hope they come back on Wed....I'd like to see us take care of business in the next two games...finish the regular season with 20 wins and win at least two in Baltimore and take it from there.

[Polito]

Tough L to take at home by 2 in front of a good crowd

But here's how I look at it - said awhile back HU is not the best team in the league yet, NU and WM are simply bad matchups and better teams than HU - also said they are a mid pack team, and they'll likely end up 5-6 - it's disappointing compared to the preseason hope but I've come to grips with it

The CAA is wide open, and I expect some upsets in the tourney - it will come down to the matchups - HU still has a shot like everyone else IF they get favorable opponents and the top 1-2 to go down

My dark horse is UNCW

If HU makes the champ game, even if they lose that has to be considered a success in yr 2 - anything less along with a CIT type postseason is simply a decent yr - getting to 20 wins is def still a good target and will help the perception - SOS was total garbage so nothing crazy special, but a nice yr 2 goal all the same

Again, when Green forces being the man or HAS to be because others aren't performing this team is not its best - HU is strongest when he can simply relax and create for others with the pressure to score off

Love what we're seeing from Nichols - he's not 100% polished but he is an impact player and he has some real talent - complete burst of excitement that can single handily create momentum - needs more mins

It's frustrating this team is so bad at home, really hurts to draw fans - team really gave nothing to see at home this yr - good news is they play better on the road, and that's big for the conf tourney

#ROLLPRIDE

[Wags]

Key to this game was our 13 turnovers, way more than what we average....we turn it over say 8 times and we win going away...I agree with all on the calls...horrible and they ending up winning the game for the Tribe...All in all it was a VERY exciting game and it FINALLY got the crowd going...Hope they come back on Wed....I'd like to see us take care of business in the next two games...finish the regular season with 20 wins and win at least two in Baltimore and take it from there.

HU was averaging 11.1 turnovers per game coming in, so it was only an extra couple of turnovers yesterday. Points off turnovers were only 12-8, Tribe, so not a huge edge there. To say HU would win going away with five fewer turnovers is I think, overstating things a lot. They may have even not won at all with five less TO's, although that certainly would have helped. Just some poor decision making at certain times, rushing things when it wasn't necessary.

I never got a chance to see the replays on the calls, but was told by those who did, they looked to be the right calls (except for maybe the one where Thornton kicked his legs out on the 3, but even on that, he only got one of three FT's as a result, so no major damage). Tough to gripe about a couple of late, borderline calls when it's a huge game in your own building, you trail for more than 37 minutes (by 10, with 4 1/2 left) and never lead.

Disappointed to see Kone be so uninvolved yin 24 min. yesterday after playing so brilliantly at Drexel and being a fairly big factor at Towson. That was kind of typical of the whole team, the way it has generally stepped up well on the road and then makes you scratch your head with disappearing for stretches at home.

Nichols is instant offense at times. Can put up numbers in an efficient way, in a limited number of minutes. Yesterday was his second game in the past four in which he scored 12 pts on 6 of 11 shooting. In another, he had 15 pts on 7 of 9 shooting. And he only played 18 minutes in each of those three games.

Yesterday, Green and Bernardi played 38 min. apeice and Nesmith 39. Gotta think between the three of them, there was at least another 4-6 min. collectively that those guys could have rested while Nichols took those minutes to get to about 22-24 min. for the game. With (what will hopefully) be three games in three days in Baltimore, Coach won't be able to push those three like that every day, so maybe that's where Nichols gets extra minutes and with his efficiency and ability to rack up points in a short time, he could be the guy that those who follow the other CAA programs and don't know that much about HU, might be very surprised with as a tourney x-factor, if HU is fortunate enough to stick around for two or three days next month.

[Flying Dutchmen]

While yes, I was serenading the referees off of the court last night, and there were some questionable calls from my vantage point at the end of the game, they let us play for the vast majority of the game which is all we can ask for.

We were outcoached yet again last evening. Nichols sat way too frequently in the second half, he was a beast on both sides of the ball all game. When we brought him back in, we had a 5 guard set on the court. Come on. W&M had size on us at every position with that set. Nesmith was faded hard down the stretch and Green needed some breathers in the middle of the second half, it was poor personnel decisions that cost us this one.

I get Kone and Rokas were having tough games, but we still need their size on the court for better or worse. Rokas is never allowed to play through a poor stretch, I don't think he's regressing as much as he's had an incredibly short leash the past two games. He was very good against Northeastern and Drexel just last week. Think about it, if we have Rokas in the game the last minute, Nesmith on the bench, and Nichols guarding Thornton, do you think he gets those shots? At the very least, we get the ball into the hands of a less-efficient player, or a poor free throw shooter.

We have a tight margin of victory window with this team. 29 games into the season, I sometimes get the feeling the coaching staff does not know who to play, or they quick-leash players that directly lead to runs from the opposing team, and our starters (Green, Tanksley) gassed from playing too many minutes. The team defense has improved from the Northeastern game, but there is no hope for our defense to ever really have shut-down games, we're just too inconsistent.

I love the tempo-free stats, they paint the most accurate picture of a team, sometimes showing things that can not be easily seen on the court. We're currently 330 out of 351 in the "luck" statistic, which rates a team's play in close games, compared to the projected outcome. We've had 15 wins of 10 pts or more. We lost five or six games we really should have won this year. Our only top 150 win is Stony Brook, and they're ranked 147! Why? My thought is because it's pretty hard to win close games when you're putting out 5 guard lineups in the final 5 minutes of a game and your top two starters have played 38 out of 40 minutes in an up-tempo offense. Just a misuse of a somewhat talented team.

W&M played pretty well offensively last night, I don't want to take that from them, but we had too much offensive success not to win that game. This is a W&M team we beat at home by double-digits last year with no depth. No excuse to go 0-2 against a similarly constructed roster this season with the infusion of talent we had this season.

[ProudofPride]

NYC Buckets article sums it up well. http://www.nycbuckets.com/2015/02/let-k ... y-hofstra/

[EvanJ]

I was at the game, and I also DVRed it. I wanted to see what NBCSN's opening was, but instead the coverage started with La Salle and Saint Louis in overtime. Coverage of Hofstra started with 11:55 in the first half.

Edit: With 3.7 seconds left an announcer said Hofstra would be tied for second with a win. Being behind a three-way tie for first puts you tied for fourth. That's one of my pet peeves.

[dutchiedoright]

1. Nichols did foul Thornton twice in the last 50 seconds.
2. Down 6 with 2:30 to go, you need firepower....scorers and no turnovers.
3. biggest caa win this year ?????? W&M over Wofford (rpi 48). (Whoopty-frickin-do ....)
4. 4th versus 5th or 5th versus 4th.....does not matter much....we beat UNCW
5. one of the 6th or 7th seeds will win on Saturday
6. on sunday, we get W&M or NE.......and finally get over the top
7. play JMU for title on monday

[Polito]

Im really hoping at least one of NU or WM lose on Sat, better if both!

Does anyone know of there were any recruits at the game?