MBB Game 1 - Canisius

[garyg]

I think coach should be giving at least 5 minutes a half to Walker...he can help to clog up the lane and provide some rebounding in addition to Rokas/Nichols...if Walker does not produce in those 10 minutes that is another story but give the kid a shot

[Dooku25]

Gary, I'm more concerned with the decision on Robinson. Not sure why they are redshirting him when the current rotation is 7-8 guys. I sure hope Djambo's return is a guarantee.

[pridehoops2015]

Love his excitement but with support like Polito who needs enemies?

They won by double-digits! You have no clue how good or bad Canisius will be. Its game 1 of 30! This is when you get things right.

[HUSID80]

Attendance def horrid but I'm sorry they play like sh!t at home - you're not going to win people over letting opponents walk all over you every game - it's gotten to be ridiculous now - DEFEND YOUR DAMN HOME COURT

Also, HUs marketing continues to be a DISGRACE - where was the promotion for this game??? I have not seen a single ad, billboard, TV spot, anything promoting this program or it's stars or it's preseason accolades or its potential - The social media side of things has been fantastic from the program and the school, but official marketing and branding in the community in region?? It's absolutely awful, and it needs to change - when is someone going to be held accountable for this?

Because the reality is, if this team can't perform better they're going to need a tremendous amount of promotion to get people to these games – I'll be honest, I have no interest in taking my precious time and watching the type a basketball we've seen at home recently - so something has got to give, something has to change

Next day and I am still very concerned about this team – watching other schools have monster upsets like Monmouth over UCLA and Belmont over Marquette, WOW... And here is HU getting beat like a mule at home in their own transition game - I watched veteran players literally stand out of the way opening up a free lane and just haphazardly slapping at the basketball as the opponent blows buy them for an easy layup

They better get it together and go out there and start performing like a team with a purpose – there is no excuse for that kind of poor play from a veteran group - other 'lower' mids seem to be having no trouble making statements and gaining signature wins, and this HU squad is fully expected to do the same - and that includes a win over FSU, the A10s, and others – no excuses this year, none.

[HUSID80]

Agree on the marketing, disagree on the product...that's not causing the attendance issues

[bobe13]

Curious, anyone know why we wore our blue uniforms rather than home white?

[Flying Dutchmen]

We beat a non-pushover team by double digits opening night, even with spotting them an 18pt lead. I'm not complaining, and I saw a lot more positives than negatives at the game last night.

Yes, there is a problem with our transition defense. We struggled getting back after missed shots, especially early in the first half, and Canisius was very hot from the field. But we made an adjustment to a 1-3-1 as joeg mentioned earlier, and we had a lot of success. Baron's a good coach and Canisius made some adjustments, but we went back to man to man and closed the door on them.

Defense really creates offense in general, but especially with our team which loves to push the pace and get transition points.

Bernardi really had a great game on both sides of the ball, his gym rat habits have been well documented, and they're evidently paying off. Juan'ya had a bit of a shaky start, honestly those early TO's were probably not his fault, but he finished like the best player on the court, no concerns with him. Rokas looking solid, the inside game looked a little more refined. I thought the X-Factor was Nichols, he had a great double-double, and was a huge playmaker defensively. Tanksley had an up and down game, he will be fine though. Buie looked good too, he's probably going to have to log significant minutes this year with our short bench.

I wish Mihalich would get off the refs and get Walker some burn, and I wish we could have a more consistent defense effort, but not a bad first game. Hopefully we can get the bench guys some more time against Molloy, then off to the USVI for a big weekend of hoops!!!

[gdtrfb]

I know the defense was atrocious last night, but the Dutch were fantastic over the final 9:08, out-rebounding the Griffs 11-2 and outscoring them 32-10. Hopefully the Dutch have shaken off all the rust and we roll from here.

One thing that drove me absolutely crazy last night (besides the "defense" and missed free throws) was Nichols attempting not one, but two shots from beyond the arc. I really like his game and fire, but please Leek, for the love of God, no more threes.

[stuball888]

New nickname for Malik should be "Pony Express". He likes to go coast to coast to score.

[daHUPride]

New nickname for Malik should be "Pony Express". He likes to go coast to coast to score.

JAM might want to called "Pony Distress"

[garyg]

JAM should give Walker at least 5 minutes a half....he would clog up the lane and provide some interior defense, grab some rebounds, and help keep Rokas out of foul trouble....time to do it is before conference play...if things do not work out you adjust the rotation but give the kid a shot and see what you got...

[HU87]

I have a strong feeling that Nichols has been watching a lot of Draymond Green lately-- he is definitely trying to emulate the stretch 4, point-forward type of mold. The good is the tenacious and multifaceted defense, along with pushing of the pace off of defensive rebounds. The bad is his attempt to incorporate 3s and constant forcing of the coast to coast mentality. If he pulled up at the foul line and looked for trailers/reset the offense, it'd be a great asset-- But something about his out of control fast break starters stress me out every time.

To his credit, I'm sure he shot thousands of 3s in the off season and wants to incorporate that into his game, which would be fine with me if he can start hitting them! I think 2-3 3's attempted each game by him would be fine if he can show us he can hit >33% from there. It's not like everyone else isn't shooting 3s already anyway...

Last thought on this one-- as mentioned by a few people, our man to man defense looked even worse than last year. This doesn't even seem to be just poor pick-and-roll D or match up confusion. There were at least TEN instances of "ole" defense out there, with our leader and tone setter, Juan'ya, being the biggest culprit. In my days of HS hoops, if your man blows past you on D, you're running suicides and doing up-downs the next day in practice. I hope Joe starts holding these guys similarly accountable to this horrendous defensive showing.

[garyg]

Another positive with Nicholls is he was 3-4 on free throws...last season he did not shoot them well at all

[garyg]

Stony Brook had 3404 in their home opener against Div.3 school

[ProudofPride]

Stony Brook also has about twice the enrollment as Hofstra, which means more students and a bigger alumni base at the games. Once this team keeps winning, word will spread throughout students and the community.

[Cards]

The next home game when school is in session will not be until mid/late January. The student body will only be around for about 6 home games after tonight!

As others have already said, you can't count on the student body....they simply are not around for a big part of the season. We need to get out into the community and market properly.

It didn't take place over the past few years, but it wasn't that long ago when we did have some sellouts. Those were some of the best games ever.......can't wait for that to happen again!

[Polito]

I know, I know, I am being quite blunt and harsh, but allow me to clarify a few things:

This is a yr that this team is expected to come out on FIRE from the first tip - I simply didn't see it until 10 minutes before the final buzzer, and I'm not ok with that. No excuses.

Yes, it's game 1, Canisius is decent, and HU produced an improbably comeback literally winning a game in 10 minutes of real effort - that's not easy and not every team can do it, but HU did - Bernardi performed like I expect a star and leader to perform, he came out confident and on a mission - kudos to the young man

I have just grown very tired of HU teams underperforming - it's been 15 yrs of dealing with unmet expectations - now of course most of that was under TP and Mo, but this team and staff WANTED the accolades, the press, the expectations - well, they've got it now, so they best go out there and match every bit of it.

Unfortunately, I saw a lot of eerily similar play to last yr, which produced a very pedestrian and disappointing 5th place finish - veteran guys playing lazy and weak D, missing WIDE open LAYUPS, bricking uncontested shots, having 0 transition game which is supposed to be their strength, looking like they hadn't practiced or improved a thing all off season i.e. unprepared - sorry but that's not acceptable from this experienced group - that's not what I expect from the preseason #1.

Canisius is likely a 4th place MAAC team somewhere behind Iona, Monmouth, Siena, Manhattan... just because they looked like world-beaters against HU's weak D doesn't make them great - getting owned for 30 min in your season opener at home to an avg mid and depending on a guy to hit a record *8* 3's in order to win is not ok. Not this yr.

The pressure is on, no doubt about it, and there won't be a lot of tolerance for miscues - esp when we are seeing other mids and other CAA teams (without last yrs studs) have BIG showings early (another was RADFORD beating Georgetown in OT) - don't get me wrong, this is about how you finish not how you start, and the race has only just begun - I was just really hoping to see the eye of the tiger in these guys, aggressive fast-paced attacking all-out effort from the tip, and it wasn't there. That's not going to get a conf champ and trip to the dance done. They need to ELEVATE, a LOT, ASAP.

I'm actually not all doom and gloom at all, I saw some VERY good things too - the new guards I think are going to be fantastic, they look confident and capable, and Buie's behind the back pass was a flash of brilliance - double-double's from Rokas and Nichols is HUGE and very needed big production boosts - the team fought back and FINISHED - HU's got ability, major ability - that's why it's frustrating.

Funny thing about high expectations... people seem to have high expectations with them.

[garyg]

Cards, I remember some games during Jay Wright era when games were sold out and a few times there were actually scalpers outside the arena

[daHUPride]

Cards, I remember some games during Jay Wright era when games were sold out and a few times there were actually scalpers outside the arena

A friend that I took to the HU v Canisius game asked me if they have ever filled this place up - and it brought back great great memories. It isn't just the student body - this area only jumps on the band wagon and supports a team when it is the "in" thing to do or to go to. There are a few of us that really like watching college basketball and embrace a team win or lose - guilty as charged. We - this area - couldn't support our own football team, we couldn't support a professional BB team or hockey team - but I bet there will more then a few front runners at the Hu v Kentucky game next year.

[Cards]

I recall from the Stokes/Rivera days....with big games against ODU, GM, and VCU. Games were packed and I recall walking up to the ticket window with my son for one of the games and being turned away, sold out!