Flying Dutchmen Fans

Even my favorite Hofstra team with Stokes Agudio Rivera Kieza and Uter could not get it done with no bench. It can be done but if that team could not it won’t happen very often.

Captain wrote: ↑Mon Jan 26, 2026 3:30 pm Even my favorite Hofstra team with Stokes Agudio Rivera Kieza and Uter could not get it done with no bench. It can be done but if that team could not it won’t happen very often.

That team may very well have got it done if not for Tony Skinn's punch, which affected Stokes a lot more than lacking more of a bench.

And doesn't Tony Skinn have a head coaching job somewhere today?

George Mason...maybe the only place that would still give him a head coaching job!
I wonder if he ever apologized to Loren Stokes. 20 seconds left in a game that was over and take the cheapest shot at the best player on the other team. Not a classy moment.

Wags wrote: ↑Mon Jan 26, 2026 1:57 pm
It's always helpful to have a strong bench if it goes that way, but the idea that "NO team" or that at least Hofstra "can't win" a CAA tournament without a real bench is a fallacy that's already been proven twice. So, I'm not sure why we continue to perpetuate that myth year after year.

You can, it’s ridiculous to think this team can. Our starters are not good enough. Not close.

Usually people (me) complain about the bench situation because we have starters spilling the spaghetti and we have somewhat capable bench players never getting in the game. We rarely, if ever move our personnel to matchup better with the opponent. Like why is it always just Victory or Silas, can’t we have Decady or someone else play the “5” for a few minutes to matchup better against a team like Elon? Did Roberts play against SB? Reaves hadn’t played a meaningful minute since the Temple game in November, then he plays 27 on the road at W&M. Wills is used like a spare part. It makes no sense. Carve out some time for our bench guys so Cruz, Edmead, German don’t get run into the ground, and they have a role our opposition has to prepare for.

Like I get that in this new era of CBB, you have only one year with a team so you try to get players to learn a defined role so they have competency in that role by the end of the year. That works in theory, a ridiculous concept in practice. It’s too restrictive.

I think we stink in conference play because the other teams know all of our dirty tricks after a few games of tape and we clearly do not adjust well in game. It’s been too many years of losses against clearly inferior teams in big games that makes you look at the SB or A&T loss with a lot more concern.

Charleston is a must-win, just for morale.

Flying Dutchmen wrote: ↑Mon Jan 26, 2026 10:18 pm

Wags wrote: ↑Mon Jan 26, 2026 1:57 pm
It's always helpful to have a strong bench if it goes that way, but the idea that "NO team" or that at least Hofstra "can't win" a CAA tournament without a real bench is a fallacy that's already been proven twice. So, I'm not sure why we continue to perpetuate that myth year after year.

You can, it’s ridiculous to think this team can. Our starters are not good enough. Not close.

The original comment was "Overplaying your top 8 has not proven to work in the 3 day tourney."

Most teams don't go more than eight with their rotation, anyway. But aside from that, unless I'm wrong, that comment seemed to be in general, for all CAA teams, any year, not related to this year's Hofstra team. That's why I was mentioning how Hofstra (in 2020) and others have, and probably others will in the future, win with the CAA tourney basically no bench, let alone with no more than eight.

But yes, specific to Hofstra this year, they need their other guys. Roberts has been helpful, Wills and Reeves, at times, too. When healthy, sometimes it's DeCady, sometimes, it's Plotnikov, but they need both. Neither Onuetu nor Sunday (for foul reasons and others) can play for too long, so they need to be a platoon this year. So yeah, I wasn't trying to suggest it's the same for Hofstra this year as it was for Hofstra in 2020 or for other teams in the past. Keeping them all healthy and all consistently productive in each of their respective roles is the challenge this year's Hofstra team.

Amen!

Captain wrote: ↑Mon Jan 26, 2026 5:46 pm And doesn't Tony Skinn have a head coaching job somewhere today?

Tony Skinn is actually doing a very good job at Mason....they are in first in the A10 I believe.

HUSID74 wrote: ↑Tue Jan 27, 2026 12:26 pm

Captain wrote: ↑Mon Jan 26, 2026 5:46 pm And doesn't Tony Skinn have a head coaching job somewhere today?

Tony Skinn is actually doing a very good job at Mason....they are in first in the A10 I believe.

Second only because Top 25 Saint Louis is undefeated in A10 play, but yeah, he's doing a great job, which has been tough to see because I'm still not over that punch (I probably would've been over it a long time ago had Hofstra won the next game).

It's my Macho Grande, from Airplane.

"Over Macho Grande?"

"No, I'm afraid I'll never get over Macho Grande."

"Can't keep losing the same way."

Oh how true this statement is Captain - and this is the source for a lot of the shared frustration for a lot of us who are tired of seeing the same ol from this staff for 5 years. It's (past) time to see some adjustment from them to get over the hump.

IMO the 2020 squad was able to achieve what they did with little bench because that group was uniquely talented, unified, focused on playing tough D all year, and had true leadership in Buie. This group, and nearly every HU group outside of that, has been missing one or more of those components. So yes it's true that a bench is not always required, but exceptions shouldn't be used as the rule. By and large, we will not have enough consistent talent in 5 guys and enough real leadership to completely negate the need for some level of depth usage.

I don't believe for one second that HU hasn't had / doesn't have enough overall talent to win this conf. This isn't the SEC. Every team here has LOADS of flaws. What HU is routinely missing is leadership, utilizing quality depth, and better game coaching. It is frustrating when a player is allowed to keep forcing and bricking 5 or 6 3's in a row rather than being COACHED it's not their night and to find other ways to help. Equally confusing is how we seemingly refuse or are incapable of effectively utilizing a roster to help ease the weight of starters and counter injuries.

Speedy's teams are not necessarily easy to beat per say, most games are close, but they are pretty easy to figure out. There is very little change or unique strategy in his game plans. It's shockingly poor from a staff of seasoned coaches. Once the D (typically) fades, the team forces 3's, bricks many, the opponent rebounds creating extra opportunities that pile up. Very predictable - this cycle happens so often that it is wild the staff seems to do little to help stop the bleeding. To win this league I think you need some wrinkles, some shifts, some things to keep teams honest.

We don't really do that. We do the same thing all the time and expect our decent for mid major starter talent to be superstars every game, all season long. Wonder how many years sitting at home in March it will take for Speedy to wake up and address things. Cuz another one is likely incoming.

Why is everyone moaning about lack of depth? By my count we have five guys who have come off the bench and played reasonable well; Silas, Biggie, Roberts, Wills and lately Reaves due to injuries to Biggie and Plotnikov.

These guys account for a third of our scoring, 25.6 points of our 77.3 ppg.

I admit we one one wing short, a 6-5-6-7 player who can shoot and play some defense but this is the most depth we've had in a long time.

Wags wrote: ↑Mon Jan 26, 2026 2:44 pm

Captain wrote: ↑Mon Jan 26, 2026 2:35 pm Hi Wags
Hofstra for many years has had a short bench and I believe often justifiably so. In all those many years with multiple players of the year how many CAA tourneys have we won?
We all know the answer.
What I am saying is this year we seem to have a few more capable players. Does Cruz Davis need to be playing 40 minutes a night fighting through double teams? I also know that Preston needs to start. The 2 five man rotations won’t happen but I do believe if we spell Preston and Cruz with the capable back ups they may play collectively better D than what we are seeing recently. Speedy might not say as often the tougher team won. We might not settle for extra threes and maybe our legs will last a bit better. I believe this team has another gear and I think the bench guys can improve the whole.

I agree with giving Davis more of a rest, and if other guys can contribute more now than they had before, great. All for it.

But let's not pretend that the biggest thing holding Hofstra back from winning titles in the past was always it's lack of depth. That had more to do with their starters not being good enough in a way that no amount of depth would've helped them. Yet, we, for whatever reason, completely dismiss the idea that a team can win the CAA tourney without a bench when it's already been done multiple times, including once by Hofstra.

I think it's more that people would like to see that depth used even more, especially with Davis getting a breather here and there. Excluding the Old Westbury game, Davis has rested for a grand total of ONE minute over the last 11 games, including one game that went to OT. He has played the entire game in 2/3 of Hofstra's games (14 times in 21 games).

Right, I think it's about usage - both the amount of bench use, and HOW the bench is used. Both can be confusing and questionable under this staff.

And to me this is the bottom line: until I see this staff lead us to the dance, they need to prove themselves and they likely need to make some changes to actually get there. There's no benefit of the doubt in year 5 in today's game.

Just like JM did by the way. No different. Great man, great coach, but it wasn't until he put out a team that actually valued defense (his achilles heel he didn't address for years) and had a true floor leader (the most consistently missing piece at HU IMO) that he was able to hit the goal. 7 years. A lot of POY's. Not great IMO as I feel it should've been sooner, but I'm sure others were fine with it - and hey, it did happen at least!

To me, Speedy should have learned a lot and been able to take both the good and bad from that time. He should be able to achieve that goal faster. The CAA is completely winnable every single year by any of the top 4-5 teams. And to Speedy & JM credit, HU has been one of those more than not.

There's still a little time for Speedy to show he's got the goods - many are rightfully skeptical - but let's see...

And to your point Polito. Coach Mihalich was offense first. Outscore the opposition. Don't foul because we have no depth. So many easy buckets scored down low against us in the Mihalich era..
Speedy to his credit has stressed defense. Roberts was used sparingly initially because of his defensive shortcomings. Lately we are giving up points in bushels. We are slow to get out on the three ball. If you are going to re-stress keeping the score down with tenacious D, your offense can suffer if you are dragging. This is why if you have more capable bodies use them for consistent breathers for the main guys in both halves for some fresh legs and good D. Play your main guys closer to 30-32 minutes (35 for Cruz) and see what happens.

I agree I think this is one of our deepest teams in recent memory. I just need to see Speedy make better use of the depth.

Like how can someone like Wills not touch the court for the first 35 min of a game, then play all of crunch time (and play well), then play half the game the next time out, only to then not play at all? Either you trust a kid or you don't. Could really make an argument with some of the clutch shots Wills made against Drexel and Monmouth that the team would be 2-6 in conference without him. But Speedy cant find 1 minute to put him on the court against the deepest team in the conference, that plays one of the fastest paces in the entire country, while his visibly gassed star goes 5-19 laboring through all 40 minutes

What good is depth if you dont use it?

dutchPride86 wrote: ↑Wed Jan 28, 2026 2:51 pm I agree I think this is one of our deepest teams in recent memory. I just need to see Speedy make better use of the depth.

Like how can someone like Wills not touch the court for the first 35 min of a game, then play all of crunch time (and play well), then play half the game the next time out, only to then not play at all? Either you trust a kid or you don't. Could really make an argument with some of the clutch shots Wills made against Drexel and Monmouth that the team would be 2-6 in conference without him. But Speedy cant find 1 minute to put him on the court against the deepest team in the conference, that plays one of the fastest paces in the entire country, while his visibly gassed star goes 5-19 laboring through all 40 minutes

What good is depth if you dont use it?

Also, Reeves is experienced and shot between 34.8% and 41.7% from 3 over five years (really four) before Hofstra. He suddenly gets 27 minutes and shoots 3/7 from 3 at W&M. So, where was he before then? Only one minute (vs. Campbell) between the Old Westbury game (Dec. 10) and W&M (on Jan. 24).