Paradise Jam 2015

[Dooku25]

Signature win for the program. Been waiting a long time for something like this. This does so much for Hofstra. It should give them the confidence down the road that they can hang with and beat the big boys. It also gives them some national attention. Hofstra was trending on twitter for awhile. There were so many tweets about this game. Very cool. And now they have the opportunity to turn this into a special weekend with another win or two. Looking forward to another televised game against a power conference school, this time the SEC.

[Polito]

Now T H I S is what I'm talking about!!! THAT is a great / BIG W! And THAT is the level of play this HU team should be displaying

They came out strong and ready to PLAY right from the start - that is what is team needs to do, that is what a veteran group is expected to do - great job fellas! A well EARNED victory - really proud of their effort - was able to watch most of i5 streaming thru some weird site, and I'll tell ya what, HU was the better team - like CJ tweeted, experience wins

If HU didn't have some sloppy play and a few turnovers that led to FSU Pt's in the first few minutes, they could have led by even more at the half - they followed a great game plan - controlled the pace, kept scoring reasonable, took advantage of their youth grabbing steals, utilized the 3, and as I thought FSU is weak there - fouls were tough on HU as expected, but man they weathered it - biggest surprise to me was out rebounding a towering team - wow

Make no mistake, FSU is young, but they are the most talented team in the field - this will look even better as season progresses - want no part of them next yr after yet another top ranked recruiting class! Lol

Koon getting better thank goodness, shaking the rust - guy is a really strong rebounder, great at positioning himself - friend said today HU is 1 big man away from being a next level mid, and I agree 100% - if this staff gives Walker PT and develops him, and/or Djambo plays and makes an impact, then this team could really have Cinderella potential

Now, the job is not done fellas - this is a tourney, and tourneys have champions - another VERY tough game on Sunday against a much more experienced team - USC has talent and seniors, this is a big 'un - Im thinking this may be a team HU should work to run all over the floor, just up and down all night - HU has the firepower, esp with rest, and may be better off with that higher scoring approach against these guys - def think JWF can be valuable at certain pts in this one - USC isn't the raw talent of FSU but they are a well oiled team - they are consistent - my thought is lets disrupt the heck out of that

SEC IS NEXT!! Lets GO boys!!

[stuball888]

This was a gritty win. The new rules allow all these ticky tack fouls and thats why we need depth up front. Walker was also huge in this game eating up minutes near the end of the game. With Gustys,Walker and Nicoles all fouling out DJambo cant get here soon enough. If he will not be back it is imperative that JAM develops Walker. Let this big dog out of the doghouse. We have senior leaders on this team that should be all over walker to make sure he does the work. Agree on Koon he is just a hi IQ player who is in the right spot at the right time. Much better rebounder especially on the offensive glass than I expected.

[garyg]

If The Pride come out and play tough like they did against FS there is no reason they can not beat SC...Pride program on the rise...signature win against major program...signing of EP...and Kentucky on horizon....fans & recruits should take notice...if we continue to "plug away" this season watch out, future is bright!!!!!!

[ProudofPride]

Pretty sure I still have some adrenaline this morning!
And as I said earlier, it's huge that the team now gets today off, they actually have to to get a full practice in and watch some film on South Carolina.
Also, not sure if anyone noticed, but the "tip-in" notes at the end of the updated AP article are kind of interesting.

image.jpeg

[Jojogunne]

A nice win on a neutral court. Bernardi, Green and Koon stepped up big in the last few minutes to preserve the lead. Not sure FSU is a top 50 team, but we shall see. I'll be more impressed if we beat South Carolina.

We need to work on making free throws (Koon has a nice touch, but Gustys hasn't improved) and staying out of foul trouble. Also, I don't understand why Robinson is redshirting this year. We sure could have used him yesterday.

[HUSID80]

A nice win on a neutral court. Bernardi, Green and Koon stepped up big in the last few minutes to preserve the lead. Not sure FSU is a top 50 team, but we shall see. I'll be more impressed if we beat South Carolina.

We need to work on making free throws (Koon has a nice touch, but Gustys hasn't improved) and staying out of foul trouble. Also, I don't understand why Robinson is redshirting this year. We sure could have used him yesterday.

Agreed...this is our year...we should be doing everything to make it as successful as possible. I can't remember when we haven't had a short bench.

[jaspegs]

A nice win on a neutral court. Bernardi, Green and Koon stepped up big in the last few minutes to preserve the lead. Not sure FSU is a top 50 team, but we shall see. I'll be more impressed if we beat South Carolina.

We need to work on making free throws (Koon has a nice touch, but Gustys hasn't improved) and staying out of foul trouble. Also, I don't understand why Robinson is redshirting this year. We sure could have used him yesterday.

Makes no sense. Having to keep Nichols in the game with 12 minutes left with four fouls because we have nobody else is embarrassing.

[garyg]

At one point they were counting on Djambo to be part of the rotation however once he became a question mark they should have pulled Robinson from his redshirt...like you said we could have used him yesterday...if they come out, play hard, and cut back a bit on the fouls they can beat South Carolina...question is which Hofstra team shows up

[RollPride15]

Awesome win, and I'm excited for the game against South Carolina, who probably has a lower talent ceiling than FSU but more experience and discipline. I looked through HU stats thus far this year and here are some very early observations:

A lot of our depth complaints stem from how quickly our guys get in foul trouble, especially Malik. I'm on the fence about the Jamall redshirt move mostly because I think if Malik can cut down on fouls even a little bit, it will feel like we have a lot more depth. Right now Nichols averages a foul every four minutes, yet in his foul-limited PT, he still manages to put up 10/7 a game. He's a great jolt of energy when he's on the floor and I just wish (and I bet Joe does too) we could get 23 minutes a game out of him instead of 16.

Bernardi is hitting 67% from 3 right now, absolutely insane (like Ameen's start last year). We'd be 1-2 without him right now. If I had one gripe it would be that he has turned the ball over too frequently for a guy whose main job is to shoot from deep.

Ameen hasn't gotten much mention on the forum, but he's quietly put together a 14/6 start. It's reassuring to me that he hasn't played exceptionally well and we still look good. If he really gets going, and I think that's only a matter of time, we'll look really dangerous.

Koon is kind of in the same place right now, quietly putting up steady numbers. Seems like he'll be an everpresent glue guy out there, as Joe has played him more than anyone else.

Juan'ya is Juan'ya. He's always seems to find a way to get 15 and his passing really drives the offense forward.

Rokas has been nice this year, he can rebound against anyone and I can't wait to see him put to the test on the boards against Warney. I just wish he were more certain on defense.

[EvanJ]

Last season South Carolina went 16-16. Thanks to their good strength of schedule (46th), they were 97th in the RPI. That's in between Northeastern (91st) and William & Mary (99th) who were the top two in the CAA in RPI last season.

[garyg]

If we show up like we did for FSU we can beat South Carolina...if we show up like we did for two games before FSU we will lose to South Carolina....FSU's better players on roster may be on young side but overall roster not that young...they have 8 upperclassmen...3 soph's and 4 freshmen

[ProudofPride]

It looks like the team is having a fun time after the practice they had this morning.
https://twitter.com/HofstraMBB/status/6 ... 0240900096

[HUSID80]

Good, they deserve it...rest and come out firing on Sunday night.

[pridehoops2015]

we beat FLORIDA STATE and some of you are still complaining. "embarrassing" "makes no sense". some of you are unreal. can we trust the staff for once?

[stuball888]

Who is complaining?

[garyg]

If I had to pick one key to Hofstra winning tonight's game it would be Hofstra staying out of foul trouble....South Carolina's two best players are a 6-11 245 SR C and a 6-7 229 SR F...

[ProudofPride]

Here's SC's thread
http://www.cockytalk.com/showthread.php?t=220913

[Polito]

Same team fellas...

I agree this staff needs to be trusted, they've earned that so far, and I don't have an issue with the Robinson redshirt - for all we know maybe HE is the one that pushed for it knowing no PT this yr and potentially starter next...

Only area I disagree with them on is the lack of Walker - if he's so bad or such a problem, then part ways - since I don't see that happening, then whatever it is isn't THAT bad, def not enough to ride pine for a yr and a half - and he can help this team win - even Berbardi made it a point to give the guy props for giving quality min that the team needed

If he's staying he needs PT - he's a 6'10 athletic guy who can run the floor and stuff the ball down people's throats - team needs him with experience - HU is 1 quality big man with defensive post presence away from doing BIG TIME things this yr

At any rate on to USC!!!! Let's get another big one boys! Let's FINISH the job and take this tourney - still thinking HU should look to disrupt their steady flow, and attack, run, score like crazy - win with firepower - I think they can outscore them, and really like HUs rebounding - USC is talented experienced and disciplined - very diff opponent from FSU - this will be about controlling the game flow for what HU wants it to be, force them into their fast paced rythm - a slow and steady game seems to favor them IMO, I'd love for HU to put them on their heels early and often

USC does tend to get into holes from time to time, they've just been good enough to pull themselves out/thru - I'm hoping as soon as HU smells blood during one of those lulls, they aggressively exploit the heck out of it - think we'll see Walker to help gustys battle their talented bigs, and maybe even JWF in this one if they go for scoring

SEC opponent is another spot where the star leaders need to show out and lead team to a big gutsy W

[EvanJ]

Predicted margins:

Betting line: South Carolina by 4.5
Sagarin Overall: South Carolina by 4.89
Sagarin Predictor: South Carolina by 4.52
Sagarin Golden Mean: South Carolina by 5.60
Sagarin Recent: South Carolina by 6.65