Flying Dutchmen Fans

Dooku25 wrote:It always comes back to lack of depth unfortunately. I love this team but the concerns for Baltimore remain. How in the world can this team win 3 games in 3 days? I just don't see it.

I agree with you Dooku25 - lack of depth is certainly one thing - but also to never use the 3 bench players that we do have is just troubling - can't see how these five can play three consecutive games in three consecutive nights - also thought BB was going to come out and throw his shooting slump behind him - nah - does it ever seem to anyone else that we never get any home town calls from the officials - is it me as a homer or do we seem to get shafted???

daHUPride wrote:does it ever seem to anyone else that we never get any home town calls from the officials - is it me as a homer or do we seem to get shafted???

We do seem to get shafted. That's how we lost the JMU game, for the most part. After that game, I remember being on twitter and seeing one of our women's players fuming about how the men's team had no homecourt advantage for that game since the refs gave JMU every call in the 2nd half. However, I don't think the refs had much to do with tonight's performance. We lost because our coach is stubborn and doesn't make adjustments. He's supposed to be a seasoned veteran, but got out-coached by a 2nd year head coach.

Shafted ?
Fouls - UNCW 23 HU 13
FT - UNCW 12 HU 35
This one certainly not on Zebra's - On Joe!
And horrendous shooting

The Newsday headline tells about a blown 20 point lead for HU and a 1st place victory for UNCW. Four field goals and shooting 18% in the second half will not win many CAA games. Do you think this performance encourages the LI sports fan to want to attend one of the remaining three home games? How do the apathetic HU students now feel about attending a game? It appeared to me that Freeport HS had more in attendance than the HU student section. What a lost chance to get interest generated in seeing the team at the Arena. Promoting this team just became so much more difficult. I am very concerned about the upcoming three games on the road in seven days. This could be the turning point of the CAA schedule. HU is not in a good position to get the CAA regular season title and the automatic NIT bid. A fourth place position for the CAAT now seems like a possibility.

I put this one on three things:

1) Bernardi - hate to put this one one him, because he's a really nice kid and because of that, you want to see him do nothing but succeed. But recall when I warned about him a long time ago, that he's extremely streaky. In another earlier thread, I said he's not the lights out shooter people thought he was. The numbers never supported it. Only now, are people realizing that. He is very hot or very cold and little in between, with NO consistency whatsoever. Only now do people see that, as the same ones who told me I was wrong then, that he was a lights out shooter, are coming around to see now that he's really not. Through everything else, all of the other valid points made above as to why HU let this one get away, I come back to Bernardi. He appears to finally snap out of his slump with a 3/7 first half, then goes 0/5 in the second half. Make TWO of those, maybe even ONE, and the 3 Green hit at the end might not be a game-tying, but a game-winning shot, or HU might have won even without that one. And then instead of a bad loss, it's like the Elon game all over again, with HU blowing a big lead only to pull out a close win. Bernardi can't score ONE point while taking only two FTs in the second half and not hit a single shot from the field in 5 attempts in the second half. If it's not falling, and you KNOW you're streaky, get to the LINE! He is capable of doing it well at times. He just chooses not to look for that and would rather hoist miss after miss on the perimeter. Again, great kid, hope he's putting in the extra work in the gym to be more consistent. HU cannot go far without that. He doesn't have to carry HU by any stretch. But he has to give SOMETHING -- 3/12 doesn't cut it and in a game like this, one or two makes instead of NONE in the second half is the difference between a win and a loss.

2) As mentioned, not getting the ball to Gustys. Just like Bernardi, he has 8 pts at the half and only gets ONE in the second half... but unlike Bernardi going 0/5, he gets ONE shot. The guy who JAM calls a "walking double-double" and who was basicaly 20/20 guy a few times recently while being extremely efficient from the floor gets ONE shot after halftime after going 4/6 in the first half in a game this big? That can't happen.

3) Something else with JAM that I'm surprised no one else here has mentioned (the use of time outs)... you only get 4, so you have to use them wisely. Yet, as JAM often does, he calls a time out after HU makes a basket and has a comfortable lead, and doesn't take any time outs to stop the bleeding as HU is letting a big lead get away. I really don't get that... tonight, he takes a time out after a Tanksley FG makes it 49-34 with 15:17 left. But he never takes a time out during the entire time that lead is chipped away at, and as UNCW takes the lead. You HAVE to get a time out and regroup, especially after you're up 20, thy start pressing you, you're starting to turn the ball over, and they're getting easy transition buckets to significantly cut into the lead. I get that you don't get many, and the two they had came in handy at the end. But if you don't needlessly burn one up 15 with 15 left after YOU (not them) score, and if you instead use that one to stop a major run by them before your big lead dwindles to nothing at all, maybe you don't need your time outs at the end anyway, because you wouldn't have blown ALL of the lead.

Anyway, obviously disappointing, but jsut have to chalk it up to a learning experience. Only a game back. Tough 3-game trip coming up during which the whole season can fall apart if HU isn't careful. A GREAT chance to be where UNCW is, at 9-2 and in 1st all alone, can quickly turn into a mediocre 8-6 with four straight losses, following four straight wins from 4-2. That would really be a shame after the way the first 10 CAA games went. So hopefully, like they did at Northeastern, HU can pick it up on the road. You lose one like this at home, it's an extra one you were supposed to lose on the road that you now have to get to make up for it. They did that with the win in Boston after the tough OT loss at home to JMU. We'll see how that goes. The season is far from being lost because of one tough loss tonight. But of course, the path just got more difficult because they couldn't close.

More than blowing the 20-point lead, this makes the loss hurt the most:

Hofstra led for 35:43 (89.3 percent of the game).
UNCW led for 3:18.
Tied for 0:59.

This stat blows me away:

1st-Half Points in the Paint: 22-18, Hofstra
2nd-Half Points in the Paint: 26-0, UNCW

How about these stats?

FG% - 35%

3FG% - 23%

Second half FGs: 4-22 (Green 1, Tanksley 3)

Wags wrote:This stat blows me away:

1st-Half Points in the Paint: 22-18, Hofstra
2nd-Half Points in the Paint: 26-0, UNCW

that is ridiculous -

AW and JWF did nothing to hurt team in their brief appearances last night...team was gassed....staff must do a much better job of rotating these two in and out of the lineup...instead of giving Bernardi 38-40 minutes per game give him 29 or 30 and play JWF more often....JWF adds dimensions meaning athleticism and ability to put ball on floor...areas that Bernardi struggles with

Jojogunne wrote:How about these stats?

FG% - 35%

3FG% - 23%

Second half FGs: 4-22 (Green 1, Tanksley 3)

Yeah, I had noticed those, and they're eye-popping. HU actually made its first shot of the second half and 1 of its final 2 (the game-tying 3 by Green and Tanskley's miss at the buzzer), and was 2/19 in the middle. The first half was decent (46.9%). So it was really that 2/19 stretch for most of the second half that brought everything else down, although the first-half & second-half split from 3 were about equally as bad (3/11 and 2/11). But that'll happen, when shots don't fall, even team-wide for a half. The points in the paint turnaround still shocks me a lot more, because I don't know how you can get 22 and be a +4 in first half, and then go from that to being a -26 -- a 30-point turnaround -- while going scoreless in that same category in the second half. And a lot of times with this team, you have to say: stop settling for 3s, attack or take more 2s. But it wasn't even that, because they did get to the line a lot in the 2nd half, and the split from 2 and 3 was identically bad in the second half (each 2/11).

Been saying all season, this team, despite a lot people here saying what "great shooters" HU has, and how JAM keeps saying, "If there's one thing we can do, we can shoot" is not true, no matter how much it's repeated. The numbers have not supported that all season. Since HU scores a lot (2nd in the CAA, with 79.2 ppg), because it plays at a fast pace and gets a lot of possessions, people believe they shoot well without really delving into the numbers. But this is simply NOT an efficient team shooting the ball. If you look right now, in CAA games only, HU is very a medicore, middle-of-the-pack shooting team in the CAA:

HU ranks 5th in the CAA both overall (44.0%) and from 3 (35.2%).

Have also been saying during this great stretch of play from Rok that in a big game like last night, whether in the regular season or in Baltimore, for all of the great things he does (and again, 21 boards last night), his awful FT shooting was going to cost HU a big game. Last night, an inexcusable 1/5. You just can't have that. Been saying he needs to at least get to what I call for him a "respectably bad" 60%. At 3/5, instead of 1/5 last night, the ending might play out a lot differently.

What also makes this loss especially disheartening is the player who won the game.

It's one thing if it were Bryce (11/17 last night) beats you, and you just tip your cap.

But for Ingram (just 6/20) to beat you, especially on a pretty well defended play, is tough to take.

Joe is a good coach and I'm happy he's here but man that was bad last night. They committed 5 fouls by 18:30 of the second half, we settle for exclusively jumpers outside of a missed Bernardi layup for the next FOUR minutes. We were two fouls away from the bonus, had a substantial lead that would have lead to forcing fouls later, and just refused to capitalize by attacking the inside at all. I know it's hard to be a coach but it's even harder to not sit here and be the armchair QB the day after, because there were fundamental basketball strategies that were flat-out ignored. Use your timeouts, give the ball to your borderline-unstoppable big man, use your subs (yes, they clearly are capable) and when you're given a gift like we were at the beginning of the second half, take advantage. Ok, rant over.

Daly Dose of Hoops sums it up nicely
http://dalydoseofhoops.blogspot.com/201 ... go-by.html

When I woke this morning I thought it was all just a bad dream. HU blowing a 20 point lead and losing. But alas it was all true. What can I say that hasn't already been said. I think JMs core 5 were spent by the middle of the second half. JM NEEDS to play AW, DB, and JWF much, much more than he does and what was RG doing out by the perimeter almost the whole second half. Isn't his strength under the basket. BB needs to sit some. Might even help his confidence not having the pressure to play nearly the whole game. the prior comments were correct about this game being the best opportunity to get students more involved. it was hard enough to get students out before this game. I think you can forget about it now. The season is not lost by a long shot but this was definitely a painful loss.

ProudofPride wrote:Daly Dose of Hoops sums it up nicely
http://dalydoseofhoops.blogspot.com/201 ... go-by.html

The notion mentioned of fouling at 67-67, with UNCW taking the ball out with :20 left? I understand what's being suggested there, that HU couldn't stop UNCW in the second half. But c'mon, you CANNOT FOUL there!!

Ultimately, it took a guy who was only 5/19 before he took the shot to make a tough, pretty well-defended shot and win the game. You CAN'T FOUL IN A TIE GAME and give the opposition an automatic chance to take the lead in the final seconds.

That's like saying, you're afraid of giving up a multiple-run hit to a tough batter during a tie game in the top of the 9th, so you intentionally walk in the winning run with the hopes of scoring in the bottom of the 9th to tie or win. LOL, you would NEVER! You simply try to get the out and keep it tied heading to the bottom of the 9th. No different on UNCW's last possession.

Cards wrote:I'm absolutely sick to my stomach! Same old, same old. Play the same guys so much they cant perform when it matters. They were dead out there. It was obvious that UNCW was going to put pressure on them all game, pressing on every inbound, wearing us down....wearing us down. Our guys had nothing left halfway into the 2nd half. No subbing the second half, the guys were dragging! We had four freaking baskets the entire second half. Four. Four. that's right Four

Why did coach have RG setting picks 25 feet from the hoop, the guy couldn't get back into the offense - - what da heck was that all about?? Nobody can stop the guy inside, so what do we do, we keep him outside and pass the ball to him down low ONCE the entire second half. ONCE!!!!!! He's shooting almost 70% inside averaging 17 ppg - so our approach is to throw up threes and shoot 18 % in the second half! I am just soooo sick!

Well JM just got some humble pie - sticking with 5 guys and being totally out coached. Having our starters watch guys drive by for layups because they cant pickup fouls because JM wants them to get 35 - 40 minutes each game!! They simply wore us down and JM never adjusted. Say goodbye to the students....that's all she wrote for this year!!

All 50 of them....

ProudofPride wrote:The CAA just tweeted the updated standings (https://twitter.com/CAABasketball/statu ... 1310386177). It has UNCW 1st, and us and W&M tied for 2nd, but they list W&M first. Shouldn't we technically be ahead of the Tribe since we both lost to UNCW, but we have the head-to-head win over the Tribe? Not that it matters all that much when there are still 7 games left, but something like that will matter at the end of the season. There's a big difference between being the 2nd and 3rd seed, since the 2nd seed gets to play a team that's tired from playing Friday night.

They always put the higher win percentage teams first...though I agree we currently have the tie breaker over W& M we should be placed ahead of them...Virginia BIAS!

Next day, and... it's STILL just SICKENING. This was an epic fail, a complete choke job, there's no way else to describe it.

Everything has been noted, and I agree 100%:

- Team was completely gassed at the end, I WATCHED it happen - NO ONE in their right mind can say otherwise. Everything from their eyes, to their movements, their behavior, etc. UNCW's plan to press all game worked like charm, and JM and co. did NOTHING to counter. And if I'm JMU, I'm doing the same thing with the 42 guys I have on the bench.
- Late FT shooting: See above ^
- Complete misuse of bench in 2nd half. Related to above, but also in terms of rotation/matchups and players that just didn't have 'it' last night.
- RG not getting touches in the 2nd is inexcusable - JM should be disgusted at himself for allowing that to happen. UP BY 15 chucking and clanking 3's - WWWHHYYYY????? Slow it down and feed the post - this is not rocket science man, I mean c'mon - that's on JM and Green for allowing that to happen and that is what lost this game.
- TO's, yeah, would've def like to have seen one used to break their run and to ENSURE that everyone understands to get the friggin ball to RG
- JG had an overall strong game, and of course the big tying shot, but my goodness it should've NEVER come to that - he forced things all 2nd half and did not setup the O to feed RG and it cost them.
- Bernardi... good Lord. I'm praying for this young man to get himself right. He is KILLING this team right now.
- Just really really poor shooting all-around - this team is not a good shooting team, as noted - wish JM would review the stats and adjust accordingly. They are mediocre AT BEST - hmmm, do you think perhaps it's related to burning the same guys all season and now they are wearing down at the end of the year?? No, couldn't be that, right

Refs had NOTHING to do with the outcome of this game.


This team has NO killer instinct whatsoever, just can't seem to put an opponent away. That just cost them the CAA title, and it's going to cost them the CAAT along with improper depth/bench use.

Sorry to say, it's been a good year, but I think this was the season folks. This was a MUST WIN, absolute MUST WIN - like, you do not leave that court without a W, PERIOD.

And they blew their 1 shot this season at fan engagement, interest, national coverage, you name it. The impact of this loss is much bigger than 1 game unfortuanately. I don't want to hear anyone on this staff ask for fans the rest of the year. Here's what they need to do:

>> DELIVER in the big spot when it matters most. THEN you can ask and/or complain when you don't get it. I have lost patience myself with the constant over promising and under delivering. I've really had enough. This isn't the ACC or Big East for goodness sake. Just get the damn job done the way you're supposed to for once.

I appreciate this team and staff and all their effort - one thing I think we can say is they are giving great effort, playing hard, and clearly desire to win. But the gameplan to take this conf and get to the tourney is off. Running the same guys into the ground and forcing them to be all-world shooters when they are CLEARLY not, is not an effective plan.

I don't think JM understands yet how to win this league. I still love the guy and think he's the right man for HU right now. But I hope he learns some valuable lessons for the future - this ain't the MAAC, time to step it up, adjust, game plan properly, develop a useful bench, and USE IT - JG is a strong fun player, but he is not an NBA All-Star. There is NO excuse whatsoever to not feed the ball down low in the 2nd half. NONE. And it lost them the game.

Unfortunately, IMO, this was the season. Yes, I know there's ball left - yes, I believe HU will win a couple more and yes it will be a solid season. But no, I do not think they can win the title now, and you all know I don't think they're winning the CAAT. And I've STILL not seen enough to show any differently.

It is still mathematically possible so there's always a chance. But highly doubtful. I'm just so pissed that they blew this shot to grab real attention, real momentum for support, and a REAL shot to FINALLY win the CAA - just a kick in the gutt. They all seem like great people, I really hurt for them in that regard. But they have no one to blame but themselves.

Did anybody link to or read what Jerry Beach wrote before yesterday's game? It's at http://defiantlydutch.blogspot.com/2016 ... remes.html and it's his first blog post since May 15, which was 265 days before yesterday.