Paradise Jam 2015

[ProudofPride]

Nichols fouled out for the second game in a row. Played only 22 minutes tonight. We're now down 14 with 3 and a half to go. Refs are killing us. South Carolina is shooting 62.5% this half, and currently in the midst of a 12-0 run.

[ProudofPride]

We were outscored in the paint 44-18… We were also severely out rebounded, after we out rebounded FSU yesterday.
Our 17 3's is also tied for the most that South Carolina has ever allowed. We play Indiana State tomorrow at 6:30, if we win we finish in 3rd place, a loss puts us in 5th.

At least this tournament is good preparation for Baltimore. These are the toughest teams we'll face all season, and no CAA team has big guys like the ones we've seen the past two games. When/if we get Djambo back, he should be a huge help with depth.

[cactus]

they hung tough but sc had too many easy baskets inside, too many second chance opportunities. hofstra got it close a number of times but sc always followed with a good look to keep hofstra at arms length. impressed by their midrange game as well.

[Cards]

inside vs outside game. Tonight the insides won. SC controlled the boards as I think we were a bit undersized. Kudos to SC as every time we got the score close, they came back with a bucket or more.....they played pretty well and shooting from inside 8 ft usually means high percentage (and it did tonight).

I'm concerned about Tanksley's play.....even though he hits 3's, he looks a bit slow and out of step on offense. Hope we did not see his best last year! Malik is energetic, but hes a foul out waiting to happen. I think against talented and bigger teams, his energy can't carry him. Rokas was simply overwhelmed tonight.....too many big bodies around and the responsibility of hitting the boards fell squarely on his shoulders alone (its a lot to ask of one guy).

DB and JWF continue to impress. Yes they make a few freshman miscues, but they will be fine in the long run.

[EvanJ]

The 17 made three-pointers are tied for the third most in CAA history. The CAA record is 20.

[HofstraFan101]

My thoughts on tonight/the season as a whole
-Were allowing way too many second chance opportunities. We need to crash the boards more effectively and box out.
-Seeing some of the same problems as last year on D. Our help defense in man and overall defense in zone is ineffective. It seems like guys just watch the opponent go by instead of putting a body on them. Rokas was very guilty of that last year and it's happening again. Need to see more effort
- Outstanding 3 point shooting so far out of the team and especially Bernardi. Must be a top 3 shooter in the nation. However, Nichols and Koon need to limit their 3s a lot more.
-Koon has been getting better each game. In my opinion he's gone from awful, to bad and now just ok/poor. He gets in the right position but turns it over or makes too many bad decisions. Making freshman mistakes as a 5th year senior.
-Buie and JWF have impressed so far. Would like to see more confidence out of JWF as like we saw today he didn't want to talk the ball up and hid in the corner. Wasting his great scoring ability.
-Lastly, Nichols needs or step up. Too many turn overs and missed shots. Not providing the same defensive spark as last year and making bonehead fouls.
Overall I feel we have a great season ahead of us though.

[daHUPride]

I hope we can come out and play our CAA conference games the way we have played the last 2 games..

In a short series like these 3 games in 4 days is tough - especially with a roster that goes 9 deep..I could see the legs in 2nd half of the SC game catching up with us

In order to compete in the CAA championship we are going to need Djambo and no injuries...

Good..Green, Benardi, Buie - like the teams offensive rotation, think I have seen m,ore back door baskets this year already then any other

Bad (really means the OK)...Koon (does a lot of little things but still rusty looking), JWF, Gustys -

Ugly..Tanksley (I am a little disappointed in his game this year-figured he'd be dominating), Nicols (love his energy; hate his 3 point shooting) - the lack of going after rebounds (Gustys is athletic enough; Tanksley stands around to much; Koon one of the guys who I get concerned about not having his legs)

Confusing...Walker

[Dooku25]

I take nothing but positives from this game. First though, I've seen some negative comments about Koon which is baffling to me. I thought last night was his most unproductive game so far because of the early foul trouble. But he is averaging 12 pts, 6 rebs, 3 assists per game, shooting 87% from the line and has a 2:1 turnover ratio. And that's considering he's still shaking off the rust. He's also been a terrific offensive rebounder so far. Not sure what you guys are expecting from him?

Anyway, the way SC played this game I think a past Hofstra team loses by 30+. They did not take us lightly at all. They played hard for all 40 minutes on d, they had a clear size advantage at each position, and they shot the ball extremely well themselves. They also got the power conference whistle. Our players had to give space to avoid foul trouble because it was pretty clear that we couldn't breathe on them without having a foul called.

Overall they hung tough and gave an SEC team all they could handle. It was just a poor personnel matchup IMO. On to Indiana St..

[pridehoops2015]

anyone who thinks koon is bad or awful might want to reevaluate their opinion of basketball. i bet if you asked coach about koon you would get an entirely different answer.

[garyg]

Time to move on and come back 4-1... Indiana St. must be our priority now!!

[stuball888]

My Take is the same as Dookies. We are not Duke or North Carolina. This team has warts and we should come to expect this. There are days when will just have to outscore others teams to win. We do not have 6ft11 centers that are skilled. We dont have 6ft9 power forwards that built like NFL middle linebackers. This team may have to gut out wins this year in ugly fashion. We just have to limit our mistakes and not beat ourselves. The team played hard against South carolina and we lost to a better team. The effort was there and thats all you can ask for.Who knows if we are ever matched up with them again I can see us making it closer or even winning if everything goes right for us.

[EvanJ]

http://espn.go.com/ncb/recap?gameId=400853318 is the Associated Press recap, which doesn't mention that we broke our school record for three-pointers made in a game.
http://gohofstra.com/news/2015/11/22/MB ... ath=mbball is Hofstra's recap.

[ProudofPride]

Morning after thoughts: First and foremost, I'm really not upset with this loss. Based on the rebounding numbers and South Carolina's shooting percentage due to our lack of defense, especially in the 2nd half, we should have been completely blown out. They also shot pretty well from 3, they just took way less than we did. Second, I really do like Koon. He does a little bit of everything, which is great. It's ok for him to be a little rusty, he's missed so much playing time with injuries. Third, like others said, I'm very impressed with our two freshmen. They're understandably making some rookie mistakes, but they're also doing other things well. They're not afraid to go out there and play their hardest, which is really all we can ask for at this point. Fourth, as I said before and other people noted, depth will be a little bit less of an issue with Djambo back. This well help considerably for the conference schedule.

I am more worried for the game today, since it's such a short turnaround from last night. We're going to be worn out from playing such a fast paced game. Luckily, Indiana State has the same short turnaround, they just get an extra few hours of rest since their game was before ours yesterday. Fun fact, if I'm remembering correctly, the last Hofstra team to play Indiana State was the women's soccer team last year. We won in a 9-1 blowout. That score always stuck out to me because 9 goals is incredible.

[garyg]

Being that we were dominated inside Walker still only got 2 minutes of PT..?? Why will JAM not use him more??

[HUSID80]

Being that we were dominated inside Walker still only got 2 minutes of PT..?? Why will JAM not use him more??

He MUST know that Dijambo is returning...based upon his red shirt and playing decisions...Anyone see him on campus???? Should not be too hard to spot!

[garyg]

Hope your theory is right HUSID80...

[Polito]

Ok, so, this was one tough game, knew it would be - USC was a team I thought (and still do) can win the whole tourney - they basically have FSU talent but with experience - I didn't think HU would win this one, so no harm here really, I believe USC is a very legit team, and HU hung tough - they actually HAVE the ability to beat them, and on a better night could have, so I'm quite pleased with that - believe HU has earned some cred this weekend, these guys are starting to play the way I was screaming for after Canisius, and you can see the difference when they do

figured rebounding would be key, and it was - they just had too much talented size for Gustys to contend with alone - the kid needs some help inside against a team like that - a bit disappointed in Nichols and Koon, but the reality is they were just overmatched - some teams I believe HU should dominate, and sometimes you have to simply tip your hat to the better guys

I wanted them to just keep feeding Green Bernardi all night, and really wanted JWF to take more shots - I know it's a confidence thing and will improve, but I hope he has the green light, I'm telling you that kid can score from ANYWHERE - love the freshmen play, they are going to be tremendous together

Bernardi, wow, young man is playing like a seasoned pro - he looks like a Sr out there, really proud of him, he has clearly worked his TAIL off during the offseason - HU should be feeding him the rock as much as humanly possible - he is doing exactly what he was brought here to do, and doing it MUCH better than last yr - teams MUST focus on him and he is opening up the entire court

team as a whole shot great, just needed defensive presence down low - they REALLY need another big - obvious how we all feel about Walker, and clear the staff doesn't agree, so my hope and guess is Djambo comes back and gets right into the lineup as Gustys help - he needs it if HU wants to do big things in the CAA and NCAA tourneys - this team is truly 1 quality big away from being special - very excited to get him on the floor

NOW, tonight's game IMO is HUGE, and here's why: this will tell us how they respond to A) disappointment that they won't win the event like I know they wanted to, and B) their ability to come right back after an intense game and still play big - this will be VERY telling as to the makeup of this teams character and their ability to win in March

Coming back 2-1 is a major success IMO, and they should fight tooth and nail to put down the Sycamores hard and fast - I want to see them FIRED UP tonight, holding their heads up high, confident, strong, and focused to to grab this W and finish a very respectable 3rd behind 2 power programs - Go get it Bernardi! Lead the way Green! Bounce back Gustys Koon and Nichols! let's rock tonight and make a statement that HU is 100% ready for the grind this yr

GO HU!

(and go FSU and USC! want those teams ranked asap for HU's sos!)

[Jojogunne]

Not a bad loss, although the turning point was Tanksley's flagrant foul. Up until that point I thought we had a chance to win. I was waiting for SC to hit a cold patch for five or six minutes, but they never did. Their shots kept going in all night long. They will be a tough match-up for Tulsa.

Kudos to Gustys for hitting two (!) FTs to give us the lead in the second half.

[HofstraFan101]

Koon played well for the most part last night and has gotten better each game. He was awful against Canisius and wasn't very good against FSU either. The fact that he continues to get better hopefully means it's just rust. And yes he does have good stats but if you actually watch the games and not focus on stats, koon clearly makes a lot of poor decisions with the ball and makes bad passes. Not necessarily turning it over but causing loose balls. I do appreciate that he works hard and knows where to be but he's got a lot of polishing off his game to do.

[garyg]

The impressive thing about the SC game is I do not think we played great but we remained within striking distance of a good SC team for much of the game...