MBB Game 9 - Siena

[ProudofPride]

The postgame press conference is brutal...

[Jojogunne]

What can you say, other than tough loss. Every team has games like this. Let's use the loss as fuel for our next win.

Have to give Coach credit for handling the questions so professionally after a loss. Some coaches can 't wait for the press conference to end. He gives very straightforward answers.

[Polito]

obviously a crap loss, team clearly just didn't have 'it' tonight - sucks, but when you play no defense and your shots aren't falling you're going to lose - Siena is a decent team, but they are nowhere near double-digits better - this was an example of what happens when HU doesn't have it's high powered O going for it - THIS is why you need to develop a REAL defense - there will be games when you don't actually light it up from 3 - you need to have an alternate game plan, another option to gut out a tough W, and a D to step up when the scoring is off

I'm actually not going too nuts about this as I do think this was a very fluke game - yes, this teams defense is pitiful and I fully agree is unacceptable - but there will be games when you sh!t the bed esp from an offensive standpoint - def didn't expect these guys to go undefeated, it's frustrating, but it happens

again, this team needs depth and defense, and as I've said from the start, they can and will win a lot of 1-1 games, but winning 3 in 3 when there's a high chance you'll have a tough showing in there like tonight, is a recipe for disaster - just develop ONE of those and this team can win it all - give me a D or depth, at this point I don't care which friggin one, JUST GIVE ME ONE - team will simply not be dancing without it - tonight showed why

this team now needs to go out there and LAY IT ON SBU - I mean an all out 'shock and awe' - this crappy loss will sit with them for the next 10 days, it's a nasty taste for a long time... when you lay an egg, you gotta deal with it - bounce back with a big quality road W against your rival and this will be an anomaly - but they DO need to WIN this next game in order for that to be the case.

Regroup, get better, move forward. There is certainly still work to be done if this team wants to be cutting nets. Still with ya fellas, make this a fluke and go run SBU out of their own gym.

[daHUPride]

Going into the season I thought this game was going to be a tough "W" for HU, for what I hoped was going to be a new and improved HU.
Over the past 10 days I didn't think we'd win - but it would have been close game for HU.
To lose by 13 - I didn't see that coming - but I am starting to think it should be expected for what I have seen from this team.

It is simple, this team is going to live and die by the sword - the coaches aren't going to change - it's going to be our "Core 4" (who get 75% of the available minutes/75% of the points and less then 50% of our fouls) - the "Core 4" has to play with such caution on D because of the lack of bench depth and/or our lack of confidence of who is on the bench. I am not saying that there is always a direct relationship between the number of fouls and being a good defender; but a good defender in order to play his game can't be limited or afraid of committing a foul and I am saying that our opponents must have a pretty good idea that if they go head on and attack our "D" we can't and are unwilling to play aggressively and have our "core 4" get their playing time limited by fouls.

So I anticipate that most teams are going to score points against us - and they will probably score more points then they average before playing us - and we are just hoping that we have a hot night - hot night on "O" for us and we probably win/off night on "O" we probably lose.

So I am not shocked by our loss - I was hoping for a better game - I still think we can win CAA - but we are walking a fine line, without a lot of wiggle room for mistakes and a high amount of expectations for our "O" in order for us to get 20 W's.

[stuball888]

You hit the nail on the head. It seems like they play little or no D in the first half just to keep out of foul trouble. You can get away with that with guards but not with forwards down in the block where you must defend. Perfect example was last night Gustys 5 fouls in 17 minutes and Nicoles 5 fouls in 20 minutes. Little production offensively from those players because they had to be saddled to the bench with foul trouble. Now if this continues how many minutes will these two play before fouling out against SBU and Warney. Its obvious by now that Walker will not see any significant playing time. I expect him to be gone next year. Also dont be surprised if he winds up at SBU. Warney will graduate this year and needs to be replaced.

[ProudofPride]

Often time, I don't mind a loss if it means the team learned something and ultimately got better from it (like with the women's game last night), but I just don't think that's the case with this team. What's disturbing to me is that they lost the game the same way they lost other games this season and a lot last season - getting into an early hole and having no way to climb out of it. The coaching and players need to realize sooner rather than later that there has to be a better defensive plan for when shots aren't falling. It's a lot harder to win a game when you let the other team score almost at will and shoot over 50% from the field. Yet another game where we get out-rebounded, because no one bothered to change anything. And also another game with our bigs in foul trouble because they don't properly defend. Free throw shooting was also pitiful, but that was just an off night because there have been other games with fantastic FT shooting. The only positive thing I can take from this loss is that Hofstra only had 8 turnovers. That's 2 games in a row with a low TO number, so maybe the team is working on that.

As a side note, the Siena fans and media on twitter are acting like Siena just beat Kentucky... A lot are calling the signature win of Jimmy Patsos' coaching career there.

[HUSID80]

Good thing we have a ten day break to sort things out. I for one think this has been a very tough early season schedule with many road games....think it's wearing on our short roster.
Very telling game story in the Albany area papers. One of Siena's players said about Hofstra, "We know their bigs would need to play soft to not foul as they have a lack of depth upfront."

[stuball888]

Which is what we have been saying all season. So when will we field a team that is not short on depth upfront.

[hualum]

[quote="ProudofPride"]This team is flat out embarrassing. No other way to put it.

Ok...come on... yes, it sucked. But was 1 game. Don't you think "FLAT OUT EMBARRASSING" is a little bold? Inconsistent maybe, but were they embarrassing when they beat LaSalle and FSU?

[ProudofPride]

This team is flat out embarrassing. No other way to put it.

Ok...come on... yes, it sucked. But was 1 game. Don't you think "FLAT OUT EMBARRASSING" is a little bold? Inconsistent maybe, but were they embarrassing when they beat LaSalle and FSU?

Obviously that was a bit of an exaggeration, and I meant for that statement to only be applied to that 1 game. What was embarrassing was that the team made little to no adjustments, and continued to have the same problems that they've had in other games. And this was a supposed weaker opponent that they should have beat.

[Cards]

Could not agree more with what is being said regarding the relationship between poor defense and fouls. I can only think that due to team depth, coach has instructed the "core 4" to give up the inside shot or drive rather than chance picking up a foul. We've all been saying so far this year that it's tough to watch the other team waltzing in for uncontested layups and in the paint shots. Its clear to see that the much of the "poor defense" is closely tied to depth. There were lots of problems with last night's game, but I think this issue has been pervasive so far this year.

Hopefully, if Djambo comes back this year, the inside defense issue (depth) will be somewhat alleviated. Of course, him coming back is a big "if" at this point!!

I agree, AW basketball career at HU is over. If he stays on the team its simply because he likes the school and basketball is not that important to him.

[Wags]

Well, the string of simply outscoring teams to win came to an end.

Won 89-83, 84-80 and 86-80 before this.

Allowed right around the same (81) last night and lost by 13 when the shots finally didn't fall anymore (just 33.3% FG).

At some point, you have to care about BOTH ends of the floor and lock in defensively, but although all of the right things are often said in that regard by Coach, it's not always backed up by his team. You can't expect to give up 80 every game and keep winning. Say what you will about Pecora and his offensive sets, but his teams always played defense and rebounded and help the opposition down to stay in the game. The mindset with this staff seems to be: eh, if the other team scores, they score; we'll just score more. Very tough to win that way and go anywhere meaningful over the long haul, especially in conference play and especially in Baltimore.

[HUSID80]

I sat right behind the bench at the Garden vs. App State and believe me Joe was FURIOUS with the defensive effort. He is not conceding anything in game...Tough to coach defensive effort in my opinion...and what does he do? Looks down the bench and the only reasonable defensive substitution is Nichols.

Even if we had Robinson we would have more options. I hope red shirting him does not turn out to be a mistake now that we may not get Djambo back.

[Wags]

I sat right behind the bench at the Garden vs. App State and believe me Joe was FURIOUS with the defensive effort.

Effort.

That's the word right there. Stop right there. When that's not up to par, that's a big part of the staff's job to bring that out in their players.

[hofstrahall]

This team is flat out embarrassing. No other way to put it.

Ok...come on... yes, it sucked. But was 1 game. Don't you think "FLAT OUT EMBARRASSING" is a little bold? Inconsistent maybe, but were they embarrassing when they beat LaSalle and FSU?

Actually, this is one (1) game but the pattern can be set early on in the season. The defense is awful. The double digit loss is embarrassing. No, the wins against LaSalle and FSU were respectable but when you cannot beat Siena in the MAC in Albany.
That is just awful. How does Hofstra expect to compete in the CAA on the road? The program is not strong enough to get at an large bid to the tourney - a CAA championship outright is the only avenue. The majority of other CAA teams are better than Siena.

The team is just inconsistent at this point. Everyone who was predicting Hofstra to be at the top this year needs to realistically reassess that view. The team has a good amount of time to regroup before Stony Brook. Hofstra should win there but if Hofstra loses - the postgame press conference after SB will make Siena's look like a walk through the park on a sunny day.

Just remain calm and regroup.

[Jojogunne]

Even if we had Robinson we would have more options. I hope red shirting him does not turn out to be a mistake now that we may not get Djambo back.

What do you know about Djambo?

[HUSID80]

Even if we had Robinson we would have more options. I hope red shirting him does not turn out to be a mistake now that we may not get Djambo back.

What do you know about Djambo?

Just know that there is no news which does not sound good.

[garyg]

Either this team is not fulfilling their potential or perhaps they are overrated ??

[Dooku25]

A characteristic of a great team is to have the ability to win games in a variety of ways. We aren't there yet. If we don't score in the 80's, we wont be winning many games. It's as simple as that for this team.

The Djambo development is typical for Hofstra. To compound that, they are unnecessarily redshirting Robinson. We expected a 9 man rotation this season (which is needed to win 3 games in 3 days) but we are getting a 7 man rotation YET AGAIN. Not only does that hamper our chances in Baltimore, but on an individual game basis it causes a huge problem if 1 or 2 guys get into foul trouble or if someone suffers an injury. They'll basically be playing with 5 guys. Or have to use guys like Walker who clearly is not part of the plan.

Siena was the fresher team last night. We need these 10 days off to regroup and recharge the batteries. If they come out flat against SBU, there will be reason for concern. I do not expect that to happen though.

[bobe13]

Rest is not the answer. I predict a loss on Sat. as well. Very undermanned and inconsistent team.