MBB Game 1 - San Jose State, 11/6/19, 7 PM

[Polito]

Lol hey I hear ya Hofstra... just trying to keep game 1 in perspective for my own sanity

Pemba had a strong all around game, have to give him that. Kid played well. Coburn was aggressive, which I LOVE because he excels when he is, Ray is legit 3 threat again, and Buie was not guardable at times.

As my preseason predictions state, I see this yr going just like all the rest. HU is going to win some games based on pure talent - but the game coaching and roster development / management is the Achilles heel until they prove otherwise.

But I did also say they may have enough talent this yr or next to pull off the shock, esp because this conf really isn’t much to write home about due to yearly mass talent exodus. But this conf does have solid coaching, so this staff needs to step it up, as many have been saying for yrs.

A lot not to like with this game. Just 1, so let’s see how they handle it and come out for game 2. Plenty of time to right the ship, and I do still think HU has enough talent to do so. And I do think we give Kante a few to get himself in order in live D1 games again.

But I’m looking directly at this staff to get things corrected. COACH YOUR PLAYERS THE GAME OF BASKETBALL PLS. Especially your experienced guard core who should be fully aware of how to run an actual offense, which is supposed to be your strength. Keep the green light, but MOVE THE FRIGGIN BALL. Watching them panic after yrs in your system is quite ridiculous. Fix it.

Thank you.

[stuball888]

could not make it to the game. Actually had people who worked for the school ask me if I had extra tickets. Did not, they they did not attend. Attendence was 4,223. For those that were there is that figure correct. 4,223 is almost 900 short of a sellout.

[Hofstra]

could not make it to the game. Actually had people who worked for the school ask me if I had extra tickets. Did not, they they did not attend. Attendence was 4,223. For those that were there is that figure correct. 4,223 is almost 900 short of a sellout.

Maybe they counted everyone 2-3 times.. 4,223 LOLOL

[Flying Dutchmen]

Tough L.

Nothing particularly surprising about how we played. It's the same issues every game, our zone sucks, we have no size, don't utilize the bench, etc.

At the end of the game we looked like we were waiting for Wright-Foreman to rescue us. That is unsurprising to me, there has been a hangover effect every year we've had a dominant guard graduate. Even after Speedy in '01, but that team bounced back within 10 games. I don't know about this team, I'm not sure our guards shoot well enough to really absorb the loss of JWF, but it's too early to tell yet.

Some thoughts:

Kante will never replace Taylor, he's a different player. I like his game, but he's undersized. If he's our only answer inside, we're going to have serious problems.

Nice to see all the new guards get some action, none of them got enough burn to leave a distinguishing impact, they look like solid athletes though.

Happy to see Schutte get some action, tough to gauge what his impact will be, in CAA play, San Jose St was not a talented team.

Listen, we always stink in openers. Even last year, when we won big, MSM opened with a 16-1 run. I think that's more about the guys trying to find their roles on the court. I felt like Coburn and Pemba were fading in and out of the offense, kind of how they played with JWF last year. We really need Pemberton to be the go-to guy, he's probably our most versatile scorer.

I'm not sure why Joe is choking the bench game 1. Why does it always have to be like this. 20 bench minutes game 1, Jesus. Our starters aren't going to have legs for CAA play.

To echo what Polito said, what the hell was up with this sellout business? It wasn't even close!

This whole offseason was an illusion, preseason #1, sellout for the opener. Instead we're exactly where you think we would be if our top two players graduated, and the building is no more filled than it was last year. It's honestly just strange.

[Wags]

Still wondering about this sellout nonsense? What was that all about? The place was empty. The loss stinks, but not for nothing, this team without JWF wont be much. I am just super curious about why they considered this a sellout.

I know an alum (and generous donor who's funding a scholarship for some lucky HU students) who called the box office for tickets this week and was told there were none -- the game's a sellout. That should never happen.

Yeah, that is not good, especially for a generous donor like that. And also when two sections up top were closed down and not used at all.

They should reach out to that donor and make it right with a couple of other games at least.

[Wags]

Reading the boards before the season I was legitimately excited about the depth this season. Either that was way over hyped or JM is just a coach that refuses to use his bench no matter what. Burgess was praised on this board as the 2nd coming and he played 4 minutes in an opening night loss to a **** team.

5 kids played 33 to 40 minutes tonight. Hofstra got outscored 28-10 to close out the game. Either there is a serious lack of depth or coach severely misuswd the bench and cost the team the game

You must be fairly new to the boards. I've been fighting the overhyped battle here for years. It's the same thing every year with that on this board, and we never seem to learn the lesson. I'm always of the show me, or I'll believe it when I actually see it approach, but if you look at the Recruits threads here, you'd wonder why we don't reach the Final Four every year.

The bench gave NOTHING tonight. Everything they got, they got from the five starters. There IS no bench right now. There is no depth right now. All of the reserves that were hyped up need to do exactly what I always say with them - PROVE IT. ON THE FLOOR. Until then, as usual, I'm not buying it simply because I read it in some threads here.

I do agree with Joe though, that this may be the best thing to happen to this team IF it is legitimately going to battle for CAA titles (RS & tourney). As in... "Oh, you think you're just going to waltz into last-place Elon and beat them because you're at or near the top of the league? Guess again. Remember the San Jose State game." We'll see. Saturday will be very interesting now, to see how they come out, from a focus and intensity standpoint after tonight.

Biggest weaknesses I saw though were the lack of size on D. SJSU's bigs were eating them up, to the tune of a 14-8 edge on the offensive glass and a 17-10 advantage in second-chance points. And offensively, they attacked well at times, and looked for each other and moved the ball around, but they were stagnant. Very little movement without the ball, so SJSU didn't have to work much defensively, especially when Hofstra, though attacking at times, didn't attack enough at other times (only 7 FTA!) I remember many second halves over the years, with different HU teams when HU would attack all second half long and get 20+ FTA in the second half after getting few FTA in the first half. Tonight, TWO FTAs in the second half. AT HOME. That's inexcusable.

[triplec2195]

I’m glad I wasn’t home to witness this debacle and gave my ticket away. So I mentioned the height disparity when I saw the tentative starting line up. I haven’t analyzed at all the stats in this game but clearly we got out rebounded big time. Some people here made light of their height disparity.So I guess with the game being tight Joe showed little confidence in his bench and went with what he considers his best players and his best chance to win. Very disappointing and I wonder how we were 20 point favorites. A total joke!!

[Polito]

Very slight disclaimer, I know they sucked last yr, but I don’t think SJSU is going to be as terrible this yr - but yes this game for HU blew.

Height is def a factor, but HU could’ve overcome with proper O (not even bothering with D anymore, waste of my energy). Spartans didn’t even hit 80, JMs O should be in the 80’s every single game with these guards. And frankly Kante understands true bigs in the SEC - he just didn’t live up to his billing in game 1 - but I’m giving him a few to get going...

Wags, I’m not so sure it’s the players that need a wake up call...this L falls squarely on the backs of the staff. It’s DEF not on the bench players lol - there is no bench production because JM has NEVER developed a bench, and this yr will be no different - he plays 5 + 1, every yr. I’m still very hopeful Silverio becomes the 6th man firepower.

Have said here many times not to expect much Schutte and def not Hughes. Miranda can be a light role player, which is fine. But developing players isn’t really this staffs strength, and they never play anyone long enough to change that. They depend on the raw talent they recruit to flourish on their own in their own time. Not knocking it, just saying it is what it is.

Again, don’t care if you roll out 5 giants, if a team hasn’t been coached properly to move the ball, play an ounce of D, or rebound, well you’re gonna lose more than you win. JWF hid a LOT of deficiencies with this program. Not so now. They are glaring. IMO there is talent there, going to see how this plays out the first few games. Can easily put this behind them with a rebound W.

But it’s a big day for this staff on Sat - best see a lot better play.

[EvanJ]

Even after Speedy in '01, but that team bounced back within 10 games.
To echo what Polito said, what the hell was up with this sellout business? It wasn't even close!

This whole offseason was an illusion, preseason #1, sellout for the opener. Instead we're exactly where you think we would be if our top two players graduated, and the building is no more filled than it was last year. It's honestly just strange.

Speedy graduated after our first of consecutive titles. https://americaeast_ftp.sidearmsports.com/custompages/mensbasketball/stats/0001/hofstra.htm#team.ind has the statistics from the 2000-2001 team that went 26-5 (26-4 before the NCAA Tournament) after he graduated.

As for "our top two players graduated," the CAA media didn't think Taylor was our second best player last season, but he was great. He was an extremely great shooter. Devontae Cacok had over double Taylor's field goal attempts and more than double on a per game rate. If you increase Taylor's 178 field goal attempts to Cacok's 345 while leaving Taylor's field goal percentage and free throw attempts alone, Taylor would have went up from 8.5 to 14.97 points per game, and he would have been 15th in the CAA just behind Pemberton's exactly 15.

could not make it to the game. Actually had people who worked for the school ask me if I had extra tickets. Did not, they they did not attend. Attendence was 4,223. For those that were there is that figure correct. 4,223 is almost 900 short of a sellout.

Do they still have the kids' activities? Last season that reduced the capacity from 5,000-something to 4,600-something. Either way, 4,223 isn't close to a sellout.

https://tkt.xosn.com/tickets/BuyTickets ... eservation is for Saturday's game, and there's an equivalent page for other games. You can click on a section to view a map of what is available. If you want, you can bring a map of your section to the game or view it on your phone while there and manually count how many empty seats were sold according to Hofstra.

[Wags]

Wags, I’m not so sure it’s the players that need a wake up call...this L falls squarely on the backs of the staff. It’s DEF not on the bench players lol

Yup, you definitely can't put it on players you barely play, and the HU bench hardly saw the floor last night. But that was also the case last night and at other times under Joe because when they've been in there, they haven't given much. It's hard to develop what you don't have (which goes to my other comment above about this board drastically overrating almost every recruit), but the staff could do better there than it has over the years, in trying to cultivate anything out of the bench, because other CAA teams seem to do it each year. Conversely, the guy that won the game came off SJSU's bench. Washington's 23 canceled out Eli's 23 and he singlehandedly outscored HU (14-10) as part of a 26-10 run over the final 6:39, including his three straight 3s after Eli's 3 gave HU the lead for the final time at 69-67. Behind Washington, it was 35-2, SJSU off the bench. There's your ballgame.

But I'll disagree on the players not needing a wake-up call after this one because when you're an 18 1/2-point favorite, you struggle, and you finally take control (up 8 with 7 to play), and you've only allowed 53 to that point, and then you suddenly give up TWENTY-SIX POINTS over the final 6:39 on your home floor, in your season opener, it's everyone that needs a wakeup call - players and staff alike. That's thinking the game was already won before it was. That's inattention to detail (such as the two key box outs during the early part of that 26-10 run that Joe pointed out).

[HofstraPride1]

could not make it to the game. Actually had people who worked for the school ask me if I had extra tickets. Did not, they they did not attend. Attendence was 4,223. For those that were there is that figure correct. 4,223 is almost 900 short of a sellout.

They cut out upper seats in west end of arena for Pride Family Fun Zone and Pride Patio so that explains the lesser capacity.

[HU76]

Unless Kante morphs into Adrian Uter this team is going to struggle.

[cactus]

Unless Kante morphs into Adrian Uter this team is going to struggle.

Based on the way they rebounded last night, they need him to be Davonte Cacok.

[Polito]

Wags, this data point is staggering - absolutely shameful - and you’re right, players and staff alike on that one - just disgusting - wake up fellas, and get those heads on straight and your heart and hustle in check

and then you suddenly give up TWENTY-SIX POINTS over the final 6:39 on your home floor, in your season opener, it's everyone that needs a wakeup call - players and staff alike.

This team better be practicing pissed, running their butts up and down that floor, and come out with a renewed sense of respect for this program they are representing on Saturday. Infuriating stat.

[Wags]

Unless Kante morphs into Adrian Uter this team is going to struggle.

Or the guy he's replacing. The missed Jacquil Taylor last night.

It's going to come down to how well they shoot with this new 3-point line. It's not much deeper than before, but it's still an adjustment (speaking of which, I wonder if they'll redo the floor again, since the area inside the old arc is darker than the rest of the floor). If they shoot the 3 like they did last night, they'll have trouble masking the weaknesses down low against bigger CAA teams and other weaknesses elsewhere. If they don't, they're going to be battling just to stay in every game they play (like last night). But there are things they can do to help that. Buie and Eli (and even Tareq) have to do more driving, collapsing the D and kicking out for more open looks for others. And (aside from Kante) they all have to move much more without the ball. Way too stagnant last night. They passed and looked for each other last night, but it was just harmlessly swinging the ball around, passing up one well-guarded chance for another one instead of guys moving, cutting, slashing without the ball. Only saw that happen really nicely one time, when Eli slashed very well into the lane to receive a pass from the right elbow from Kante for a second-half layup. But where was that type of thing for most of the game? And someone has to get to the line. They hardly did last night.

[Cards]

Wags, you're 100% correct on the need for more driving. When you shoot 42% from the field and 27% from 3, you had better be throwing up a boat load of pts from the free throw line. Last night, Buie had ZERO FTs, Coburn had ZERO FTs, and EP had only TWO FTs. You would think that after watching Green and JWF "own" the FT line late in games, these guys would get it...….I guess not!

Cactus - yes, when everyone started talking up Kante and his size/physique, I immediatey thought of Cacok. If Kante can get to be only 90% effective as Cacok, we will be in good shape. If, if, if,.

Calling last night a sellout was a disgrace. Got there just before tip-off and the side behind the benches was 80% empty. If I had walked up hoping to see the game and was turned away, I'd be pissed! I know they are working hard trying to pack the Mack, but last night's attendance display makes them lose all credibility. Well, at least I know that whenever I attend any "sellouts" I'll still be able to spread out across the vacant seats next to mine!

[RIP_HOFUSA]

So I will say that the world is not falling, SJS could be a good team we don't know. Sometimes these types of games are a wakeup call. I remember the time the Patriots started a season 2-2 and then won the SB after everyone though their reign was over.

I'm gonna keep beating a dead horse here though. Our bench was 7 minutes, 5 minutes, 4 minutes, and 4 minutes. 9 guys played. They had 11 guys play and their sixth highest minute player had 16 minutes. And Pemberton played 40 minutes. That's disgusting. If you don't play basketball, you think that's a viable strategy. It's not. Try playing two pick up games in a row. Even people are in shape will be exhausted after a few minutes. I can't imagine how difficult it is for him to be expected to perform for 40 minutes. If JM is basing on if the players think they could play, well obviously they are always going to want to be out there. They're going to always say they're good. We pay the coaches money to evaluate them impersonally and make that decision for them.

Also it's ridiculous to say our bench didn't prove they were worth it. It is completely unrealistic to expect brand new players and/or freshman to make a significant impact in 4-7 minutes and bench them the rest of the game if they don't. It's almost impossible to impact a game that quickly except almost by luck (like if you happened to hit a three in your first minute). Again, we are paying him money to evaluate the players in a more nuanced way. I don't see how this not obvious. 4 minutes is not enough time to realistically make an impact so I really don't think it's fair to judge anyone based off of that. It will drag us down if we don't develop the bench.

Obviously these players know what ball movement is. Obviously they know how to stand in from of a guy and play defense. The only difference in this game is that Pemberton played 40 minutes, and so on down the line. You can't follow someone around the court who has played half the minutes you did. Thus the open corner threes. You can't drive to the basket on wooden legs. Hence the many blocked shots down the stretch in the last 5 minutes. We need to be willing to not look at things from such an academic principle and remember there are limits to what the human body can do. I think that would solve most of the problems.

[Wags]

Also it's ridiculous to say our bench didn't prove they were worth it. It is completely unrealistic to expect brand new players and/or freshman to make a significant impact in 4-7 minutes and bench them the rest of the game if they don't. It's almost impossible to impact a game that quickly except almost by luck (like if you happened to hit a three in your first minute). Again, we are paying him money to evaluate the players in a more nuanced way. I don't see how this not obvious. 4 minutes is not enough time to realistically make an impact so I really don't think it's fair to judge anyone based off of that. It will drag us down if we don't develop the bench.

Obviously these players know what ball movement is. Obviously they know how to stand in from of a guy and play defense. The only difference in this game is that Pemberton played 40 minutes, and so on down the line. You can't follow someone around the court who has played half the minutes you did. Thus the open corner threes. You can't drive to the basket on wooden legs. Hence the many blocked shots down the stretch in the last 5 minutes. We need to be willing to not look at things from such an academic principle and remember there are limits to what the human body can do. I think that would solve most of the problems.

Absolutely, you can't judge this particular bench solely after one game on so few minutes. But I think the notion that the bench hadn't proved they deserve to be on the floor in past years and the same for this year's bench so far in the first game of this season is that they hadn't shown it in practice. I think Joe and his staff would like to rest Eli and others but as in past years, the current bench hasn't given the staff that confidence through what it has shown in practices. Joe made a point last night to say that no one would've picked Hofstra first in the CAA this year if they had seen their practices. If that goes for the whole team, including the starters, I'm sure that much more for a bench which warranted very few minutes last night.

[ZMAN3]

Many solid points made here already - Re the "sellout" - my experience is HU got some corporations or donors to buy up blocks of tickets and they couldn't give them away. Have watched many a Dodger home game on a Sunday afternoon and it's 90+ in the shade and the paid attendance is 40k+ and there are barely 20k in stands.
Re the line - there are many weaknesses in the early non conference schedule - the house has nothing to go by other than last years power rating with some adjustment. Obviously a huge mistake on their part. The number went down to 17'. We aren't going to beat SJS by 20 if we played them 20 times - they looked pretty good to me - they found holes in our zone (like everyone else) - and got an open look from the foul line, a dump down or a wide open corner three - Washington killed us at the end from the corner. I absolutely hate our 4 guard lineups but I'm convinced JM can't coach 2 or 3 bigs on the floor at one time.
Think the FIBA 3 pt line is going to hurt us big time as we are so reliant on it - percentages have to go down and we have next to zero inside game to compensate for lower 3 pt percentage. Would be nice to develop one.
Not overly impressed by Kante but as pointed out - his first game in over a year and he had to battle against multiple bigs all game.
SJS looked very well coached to me - moved it well and cracked the zone easily. Why would anyone think they were slow sight unseen. Didn't see us beating them down the court too often.
Re the rest aspect - don't see any reason why someone has to play all 40 minutes - especially when he was invisible for much of 2nd half - don't get me wrong - thought he played exceptionally well - wish he got more shots.
Let's not get too crazy yet - was very disappointed in overall play - but my Spartans looked awful Tues (I know they'll be better - but then again they have a HOF coach) - On the staff to make adjustments - I'm sure (I hope) there is more to this team than we saw!

[Wags]

Many solid points made here already - Re the "sellout" - my experience is HU got some corporations or donors to buy up blocks of tickets and they couldn't give them away. Have watched many a Dodger home game on a Sunday afternoon and it's 90+ in the shade and the paid attendance is 40k+ and there are barely 20k in stands.
Re the line - there are many weaknesses in the early non conference schedule - the house has nothing to go by other than last years power rating with some adjustment. Obviously a huge mistake on their part. The number went down to 17'. We aren't going to beat SJS by 20 if we played them 20 times - they looked pretty good to me - they found holes in our zone (like everyone else) - and got an open look from the foul line, a dump down or a wide open corner three - Washington killed us at the end from the corner. I absolutely hate our 4 guard lineups but I'm convinced JM can't coach 2 or 3 bigs on the floor at one time.
Think the FIBA 3 pt line is going to hurt us big time as we are so reliant on it - percentages have to go down and we have next to zero inside game to compensate for lower 3 pt percentage. Would be nice to develop one.
Not overly impressed by Kante but as pointed out - his first game in over a year and he had to battle against multiple bigs all game.
SJS looked very well coached to me - moved it well and cracked the zone easily. Why would anyone think they were slow sight unseen. Didn't see us beating them down the court too often.
Re the rest aspect - don't see any reason why someone has to play all 40 minutes - especially when he was invisible for much of 2nd half - don't get me wrong - thought he played exceptionally well - wish he got more shots.
Let's not get too crazy yet - was very disappointed in overall play - but my Spartans looked awful Tues (I know they'll be better - but then again they have a HOF coach) - On the staff to make adjustments - I'm sure (I hope) there is more to this team than we saw!

Funny, the Spartans who upset Hofstra looked better than your Spartans did against Kentucky. Who'd have guessed that?