Game 2 - @Duquesne, 11/13/21. 7 PM EST

[Jojogunne]

Hofstra preview:

https://gohofstra.com/news/2021/11/11/m ... uesne.aspx

Tentative starters: Dubar, Burgess, Cooks, Estrada, Iyiola.

[Polito]

UGH. No Simmons (not a good sign, what is the injury??) and still no Ray?? C'mon what the heck is going on here with Ray...

This is a PRIME opp for an A10 win - Dukes replacing 10 of 12, lots of transfers, replacing a load of points rebounds and D. Similar to HU in the number of new faces, but even moreso - they beat Rider by 12 in first game, opening up a nice new arena to fans this year.

HU needs to grab a W here, this is not going to be a very good team yet this year. Dambrot's a good coach, been great for them compared to their history. But it's very early, and they are very susceptible, Ray / Simmons or not, let's get this win fellas! Can pull it out by playing with the intensity and D focus of game 1, and hopefully less scoring droughts - good matchup for HU in terms of size though, I see a great chance here for a nice bounce-back W on the road in the A10.

And Burgess needs to ball out. Houston STILL STINGS!

ROLL PRIDE!

[HUSID74]

UGH. No Simmons (not a good sign, what is the injury??) and still no Ray?? C'mon what the heck is going on here with Ray...

This is a PRIME opp for an A10 win - Dukes replacing 10 of 12, lots of transfers, replacing a load of points rebounds and D. Similar to HU in the number of new faces, but even moreso - they beat Rider by 12 in first game, opening up a nice new arena to fans this year.

HU needs to grab a W here, this is not going to be a very good team yet this year. Dambrot's a good coach, been great for them compared to their history. But it's very early, and they are very susceptible, Ray / Simmons or not, let's get this win fellas! Can pull it out by playing with the intensity and D focus of game 1, and hopefully less scoring droughts - good matchup for HU in terms of size though, I see a great chance here for a nice bounce-back W on the road in the A10.

And Burgess needs to ball out. Houston STILL STINGS!

ROLL PRIDE!

Agreed this is a winnable game b ut it will be tough on the road...Simmons did not start against Houston so that doesn't mean much...worried about Ray...anybody have any info? Once again, Hofstra is like the Polit Bureau when it comes to issuing ANY information. Interesting how all the media covereage of the Houston game mentioned that one of their guards was out but NO ONE mentioned that our best player Ray, was out.

[HUSID74]

According to Sagarin, we are 4 point underdogs primarily due to their home court advantage which is pegged at 3.22 points

[stuball888]

So on neutral court we would still be underdogs

[HUSID74]

So on neutral court we would still be underdogs

It would be too close to call as its less than one point. At home we would be the favs.

[Jojogunne]

The view from Pittsburgh:

https://goduquesne.com/news/2021/11/11/ ... fstra.aspx

[RollPride15]

Houston just demolished a supposedly decent Rice team by 33 points.

Reading between the lines of the Chronicle preview I linked below, sounds like Ray has a pretty significant ankle injury -- maybe a high ankle sprain?

https://www.thehofstrachronicle.com/cat ... nning-ways

[Polito]

Was just going to post that RP15 - annihilated them - Rice is a mid pack C-USA team, and will be heading to the AAC next, so interesting to see. I'd say Houston was pissed they were tested so much, and took revenge out on Rice.

Good sign for HU overall - but man, they are going to be really kicking themselves for choking this upset away - Houston is going to be very good, and this was a major and very rare missed opp - HU should be the talk of the mid major world. Now still an also ran. This is the kind of thing that needs to change under Speedy.

But very positive first game for him and this team, no doubt. HU needs to find ways to score besides chucking 3's - I can't stand that. I love that it's the equalizer, but you gotta have guards that can drive to the basket and finish, or at least pull up for some mid range game, or have some post offense. Need to see some development there...

NOW the big question is, was it a fluke or can they come out against Duquesne and show they are the quality level we saw game 1? In some ways, this game is now even bigger than the first because of how strong they came out of the gate - this is a lower level A10 squad with even more to replace than HU - good long-standing coaching staff, so still have strong leadership to help guide them - this is not nearly the excitement and energy level of Houston, so HU will need to show that it can be equally motivated and focused when it's not the home opener against a top 15 former FF team.

Speedy showed he knows how to get his team ready from game 1 - that was a big plus mark for me - now does this team have the right mindset early on of truly building on that great first showing and coming out with a consistent killer instinct, or was that just opening night mojo in a big spot??

This is a GREAT opp to grab a bounceback road win against the A10.


I am VERY concerned about Ray - this doesn't feel good, and feels like they are hiding something much worse. Hope I'm wrong. But if Ray has some kind of big impact thing to deal with all year, that is going to great negate this teams success. Not how we want this year to start - killing the whole reason he came back. Big prayers up to him for a fast and full recovery - HU looks good thanks to the transfers, but with Ray they can be champions. That said, if simply needs time to heal, then it makes perfect sense not to rush back for OOC - having him to win the conf is the priority, and this actually gives the other guys opps to develop, settle, and gel.

I will also say, Cooks just might be better. It's a toss up thus far, what an amazing opp to have for a mid major! He's at least an equally big time player who doesn't shy away from the spot light of the pressure moments - he delivers more often than not and has his entire career and against P5 teams when the opps where there. Is he enough to overcome Ray's absence? Almost last game, but again, let's see how he and the squad come out game 2.

I'm excited to see how they attack this game, let's knock out the Duke for win 1 - ROLL PRIDE

[Wags]

Everybody breathe. Without Ray and Simmons, it's 17-5 Hofstra. Cooks already has 11 pts.

It's November 13. They'll be fine. Ray will be fine, may just take a little while to heal up.

[RollPride15]

Dubar can play, but is Cramer in the doghouse or are they limiting his minutes because he's banged up? He definitely deserving of more time.

[cactus]

Can we get cooks another year of eligibility? This kid is a hell of a player.

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[jaspegs]

Cooks is scary good. Him and Ray are going to be lethal. We’ve had some great guard combos over the years… should be another one!

[RollPride15]

I guarantee there are P5 coaches kicking themselves that they didn't take a closer look at this kid. He's the real deal.

[daHUPride]

UGH. No Simmons (not a good sign, what is the injury??) and still no Ray?? C'mon what the heck is going on here with Ray...

This is a PRIME opp for an A10 win - Dukes replacing 10 of 12, lots of transfers, replacing a load of points rebounds and D. Similar to HU in the number of new faces, but even moreso - they beat Rider by 12 in first game, opening up a nice new arena to fans this year.

HU needs to grab a W here, this is not going to be a very good team yet this year. Dambrot's a good coach, been great for them compared to their history. But it's very early, and they are very susceptible, Ray / Simmons or not, let's get this win fellas! Can pull it out by playing with the intensity and D focus of game 1, and hopefully less scoring droughts - good matchup for HU in terms of size though, I see a great chance here for a nice bounce-back W on the road in the A10.

And Burgess needs to ball out. Houston STILL STINGS!

ROLL PRIDE!

The Duquesne announcers mentioned Simmons has a banged up knee (MCL) going to be out for weeks….these announcers are GOOD seem to be rather knowledgeable about this opponent- Hofstra - it’s kind of refreshing to get that kind of respect.

[EvanJ]

The view from Pittsburgh:

https://goduquesne.com/news/2021/11/11/ ... fstra.aspx

That pointed out something I didn't know, which is that our 43 threes attempted at Houston is our record. Our old record was 39 (with 17 made to shoot .436) in a 93-89 loss at James Madison on February 13, 2021.

Jaquan Carlos played 4 minutes in teh first half with no shots on 2 rebounds. That makes nine players we used this season. We lead 41-23 and the second half is about to start. Assuming we hold in, from last night to tonight will have a great set of sports games for me with four wins including three by small underdogs.

[cactus]

Here's some adversity, let's see if they respond better than late in the Houston game

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[EvanJ]

We committed a lot of turnovers early in the second half. Duquesne scored the first 11 to go down 41-34 and went down 47-44 with 12:08 left. Hofstra went up 58-48 with 7:59 left.

[RollPride15]

The lack of frontcourt depth rearing its ugly head again, as Iyiola and Cramer each have 4 fouls with 8 minutes left. Duquesne knows they can attack inside.

[cactus]

After Burgess was skewered on here for the Houston game, have to give him a lot of credit for his play down the stretch on both sides of the ball. Key to them finally putting the game away.

Congrats to speedy for his first win!