Wanted: Coaches

[Cards]

If you are pleased with this staff that wins a few games here and there, has some guys that won't steal any laptops, that constantly underachieves and constantly gets outcoached, then I'm happy for you. I'm a different type of fan. I watch sports to see my teams accomplish special things, like winning championships. If that's not the goal at Hofstra, I will gladly spend my money and time elsewhere.

I am with you Dooku. Absent any changes between now and November, I will have to revisit my typical season ticket purchase. Never had a problem purchasing season tix knowing that even if I missed games it was generally a good thing for the program to have tix sold. Maybe now I will have to pick and choose a few games to attend rather than purchasing the package knowing that I will not attend some games. We shall see.

[Cards]

I'm not going to sugar coat things - Nothing personal against anyone on the staff, but keep Speedy and lose the rest. Without a change, we will be on this very same board 365 days from now complaining about the coaching staff.

If Speedy stayed, I don't think we would lose anyone to transfer. Obviously we need a strong defensive coach, and a coach who can work with the bigs (whoever they may be).

I assume Speedy is here as an assistant for that reason - to ultimately become the HC. Positive, if not now when? Negitive, just because you were the crown jewel of a program as a player doesn't guarantee you will be able to turn a program around (look at Mullin and Ewing).

Agree with you daHUPride - I don't know what Speedy would like to do in the future, and if he would even be a good head coach. I only want him around because I believe he does help the guards develop and is a good recruiting draw. If he brings more to the table, then great - if not, I'm still happy to have him as an assistant.

[joeg1]

Whats Joe's contract situation, anuway?

Sent from my SM-N950U using Tapatalk

[Polito]

So... day after.

This isn't a talent issue. This was one of the most talented, deep, and experienced teams HU has had in the modern era. They just simply failed, again. And there will be no excuses accepted for it at the end of 5 years.

I think it's very clear that JM has reached his peak at HU. He did the job tasked to him to resurrect a fledgling program. To speak life into it and reset things with a solid foundation to win. Job very well done.

Now the task has shifted to actually winning championships and going dancing, and I think it's painfully obvious change is needed to accomplish such. This staff has had it's fair time to show its ability to get it done, and it has shown exactly the opposite.

I do not think this is the best it gets for HU. I fully believe HU can be atop the CAA and an NCAAT team again under the right leadership. No doubt in my mind if Cohen or Keatts had this team, HU would be better coached and go dancing.

I also do not think comparing a change just to the Mo scenario is correct at all. He was thrust into that position by a total fluke. That was not the result of a coaching search. We have seen time and time again top up and coming assistants willing to come and be the HC at a CAA school. And often successfully. The VCU's and UNCW's of the CAA world are all the proof I need.

It can, and should, be done here as well. And the new AD should be tasked to lead the charge. IMO a new AD should probably take a year to learn, engage, and assess properly to determine the best course of action. So I expect things to take some time. But I do FULLY expect things to change. And I think we fans should begin to be very loud about what is expected from this program.

For the new AD, establishing a true mens hoops champion program should be treated as a Day 1 priority.

[Wags]

So... day after.

This isn't a talent issue. This was one of the most talented, deep, and experienced teams HU has had in the modern era. They just simply failed, again. And there will be no excuses accepted for it at the end of 5 years.

I think it's very clear that JM has reached his peak at HU. He did the job tasked to him to resurrect a fledgling program. To speak life into it and reset things with a solid foundation to win. Job very well done.

Now the task has shifted to actually winning championships and going dancing, and I think it's painfully obvious change is needed to accomplish such. This staff has had it's fair time to show its ability to get it done, and it has shown exactly the opposite.

I do not think this is the best it gets for HU. I fully believe HU can be atop the CAA and an NCAAT team again under the right leadership. No doubt in my mind if Cohen or Keatts had this team, HU would be better coached and go dancing.

I also do not think comparing a change just to the Mo scenario is correct at all. He was thrust into that position by a total fluke. That was not the result of a coaching search. We have seen time and time again top up and coming assistants willing to come and be the HC at a CAA school. And often successfully. The VCU's and UNCW's of the CAA world are all the proof I need.

It can, and should, be done here as well. And the new AD should be tasked to lead the charge. IMO a new AD should probably take a year to learn, engage, and assess properly to determine the best course of action. So I expect things to take some time. But I do FULLY expect things to change. And I think we fans should begin to be very loud about what is expected from this program.

For the new AD, establishing a true mens hoops champion program should be treated as a Day 1 priority.

I think it's a coaching issue only in terms of the mindset of offense-first at any cost, even if it means completely neglecting the other end of the floor too often. Joe's Niagara teams were like that and I've been saying it from the beginning (5 yrs ago), that mentality will only get you so far. We've obviously seen the repeated close-but-not-quite results of that mindset. I have no problem with playing high scoring games because you want to play a faster pace, so the possessions, shots and points all go up as a result. But you have to be more of a complete team. And you have to adapt. W&M fans aren't complaining about Shaver and his staff today because although they played HU's style to even more of an extreme than HU did this year, they knew defense would win yesterday. And it did. After allowing 99 to Towson in a 26-point home loss and 96 to Towson in an OT road loss this year, W&M actually defended for most of the game yesterday and gave up 66. That program also puts an emphasis on fundamentals. They lead the CAA in FT shooting while HU is 9th after a 14-for-24 effort in a 5-point, season-ending loss.

That said, I think it might be a talent issue just as much if not more. Not that my Dad is an authority here, but it's interesting to get an "outsider's" view from someone who knows hoops but doesn't eat, sleep and breathe HU ball like we do. We used to have season tix together for several years, so he knows the program, but he's in AZ a while now and doesn't follow them like when he was in NY. I sent him the link so he could watch from AZ and we were on the phone, watching online together. His observations, watching a Hofstra game for the first time this season:

"Hofstra doesn't look like a serious club. They don't play any defense."
"Their guards aren't big. They don't look like they can stop players. They look very frail."

I think there's something to that. When we speak about "talent," we usually emphasize offensive skills. Unless we see a shot blocker like Uter was, we don't really speak of defensive talent.

Said it all season long: the offense is fine, do not worry about the offense. Focus on the defense. This team will only go as far as its D takes it.

Despite some issues with the offense in the second half yesterday (espeacially late), and the missed FTs, 88 points was plenty. This game was what I feared all season and warned of all season, that they'd score something like 88 and still get knocked out early because they gave up more than that while being unable to get stops. Championship teams get stops. W&M, which defended worse than HU all season, got stops against Towson yesterday that they didn't get in their previous two games against Towson.

Championship teams get stops because they have DEFENSIVE talent. The talent HU has recruited recently has been fine offensively. But you need to recruit defensive talent, too. Need to recruit two-way players, or at least players who are still very talented offensively but who also at least play ENOUGH defense. The defensive schemes, the defensive effort, the defensive will, the emphasis on the importance of defense (coming from the staff down to the players) all could've been better. But maybe there's something to those "frail" and "size" comments my Dad made. Maybe their guards weren't physically built to make the stops they needed. Maybe while we look at the defensive coaching, the defensive talent was never there to begin with.

[Flying Dutchmen]

If you are pleased with this staff that wins a few games here and there, has some guys that won't steal any laptops, that constantly underachieves and constantly gets outcoached, then I'm happy for you. I'm a different type of fan. I watch sports to see my teams accomplish special things, like winning championships. If that's not the goal at Hofstra, I will gladly spend my money and time elsewhere.

I am with you Dooku. Absent any changes between now and November, I will have to revisit my typical season ticket purchase. Never had a problem purchasing season tix knowing that even if I missed games it was generally a good thing for the program to have tix sold. Maybe now I will have to pick and choose a few games to attend rather than purchasing the package knowing that I will not attend some games. We shall see.

So you had no problem keeping the season tickets after Mo led us to a 3-15 CAA record in his second year, but now you have to reconsider renewing after a 12-6 season with the conference POY? In a lot of ways I don't blame you, there's little advantage to being a STH, I just think this year on the whole was enjoyable, and there's no reason to see a fall-off next season.

I don't even know why I'm defending the staff, I'm as pissed as anybody about our poor defensive play, I just think 12-6 was a big improvement from last year, and I think we will be even more improved next year, so cutting bait now will set us back probably 3 seasons, because there's a strong likelihood that we lose multiple players to transfer if we get rid of the staff, especially if they alter the transfer rules to allow immediate transfers for players whose coaches leave the program.

I was talking to a fellow poster about the game last night, he made the point that we should bring in a real cutthroat to get us over the top. Truthfully, if I had any faith in the athletics department to bring in a better coach, I'd be 100% down for that, but I don't, especially with a new AD on the way who won't be taking the job until June, at the earliest. Like when are we going to get this new coach?

Dooku, if you're intimating I don't want this team to win as much as anyone else here, or I accept mediocrity, you're sorely mistaken. I put my money where my mouth is. I buy the Pride Club, I buy more season tickets than I need, I travel to watch the team. I want to see this program succeed very badly. I'm just being realistic, the men's hoops program is not in a place to be blown up because we lost the quarterfinal game this year. I'm not happy about the result, and there's an obvious pattern of poor defensive play that needs to be addressed better, but blowing it up puts us back at square one, and I have no faith in the Athletics Dept, which is now in limbo, to put us in a better position.

[triplec2195]

We need to have cooler heads prevail here gentlemen and not get irrational. I like to think that I'm the voice of reason and have defended this coaching staff over and over again. We came back from the depths of despair and regrouped. We had a nice wholesome family man now running our team and he has experience and has had success at a level which is clearly below the level of this conference. He brought stability to this program and he brought some of the players he helped to recruit and recruited new ones(good players) and for that he deserves some praise. It may be that the powers that be here are very content with that and winning a conference championship is not the be all end all here. Just keeping the status quo is perfectly fine for the powers that be here. IDK what the mindset is here and who they're recruiting for the new AD. It makes sense to have winning sports programs because some of these sports can be lucrative for the school and can also help to recruit new students. After watching part of that game yesterday I can't help but feel like most everybody here disgusted and disappointed in a season that exuded optimism and high hopes for possibly a return to the championship game and maybe just maybe winning everything. For me there's no excuse for how poorly we played in the second half of this game and to let a scoring player just run rampant having a field day with no answer as to how we could stop the floodgates. In the post presser there were references to bad FT shooting and a player having a career game but no owning the fact that they just stunk defensively and that had to be on the coaching staff. At what point does this staff take responsibility for our lack of defense all year long? Are they trying to blame the players for not being able to effectuate the defensive schemes or maybe they just don't have the ability? When you get down to it we didn't lose because of our poor FT shooting or because Eli had an off day we lost because of one thing piss poor defense. So having said this I'm on board within reason to explore the possibility of entertaining coaching changes because I really think we should of had better results this year and not to change coaches for the sake of just change. I don't really think this is going to happen with the status quo mentality here but believe something must be done. People that get paid a lot of money to do a job need to be doing the job they're paid to do if not then there has to be consequences.

[Wags]

We need to have cooler heads prevail here gentlemen and not get irrational. I like to think that I'm the voice of reason and have defended this coaching staff over and over again. We came back from the depths of despair and regrouped. We had a nice wholesome family man now running our team and he has experience and has had success at a level which is clearly below the level of this conference. He brought stability to this program and he brought some of the players he helped to recruit and recruited new ones(good players) and for that he deserves some praise. It may be that the powers that be here are very content with that and winning a conference championship is not the be all end all here. Just keeping the status quo is perfectly fine for the powers that be here. IDK what the mindset is here and who they're recruiting for the new AD. It makes sense to have winning sports programs because some of these sports can be lucrative for the school and can also help to recruit new students. After watching part of that game yesterday I can't help but feel like most everybody here disgusted and disappointed in a season that exuded optimism and high hopes for possibly a return to the championship game and maybe just maybe winning everything. For me there's no excuse for how poorly we played in the second half of this game and to let a scoring player just run rampant having a field day with no answer as to how we could stop the floodgates. In the post presser there were references to bad FT shooting and a player having a career game but no owning the fact that they just stunk defensively and that had to be on the coaching staff. At what point does this staff take responsibility for our lack of defense all year long? Are they trying to blame the players for not being able to effectuate the defensive schemes or maybe they just don't have the ability? When you get down to it we didn't lose because of our poor FT shooting or because Eli had an off day we lost because of one thing piss poor defense. So having said this I'm on board within reason to explore the possibility of entertaining coaching changes because I really think we should of had better results this year and not to change coaches for the sake of just change. I don't really think this is going to happen with the status quo mentality here but believe something must be done. People that get paid a lot of money to do a job need to be doing the job they're paid to do if not then there has to be consequences.

A lot of truth in here. But the most sensible bottom line right now is I think for at least one more year, HU should stand pat and see it through with the reigning POY as a senior and his second option (Eli) becoming a junior and see where that takes them. Not sure who's going to rebound with Rok gone, but they're going to have to figure that out, as well as how to hit FTs (9th in the CAA is unacceptable, especially when they 1, 2 and 4 seeds playing tonight are the top 3 in the CAA in FT shooting), and above all else, finally incporate more of a defensive mindset into their identity as a team. If they can figure those things out, then great. They'll be in position to be legit contenders again and may finally get it done. If not, we'll be right back here net March having the same conversations we're having now, and then with JWF on his way out, it may be time to shake some things up.

[Flying Dutchmen]

I think it's a coaching issue only in terms of the mindset of offense-first at any cost, even if it means completely neglecting the other end of the floor too often. Joe's Niagara teams were like that and I've been saying it from the beginning (5 yrs ago), that mentality will only get you so far. We've obviously seen the repeated close-but-not-quite results of that mindset. I have no problem with playing high scoring games because you want to play a faster pace, so the possessions, shots and points all go up as a result. But you have to be more of a complete team. And you have to adapt. W&M fans aren't complaining about Shaver and his staff today because although they played HU's style to even more of an extreme than HU did this year, they knew defense would win yesterday. And it did. After allowing 99 to Towson in a 26-point home loss and 96 to Towson in an OT road loss this year, W&M actually defended for most of the game yesterday and gave up 66. That program also puts an emphasis on fundamentals. They lead the CAA in FT shooting while HU is 9th after a 14-for-24 effort in a 5-point, season-ending loss.

That said, I think it might be a talent issue just as much if not more. Not that my Dad is an authority here, but it's interesting to get an "outsider's" view from someone who knows hoops but doesn't eat, sleep and breathe HU ball like we do. We used to have season tix together for several years, so he knows the program, but he's in AZ a while now and doesn't follow them like when he was in NY. I sent him the link so he could watch from AZ and we were on the phone, watching online together. His observations, watching a Hofstra game for the first time this season:

"Hofstra doesn't look like a serious club. They don't play any defense."
"Their guards aren't big. They don't look like they can stop players. They look very frail."

I think there's something to that. When we speak about "talent," we usually emphasize offensive skills. Unless we see a shot blocker like Uter was, we don't really speak of defensive talent.

Said it all season long: the offense is fine, do not worry about the offense. Focus on the defense. This team will only go as far as its D takes it.

Despite some issues with the offense in the second half yesterday (espeacially late), and the missed FTs, 88 points was plenty. This game was what I feared all season and warned of all season, that they'd score something like 88 and still get knocked out early because they gave up more than that while being unable to get stops. Championship teams get stops. W&M, which defended worse than HU all season, got stops against Towson yesterday that they didn't get in their previous two games against Towson.

Championship teams get stops because they have DEFENSIVE talent. The talent HU has recruited recently has been fine offensively. But you need to recruit defensive talent, too. Need to recruit two-way players, or at least players who are still very talented offensively but who also at least play ENOUGH defense. The defensive schemes, the defensive effort, the defensive will, the emphasis on the importance of defense (coming from the staff down to the players) all could've been better. But maybe there's something to those "frail" and "size" comments my Dad made. Maybe their guards weren't physically built to make the stops they needed. Maybe while we look at the defensive coaching, the defensive talent was never there to begin with.

I completely agree. I'm glad you posted this.

I'm not sure this team ever had the capability to be a great or even good defensive team, I thought EP playing so well was a huge step forward for our defensive efficiency, and gave us a chance, but we had a regression last night and it cost us the game and a shot at Northeastern.

I think the coaches need to simplify the defensive schemes, we change defenses too much, we switch too much, there was just too much confusion on the court defensively all year. I lambasted Rok last night because I think he's was main reason we have to play zone all the time, but our guards are undersized too, and allow too much dribble-penetration.

We have to bring in better defensive players, but I will say I think this freshman class is a step forward in that direction. Offense over defensive prowess and length is the sacrifice Joe has made his whole career in recruiting.

[Jojogunne]

I think you have to offer Speedy the HC job. I don't think he would stay as lead assistant to anyone else, unless it's TP 2.0.

Steve DeMao, one of Mo's assistants, is a NY guy who has had some success down in FL (111-19 in the NJCAA). He's a possibility:

http://www.nwfraiders.com/sports/mbkb/c ... o?view=bio

In all likelihood, the AD may want to bring someone from wherever he or she is working now. That's probably the likeliest scenario, if, indeed, any change is made.

[hualum]

I agree - it's time.

This program has NEVER recovered from Pecora leaving - and the robberys. Tom P left- what many think- would have been an NCAA team with Charles, Chaz and the kid who went to Joe's.

Mo had a good recruiting class (see Jimmy Hall) and THEY screwed up- which screwed him.

We had the BEST player in the CAA and could not get out of the first round. Joe is a nice guy who was brought in to bring stability back. He did that. I think with a new AD coming in (isn't Hathaway out?) he/she should bring in a new coach- I loved DiMao and would love to see him back. I'd reach back out to Patrick Sellers too. - oh, and move to the MAAC!

[Cards]

So you had no problem keeping the season tickets after Mo led us to a 3-15 CAA record in his second year, but now you have to reconsider renewing after a 12-6 season with the conference POY?

Used to buy lots of single game tix depending on who I was bringing to the game that day. Decided to start season tix purchase about 5 years ago. I thought it was a god way to enjoy games and support the program.

[joeg1]

How about the new AD comes in and give Joe an ultimatum- shore up the defensive side in one season or you're out. That's how it works in the real world. I bet we would defend a lot better, and fast!

[garyg]

Unfortunately JAM is not going anywhere

[Wags]

I agree - it's time.

This program has NEVER recovered from Pecora leaving - and the robberys. Tom P left- what many think- would have been an NCAA team with Charles, Chaz and the kid who went to Joe's.

Mo had a good recruiting class (see Jimmy Hall) and THEY screwed up- which screwed him.

We had the BEST player in the CAA and could not get out of the first round. Joe is a nice guy who was brought in to bring stability back. He did that. I think with a new AD coming in (isn't Hathaway out?) he/she should bring in a new coach- I loved DiMao and would love to see him back. I'd reach back out to Patrick Sellers too. - oh, and move to the MAAC!

I would say they actually recovered pretty nicely from that season when they had as many players suspended (6) as D-I wins. As far as that goes, mission accomplished, and quickly thereafter. That's different than winning titles.

As far as moving to the MAAC, have to consider the other sports, and in terms of men's hoops, it would guarantee nothing. The MAAC tourney's a perennial crapshoot. Tonight will mark the 8th straight year a non-No. 1 seed will be crowned a MAAC tourney champion.

And I tend to agree with garyg. I think even with the new AD, Joe is here for the long haul as long as the team is at least contending like it did this year.

[joeg1]

I agree - it's time.

This program has NEVER recovered from Pecora leaving - and the robberys. Tom P left- what many think- would have been an NCAA team with Charles, Chaz and the kid who went to Joe's.

Mo had a good recruiting class (see Jimmy Hall) and THEY screwed up- which screwed him.

We had the BEST player in the CAA and could not get out of the first round. Joe is a nice guy who was brought in to bring stability back. He did that. I think with a new AD coming in (isn't Hathaway out?) he/she should bring in a new coach- I loved DiMao and would love to see him back. I'd reach back out to Patrick Sellers too. - oh, and move to the MAAC!

I would say they actually recovered pretty nicely from that season when they had as many players suspended (6) as D-I wins. As far as that goes, mission accomplished, and quickly thereafter. That's different than winning titles.

As far as moving to the MAAC, have to consider the other sports, and in terms of men's hoops, it would guarantee nothing. The MAAC tourney's a perennial crapshoot. Tonight will mark the 8th straight year a non-No. 1 seed will be crowned a MAAC tourney champion.

And I tend to agree with garyg. I think even with the new AD, Joe is here for the long haul as long as the team is at least contending like it did this year.

Unfortunately, I tend to agree.

But anyone with eyes can see- our defensive problems are beyond schemes. We are fundamentally bad. Our players have BAD defensive skills. They seriously need to work on fundamentals, like stance, positioning, seeing the ball/man. Speedy was a good defender...can't he help?

[garyg]

I do not think Joe is going anywhere unless he chooses to leave on his own

[HUSID74]

If you are pleased with this staff that wins a few games here and there, has some guys that won't steal any laptops, that constantly underachieves and constantly gets outcoached, then I'm happy for you. I'm a different type of fan. I watch sports to see my teams accomplish special things, like winning championships. If that's not the goal at Hofstra, I will gladly spend my money and time elsewhere.

I am with you Dooku. Absent any changes between now and November, I will have to revisit my typical season ticket purchase. Never had a problem purchasing season tix knowing that even if I missed games it was generally a good thing for the program to have tix sold. Maybe now I will have to pick and choose a few games to attend rather than purchasing the package knowing that I will not attend some games. We shall see.

So you had no problem keeping the season tickets after Mo led us to a 3-15 CAA record in his second year, but now you have to reconsider renewing after a 12-6 season with the conference POY? In a lot of ways I don't blame you, there's little advantage to being a STH, I just think this year on the whole was enjoyable, and there's no reason to see a fall-off next season.

I don't even know why I'm defending the staff, I'm as pissed as anybody about our poor defensive play, I just think 12-6 was a big improvement from last year, and I think we will be even more improved next year, so cutting bait now will set us back probably 3 seasons, because there's a strong likelihood that we lose multiple players to transfer if we get rid of the staff, especially if they alter the transfer rules to allow immediate transfers for players whose coaches leave the program.

I was talking to a fellow poster about the game last night, he made the point that we should bring in a real cutthroat to get us over the top. Truthfully, if I had any faith in the athletics department to bring in a better coach, I'd be 100% down for that, but I don't, especially with a new AD on the way who won't be taking the job until June, at the earliest. Like when are we going to get this new coach?

Dooku, if you're intimating I don't want this team to win as much as anyone else here, or I accept mediocrity, you're sorely mistaken. I put my money where my mouth is. I buy the Pride Club, I buy more season tickets than I need, I travel to watch the team. I want to see this program succeed very badly. I'm just being realistic, the men's hoops program is not in a place to be blown up because we lost the quarterfinal game this year. I'm not happy about the result, and there's an obvious pattern of poor defensive play that needs to be addressed better, but blowing it up puts us back at square one, and I have no faith in the Athletics Dept, which is now in limbo, to put us in a better position.

With you 100 percent here Flying Dutchman...I took this loss probably harder than any one since I have been a student, employee of the athletic department and supporter of the program. I too, buy 4 season tickets and have been a contributor to the program. I am heartbroken because I thought this team was CAPABLE of a breakthrough...at least getting past the quarters and giving NE a tough fight in the semis.

HOWEVER, I DO NOT ADVOCATE for a coaching change at this point...this was overall a very good season...Polito you should read your end of season post...and yes we have the makings of another real good year next year...let's look at where we are AFTER next year before we make any rash decisions. This coming year is shaping up to be a transitional year for the program with the new AD, etc. Last thing we want to do is BLOW UP this program.

[garyg]

We are stuck with JAM at least two more seasons

[Polito]

Move to the MAAC?!? All I see is JM losing to those former teams every year.

This team lost to SIENA for goodness sake. That team is awful (despite some of you telling me otherwise at the time). And barely squeaked by another below avg Monmouth team. Every year under JM HU gets embarrassed by some middle to low MAAC team or teamS

And then add on having to compete directly with a stellar coaching staff in Iona, who would continue to win more titles and go to more NCAAT's than HU, except in the same conf would be even worse than it is now.

I have ZERO confidence or faith that JM is going to win any crown or go dancing in any conference anymore. The time has been given, and past.

After next year/JWF's final/the new AD is settled, it's time for a fresh start with a top young up and coming P5 assistant.

(And no, you don't have to just 'give' Speedy the HC job - that's exactly how bad situations happen - you search, research, interview, get real recommendations, analysis, and assessment, and you hire the guy who will lead this program to the NCAAT. Period. IF that's Speedy, great - but if it's someone else, so be it. D1 = business.)