Flying Dutchmen Fans

It definitely has been strange the way Cruz disappears in the first half of the past few games then somehow reappears and can become a scoring machine in the second half. I was at this game and really don't know why he wasn't able to do that in the first half although we got into the bonus pretty early in the second half and maybe they were giving us a bit more space?

Also saw German on the side of the stands near the Hofstra bench after he limped off the court and he seemed to be favoring his rib area. He didn't look good as he walking very tenuously. He could have a serious injury?

Stony Brook just knocked off Charleston in a 2 OT thriller, Elon is a good basketball team. Maybe we're not as good as we think but this League is going to be tight the whole way with at least six teams capable of winning.
This will be a big trip this weekend to Wright the ship and get to 6-2.

triplec2195 wrote: ↑Sat Jan 17, 2026 8:45 pm It definitely has been strange the way Cruz disappears in the first half of the past few games then somehow reappears and can become a scoring machine in the second half. I was at this game and really don't know why he wasn't able to do that in the first half although we got into the bonus pretty early in the second half and maybe they were giving us a bit more space?

I think its a combination of two things.. Cruz doesn't want to hog the ball and force the issue, so when the double teams come he defers to his teammates (and they will continue to come as the other coaches in the league are all wising up to not guarding DeCady at all). In the 2nd half yesterday they couldn't double off DeCady as much after he made 4 3s, so that's what gave Cruz more space. When Biggie was playing and out on the wing, teams couldnt double off or sag off in the paint and Cruz had more room to operate

The second thing, I do wonder if Cruz is trying to save his energy to go the full 40, which if that's the case, then why not just give him 2-4 min of rest in the 1st half?! I'd rather have Roberts and Wills in the game together going 100% than Cruz at half speed when its the 1st half

Cruz needs to to force the play in the first half because without him scoring we could constantly be playing from behind which is not ideal. If German is now out for any period of time which is possible along with Patterson we will be playing with a 4 guard offense and Victory down low when DeCady is on the bench. If he's not having a good game which has happened too often we may benefit from a 4 guard offense because we will have 4 players that can score and play an up tempo game. Look to run and score off fast breaks with the only negatives being Roberts D and a lack of height if we're playing taller teams. This is a real possibility but hope that both Biggie and German are able to play.

dutchPride86 wrote: ↑Sun Jan 18, 2026 10:13 am

triplec2195 wrote: ↑Sat Jan 17, 2026 8:45 pm It definitely has been strange the way Cruz disappears in the first half of the past few games then somehow reappears and can become a scoring machine in the second half. I was at this game and really don't know why he wasn't able to do that in the first half although we got into the bonus pretty early in the second half and maybe they were giving us a bit more space?

The second thing, I do wonder if Cruz is trying to save his energy to go the full 40

Not judging from what he said after the game yesterday: "I've just got to be more aggressive in the first half."

It's just how basketball goes. There have also been several games this year when he carried the team at the start and was quiet later on, and then re-emerged again late in the game. No one is going to score from the start and continue to score for an entire game, especially when that player is the leading scorer in the conference and being keyed on by the opponent. The CAA's second-leading scorer didn't do that for Elon yesterday, either. He had a good first half, cooled off, and scored mainly at the foul line late. But he had a better supporting cast, and that's why they won.

If Davis is averaging over 20 (it's at CAA-leading 22.0 ppg now) and is efficient in doing so (and he is, at 48% and 45% from 3), and doing other things, which he does (a team-leading 5.0 apg, even more than Preston, and 3.8 rpg), and normally plays good D, that's basically all you could ask for. He needs enough help.

It's up to others to step up and contribute their own production at other points of the game when Cruz isn't scoring. One thing though, is Cruz needs to be a little more consistent rather than so streaky. For his 28 pts in the second half yesterday, he started the half 8/9 but he finished 1/8, and that hurt them down the stretch. Starting the half 5/9 but finishing 4/8 would've been the same for him but would've been more consistent over a longer stretch and perhaps would've opened up a few more opportunities for others that could've put them over the top.

But regardless, this game wasn't lost offensively. It was lost because the CAA's highest-scoring team did what it usally does and Hofstra didn't meet that challenge defensively. DePaoli said the same and also said they have been a step slow the past two games and have gone from them dictating to the opponent how they want to play to being dictated to by the opponent. That has to change if they're going to be successful again.

Give their win and matching Hofstra's CAA record to tie for second place, I was asked to write this one from Elon's perspective rather than Hofstra's.
Nevertheless, here you go if interested:

https://www.midmajormadness.com/colonia ... good-start

Wags wrote: ↑Sun Jan 18, 2026 7:27 pm Give their win and matching Hofstra's CAA record to tie for second place, I was asked to write this one from Elon's perspective rather than Hofstra's.
Nevertheless, here you go if interested:

https://www.midmajormadness.com/colonia ... good-start

Very detailed article on the team players and the coach. Good work Wags reporting on the enemy lol but I have to say I don't like being reminded of our tough losses. I hope that the players take something away from this loss as well as the coaches as they are not without blame.

Wags wrote: ↑Sun Jan 18, 2026 7:27 pm Give their win and matching Hofstra's CAA record to tie for second place, I was asked to write this one from Elon's perspective rather than Hofstra's.
Nevertheless, here you go if interested:

https://www.midmajormadness.com/colonia ... good-start

Good article Wags! This quote from Cuthrell stood out to me:

Cuthrell said of the loss at Northeastern: “I feel like losing that game was a wakeup call. I feel like we got too comfortable out there. We felt like it was a very winnable game, [but] we didn’t go out there and show it.”


Reason being, Elon played with more urgency coming off a bad loss at Northeastern than we did coming off bad loss at Stony. That's alarming for me

dutchPride86 wrote: ↑Mon Jan 19, 2026 12:16 pm

Wags wrote: ↑Sun Jan 18, 2026 7:27 pm Give their win and matching Hofstra's CAA record to tie for second place, I was asked to write this one from Elon's perspective rather than Hofstra's.
Nevertheless, here you go if interested:

https://www.midmajormadness.com/colonia ... good-start

Good article Wags! This quote from Cuthrell stood out to me:

Cuthrell said of the loss at Northeastern: “I feel like losing that game was a wakeup call. I feel like we got too comfortable out there. We felt like it was a very winnable game, [but] we didn’t go out there and show it.”


Reason being, Elon played with more urgency coming off a bad loss at Northeastern than we did coming off bad loss at Stony. That's alarming for me

Yeah, I asked him a specific question along those lines that prompted that response because I felt like they might've taken Northeastern lightly after their 3-1 CAA start and the way they played next, it seemed like they wanted to make a statement against Hofstra.