Flying Dutchmen Fans

Here is the tournament schedule:

https://caasports.com/tournaments/?id=265

If we finish in third place, we play Sunday night. If we finish in fourth place, we play Sunday afternoon.

Jojogunne wrote: ↑Sun Mar 01, 2026 4:10 pm Here is the tournament schedule:

https://caasports.com/tournaments/?id=265

If we finish in third place, we play Sunday night. If we finish in fourth place, we play Sunday afternoon.

We're already locked into the 3 seed based on tiebreakers.

So the Drexel game is meaningless? I'd rest everyone.

If you rest everyone does that mean Speedy and the coaching staff will take the court

joeg1 wrote: ↑Sun Mar 01, 2026 5:42 pm So the Drexel game is meaningless? I'd rest everyone.

Why? By the time they play again on Sunday at 8:30 pm, it's almost five full days off. That's already more rest than they'll need.

It's meaningless in terms seeding, but there's benefit to playing hard, playing the right way, and winning.

You want rest, but you don't want rust, either. If you rest the regulars, it'll be about eight days for them until their next game.

You also want to continue the momentum, keep confidence high, and the feelings of battling and winning going into the tourney are important. So is getting Davis and the offense right (if they can) after a subpar offensive game last night. And so is continuing the good defense that has helped them win. They shouldn't pass up the chances to do all of that one more time before entering the tourney. Going in 9-1 in the last 10, with the only loss being a close one on the top seed's home team's floor, rather than going in with a loss (even with backups) is helpful. Momentum sometimes matters in conference tournaments. They have that now. I wouldn't want to mess with that. Keep it going.

Agreed Wags. Haven’t we seen what happens in the NFL when the top seeds don’t play for weeks and end up losing their first games back…

Hofstra needs to play like every game from now on out is a must win. Plain and simple. These are college kids.

Wags wrote: ↑Sun Mar 01, 2026 6:40 pm

joeg1 wrote: ↑Sun Mar 01, 2026 5:42 pm So the Drexel game is meaningless? I'd rest everyone.

Why? By the time they play again on Sunday at 8:30 pm, it's almost five full days off. That's already more rest than they'll need.

It's meaningless in terms seeding, but there's benefit to playing hard, playing the right way, and winning.

You want rest, but you don't want rust, either. If you rest the regulars, it'll be about eight days for them until their next game.

You also want to continue the momentum, keep confidence high, and the feelings of battling and winning going into the tourney are important. So is getting Davis and the offense right (if they can) after a subpar offensive game last night. And so is continuing the good defense that has helped them win. They shouldn't pass up the chances to do all of that one more time before entering the tourney. Going in 9-1 in the last 10, with the only loss being a close one on the top seed's home team's floor, rather than going in with a loss (even with backups) is helpful. Momentum sometimes matters in conference tournaments. They have that now. I wouldn't want to mess with that. Keep it going.

It's not just rest or rust. Someone could get hurt and miss the tournament.

Jojogunne wrote: ↑Sun Mar 01, 2026 11:25 pm

Wags wrote: ↑Sun Mar 01, 2026 6:40 pm

joeg1 wrote: ↑Sun Mar 01, 2026 5:42 pm So the Drexel game is meaningless? I'd rest everyone.

Why? By the time they play again on Sunday at 8:30 pm, it's almost five full days off. That's already more rest than they'll need.

It's meaningless in terms seeding, but there's benefit to playing hard, playing the right way, and winning.

You want rest, but you don't want rust, either. If you rest the regulars, it'll be about eight days for them until their next game.

You also want to continue the momentum, keep confidence high, and the feelings of battling and winning going into the tourney are important. So is getting Davis and the offense right (if they can) after a subpar offensive game last night. And so is continuing the good defense that has helped them win. They shouldn't pass up the chances to do all of that one more time before entering the tourney. Going in 9-1 in the last 10, with the only loss being a close one on the top seed's home team's floor, rather than going in with a loss (even with backups) is helpful. Momentum sometimes matters in conference tournaments. They have that now. I wouldn't want to mess with that. Keep it going.

It's not just rest or rust. Someone could get hurt and miss the tournament.

I had a feeling someone would bring this up in response, and while it's fair to say, they can't be scared and keep guys in bubble wrap. Someone can get hurt at any time. It could have been on Saturday. It can be on Tuesday, it can be in practice after Tuesday, before the tournament. But are they not going to practice because someone could get hurt? I believe the odds are greater that potential rust from an eight-day layoff could cost them a quarterfinal loss than someone key getting hurt from playing on Tuesday. If they actually needed the game for a 3 seed vs. a 4 seed, it wouldn't even be considered. Everyone would likely say, sure, definitely play them, even though it's still a double bye either way. So, why not with the 3 already locked up as well?

Pbdutch wrote: ↑Sun Mar 01, 2026 7:21 pm Agreed Wags. Haven’t we seen what happens in the NFL when the top seeds don’t play for weeks and end up losing their first games back…

Was actually thinking the same about top NFL seeds as I posted that (of course, that's less now than it used to be with more divisional games being scheduled the last couple of weeks than before and with only one team per conference getting a bye now instead of two, as before). But it has still happened pretty often. When you go hard all season, then suddenly shut it all down due to an abundance of caution, it's sometimes difficult to rev it back up again when it matters most. It's often much better to keep the foot on the gas and to keep going. I believe that would benefit Hofstra a lot more than trying to be too careful. It's only another 40 minutes with five days off to follow. Not that big a deal to play it out the right way.

If anyone is curious about all the possible remaining tiebreaker scenarios CAA posted every possible outcome here...

https://caasports.com/documents/2026/3/ ... eakers.pdf

Of most interest to us, if W&M beats Hampton at home tomorrow they are all but assured of being the 6 seed. That might be my personal worst-case scenario for a quarterfinal opponent for us. Not that I don't think we can beat them (or Charleston or UNCW for that matter), but I think W&M's style presents a unique challenge for our defense...their strengths directly attack our biggest weaknesses on that end. But I'm still happier with W&M/Charleston as a potential path to the title game as opposed to say Monmouth/UNCW. There is no easy path.

As for tomorrow night, I wouldn't rest our guys vs Drexel. Since we had the "bye" last Thursday, we'd be entering the tournament playing only 1 real game in 15 days if guys don't play tomorrow. Not to mention that one game wasn't even close to our cleanest game on offense. They could use the tune-up. That being said, if a guy like Sunday is less than 100% after limping off late vs Stony Brook, I'd sit him in that case.

dutchPride86 wrote: ↑Mon Mar 02, 2026 12:43 pm If anyone is curious about all the possible remaining tiebreaker scenarios CAA posted every possible outcome here...

https://caasports.com/documents/2026/3/ ... eakers.pdf

Of most interest to us, if W&M beats Hampton at home tomorrow they are all but assured of being the 6 seed. That might be my personal worst-case scenario for a quarterfinal opponent for us. Not that I don't think we can beat them (or Charleston or UNCW for that matter), but I think W&M's style presents a unique challenge for our defense...their strengths directly attack our biggest weaknesses on that end. But I'm still happier with W&M/Charleston as a potential path to the title game as opposed to say Monmouth/UNCW. There is no easy path.

You can play around with different scenarios and see the effects here: https://bball.notnothing.net/caa.php?sport=mbb

If it is W&M, I hope Speedy will remind his team what can happen if they're not ready from the starts. Same spot, 3/6 game, last quarterfinal game on Sunday, going in as the 3 seed, when 6th-seeded Charleston got a big jump on Hofstra from the very start and Hofstra never recovered. Allowed 55 first-half points and were never really in it. I can't see that happening the way this year's team has played D most of the year, but then, they did give up 89 at home to Elon and the same at W&M, so you never know.

dutchPride86 wrote: ↑Mon Mar 02, 2026 12:43 pm As for tomorrow night, I wouldn't rest our guys vs Drexel. Since we had the "bye" last Thursday, we'd be entering the tournament playing only 1 real game in 15 days if guys don't play tomorrow. Not to mention that one game wasn't even close to our cleanest game on offense. They could use the tune-up. That being said, if a guy like Sunday is less than 100% after limping off late vs Stony Brook, I'd sit him in that case.

Agree on all of this. No need to push guys who aren't 100%, but otherwise, get some things right, play the right way, and have a good tune-up. Not only five days off vs. eight days off (and rest vs. rust) that I mentioned, but a very good additional point you made about the 15 days with only one (not-so-great) game with last Thursday off too.

On the one hand, you want your starters as sharp as possible for the tournament. On the other hand, tomorrow presents a great opportunity to get our bench some playing time before the tourney. I wouldn't be surprised if everyone gets some minutes tomorrow.

Hold your horses JBO. We beat Drexel by 3 points last time and they seem to be a better team of late and on the rise. Hofstra needs to get the W before clearing the bench. Looking past Drexel will likely lead to an L.

JoeyBagODonuts1 wrote: ↑Mon Mar 02, 2026 2:26 pm On the one hand, you want your starters as sharp as possible for the tournament. On the other hand, tomorrow presents a great opportunity to get our bench some playing time before the tourney. I wouldn't be surprised if everyone gets some minutes tomorrow.

I hear ya, and thought of that as well, but if you haven't relied more on your bench over the first 30 games, you're probably not counting on them more than you already have in a tournament that determines your whole season because of what they might show in Game 31.

Wild that this season is already coming to a flourishing finish - goes so fast!

Agree that we need to take all games seriously, and I would expect Speedy to approach Drexel as he normally would with the full firepower - I would also like to see everybody get a few minutes to breathe, but I would imagine the staff will want us to be up comfortably to do so, or mix it in very lightly throughout.

Very grateful HU is in the top 4 - that's a huge help - but boy this is going to be a rough go - having to take down both CofC and the W is very unlikely for this group. Just don't see it. I have concerns of the staff being out-coached... seems to be a yearly occurrence in the CAAT - and both of those programs have strong staffs in addition to their talent.

But neither are unbeatable as has been stated. HU has and can. Just a tall order to tackle both back to back. I think HU will need one to get upset to have a real chance at cutting nets. It will of course take the full team to pull this off, but Cruz can't pull a Houdini either, he needs to play a LOT better than the charmin I watched on Sat.

I just want a chance in the champ game - that would be a positive showing to me this year mostly because I personally don't see the NCAAT happening...but ya never know, anything can happen in a tourney game - we just need to make it there to shoot our shot!

I'm not suggesting we sit starters. I would limit their minutes, however. I don't think Speedy needs to run the team into the ground for a game that is totally meaningless at this point

Mikey77 wrote: ↑Mon Mar 02, 2026 2:58 pm Hold your horses JBO. We beat Drexel by 3 points last time and they seem to be a better team of late and on the rise. Hofstra needs to get the W before clearing the bench. Looking past Drexel will likely lead to an L.

...but we don't NEED the W. That's the point.

Wow, you just don't get it. "You play to win the game!" said by former NYJ coach Herm Edwards. It seems every time you play not to get hurt by going at 50% instead of going all out, that's when you get injured. HU is playing a longtime rival of over sixty years on senior night, that's all you need to know.

Feb 21, at Northeastern
Feb 28, vs. Stony Brook
Mar 3, vs. Drexel
Mar 8, CAA quarterfinals

If three games over 14 days (Feb 22 through Mar 7) is "running college kids into the ground," how can we expect them to win three in three days in DC?

There's no reason to limit minutes against Drexel. They're currently in the midst of the lightest schedule they've had since December. They don't need the W for a seed, but they need the W and to play the right way to help them win the three in three days.

The Shadow wrote: ↑Tue Mar 03, 2026 12:33 am Wow, you just don't get it. "You play to win the game!" said by former NYJ coach Herm Edwards. It seems every time you play not to get hurt by going at 50% instead of going all out, that's when you get injured. HU is playing a longtime rival of over sixty years on senior night, that's all you need to know.

I didn't say "don't play hard". I said "give the bench some minutes". Very different things.