MBB Game 27 - @ Drexel - 2/15/15, 5 PM on SNY

[Jojogunne]

Since losing at Hofstra by 30 on Jan. 21, Drexel has reeled off six straight wins. In the meantime, we have gone 2-4. Time to "wright" the ship.

Preview:

http://www.gohofstra.com/news/2015/2/13 ... 54543.aspx

[Cards]

A little off topic, but Delaware defeated W&M this afternoon. Still seems like on any given day, anyone can beat anyone in the CAA.

[ProudofPride]

Currently 1 point favorites. For what it's worth, we were 12 point favorites against the Dragons at the Mack.

[ZMAN3]

HU now 3' - No Rodney Williams last game - Tavon Allen ?

[ProudofPride]

John Feinstein is calling the game on SNY. I wonder if he'll mention that AP vote at all.

[EvanJ]

Hofstra is starting Green, Tanksley, Bernardi, Robinson, and Kone. Drexel is starting Austin Williams (forward), Tavon Allen (guard), Rashann London (guard), Damion Lee (guard), and Mohamed Bah (forward). http://stats.statbroadcast.com/broadcast/?id=67954&a=1 has statistics. http://www.caasports.com/custompages/st ... m#team.ind has Hofstra's season statistics. http://www.caasports.com/custompages/st ... m#team.ind has Drexel's season statistics.

Edit: It's 7-7. Drexel has 8 field goal attempts with none of them by Lee. Kone has 4 points and 2 rebounds.

Edit: After being down 4 early, Hofstra leads 13-9. Hofstra has more points in the paint, 12 to 0.

[ProudofPride]

12 minutes in, and we've already reached our total number of rebounds from the Northeastern game, and we're out rebounding Drexe 17-6 so far. We're up 23-12, currently shooting 58%.

[stuball888]

Up by 16 at the half. Nichols with a huge first half . Nice passing by Gustys and Kone very effective inside. Not relying on the big three so maybe this is a good sign. We score 41 points in the first half which is a good sign for us. It plays to our tempo. Lee has only 4 points so you know he will go off in the second half. need to limit the others so they dont mount a comeback.

[stuball888]

Why cant we play like this every night. Either that or we have Drexels number.

[EvanJ]

Hofstra won 81-57. Hofstra's largest lead was 81-51. Kone had 23 points and made all 10 of his field goals and 3 out of 4 free throws. His previous career-high was 20 points. Nichols scored 15 points which were all in the first half and led all players with 8 rebounds. Green had 13 points, 6 rebounds, and 6 assists. Tanksley (9 points) and Bernardi (2 points and 3 assists) didn't reach double-digits. Hofstra had more points in the paint, 58 to 16. Hofstra had 15 assists and Drexel had only 5 (fewer than Green alone). Tavon Allen scored 20 and Damion Lee scored 15 for Drexel, but they combined to make only 10 out of 28 field goals (.357) including only 3 out of 14 three-pointers (.214). Drexel made 4 out of 21 three-pointers (.190). Hofstra made 4 out of 12 three-pointers for the second consecutive game. It was the second consecutive time our opponent made over 90 percent of their free throws, and that's the first time since at least 2000-2001 that has happened. Drexel made 17 out of 18 (.944), which was the best by a Hofstra opponent since William & Mary made all 7 in the CAA Tournament on March 5, 2011. Drexel had the best free throw percentage by a Hofstra opponent with at least 10 attempts since St. Joseph's on March 20, 2006 in the NIT. St. Joseph's made 18 out of 19 (.947) in that game.

WRHU said Hofstra is third in the conference when Hofstra is tied for fifth (ahead of Drexel on head-to-head tiebreaker).

Edit: Our four leading scorers for the season entered the game averaging a combined 56.9 points. Green, Tanksley, Bernardi, and Nesmith combined for only 33 today. Both teams committed 8 fouls in the first half and 10 fouls in the second half. Hofstra made only 9 out of 16 free throws (.563). Gonzalez (2 minutes), Walker (2 minutes), and Fowlkes (1 minute) each played at the end. The TV mistakenly showed that Fowlkes had 3 fouls when they meant somebody else. Hofstra led for 34:20, trailed for 1:38, and was tied for 4:02. Hofstra had a field goal percentage of .630. Their previous season-high was .554. It was Hofstra's highest field goal percentage since a 98-78 win at James Madison on February 24, 2007. Hofstra made 33 out of 52 field goals (.635) that day. I went to an Eastern Economics Association conference with one of my professors that day, which was during my senior year at Hofstra.

http://espn.go.com/ncb/recap?gameId=400597881 is the Associated Press recap titled "Kone scores career-high 23, leads Hofstra past Drexel 81-57."

Edit: Coach Mihalich, Green, and Tanksley were at the postgame prees conference but not Kone.

http://www.gohofstra.com/news/2015/2/15 ... ath=mbball is Hofstra's recap.

http://www.gohofstra.com/boxscore.aspx? ... ll&id=6431 is the box score. The attendance was 1,501, which isn't much for rivals near each other in the CAA standings on a weekend.

http://drexeldragons.com/news/2015/2/15 ... ath=mbball is Drexel's recap titled "Dragons Six Game Win Streak Halted by Hofstra."

http://midmajorhoopsbb.blogspot.com/201 ... track.html is by Gary Moore.

Unfortunately Hofstra's annual Men's Basketball Guide does not give Hofstra's record for individual or team field goal percentage in a game.

Kone became the seventh CAA player to make at least 10 field goals without a miss. The first six were Scott Eatherton last month, Denzel Bowles in 2010, Vladimir Kuljanin in 2006, Clayton Ritter in 1992, Tom Bock in 1989, and David Robinson is 1985. Robinson is 41st on the career NBA and ABA combined points list.

[EvanJ]

First and sixth in the CAA are two games apart. The Big South, with one game separating first and sixth out of 11 teams, is the only one of the 32 conferences with a smaller gap between first and the median team (if there is an odd number) or top team in the bottom half (if there is an even number). The biggest gap is 7.5 games from Gonzaga (14-0) to San Diego (7-8) in the West Coast Conference. The median two gaps were 4 games and 4.5 games and the medan gap is 4.58 games.

Edit: Hofstra beat Drexel by at least 24 points twice this season. In 2010-2011 when Jenkins was a senior, Hofstra had 20 Division I wins and none were by 20 or more points. They beat Farmingdale State 102-62. In 2005-2006, Hofstra had one win by 24 or more points and it was 82-57 against William & Mary. In 2000-2001, Hofstra beat Towson twice with the smaller margin being 21. I'm going to check when else (if ever) Hofstra has beaten a team by at least 24 points twice in one season.

Edit: Hofstra has almost all of their scores going back to 1936-1937. There are some missing games at the beginning. Using the known scores, this is the fifth time Hofstra has ever beaten a team by 24 or more points twice in one season. The first four were:

Queens in 1952-1953
Queens in 1960-1961
Brooklyn in 1991-1992
New Hampshire in 1999-2000

[bobe13]

Why cant we play like this every night. Either that or we have Drexels number.

My thoughts exactly Stu. Was it us or was it the play of Drexel? Probably a combination of both. Best game we played all year-keep it going.

[Dooku25]

I wouldn't mind a 4-5 matchup against Drexel in the quarterfinals. We match up very well with them. I’m not sure they came to play yesterday, but we certainly did. And you couldn't say that a few games ago about this team.

I think since the Towson game, which was rock bottom for us, you can't question their effort defensively. Also, we continue to go down low with the ball. Our guards are driving to the basket more often instead of settling for 3’s and guys like Nichols and Kone are finally part of the offense which is very important. We need balance, we can’t live and die by the 3. We have to give our opponents something else to think about besides just guarding the perimeter.

We can still win this league this year IMO. If we get the right matchups in Baltimore, and keep this defensive effort and offensive balance going, why not us???

[joeg1]

We can still win this league this year IMO. If we get the right matchups in Baltimore, and keep this defensive effort and offensive balance going, why not us???

Agreed. We continue to see so-called favorites picked off. Hell, we could still win the regular season.

[cactus]

We can still win this league this year IMO. If we get the right matchups in Baltimore, and keep this defensive effort and offensive balance going, why not us???

Agreed. We continue to see so-called favorites picked off. Hell, we could still win the regular season.

they have the offensive firepower to hang with anyone if they are shooting well, but they still have a long way to go defensively. they are playing with much more intensity lately overall but let up at the end of possessions far too often. they are also very vulnerable against any team that has an interior presence.

[Wags]

Why cant we play like this every night. Either that or we have Drexels number.

My thoughts exactly Stu. Was it us or was it the play of Drexel? Probably a combination of both. Best game we played all year-keep it going.

Sometimes it's simply about matchups, and we are a bad matchup for Drexel.

That said, Towson might simply be a bad matchup for HU (based on HU's earlier game with TU). Although like HU, Towson has struggled at home, and HU has been much better on the road in the CAA than at home. Seems HU relaxes too much at home and is a lot more focused on the road - which is a shame because the conference might already be HU's to lose had HU taken care of business at home when it should have a few more times. But get the Towson game, come out focused against W&M at home on Sunday and get a W then, and suddenly it can get very interesting for HU again.

[ProudofPride]

Dragons Speak on just how good our offense was:
"First game against Drexel, HU puts up 1.27 points per possession on offense
Second game against DU, HU puts up 1.35 points per possession on offense

Average offensive PPP for HU against Drexel's 4 guard: 1.30

Wisconsin has the highest offensive PPP in the country at 1.25. Hofstra has outplayed the best offense in the country against Drexel's four guard "defense". To be clear: if HU played against the DU 4 guard defense year around the Pride would be considered one of the best offensive teams of all time. That is factual, not hyperbole. They are running a full .13 per possession (about 8.5 points per game) better than Kentucky is averaging this year."
http://dragonsspeak.blogspot.com/2015/0 ... takes.html

[Wags]

Dragons Speak on just how good our offense was:
"First game against Drexel, HU puts up 1.27 points per possession on offense
Second game against DU, HU puts up 1.35 points per possession on offense

Average offensive PPP for HU against Drexel's 4 guard: 1.30

Wisconsin has the highest offensive PPP in the country at 1.25. Hofstra has outplayed the best offense in the country against Drexel's four guard "defense". To be clear: if HU played against the DU 4 guard defense year around the Pride would be considered one of the best offensive teams of all time. That is factual, not hyperbole. They are running a full .13 per possession (about 8.5 points per game) better than Kentucky is averaging this year."
http://dragonsspeak.blogspot.com/2015/0 ... takes.html

And if Wisconsin and Kentucky and dozens of other teams played against that defense, they'd still be rated higher than Hofstra's offense against that same defense. So not sure how much these stats are really worth when putting them in their proper context. Everything is relative, based on who everyone plays. It doesn't make sense to selectively pull stats from one team against another in only two games and extrapolate that to measure it against what the rest of the nation is doing against entirely different competition.

[Polito]

I was able to watch most of this game, and I just want to take this opp to give big kudos to both the players and the staff - they've gone from looking like complete crap for a few games in a row not making the right adjustments or playing with the right level of intensity to making clear adjustments in their game plan and players playing with fire

HU looks to have developed a beautiful cut/roll to the basket play and has executed it very well the last couple of games - it creates great opps for high % looks at the hoop - challenge in NU game was they missed a lot of the easy buckets (why I've said it's a talent/experience thing), but it's a great addition to the O that helps offset the missing post presence

Now I know Drexel is not good and a positive matchup for HU, but its very apparent changes have been made - Nichols is flourishing in his upgraded role - he needs to continue to get major min - not completely polished but he makes an impact - Robinson is really struggling IMO this yr - has ability so hoping for him to bounce back yr 3

Rokas's stats aren't there yet, but he has displayed great vision, awareness, and a nice ability to handle the ball for a big fella - said from his recruitment he can be a star here with proper development

D intensity looks much improved and this team has apparently perfected the ability for almost anyone to get a steal - noticeable improvement

Much still to be done, but they have to get some props for the big improvements recently - should've happened games ago, but better late than never and this is THE most important time of the yr to start playing your best ball

I don't recall the last time HU had a real discernible offensive game plan - lovely thing to see!! #ROLLPRIDE

[Wags]

I was able to watch most of this game, and I just want to take this opp to give big kudos to both the players and the staff - they've gone from looking like complete crap for a few games in a row not making the right adjustments or playing with the right level of intensity to making clear adjustments in their game plan and players playing with fire

HU looks to have developed a beautiful cut/roll to the basket play and has executed it very well the last couple of games - it creates great opps for high % looks at the hoop - challenge in NU game was they missed a lot of the easy buckets (why I've said it's a talent/experience thing), but it's a great addition to the O that helps offset the missing post presence

Now I know Drexel is not good and a positive matchup for HU, but its very apparent changes have been made - Nichols is flourishing in his upgraded role - he needs to continue to get major min - not completely polished but he makes an impact - Robinson is really struggling IMO this yr - has ability so hoping for him to bounce back yr 3

Rokas's stats aren't there yet, but he has displayed great vision, awareness, and a nice ability to handle the ball for a big fella - said from his recruitment he can be a star here with proper development

D intensity looks much improved and this team has apparently perfected the ability for almost anyone to get a steal - noticeable improvement

Much still to be done, but they have to get some props for the big improvements recently - should've happened games ago, but better late than never and this is THE most important time of the yr to start playing your best ball

I don't recall the last time HU had a real discernible offensive game plan - lovely thing to see!! #ROLLPRIDE

The biggest thing in this game is that HU attacked, as the overwhelming points in the paint edge (58-16, HU!) showed. HU only attempted a dozen 3s, with no one taking more than 3. HU has rarely had that type of discipline offensively this year. Maybe Evan can tell us how many points in the paint HU had before Drexel got its first in that area, and what the PIP were at the half, but HU had almost everything in the paint during that huge first half run, and I recall SNY showing a graphic at one point in the first half listing the paint scoring as 22-0, HU.

- FT attempts were basically even (18-16, DU) and DU actually had an 8-point edge there (17-9) thanks to atrocious FT shooting by HU (forgivable in a win like this).
- 3-pt. makes were the same for each team (four apiece).
- So the huge difference? DU didn't and couldn't attack like HU did. DU took 21 3s, HU 12, because HU made it a point to attack from the start and to keep attacking... Moussa was able to get 23 pts on perfect 10-10 shooting because of that... FGA were the same (54 for each team), but FGM -- 34-18, HU, which translated to HU outshooting DU by 30% (63-33). High percentage shots over settling for missed 3s and longer 2s the way DU did. Can't always do that, and have to take with the D gives. In this case, DU gave it all day. Other teams may not. But at least the correct mindset with looking HU looking to attack early and often and trying to impose it's will on its opponent and dictating the style of play, rather than the other way around, was encouraging. Now the trick is to carry that over to Maryland tomorrow and to bring it back to Hempstead on Sunday.