Can Hofstra Get Back on the Track?

I lived on Long Island, New York for forty six years.  If you live or have lived on Long Island, you are no doubt familiar with the LIRR, the much aligned Long Island Railroad that takes thousands of passengers on a daily basis to and from New York City, Brooklyn, Queens and various stops, via various train branches on Long Island.  The last twenty years of my life I lived on the south shore of Long Island, first in Seaford and then in Bellmore when we bought our house.  Those are two stops on the Babylon Line.

I moved to Columbia, South Carolina in August of 2012.   The LIRR trains have been replaced by freight trains which seem to run as often as the LIRR, but probably more reliable and more on time. The one difference is that you don't want to be caught at a railroad crossing with a freight train coming through.  Some of them are really a "Long Train Running".

On Saturday, January 10, I drove to Elon, North Carolina to watch Hofstra take on Elon in a #CAAHoops contest, as us CAA bloggers affectionately term Colonial Athletic Association Conference games.   Elon is about a three hour trip from my home in Columbia, South Carolina.  My friend Tieff would join me, as he drove separately and we met up in a parking lot across from Alumni Gym,



It was our first time ever at Alumni Gym on what looks to be a very pretty campus. Elon's Alumni Gym was built in 1949, which from other than the old style ceiling with the metal lamps hanging from the ceiling, you could not tell it was built in 1949.  That's because the gym was recently renovated for stadium style seating and electronic scoreboard in each of the four corners of the gym.   It's more like an intimate arena, which seats 1,607 fans.   It's one of the nicest venues I have seen in my ten years of covering college basketball for this blog. Well done, Elon, well done.


Elon entered the contest at 2-1 conference play, which included an 85-79 home win over William and Mary Thursday night.    Hofstra entered the game at 3-0 in conference play, after their come from behind win over the College of Charleston on Thursday night, another game Tieff and I attended .   After an absolutely terrific version of the Star Spangled Banner by the all female Elon University a cappella group, Sweet Signatures, the start of the game saw Elon take an early 4-0 lead on baskets by Ryan Winters and Austin Hamilton.  The Pride would finally score their first basket a little more than three and half minutes into the game on a layup by Dion Nesmith.

The Phoenix would maintain the lead for the first nine plus minutes of the half as Tony Sabato led the way with a three point play and two assists.   Elon held Hofstra to five of twenty one shooting during that time span as the Pride simply couldn't get anything going on offense.

Finally Hofstra broke through on Elon and it was their dynamic Niagara duo of  Juan'ya Green and Ameen Tanksley, leading the way. Tanksley and Green buried several threes to help put Hofstra up ten, 25-15.

The Pride would add to their lead as the fouls mounted on the Phoenix, much to the chagrin of the Elon fans, who let the referees know their displeasure with the calls.   A Brian Bernardi three pointer extended the Hofstra lead to sixteen, 36-20.    The Pride would cap their first half with three more free throws to take a 39-25 lead at the halftime.

In the second half, Hofstra was still up fourteen, 51-37 with about thirteen minutes left.  But the Phoenix finally arose, starting a 9-2 spurt to cut the lead to seven, 53-46.   Alumni Gym suddenly got very loud as the Elon fans showed how well the intimate arena holds sound.

However, the Pride responded with an 11-0 run, which put Hofstra up 64-46 with 7:45 left in the game.  The run was highlighted by excellent ball movement by the Pride as they did a great job of rotating the ball around to find the open man.  From there, Elon could get no closer than fifteen the rest of the way.  Similar to the way they ended the College of Charleston game, the Pride were very solid from the line down the stretch, hitting seven of their eight free throws for the very impressive 79-61 road win over the Phoenix.   The Pride again showed their three point prowess as they went fourteen of thirty two from beyond the arc.

Hofstra had left North Carolina in first place in the CAA at 4-0 and 13-4 overall.  They were ranked high in KenPom, 72 after the win over Elon, a team that has only won one CAA conference game since.  Everything was going Hofstra's way, especially having won three of their four conference games on the road.  The Pride had a large contingent of fans at the game vs. the Phoenix.  I have no doubt that Hofstra's faithful happily drove home back to New York that night thinking that the Pride would end that fourteen year drought of not making the NCAA Tournament.  The Flying Dutchmen train was riding at full speed down the Colonial Athletic Conference tracks.

Then the train got briefly stopped at a northeast station.   Hofstra suffered a tough eight point loss, 81-73 at Northeastern. The game, which was a battle for first place at the time, was tied at the half and Hofstra was up 69-68 with nine minutes left before the Huskies went on an 11-0 run to win the game. No shame in losing to one of the preseason favorites in the CAA.

Then the Hofstra train came back to Hempstead for the game at home vs. UNC Wilmington, a team they had beat only a few weeks prior.  A little repair work at the Mack Center and the Flying Dutchmen train would be back on a roll.

And for a while, it sure seemed that way.  The Pride were up five at the half, 38-33 and led by six, 69-63 with 5:42 left in the game.   The Seahawks then went on an 11-1 run over the span of four minutes and forty seconds.  The Hofstra D became non-existent, while their offense, which consisted mainly of three point shooting, went ice cold.    The Pride still had a chance to tie late, but Green missed a crucial free throw that would have tied the game at 75 with thirty four seconds left.  Forced to foul, the Pride would go on to lose the game 79-74.

Head Hofstra Train Engineer Joe Mihalich made some adjustments for the next home game vs. Drexel and the Pride responded with possibly their most balanced offensive game of the season, an 86-58 pasting of the Dragons. The Pride made a more conscientious effort to work the ball to their bigs, which resulted in Hofstra shooting twenty six of forty four from two point range.  Combine that with fifteen steals and thus a twenty eight point win.

With the train seemingly back on track, Hofstra had another home game vs. James Madison.  For the first twenty minutes, the Pride offensive locomotive was chugging away at full speed.  The Pride had a 45-33 lead at the half and still led by twelve, 52-40 with 16:30 left in the game.

Then the Dukes made a run, while the Pride, content to chuck shots from beyond the arc, went frigid.   The result was a 14-0 JMU run over nearly five minutes that put them up 54-52.   Moussa Kone would get the Pride back up later 61-59 with four and a half minutes left.  He would also score their final basket to tie the game at 63.  But JMU would score the last six points of the game while Hofstra continued to clank shots from the outside, missing their last six shots, all three point attempts.  The Dukes would win 69-63.

From there, the train would completely derail.  Hofstra would get hammered in Williamsburg by the first place Tribe of William and Mary, 100-79.  From there, the train limped back home to Hempstead.  Perhaps, the Pride locomotive should have stayed in the shop instead of playing the Towson Tigers.   Up one, 38-37 at the break, Hofstra wilted under the dominance of Towson's frontcourt.  The Tigers scored fifty second half points, shot fifty eight percent from the field, including sixty two percent from two point range and outrebounded Hofstra 41-23.   The result was another home loss 86-72.

After a 4-0 start, the Pride had lost five of their last six games to become .500 in conference.  What had been a great beginning to their conference season had now seemingly gone up in flames.  From 13-4 to 14-9 just like that.  The question was, could Hofstra show the mark of a good team and respond to adversity.

Hofstra did rebound to win their next two games, a ten point road win at Delaware and an eleven point win at home over Elon.   Then they had a golden opportunity, a win at home on national TV (NBC Sports Network) vs. Northeastern and they would be in a tied for third with the Huskies and the Dukes of James Madison.

But despite shooting fifty percent from the field, hitting the same number of two point and three point field goals as the Huskies, the Pride lost 79-68.   Despite FIFTEEN steals, Hofstra couldn't stop Northeastern late on Huskies' possessions.  They also got killed again on the boards 33-17, allowing eleven offensive rebounds and numerous second chances for the Huskies.

So after thirteen games, the Hofstra train is stalled at the Hempstead station at 7-6 in conference, sixth in the CAA and 16-10 overall.  Their KenPom ranking had dropped to nearly double of what it was after the Elon game, 142.

So what happened?  Why is such an offensive juggernaut, the Pride, first in CAA scoring, second in three point FG percentage, first in assists per game and first in turnover margin, which includes first in the CAA in steals per game, struggled so much over the past nine games?

When you look under the hood, it's three things.

One, it is clearly the defense, especially the interior defense.   You didn't really see these issues during the non conference season and that was partly due to the non conference schedule the Pride played.   Only North Carolina State (55) and LaSalle (81) have rankings in the Kenpom top 100 in Hofstra's non conference opponents (William and Mary is the only conference opponent in the top 100 in Ken Pom at currently #89).  The Wolfpack defeated the Pride by twelve, 76-64, while the Explorers defeated the Pride 83-74.  Their other two non conference losses came at USF 71-70 after blowing a late second half double digit lead and an 82-77 loss at Columbia where the Lions hit thirteen three pointers.

So I have looked at their ten losses and for the most part, there is a common thread.  In seven of the ten losses, Hofstra has been outscored in points in the paint, often by large margins.  Only in two of the losses, Columbia and Towson, did Hofstra outscore its opponent in the paint, while in Thursday's game, both Hofstra and Northeastern scored forty four points in the paint.

Points in the Paint in Losses

Hofstra	PIP	Opponent	PIP
Pride	18	NC State	30
Pride	16	USF	36
Pride	20	Columbia	18
Pride	28	LaSalle	44
Pride	36	Northeastern	44
Pride	18	UNCW	40
Pride	34	William and Mary	48
Pride	20	James Madison	24
Pride	32	Towson	30
Pride	44	Northeastern	44

Five times Hofstra has been outscored in the paint by ten or more points.  Five times, Hofstra has allowed forty or more points in the paint.  Only once did Hofstra score more than forty points in the paint in their losses (last game vs. Northeastern).

Two, over reliance on the three point shot.   Hofstra is second in the CAA in three point shooting at 37 percent.  But when the Pride goes cold from beyond the arc, their offense struggles.  In their ten losses, outside of the one point loss to USG and their first game against Northeastern, the Pride have not shot their season average from beyond the arc, often times not even close. Often it's very cold second halves that do Hofstra in. Against James Madison, they shot 2 of 15 in the second half from three point range. Against Towson, they shot 1 of 11 in the second half from beyond the arc.

Three Point Shooting Percentage in Losses

Opponent	Three Pt %
NC State	32% (9 of 28)
USF	42% (11 of 26)
Columbia	33% (8 of 24)
LaSalle	29% (6 of 21)
Northeastern	39% (10 of 26)
UNCW	29% (6 of 21)
James Madison	35% (11 of 31)
William and Mary	31% (9 of 29)
Towson	23% (6 of 26)
Northeastern	33% (4 of 12)

In only one game did they shoot less than twenty 3-point attempts.  In seven games they attempted twenty four or more three pointers,  Hofstra has BY FAR attempted the most three pointers in the CAA, with six hundred and thirty one, ninety six more than the next closest, William and Mary with five hundred and thirty five (Hofstra has played one less game in conference).   Hofstra averages twenty four 3-point attempts per game.   It's the old adage, you live by the three, you die by the three.

Three, Size Matchups

The Pride, having so many talented guards, will often play a four guard set of Green, Dion Nesmith or Jamall Robinson, Brian Bernardi and Ameen Tanksley. Tanksley will play the four and one of their forwards, Rokas Gustys, Moussa Kone or Malik Nichols playing the five.  Now while that creates matchup problems for opponents when Hofstra spreads the floor, it also creates problems for the Pride when it comes to, as noted, interior defense but also rebounding.

Opponent	Opponents Offensive Rebounds	Rebounding Margin	Opponents Second Chance Pts
NC State	16	-4	12
USF	6	+2	4
Columbia	13	-6	12
LaSalle	7	-1	12
Northeastern	4	-17	4
UNCW	12	-3	17
James Madison	11	-8	13
William and Mary	4	+7	2
Towson	12	-18	17
Northeastern	11	-16	9

In only three of the games, USF, the road game vs. Northeastern and William and Mary did Hofstra have more second chance points than their opponent. As noted, they had a double digit lead against the Bulls with four minutes left in the game before losing a game they never should have lost. In the road game vs. the Huskies, Northeastern didn't have many second chance points, since they shot nearly sixty four percent from the field. Likewise, William and Mary shot sixty five percent from the field against Hofstra.

Conclusion
There is hope.  Hofstra scored forty four points in the paint in their loss to Northeastern, which was the third most on the season (Hofstra scored forty six points in the paint vs. Jacksonville and fifty points against Drexel).  The Pride made a concerted effort to work the ball inside to Gustys, Kone and Nichols.  Gustys had his best all around game as a member of Hofstra with thirteen points, five rebounds, four steals and two blocks in twenty four minutes of action.  Nichols added twelve points and Kone chipped in with seven points.   They combined to score thirty two points, fourteen more than their season average.

Watching the Northeastern game on television, Hofstra at times played very good defense.  They had fifteen steals and were often very active and aggressive against the Huskies.   But as the announcers noted, they would let up towards the end of the possession, not communicate well at times on defense, as defenders failed to step out on ball screens and they didn't play help defense when Scott Eatherton got the ball in the post.  Eatherton was eight of ten from the field.  If they play Northeastern again in the CAA tourney, Hofstra needs to double down on Eatherton when he gets it in the post.

Brian Bernardi is a terrific shooter, but if he is not hitting the three pointer, the Pride are much better off defensively with a rotation of Green, Nesmith at the three, Nichols at the four and Kone or Gustys at the five.  This is due to Nichols being much quicker than Bernardi on defense and having more length than Tanksley at the four.  Nichols was much more of a matchup problem for six foot six Northeastern guard David Walker than Bernardi.  Walker had a field day when Bernardi was guarding him.

The Pride have enough offensive firepower to offset Bernardi being on the bench more.  Plus they showed that Gustys is capable of giving them double digit scoring against a good front line like Northeastern's, which, to be honest, is rare in the CAA.   It gives them better balance and better defense. Keep feeding the paint, Hofstra.

The good thing about the CAA is now there are only ten teams, which means six teams now get a bye in the first round as opposed to a few years ago, when only four teams got a bye.   Hofstra is right now in the sixth spot and can right itself for the CAA tournament.  They will likely have to face both William and Mary and Northeastern in the the tourney to get to the NCAA Tournament anyway.  It's going to be defense that gets them there.

They can start that defensive trend against Drexel today.   Let's see if they can get the train rolling again.

Hofstra Outslugs College of Charleston

Over the past nearly ten years that I have been writing about college basketball, one term occasionally is thrown about, especially in #CAAHoops circles; the term "rockfight".   The term was started by several CAA bloggers and fans, often to denote Drexel basketball.   Rockfight in CAA circles is often a low scoring, often bad shooting knock em down, drag out, physical affair.  There are lots of fouls, but not a lot of points. Basically the kind of game Drexel and Bruiser Flint seemingly loved to play over the years.  The wrestling announcer Jim Ross would call such a game "a slobberknocker".

Thus was the case last night between Hofstra and the College of Charleston at TD Arena on the campus of the College of Charleston.   The two teams were at the opposite ends of the Colonial standings. Hofstra was tied for first at 2-0, while CofC was 0-2.   But as the other games in the CAA last night showed, standings and previous game play didn't matter.

It was nice to be back at TD Arena in one of my favorite cities in the United States and only two hours from where I live in Columbia.  And there's nothing better than a good high school steel drum band, which greeted us in the concourse of the arena.

The game started out slowly from an offensive standpoint.  Neither team was shooting well and the score after eight minutes of play was 8-4 Hofstra.  After nine and a half minutes it was 11-4.  Then in the span of seventy five seconds, CofC scored nearly doubled their point total with a 7-0 run to tie the game at eleven on a Canyon Barry three pointer.

But both teams would continue to struggle, as they shot under thirty percent for most of the first half . With about nine minutes left in the first half, there were as many fouls by both teams, thirteen, as Hofstra had points.  Things didn't get any better as the score was only 17-13 with six minutes left in the half.

This was due in large part to the physical play on the court.   There were several non calls on Hofstra which made the CofC fans irate.  When a foul was finally called on Hofstra, there was a huge howl from the crowd, basically as a sigh of relief from the previous officiating of the game.

The pace would pick up over those final six minutes and The Pride would enter halftime up 28-24.  At the beginning of the halftime, the public address announcer noted that if Charleston wins a game by scoring 71 or more points, the fans would be treated to a meal deal at a local restaurant.   In this case, that would mean the Cougars would have to basically double their output in the first half, an unlikely event given their shooting percentage.

Ameen Tanksley started the second half, doing what he does best, burying a three pointer to put the Pride up seven, 31-24.  But the Cougars came to life and as a result, so did the crowd.  CofC outscored Hofstra 13-5 over the next six and a half minutes.  Anthony Stitt's jumper put the Cougars up 37-36 and the CofC fans in attendance made the most noise they had all night. After a Green free throw tied the game at thirty seven, Baru hit a jumper to put the Cougars up two 39-37.

The Pride responded with a 12-3 spurt of their own, scoring all their points on three pointers. , Green and Dion Nesmith each hit one, then Tanksley hit two in a row.  His second three pointer put Hofstra up 49-42 with a little under nine minutes left.  It looked like the Pride were hitting their stride shooting wise.

However, the Cougars had another run in them.   They outscored Hofstra 13-3 over the span of four minutes.  Barry again did a good part of the damage.   His three pointer tied the game at fifty two.  Then Cameron Johnson banked in a three to put the CofC up 55-52 with 4:51 left and the John Kresse Court was the loudest it had been all night.

For the first thirty five minutes of the game, the Pride had struggled from the line.  They had shot eleven of nineteen going into those last four minutes and fifty one seconds of the game.

Then a strange thing happened.  Brian Bernardi was fouled on a three point attempt.  He calmly sank all three free throws to tie the game at fifty five.  After Donovan Gilmore put the Cougars back up with two free throws, Green tied the game for Hofstra again, making both of his free throws, which made it five three throws in a row for Hofstra.  Green would come up huge again, hitting a jumper to put Hofstra up 59-57 with 2:48 left.

While Hofstra had troubles from the charity stripe for most the game, CofC had been very good, shooting 11 of 13 from the line.  But down the stretch, the Cougars charity stripe shooting failed them.  Johnson first had a chance to tie the game, but only made one of two free throws to cut the lead to one, 59-58.  Then after a terrific drive and layup by Dion Nesmith put the Pride up three, 61-58 with a little over a minute left, Adjehi Baru had a chance to cut the lead to one.  He missed one of two free throws as well.

The Cougars were down two, 61-59 with thirty eight seconds left and had to foul the rest of the game.  But Green and Nesmith were huge down the stretch, hitting all eight of their free throws.  Mix in a great pass from Nesmith to Moussa Kone for a thunderous dunk and Hofstra escaped with the 71-66 win.

After both teams combined for fifty two points in the first half, each team scored over forty points in the second half.  Go figure.  Still, the Pride had more fouls, twenty, than baskets, nineteen.  For CofC, it was close. Twenty two baskets to twenty one fouls.

Green had another stat stuffer game with 26 points, 5 rebounds and 4 assists.  Green shot 13 of 14 from the charity stripe.  Tanksley added 17 points and Nesmith had 11 points off the bench for the Pride.  Hofstra went 13 for 13 from the line over the last 4:22 of the game.

Barry led the Cougars with 21 points , 7 rebounds and 3 steals.  He showed a nice all around game as he drove the basket often on Bernardi, who had a hard time covering him. Stitt added 11 points.

On a night where William and Mary and James Madison suffered their first conference defeats, Hofstra managed to squeak out a road win.  The road is often unkind to #CAAHoops teams.  When you get a win after a "rockfight" on your opponents' floor in the Colonial, the bus ride afterwards is a lot sweeter.

There must have been a lot of smiling faces on the Pride players as they headed to Elon for their next game on Saturday.

Back at the Mack (Recap of NJIT v. Hofstra)

When I was planning my itinerary for my family Christmas vacation trip up to Long Island, I knew that the last activity before heading back to Columbia, South Carolina on New Year's Eve morning was going to be a Hofstra home basketball game on Monday, December 30.   It was only fitting that I would be ending my time in New York at the Mack Center.

When I first started my blog in December 2005, the first game I covered for my blog was Hofstra hosting Delaware in its first CAA home game of the season.   The Pride were up by twenty three points in the second half before coasting to a fourteen point win.  That was the famous 2005-06 Hofstra team that featured Loren Stokes, Antoine Agudio, Carlos Rivera, Aurimas Kieza and Adrian Uter, arguably the best starting five in the history of the Pride/Flying Dutchmen basketball program.  That team was snubbed out of NCAA Tournament berth and instead made the NIT, losing in the quarterfinals to ODU.

Eight years later, here I was, sitting in my old seat, Section 111, Row D, Seat 10, looking at a very empty arena forty five minutes before game time vs. NJIT.  The 3-8 Hofstra team that I would be watching this past Monday night was a far cry from that terrific 26-7 Pride team I saw eight years ago or even the last good Hofstra team from the 2010-11 season with Charles Jenkins.  But some things thankfully never change at the Mack.

As I entered the Mack Center, I saw my old friends Maureen and Maria at the ticket office.   Maureen works there during home games, but she is a teacher at Hofstra's Salzman Day Care Center and she had both my sons while they were there.  Maria is the person I have gladly dealt with for years for season tickets.  Both are terrific people and it was good to see them.

After I got my ticket and my usual Hofstra dinner of a drink, a hotdog and a pretzel with cheese, I made my way into the arena.  Immediately, I saw my good friend, Bob Sugar, who I've known for close to twenty five years.  We've played softball together, won two fantasy baseball championships together and were at each other's weddings.   Bob and I talked for about fifteen minutes catching up about our families.   

Then my long time Hofstra colleague and friend Kenny Tyler came up to say hello while I was talking to Bob.  I worked with Kenny for many years at Hofstra on various physical plant needs while I was at the Law School.   The three of us ended up talking about Hofstra basketball and the good direction it's heading under new coach Joe Mihalich (along with what seems is the lack of calls Mihalich gets at the end of Hofstra home games).   

A few minutes later, I made my way to my seat, which is very close to press row.  First I said hi to Patricia Houston, who I used to work with at Hofstra's Axinn Library and works as an usher at home basketball games.   Press row is also where my good friend Jaden Daly,  who I call "The OmniPresence of New York City Metro College Basketball" was covering the game for his blog, A Daly Dose of Hoops.   I had just seen him a couple of days before on Saturday for both the Seton Hall-St John's Women's Basketball game and the Boston College-VCU game at the Barclays Center.

A few minutes before the game started, my longtime friend and season ticket holder, Bob, who sits directly across from me in Section 112, walked up the stairs to head to his seat.   When he saw me, he said he thought he saw a ghost, since I haven't been at Hofstra in a year since December 2012.  Bob and I caught up about the Hofstra team and University of South Carolina basketball.

A few more people filled the seats at the Mack Center, as the announced attendance of 856 seemed about right.  The Pride were hosting, NJIT,  the sole independent school in Division I College Basketball.   So Jaden, "There can be only one" independent ( you need to know the movie "Highlander").  The Highlanders, coached by Jim Engles, are without a home after the breakup of the Great West, which was a five team, non NCAA bid conference last season.   The other four schools in the 2012-13 season, the last season of the Great West all found homes; Chicago State, Utah Valley and Texas Pan American joined the WAC, while Houston Baptist joined the Southland.

Engles has done a nice job at NJIT.  Entering his sixth season now, Engles coached the Highlanders to their first winning record in Division I last season at 16-12. Engles is the true Tri State Area local basketball coach having assisted at Wagner, Rider and Columbia before taking the head coaching job at NJIT.  His team entered the game with six wins on the season, including wins over Army, New Hampshire, Maine (twice) and Lafayette. 

The Pride jumped out quickly, as they scored the first nine points of the game. Dion Nesmith, who missed three weeks due to meniscus surgery, nailed a three to start the Hofstra run.  Nesmith then assisted on a Jordan Allen basket to make the score 5-0.  Stephen Nwaukoni would end the run with two free throws to put Hofstra up 9-0.

It was during this time that Tieff showed up finally, as his LIRR train was delayed (what a shock).  Them my good friend and "rival blogger", Jerry Beach, aka Defiantly Dutch tweeted as to where I was in the building.   Jaden had to remind him that I was sitting in my old season ticket seat.  Tieff and I would sit with Jerry, his lovely wife Michelle and his absolutely cute daughter Molly in the second half.

NJIT would cut the lead as Ky Howard and Damon Lynn would assist each other on their respective baskets.  Lynn's three, which would be one of many for him on the night, cut the score to 9-5.   Hofstra would respond with a 7-1 spurt to go up 16-6. Then Nigel Sydnor, whose name would result in several Spinal Tap reference tweets, including one where we all hoped that Spinal Tap would recruit Karl Hess to be their drummer, hit a basket and a free throw to cut the Hofstra lead to seven, 16-9.

The Pride would respond with an 11-2 spurt as Zeke Upshaw, an absolute hidden gem of a graduate student find by Mihalich, scored four of the points in that run.  Jordan Allen, who by necessity (Nesmith's injury) has become a point guard, assisted on a Jamall Robinson three, then added a basket to put Hofstra up 27-11 with six and a half minutes left.  

But as has been the case with the Pride for the entire season, they can look good for several minutes, then look stagnant and error prone on offense.  In the span of three minutes, Hofstra committed four turnovers.  NJIT took advantage and went on a 9-1 run during that span.  A Winfred Willis layup cut the lead to eight, 28-20 with 2:46 left in the half.

The Pride outscored the Highlanders 9-5 the rest of the half to take a 37-25 lead into halftime.  Nesmith had a hand in the final six points for Hofstra, scoring four on a layup and two free throws, while assisting on a Chris Jenkins three pointer.  The graduate student Nesmith's basketball career is a very unique story.

Nesmith was a two sport star in high school in New Jersey in basketball and football.  He was actually recruited by Northeastern as a quarterback and was a redshirt freshman for the Huskies.   Well, just like Hofstra did a short time later, Northeastern killed their football program.   Nesmith decided he would play basketball instead and inquired about a spot on the Huskies basketall team, but they had no scholarships available.    Northeastern was kind enough to allow him to transfer to Monmouth to play basketball.

But due to NCAA rules,  Nesmith had to sit out a year.  Why?  Because he switched sports when he transferred, he was not eligible to keep a year of eligibility.   Yes the NCAA, aka the No Clue At All, penalized Nesmith for transferring because he decided to transfer to play basketball instead of football.  In other words, Nesmith was punished for trying to find a school that would give him a scholarship to play a sport when his original school took away his scholarship and didn't have a scholarship in the other sport he played.  

This is another reason why people from Jay Bilas to Jerry Tarkanian have problems with the NCAA.   Their eligibility rulings, which often seem arbitrary, absolutely make no sense in an instance like this case.  Nesmith eventually would play two seasons at Monmouth, graduated and got his degree.  Then due to NCAA's graduate transfer rule, Nesmith transferred to Hofstra for his final season while going to graduate school.   It's ironic that Nesmith would end his college playing career with Hofstra, a school, as noted, just like Northeastern, killed its football program also in 2009. 

Hofstra has had their own history of players, from this season with Eliel Gonzalez to a few seasons ago with Brad Kelleher.   The NCAA ruled that Gonzalez received "partial" approval for his eligibility waiver.  If he makes the necessary academic progress, he will be eligible next season and be eligible for four seasons.   

Meanwhile, Kelleher had originally been ruled ineligible and was out  for the 2009-10 season due to supposedly signing a contract with an Australian pro league.  The general manager of the league in an interview said it was an application form, not a contract.  Eventually Kelleher received eligibilty for part of his senior season and was the starting point guard for the 2010-11 team that made the CAA Tournament Semifinals.

At halftime, Tieff and I made our way to Defiantly Dutch and his family's season ticket seats underneath the Hofstra basket.   It was there that I was greeted by my long time friend, mentor and former boss, Howard Graves.  Howard and I caught up for several minutes and it was great seeing my dear friend who taught me so much in my first administrative position on campus.

Tieff and I spent the second half watching the game with Jerry, Michelle and Molly, who is just absolutely adorable.  We caught up with each other on what's going on with our lives and of course, discussed Hofstra basketball.

The second half saw the Highlanders cut the Pride lead to six, 39-33.  Then Hofstra went on a 9-1 spurt as they buried three shots from beyond the arc.  Robinson sandwiched two three pointers around a Nesmith three pointer to give the Pride 48-34. 

NJIT would again cut the lead to single digits, but a Nwaukoni layup and a Jenkins three put Hofstra back up 53-40 with eleven minutes left in the game.  Defiantly Dutch appropriately compared the reserve Jenkins to "The Microwave" Vinnie Johnson, the longtime bench player for the Detroit Pistons known for his propensity to score quickly/heat up from long range.  Jenkins even looks like Johnson with his six foot four, 215 pound build.

But the Pride couldn't put the Highlanders away.  NJIT scored the next seven points to cut the lead to six, 53-47.  After the "Hofstra Microwave", Jenkins, put the Pride back up nine, 56-47, the Highlanders would respond with an 11-3 spurt over four minutes.   Lynn would bury two three pointers in a row to bring NJIT within one, 59-58 with 4:30 left in the game.  Lynn would hit six three pointers on the night for the Highlanders.

But Nesmith buried a clutch three to put Hofstra back up four, 62-58 with a little over four minutes left in the game,  Upshaw followed with two free throws to extend the lead to six.  Willis would respond for NJIT with a three point play to cut the lead to three, 64-61.

The Highlanders though would not get any closer by being their own worst enemy.  NJIT would go scoreless over the next two and a half minutes, due in large part to three turnovers in that span.  Meanwhile, Hofstra would hit five of their next six free throws, then get a layup from Moussa Kone to go up ten 71-61.   Lynn would hit one last three pointer for the Highlanders, but the Pride scored the final four points on free throws as Hofstra won 75-64.

Nesmith tied Lynn for most points scored on the night with twenty.  He added five assists and two steals.  Upshaw, the Pride's leading scorer on the season, added fifteen points and seven rebounds. Jenkins had twelve points on four three pointers and Robinson added eleven points.  The Pride shot forty eight percent, including ten of twenty two from beyond the arc.   Hofstra is now 4-8 on the season.

Lynn had his twenty points on six of twelve shooting from beyond the arc.   He was their only scorer in double figures as Willis, Howard and Terrence Smith each scoring nine points.  Other than Lynn, the Highlanders shot one of ten from beyond the arc and forty two percent for the game.   NJIT is now 6-10 on the season, not bad for an independent trying to find a home.

After the game,  Michelle, Molly, Tieff and I waited for Dutch and Jaden to finish with the post game press conference.   Coach Mihalich came out later and said hello to us, thanking us for coming out to the game.   Afterwards, the Beach clan, Tieff, Jaden and I went to Colony Diner on Hempstead Turnpike for a post game celebratory meal.    It was a great dinner with great friends. 

My evening ended with all of us saying goodbye out in the diner parking lot.  Afterwards, I dropped Jaden off at Mineola train station so he could make his train back out to Queens.  Then I headed back to where I was staying with my family at my in-laws house in Levittown.

As I drove back down Old Country Road, I thought about how the Hofstra game was a fitting way to finish my vacation trip.  It's been eight years now since I started my blog.   A lot has changed in those eight years.  Along with all the games I have covered in those eight years, I have two sons, many friends due to college basketball and a new job that's seven hundred and fifty miles away from my childhood home.  

But for one night, as the Allman Brothers put it, it was nice to be "Back Where It All Begins".  

It was nice to be back at the Mack. 

Humpty Causes Hofstra a Great Fall

Sometimes, there are long stretches where one team has another team's number.  When Hofstra first joined the CAA in 2001, they lost their first three games in conference with James Madison and had lost four in a row overall to JMU.  But starting in 2004, the Pride have gone on a twelve game winning streak vs. the Dukes.

Though the series record indicates one team's dominance over another, the results have been quite close.  During Hofstra's streak vs. JMU, nine of the twelve games were decided by seven points or less.  Three of the games went into overtime; a 92-90 win in January of this year, a 99-96 double overtime game in February 2009 and the all time gem, a 95-88 triple overtime game in February 2005.

So when the Dukes made the all familiar trip to Hempstead yesterday to face the Pride in the conference season opening game for both teams, it seemed one thing would be certain. It would be a close game.  And sure enough, the game lived up to that billing.

My older son Matthew was looking forward to yesterday.   For not only was there a basketball game, but Saturday was the long awaited day for putting up the Christmas decorations outside our house.  Now for me, I actually enjoy decorating for Halloween, not so much for Christmas.  But to placate a six year old boy and his four year old brother, I took down the decorations from the garage and spent the better part of the late morning and afternoon hanging Christmas lights and getting out several decorative inflatables.  Needless to say I was happy to leave for the basketball game when it was time.

The game started out with JMU's leading scorer on the season, A.J. Davis picking up two quick fouls in the first five minutes. But Madison hung in there, thanks in large part to their offensive rebounding. In the first half, the Dukes had eleven offensive rebounds which led to eleven second chance points.  JMU took a 22-17 lead with 7:45 left in the first half on a three pointer by Armon Marks, which was their only successful three point shot at that time.  The Dukes, the best three point shooting team in the CAA, would be only two of eleven from beyond the arc in the first half.

While JMU's leading scorer was on the bench with as many fouls as points, two, Hofstra's leading scorer for the season, Mike Moore, was basically unstoppable.  Moore hit four three pointers in the first half  (Hofstra was 5 of 10 from beyond the arc in the first half) and scored twenty of Hofstra's thirty one points.  After the Dukes had taken that five point lead, the Pride would go on a 14-2 run, with Moore scoring half those points.

However, JMU coach Matt Brady made a critical decision with a minute left in the half.  He went for a two for one possession.  The Dukes would miss two three pointers on their first possession and a Moore jumper would be the final points for Hofstra in the first half.  But due to the two for one possession, the Dukes got the ball back and called timeout.  Off the timeout, Humpty Hitchens, another transfer from Akron, hoisted a sixty foot prayer right before the buzzer.

As the buzzer sounded...nothing...but...net.

The officials reviewed the play to make sure the shot came before the buzzer, which it clearly did from our vantage point.  The officials confirmed that it was good.  And due to the Dukes second only successful three pointer in the half, instead of Hofstra going into the half up seven, they were only up four, 31-27.  Hofstra coach Mo Cassara was none too pleased, as if he knew that shot might come back to haunt the Pride.

At half time, there was your classic youth basketball game for entertainment.  But Matthew was pleading for me to get him a pretzel.  And since I can't say no to my cute six year old son, we waited on a long concession line while I tweeted updates on the game.

It was clear at the start of the second half that Coach Matt Brady told his team "Whatever you do, don't let Mike Moore beat us."  And the Dukes took him out of the game.  For the better part of the last twenty minutes, Moore barely touched the ball.  He would only have five shot attempts in the second half, hitting only one of those.

But early on, it didn't seem to affect the Pride.  Hofstra actually extended it's lead using a 10-2 run.  After Nathaniel Lester hit his first three pointer since the first game of this season, the Pride were up 43-33.   The lead was still ten, 47-37 after a Stephen Nwaukoni layup with a little more than eleven minutes remaining in the game.  JMU looked off in their shot selection and the rest of the Hofstra players were chipping in despite Moore being held scoreless.

But twice already in this early season, Hofstra had similar leads, only to see them evaporate and lose the game.  Against Florida Atlantic, the Pride were up 36-27 before going on a three for eighteen shooting drought and lost 62-60.  Against Boston University, the Pride were up 42-35 before shooting two of fifteen for the rest of the game and lost 68-61.  

Unfortunately for Hofstra, history would repeat itself yesterday.   With Moore being held scoreless, the Pride would shoot one of eight from the field over the next seven minutes. Meanwhile, JMU's vaunted three point shooting came to life.  Hitchens nailed two three pointers and Julius Wells added one as well.  The Dukes went on a 13-3 run and tied the game at fifty on Alioune Diouf jumper with six and half minutes left.

The Pride would retake the lead in large part to guard Shemiye McLendon.  First McLendon gave a pretty feed to forward Moussa Kone for a resounding dunk.  Then McLendon channeled his inner Vinnie Johnson (they wear the same jersey number, 15), and buried a slightly off balance eighteen foot jumper.  Hofstra was back up 56-52 with three minutes left.

After the teams traded turnovers and Hofstra's Dwan McMillan missed an open jumper, Davis came alive for James Madison.  First, he buried a three pointer to cut the lead to one, 56-55.  Then after a turnover by McLendon, the Dukes called timeout.  My friend Mal predicted that they would call a play for Davis.  Sure enough, off the inbounds play, they got it to Davis, who hit a layup and was fouled by Kone.   He would hit the free throw for the three point play. James Madison was up for the first time since four minutes remaining in the first half, 58-56 with a minute left in the game.

But Hofstra finally got Moore involved after JMU's imposed nineteen minute sabbatical.  Moore hit two free throws for his first points of the second half and the game was tied at fifty eight.  But Hitchens, the proverbial thorn in the Pride's side, nailed a jumper to put Madison up two, 60-58 with thirty nine seconds left.

To Hofstra's credit, they didn't waste time with the ball and went after a good shot immediately. That good shot was a Moore layup that tied the game at sixty with twenty six seconds left.   JMU wound down the clock and with about three seconds left, Hitchens hit another jumper over McMillan's outstretched hand.  The Dukes were up 62-60, but Moore had one last chance.  He hoisted a sixty footer from almost the same exact location Hitchens hit his three pointer at the end of the first half.

As the buzzer sounded...nothing...but...backboard.

James Madison had won 62-60.  Hitchens' sixty footer at the end of the half did come back to haunt Hofstra.  He led JMU with twenty points, while Davis had ten of his twelve points in the second half.  Moore had twenty four to lead all scorers, but the Dukes holding him in check in the second half was huge.  David Imes was the only other double figure scorer for Hofstra with ten points.

For once, a Humpty caused someone else's great fall.  All the Hofstra players and all the Hofstra fans couldn't keep the streak alive again.   After twelve straight losses, the Dukes finally had a win against the Pride.

Back in the Saddle Again - The 2011-12 Hofstra Men's Basketball Preview

Last week was the Hofstra Season Ticket Holder Scrimmage and Reception.  As I entered the Mack Center, my son Matthew and I headed to an open seat.  There I saw my old friend, Mr. Defiantly Dutch himself, Jerry Beach.   Jerry was already there watching the scrimmage with his much better half Michelle.  As I walked up to the Dutchman, I started singing "I'm back in the saddle again".  Yes, I am old school and thanks to my country music loving parents, I got to know the classic Gene Autry ditty.   Thus in my sixth year of writing this blog, it's the perfect theme for today's post.

So when Hofstra hosted Division II Queens College yesterday in an exhibition game, even though it didn't officially start the college basketball season, it was the start of the season to me.  And the best way to give a preview of the Pride for the 2011-12 season was to base it around the game vs. the Knights.

A season ago, Hofstra was centered around Charles Jenkins, their three time Haggerty Award and two time CAA Player of the Year guard.   Jenkins led the Pride to a 14-4 conference record and a 21-11 overall record.  Based on statistical analysis, Jenkins was probably the most important player to his team in the country.  Due to the NBA lockout, Jenkins was on hand to watch Hofstra's exhibition game and spent a good part being interviewed by the WRHU radio announce team.

As you would expect for an exhibition game, the stands were lightly filled, despite free admission.  Only a few rows of students filled the Lions Den behind the east basket.   Hofstra had their cheerleaders, dance team and the pep band there as well.  The dance team was in fine mid-season form.  The pep band was also in midseason form.  Unfortunately that meant, as usual, they didn't sound good at all.

As for Hofstra's starting lineup, seniors Mike Moore and Nathaniel Lester, along with junior transfer Steve Mejia, comprised the backcourt.  Junior David Imes and freshman Moussa Kone started in the frontcourt.  

Moore was the second leading scorer on the Pride, averaging nearly fifteen points per game and is one of the top free throw shooters in the CAA.  He is no longer the wingman for Jenkins, but now one of the tri-captains of the team and the main scoring threat in his senior season.  Coach Mo Cassara is counting on Moore to fill the leadership void and also partly makeup for the scoring lost by Jenkins' graduation.

Lester is a redshirt senior, returning from a quad injury that sidelined him for the entire 2010-11 season.  In the 2009-2010 season, he played the sixth man under former coach Tom Pecora, averaging eight points per game. Lester is also another one of the tri-captains for Cassara and he is being counted on to average double digits in scoring.

Mejia is the transfer point guard from Rhode Island who sat out last season.  In his sophomore season with the Rams, he averaged 18 minutes, 3.5 assists and only 1.2 turnovers per game.  He now has a chance to play thirty plus minutes with the Pride and Cassara is counting on additional scoring from Mejia as well..

Imes, the most improved player from last season, is looking to improve again this season.  He averaged 7.6 points per game and 6.8 rebounds per game.  Imes seem to struggle at times yesterday, but later in the game he found his rhythm as he scored two baskets in a row to keep the Pride up thirteen, 59-46.  Cassara will be counting on Imes to be a consistent inside scoring force.

Kone was a surprise starter for the Pride.  He is a 6 foot 7 freshman from the Bronx who has a nice lefthanded touch around the basket and has impressed during practices.  Kone is one of two new frontcourt players for the Pride, who need to sorely improve on their rebounding from a year ago.

The game started out very sluggish with Queens getting an early 5-0 lead.  The Knights actually still had a lead 14-13 with 10:40 left before the Pride took the lead for good.   It was two bench players who sparked the Pride over the final ten plus minutes of the first half.  Sophomore Shemiye McLendon, who often provided instant offense for the Pride off the bench last season, provided several points off the bench.  Also, JUCO transfer Bryant Crowder provided points as well as solid defensive work to propel Hofstra to a 33-22 lead.  In the second half, Crowder had a thunderous slam off an entry pass that gave the crowd their highlight of the game.

The halftime stats exemplified the Pride's probable strengths, weaknesses and improvements for the season.  Hofstra was 12 of 17 from two point range in the first half but 0 for 6 from beyond the arc.  Moore had 12 points in the first half, most coming from driving the lane.  The Pride held the Knights to 35.7 percent shooting in the first half.   Most of Queens' points came from Khalil McDonald, who scored nineteen points in the game.

The second half showed promise for Hofstra.  Kone and Crowder were able to get down the court pretty quickly.. It was alsio impressive to see the two big men play very fundamentally sound basketball on both ends of the court.   With sophomore Stephen Nwaukoni filling out the frontcourt rotation, the Pride actually have more depth up front than last season.  If this game was any indication, the rebounding looks to be much improved as Hofstra outrebounded Queens 40-26.

In the second half, Queens got no closer than ten points the rest of the way.  Hofstra was up by as many as nineteen, 67-48 before cruising to a 71-57 win over Queens.  Moore led all scorers with 20 points.  Lester added 13, Crowder 12 and Mejia 10.   The Pride shot 48 percent from the field and eight players played 13 or more minutes.  Senior Dwan McMillan, who impressed me during last week's scrimmage, sat due to an apparent injury.  Once he is healthy, he will fill out what seems to be a nine man rotation.

The game made it very apparent how Hofstra will have to play this season.  As shown by the scoring breakdown, it will be much more of a team effort to makeup for the loss of Jenkins on offense.  Against Queens, Hofstra made a concerted effort to drive the lane and work the ball inside.  Due to their height, Lester and Moore provide difficult defensive matchups for opponents. .It made sense, because based on a 3-15 performance from beyond the arc, the Pride may be lacking a consistent three point shooting threat.

On the defensive end, the Pride played with a lot of effort and Cassara was doing a lot of coaching with his players when they missed assignments or didn't have the correct positioning.   As noted earlier, Crowder and Kone seem to bring better athleticism and rebounding to Hofstra.  I was also impressed on how both of them played on the defensive end.  Also, having two 6 foot 5 guards in Moore and Lester will help in rebounding.

Finally, the key is Mejia.  Mejia had a very solid game with ten points and nine assists (though he had four turnovers).  He did a very good job driving the lane and finding the open man. Mejia also went to the free throw line nine times, though he needs to improve on his percentage, as he only he hit five of those attempts from the charity stripe.

Jenkins was obviously the main reason why Hofstra was so successful in conference.  But another important element was that Hofstra did an excellent job in ball possession and free throw shooting.  Hofstra led the CAA in assists to turnover ratio and free throw percentage and was third in turnover margin (VCU and George Mason were 1-2).  Hofstra needs to be as good in those categories again because the window of margin is now much less with Sir Charles gone.

The Pride get their first test against a very good LIU team this Friday, November 11.  The Blackbirds are the defending NEC champions who have six of their top eight players returning.   LIU's high scoring, uptempo game will be a serious challenge to Hofstra's defense.

Hofstra Pride - 21-11 last season, 14-4 CAA.  Lost in CAA Semifinals to ODU.  Lost at Evansville in first round of CBI.

Strengths - Veteran guard leadership in Moore, Lester and Mejia.

Improvements - More athletic big men.  Deeper nine man rotation (once McMillan is healthy).

Questions  - Scoring options to make up for the loss of Jenkins.  Consistent outside shooting threat.

Prediction  - Seventh in the CAA.