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Hofstra
Dec 30, 2011 10:19:23 GMT -5
Post by chelseadal on Dec 30, 2011 10:19:23 GMT -5
I for one never thought of us as a Top 25 team - Top 40 is more like it. Regardless, being a Top 25 team doesn't mean you can't go out an lay an egg once in a while. Let's remember what unranked Wagner just did to #11 Pitt on their home court. Last night was disappointing. Give credit to Hofstra for playing a great game and let's take it out on the MAAC beginning with the destruction of Sienna on Tuesday night. Not close to a top 40 team either. I wish they were but they are not.
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Hofstra
Dec 30, 2011 10:44:52 GMT -5
Post by gaelman on Dec 30, 2011 10:44:52 GMT -5
Positives:
a) I graduated from Hofstra, so at least one my teams won (though not the one I wanted).
b) Short ride home after the game.
c) Seeing Smyth back on the court and playing well was great.
Negatives
a) 18 first half turnovers. Horrible! Probably the worst job taking care of the ball since a December 1998 game at Canisius when I believe they had over 30 TOs (I remember Maceo Wofford committed right after that game, partly because he realized how desperate Iona was for guards).
b) Horrible shot selection.
c) Overall lack of effort and teamwork.
A few other thoughts.
It is only one game. They played horribly, but it happens to all teams once in a while. Based upon the tweets from the players, it seems like they got the wakeup call, but we will see.
An at large bid is still a remote possibility. As I told Guy, they probably lost more spots in the RPI by showing up than by losing.
If they run the table and lose in the MAAC final, they will almost certainly get an at large. They would be 29-4 against a decent schedule and would just snapped a 19 game winning streak. That said, it is very likely that they will lose 1 to 3 more games before the MAAC tournament, so they will probably need to win in Springfield to get a bid.
I've followed Hofstra and been to two other home games, and they played over their heads last night. Normally, the box and one on Moore they played in the second half, would have completely shut them down.
Those two 3 pointers that Lester hit in the second half were total flukes and really hurt. Prior to that, he had hit only one 3 pointer since HU's opening game and had made 1 of his past 21 attempts. Sometimes, it just isn't your night.
As for the half naked fat guy, (Was he the model from the Manzier ad?) I've got to give him credit. He put in more effort than almost the entire Iona team last night, and seemed to want it more than they did.
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Hofstra
Dec 30, 2011 10:48:39 GMT -5
Post by callahan1984 on Dec 30, 2011 10:48:39 GMT -5
Hofstra sure played like they were in the first half. Most of their shots fell, they killed us on hustle and they got some calls (charging) which could have gone either way. No excuses. We didn't play well and looked tired and lethargic. Momo did a good job running the point and did his best to get us back in the game (I think we cut it to 6 late in the 2nd half) and Mike Glover and Momo contributed from a scoring prospective, but for whatever reason, Scott was not running on all cylinders last night and we are not the same explosive team without him.
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Hofstra
Dec 30, 2011 10:53:54 GMT -5
Post by chelseadal on Dec 30, 2011 10:53:54 GMT -5
Positives: a) I graduated from Hofstra, so at least one my teams won (though not the one I wanted). b) Short ride home after the game. c) Seeing Smyth back on the court and playing well was great. Negatives a) 18 first half turnovers. Horrible! Probably the worst job taking care of the ball since a December 1998 game at Canisius when I believe they had over 30 TOs (I remember Maceo Wofford committed right after that game, partly because he realized how desperate Iona was for guards). b) Horrible shot selection. c) Overall lack of effort and teamwork. A few other thoughts. It is only one game. They played horribly, but it happens to all teams once in a while. Based upon the tweets from the players, it seems like they got the wakeup call, but we will see. An at large bid is still a remote possibility. As I told Guy, they probably lost more spots in the RPI by showing up than by losing. If they run the table and lose in the MAAC final, they will almost certainly get an at large. They would be 29-4 against a decent schedule and would just snapped a 19 game winning streak. That said, it is very likely that they will lose 1 to 3 more games before the MAAC tournament, so they will probably need to win in Springfield to get a bid. I've followed Hofstra and been to two other home games, and they played over their heads last night. Normally, the box and one on Moore they played in the second half, would have completely shut them down. Those two 3 pointers that Lester hit in the second half were total flukes and really hurt. Prior to that, he had hit only one 3 pointer since HU's opening game and had made 1 of his past 21 attempts. Sometimes, it just isn't your night. As for the half naked fat guy, (Was he the model from the Manzier ad?) I've got to give him credit. He put in more effort than almost the entire Iona team last night, and seemed to want it more than they did.
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Hofstra
Dec 30, 2011 10:56:28 GMT -5
Post by gaelman on Dec 30, 2011 10:56:28 GMT -5
I for one never thought of us as a Top 25 team - Top 40 is more like it. Regardless, being a Top 25 team doesn't mean you can't go out an lay an egg once in a while. Let's remember what unranked Wagner just did to #11 Pitt on their home court. Last night was disappointing. Give credit to Hofstra for playing a great game and let's take it out on the MAAC beginning with the destruction of Sienna on Tuesday night. Not close to a top 40 team either. I wish they were but they are not. I disagree, I think they are in the top 40 range. Last night was horrendous, but it is one game. Butler lost to 9 - 21 Youngstown State last year. They also lost to Milwaukee TWICE, including once by 24 points. VCU lost to Georgia State, Northeastern and JMU last year.
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Hofstra
Dec 30, 2011 11:00:29 GMT -5
Post by chelseadal on Dec 30, 2011 11:00:29 GMT -5
Not close to a top 40 team either. I wish they were but they are not. I disagree, I think they are in the top 40 range. Last night was horrendous, but it is one game. Butler lost to 9 - 21 Youngstown State last year. They also lost to Milwaukee TWICE, including once by 24 points. We haven't played a top 35 team yet and got thumped by Marshall. Run the table? Based on what? Very good team. Lack of height and defense hurt against some teams. We really haven't played any top teams. The road schedule was a bear though. VCU lost to Georgia State, Northeastern and JMU last year.
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Hofstra
Dec 30, 2011 11:14:42 GMT -5
Post by gaelman on Dec 30, 2011 11:14:42 GMT -5
A couple more thoughts.
a) The fact that there was such a big Iona fan pressence and the Hofstra student section (which is normally very enthusiatic and pretty well organized) was practically empty due to school being out of session, makes the loss even worse for the Gaels.
b) While I think it was great for Francessa to show up at a mid-major game, I thought it was totally unprofessional for him to sit behind the basket and try to distract the Iona free throw shooters by taking off his shirt. ;D
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Hofstra
Dec 30, 2011 11:26:44 GMT -5
Post by jerseygael on Dec 30, 2011 11:26:44 GMT -5
This has been a crazy week! Wagner beats Pitt, Rutger beats Florida. Wonder if Pitts and Florida fans feel their teams don't deserve their current rankings?
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Hofstra
Dec 30, 2011 11:36:38 GMT -5
Post by Joebird on Dec 30, 2011 11:36:38 GMT -5
Iona is a top 40 team. Not sure why this annoys you so much.
College basketball is much more watered down than 10 years ago. That is why you see Butler and VCU in the final four.
Take a look at Florida, Pittsburgh and some other top 25 teams on TV, they simply aren't that good. Iona is just as good on 50% of the nights.
Also take a look at the computer ratings, sagarin, RPI and Vegas power ratings all think they are top 40. The computers are not biased.
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Hofstra
Dec 30, 2011 12:49:59 GMT -5
Post by tau on Dec 30, 2011 12:49:59 GMT -5
Yes exactly. Saw Glovers brother there. big boy. He should teach Mike how to rebound. Are you talking about Anthony? If so, he could take rebounding lessons from Mike. Anthony averaged 6.2 rebounds per game for his career. Mike averages 9.8, which is probably more than any Gael since Ruland. Except for Smyth, Glover was the only one who played well last night 20 pts, 13 reb, 3 blocks 9-11 FGs. Speaking of Smyth, seeing him back on the court (and draining 3's) was the one bright spot from last night. Anthony is 6'4 and played in Big East
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Hofstra
Dec 30, 2011 13:44:45 GMT -5
Post by IONA86 on Dec 30, 2011 13:44:45 GMT -5
Ok....I am over the loss. This is the type of situation that helps build a teams character and gives a coach a realistic view of his teams faults. I have no idea what Cluess was thinking limiting Armand's minutes. He also needs to get Diggs more involved if this team is going to go anywhere. I will cut him slack as I believe he will make the adjustments needed.
With that said this team needs to be brought back to reality and needs to develop a chip on their shoulders. This team has to understand that they have a target on their backs and needs to develop a mentality that everyone else is trying to take away their opportunity. For Mike Glover, Scott Machado, Jermel Jenkins, Trinity Fields and Randy Dezouvre... this is their last chance and they have got to motivate everyone else here to understand that they deserve 100% every night from every guy on the team. With the exception of MoMo, This is a once and a lifetime opportunity for most of them ..... they have got to be prepared to kick the shit out of people.
Lets move forward and hope that they have learned from this and stop reading how great they are. They need a "Take no prisoners" mentality.
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Hofstra
Dec 30, 2011 13:50:34 GMT -5
Post by gaelman on Dec 30, 2011 13:50:34 GMT -5
Are you talking about Anthony? If so, he could take rebounding lessons from Mike. Anthony averaged 6.2 rebounds per game for his career. Mike averages 9.8, which is probably more than any Gael since Ruland. Except for Smyth, Glover was the only one who played well last night 20 pts, 13 reb, 3 blocks 9-11 FGs. Speaking of Smyth, seeing him back on the court (and draining 3's) was the one bright spot from last night. Anthony is 6'4 and played in Big East Mike had 16 rebounds in his only game against the Big East (Syracuse last year), 12 against the Big Ten (Purdue) and 10 against the ACC (Maryland). I'm not looking to put down Anthony, as he was a good player, but your original argument seems to be that Mike doesn't rebound well. Unless I'm forgetting somebody, I believe Mike has averaged more for his career than any Gael in the past 30 years.
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Hofstra
Dec 30, 2011 13:55:59 GMT -5
Post by Joebird on Dec 30, 2011 13:55:59 GMT -5
I agree. Mike is the best rebounder Iona has had in years. He misses having Arod next to him but still clearly he is a very good rebounder.
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Hofstra
Dec 30, 2011 14:33:32 GMT -5
Post by tau on Dec 30, 2011 14:33:32 GMT -5
Mike could have 20 boards a game with a little more effort and technique
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Hofstra
Dec 30, 2011 15:45:19 GMT -5
Post by gaelman on Dec 30, 2011 15:45:19 GMT -5
Mike could have 20 boards a game with a little more effort and technique That would be quite an accomplishment, given that no D1 player has even averaged 15 rebounds per game for a season, since 1980.
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