We shot 50%, fairly dominated the boards (Gustys did little and looked slow all night), had five more assist and were at home......and lost.

Reasons have been pointed out by others:
*poor defense (although two final Wright-Foreman 3-point moonshots were contested)
*terrible turnovers, some unforced...8 turnovers alone from Dixon-Prewitt-Cohn
*Hofstra had eleven more foul shots..and on our home court
*brilliance of Wright-Foreman
*Dixon was spent last five minutes of game and, other than Jack, had little help all night
*Omar missed some tough shots
*Malinowski started well, then totally disappeared...appears to me he lost his stamina after the
recovery from the severe concussion

I'm also sorry to say we lost a good one in Pemberton...he will be very good the next three years.

A disappointing loss, to say the least. And we lost our cool final five minutes.

I'm just not certain this team can put together three big games in a row in the tourney. They are
so inconsistent.

It was a typical W&M/Hofstra back and forth game. Remember, at 3:45 to go, the Tribe led 82-81, then Hofstra scored the final 15 points of the game.

It appears to me that, though we like to run, there is a limit to the pace we should accept. Both UNCW and Hofstra have dared us to play that way for long stretches and we ran out of gas at the end, in both games.

Also, our lack of quickness tends to show up more readily in games with very quick guards, like Powers and Wright-Foreman. They appear to be better than their record would suggest. Depth probably catches up to them against other teams.

Anyway, let's break the string of Senior Day disappointment on Saturday.

(02-23-2017 10:08 PM)Tribester Wrote:  Towson has clinched the 3 seed...the game on Saturday means nothing for them

Winning on another team's homecourt on senior day & they're seeking 2nd consecutive 20 win season...Might not mean anything in the standings, but they'll come to play.

The 2010 home Towson game against an 11-20 Towson team meant nothing either. And I still get angry just thinking about it.

(02-24-2017 09:13 AM)tribetime10 Wrote:  

(02-23-2017 10:08 PM)Tribester Wrote:  Towson has clinched the 3 seed...the game on Saturday means nothing for them

Winning on another team's homecourt on senior day & they're seeking 2nd consecutive 20 win season...Might not mean anything in the standings, but they'll come to play.

The 2010 home Towson game against an 11-20 Towson team meant nothing either. And I still get angry just thinking about it.

From my view, Tony rigidly stuck with the same 6 players for an unbelievably long stretch of the 2nd half. Just like in the game versus JMU, our opponent played only 7 players, and rather than take advantage by pushing the pace and playing 10 deep, we negated our advantage and rotated only knight and whitman, leaving Dixon, Rowley, Tot, and Prewitt out there, and to my eye they were gassed by the final few minutes, and we got crushed.

The other thing that I would like to see if we happen to play them in Charleston (I think that this is going to be the year that a Friday winner prevails on Saturday) is to make them pay on defense for having 4 small guards on the floor at the same time. If they are going to make us pay on defense for having to guard four quick and small guards all night on the perimeter, return the favor by slowing the pace a tiny bit and posting those guys up in our half court set. When Tot was in the game, we had at least 4 inches on every player that they had on the floor except at the center position. To let them get away with their quickness in their half court sets without having to pay a price on the defensive end is akin to breaking a team's full court press time and again and then not making them pay with transition scoring.

I guess it is possible, but I think UNCW and Charleston are superior to any Friday night winner. I guess there is a better chance for Hofstra perhaps than normal, but I still think it is no more than 25% chance. For JMU over Charleston(if they get that far), I'd say 5%. However, I do not expect any of the 4 quarterfinals to be blowouts.

(02-24-2017 05:38 PM)TribePride91 Wrote:  I guess it is possible, but I think UNCW and Charleston are superior to any Friday night winner. I guess there is a better chance for Hofstra perhaps than normal, but I still think it is no more than 25% chance. For JMU over Charleston(if they get that far), I'd say 5%. However, I do not expect any of the 4 quarterfinals to be blowouts.

UNCW is 8-0 against the bottom 4, with only Hofstra keeping it within double digits. CoC is 7-0 but 4 of those were single digit wins (one of which was a 2 point win over JMU). Charleston's more likely to lose because their offense could crap out on them but there's little evidence to suggest either of the top two teams will screw up their first game.

(02-24-2017 10:41 AM)WM Beancounter Wrote:  From my view, Tony rigidly stuck with the same 6 players for an unbelievably long stretch of the 2nd half. Just like in the game versus JMU, our opponent played only 7 players, and rather than take advantage by pushing the pace and playing 10 deep, we negated our advantage and rotated only knight and whitman, leaving Dixon, Rowley, Tot, and Prewitt out there, and to my eye they were gassed by the final few minutes, and we got crushed.

I thought the same thing. We also got jobbed by the refs. There was a sequence where they missed calls on 4 consecutive possessions. If we took a reasonable number of foul shots based on how Hofstra played, we would have had a healthy lead for most of the second half, or at least a chance at it. I am a little surprised Shaver didn't get a technical just to send the refs a message. BTW, what was up with the two first half calls where nobody knew what happened? In both cases the ball went to Hofstra and nobody on the court knew what happened.

I do not understand how Gustys gets his 4th and we don't call a timeout to demand that the ball go to Whitman on every possession. Despite having a couple really good big men, Hofstra does not block shots and Whitman finally figured that out. Knight looked like he was always trying to protect the ball instead of just putting it in. Make them prove that they deserve the shot adjustments before making the adjustments.

We consistently went under screens and our big men didn't show, and they buried three after three. There has to be a strategy change there.

(02-24-2017 09:16 PM)TribeInTheBurg Wrote:  We also got jobbed by the refs. There was a sequence where they missed calls on 4 consecutive possessions. If we took a reasonable number of foul shots based on how Hofstra played, we would have had a healthy lead for most of the second half, or at least a chance at it. I am a little surprised Shaver didn't get a technical just to send the refs a message. BTW, what was up with the two first half calls where nobody knew what happened? In both cases the ball went to Hofstra and nobody on the court knew what happened.

That was explained as one of our players (on BOTH occasions) went out of bounds/off the court (of his own volition - say, to get around a screen), then came back on the court and was the first person to touch the ball. That apparently is a violation and turnover to the other team. I could find no tape of it, so I have to take the refs word. Did seem more than a bit unusual to have a rule, THAT arcane, called twice in the same game.

On at least one of those occasions the ball was passed from one player to the "offending" player, the latter of whom had already re-established himself in bounds. Those refs need to stop being refs.

It WAS a pretty poor group, for a Thursday night.

I'm watching Hofstra vs JMU trying to decide who I like least. It's kinda like less filling vs fewer calories...

What a difference two days makes...Hofstra 2 for 20 from 3.

(02-25-2017 01:32 PM)billymac Wrote:  What a difference two days makes...Hofstra 2 for 20 from 3.

Make that 2-23.

When they aren't able to beat guys off the dribble with ease (cough...cough...W&M), they don't do anywhere near as well offensively. They run a lot of 1-on-1 offense.

Satkus with an impressive 6 fouls in the game. Fouled out, then got a technical foul after fouling out

(02-25-2017 01:32 PM)billymac Wrote:  What a difference two days makes...Hofstra 2 for 20 from 3.

The unstoppable Wright-Foreman is 1-10 from 3. In an unrelated story JMU has a functional defense. I'm sure it's just a coincidence.

So ... Hofstra can't shoot ... JMU can play defense ... who won the game?

Hofstra 71-66

We aren't playing very smart now. Towson has picked up their defense. We have to hold onto the ball.