Defiantly Dutch

Towson looks back as well as forward as it embarks upon a historic rebuilding job

2012-02-01T16:17:00.010-05:00

Towson State celebrates after winning the second of the Tigers' three straight ECC titles and earning the league's final automatic bid to the NCAA Tournament in 1991. Photo courtesy of Towson athletics. (PS: Told you the ECC existed, Litos!)

Long before Hofstra was chasing a pair of conference foes with Final Four resumes, long before Hofstra should have had the chance to do what George Mason did and long before Hofstra pursued and finally toppled Delaware as the premier program in the America East, Hofstra wanted to be Towson State.

The suburban Baltimore school was the roadblock the Flying Dutchmen basketball team could not get past in the waning days of the East Coast Conference. From 1986-87 through 1991-92—in what amounted to the ECC’s final six seasons—Towson State reached the league title game five times, finished first or second in the regular season four times, earned the ECC’s final two automatic bids to the NCAA Tournament in 1990 and 1991 and won the final three conference tournaments.

Towson State dominated Hofstra over that span, during which the Tigers won 12 of 13 meetings—including 10 in a row at one point—and continually stymied the best teams Butch van Breda Kolff put together in his second stint on the Hofstra sidelines.

Towson State swept the season series from the Dutchmen in 1989-90, when the Tigers won at the buzzer in Maryland and knocked off Hofstra on the final weekend of the season, to win a three-way tiebreaker with Hofstra and Lehigh for the top seed at 8-6. Hofstra finally snapped its winless streak against the Tigers in 1991-92, when the Dutchmen won the ECC regular season crown, but Towson came back from a 9-0 deficit (hmm sounds familiar) to win the conference title game and end the Dutchmen’s NIT hopes.

Lately, of course, it has been Towson (the State was dropped as part of a rebranding effort in 1996) on the receiving end of dominance—from Hofstra and everyone else. Entering tonight’s game at Hofstra, the Flying Dutchmen have won 27 of the last 32 meetings between the two schools, including the last six dating back to 2008 as well as a streak of 11 in a row from 1996 through 2001.

Towson has spent the last 14 months bottoming out following 15 years of mismanagement. The Tigers became the first CAA school to go winless in league play last year, when they lost their final 19 games of the season, and opened this year by losing their first 22 to shatter the previous record for longest losing streak in Division I history before they edged UNC Wilmington, 66-61, Saturday.

Its recent win aside, the program that was once set the standard in the ECC is now the object of sympathy among rival CAA fans, all of whom root for Towson yet none of whom want to suffer the stigma of losing to the Tigers. It is worse nationally for Towson, which is a cheap punch line for the likes of pseudo comedians such as SportsCenter anchor Neil Everett, who compared the Tigers’ losing streak to his Little League hitless streak, and elitist guardians of the game such as Seth Davis, who declared recently Towson has no business being in Division I.

And to make matters even worse, those who mock Towson often further insult the Tigers by referring to the school by an outdated or downright incorrect name.

“We’re not ‘Towson State,’” athletic director Mike Waddell said. “We’re not ‘Townson.’ We’re Towson. And that’s OK. Right at the heart of the word ‘Towson’ is the letter ‘W’ and that’s what we plan on putting a lot up in the next few years.”

In retrospect, Towson’s descent began with a decision made while the Tigers were still racking up plenty of wins. Even 20 years later, it is difficult to argue Towson shouldn’t have left the crumbling ECC for the Big South Conference, which had the automatic bid the ECC no longer possessed.

But the ECC and its natural geographic rivalries was a perfect fit for Towson, which, during the league’s heyday, could travel everywhere except Hofstra without needing an overnight stay. Towson ended up spending just three seasons in the Big South—during which it won two regular season crowns—before rejoining fellow ECC alums Delaware, Drexel and Hofstra in the North Atlantic Conference for the 1995-96 school year. But the program’s fan base and recruiting base were each badly damaged.

“Any momentum we gained during our ECC seasons disappeared,” said Towson media relations director Dan O’Connell, who has been at the school since it moved to Division I in 1979. “We went from playing schools like Bucknell, Delaware, Drexel, Lafayette, Hofstra and Rider to playing Campbell, Charleston Southern, Radford, Liberty, Coastal Carolina and UNC Asheville. We had nothing in common with these schools and our fan base never heard of them.

“Then we went to the NAC but all our momentum was gone and local players weren’t all that interested anymore.”

Another destructive long-term decision was made at the end of the 1996-97 season, when longtime coach Terry Truax—who had overseen the Tigers’ ascent in the ECC—was fired by second-year athletic director Wayne Edwards following a 9-19 campaign. It was just the second losing season in nine years for Towson—and the start of a stretch of 16 consecutive losing seasons, the fourth-longest active streak in Division I.

Towson moved to the CAA along with Delaware, Drexel and Hofstra for the 2000-01 season, but the Tigers never redoubled their investment in the program and have languished at the bottom of the CAA for 11 seasons.

“The program was neglected for a long time,” O’Connell said. “We fell behind a lot of schools during the years we were stagnant. We were not willing to spend the money to enhance the program.”

The most glaring symbol of intuitional neglect happened a year ago last week, when Towson’s game at George Mason was postponed after the Tigers got stuck in a blizzard and needed 10 hours to make the 70-mile trip to Fairfax. That Towson chose to leave at 3 p.m for a 7 p.m. game when snow was predicted didn’t please CAA commissioner Tom Yeager, who issued a statement reprimanding Towson.

Such an experience surely frustrated Waddell, who was just beginning his fourth month as the athletic director. A Type-A personality who is equal parts marketer, motivational speaker and media relations guru, Waddell exercised caution in allowing last season to play out without firing lame duck head coach Pat Kennedy yet began establishing how he expected excellence from Towson employees.

“Doing the little things, paying attention to the details, not letting the little things slide,” Waddell said. “Because little things grow into middle-sized things grow into large things grow into gargantuan things. You’ve got to be an absolute stickler—almost fanatical—about the little things that make champions.

“It goes back to two words: Expect success. That’s what we’re about. Four syllables, two words, one Towson. Expect success.”

In Pat Skerry, Waddell found a head coach who shares his around-the-clock approach and as well as his program-building philosophies, even when a spate of defections left Towson with a decimated roster that had little to no hope of competing in the CAA in his first season. The three best underclassmen from last year’s record-setting team all left school while RaShawn Polk sat out this year following an off-season arrest, which left the Tigers with a single returning player—Erique Gumbs—who averaged a grand total of 3.6 points per game last year.

“I would say that, along with what Baylor and Indiana and Cincinnati had to do to rebuild their basketball programs, we’re right there with them—this has been a long time, it’s been systematic and it’s been comprehensive,” Waddell said. “So Pat has a tough job. But Pat also has the ability to come in and do things the right way.”

For Skerry—who said he has no hobbies and has always believed “coaching beats working for a living…I love it”—part of that involved absorbing the punishment of a grueling non-conference schedule, including season-opening games at Kansas and Michigan, as well as an unforgiving CAA slate which includes two games apiece against the league’s top five teams, all while refusing to allow the Tigers to make excuses and instilling in them the expectations he’ll have moving forward.

“I believe in shooting straight with my guys,” Skerry said. “I also felt that guys are going to be here for two, three or four years. We’ve got to help change habits and develop different habits. Once you do that, you have a culture, you have a program. To just kind of get through the year even though we have some shortcomings and play make believe and all of that, that would put us one year behind.”

Recruiting-wise, Skerry is approaching Towson like Jay Wright approached Hofstra a generation ago, when he revived what he called “a sleeping giant” by tapping into a basketball-rich market and finding that one player—Speedy Claxton—who could turn around the entire program.

“Three hours to the north in New York, three hours to the south in Richmond—we’re in fertile recruiting ground and we plan to capitalize on that daily and yearly,” Skerry said.

Towson’s version of Claxton could be in next year’s recruiting class, which, a la Hofstra, features a pair of big-time transfers (Georgetown’s Jerrelle Benimon and South Florida’s Mike Burwell) as well as a handful of promising high schoolers. “I won’t tell you which one, but I think one of our recruits could be that type of an iconic player—and so do a lot of other coaches around this league who were rather speechless when they heard who we had signed,” Waddell said.

While Waddell is unfailingly upbeat, optimistic and entertaining in discussing Towson’s future—he said Monday the best part about ending the losing streak is that “we don’t have to go to Coke Zero or Spaghetti O’s” as Towson looks to sell naming rights to its new arena, which is scheduled to open for the 2013-14 season—he is also an uncompromising realist who won’t allow any of the Towson staff to rest on recent accomplishments.

At the athletic department’s weekly meeting Monday, he didn’t even bring up the win over UNC Wilmington. And the players and coaches who helped the Towson football team reach the Division I-AA playoffs for the first time ever this year—a mere one season after the Tigers went 1-10—have been ordered not to wear any clothing commemorating the 2011 season inside the football facilities.

“We’re building a family here and we’re trying to raise a teenager,” Waddell said. “We’re at zygote right now. We’re not mature. We’re not even into the gestation phase. We’re just trying to grow and do it the smart way.”

He is also reconnecting with Towson’s successful past—Truax, who is in regular contact with Skerry, and the 1990-91 Tigers squad were all recently inducted into the school’s Hall of Fame—and keeping one eye on a better future by embracing the largely negative attention that comes Towson’s way now (though Towson was the lead story on the 6 p.m. SportsCenter Saturday).

Waddell, a former broadcaster in the ACC with North Carolina and Virginia, is accessible, active and patient with all forms of media. When Davis—who was in college a few hours to the south at Duke when Towson reached the NCAA Tournament—bashed Towson, Waddell invited him, via Twitter, to a game.

Waddell also realizes engaging with the press is the best way to keep Towson on people’s minds and shape the story as the Tigers rebuild. And make no mistake: Waddell expects a return to the days in which everyone else wants to be Towson and the Tigers were anything but a sympathetic figure.

“It’s like coach tells you: We got beat by 30 points or 40 points, you got exactly what you deserved,” Waddell said. “You don’t want to be the butt of people’s jokes? Then don’t play like that.

“But you know what? In a few years, when we’re beating people like that. I don’t want to hear anybody complain we’re rubbing it in. That’s how it goes. There is no mercy in fighting or sports. I asked no quarter and I’ll give none. That’s just how it goes. I don’t have a problem with that.”

Email Jerry at defiantlydutch@yahoo.com or follow Defiantly Dutch at http://twitter.com/defiantlydutch.

Northeastern 58, Hofstra 51 (Or: Happiness one step behind)

2012-01-30T09:50:00.004-05:00

Another tune that sums up this year's Flying Dutchmen. (And yes: To the well again with Extreme!)

Someday, college basketball historians will scan the smoldering embers of the 2011-12 Flying Dutchmen season and wonder how a team that should have been no better or worse than a middle-of-the-pack, .500-level team ended up mired at or near the bottom of the CAA and enduring one of the program’s worst seasons in a generation.

Those historians will find the answers to their questions if they can stumble across a DVD copy of the Dutchmen’s 58-51 loss to Northeastern Saturday at Matthews Arena. Therein is the explanation for how the Dutchmen could outperform the Huskies in many statistical categories yet lose the Barone Bowl Trophy (if only it existed) and fall by seven points in a game that was not as close as the final score indicated.

And the game film also provides the reasons why the Dutchmen are 1-10 in CAA play—and tied for next-to-last place now that Towson has ended its record losing streak, which @NUHF, @atowne07 and my wife “watched” via Twitter at Conor Larkin’s around the corner from Northeastern, have I mentioned lately on any social media forum how much of my soul I’d be willing to sell to move to Boston?— and why January 2012 was the program’s losingest month since January 1995, even if the Dutchmen have outscored by a mere 62 points since New Year’s Day.

Of course, you’d have to pay particularly close attention in watching the DVD, because the difference between victory and defeat for the Dutchmen this season is as fine as the blink of an eye.

“This is a tough league,” Mo Cassara said. “When you’re not playing well, and your margin for error is very small, one turnover for us almost seems like it’s four or five right now. We’re trying to create some easy baskets and we just haven’t been able to do that. We haven’t been able to string enough winning plays together to win.”

While the Dutchmen were once again frigid offensively—they endured eight scoreless stretches of at least two minutes and shot just 30 percent from the field in scoring 51 or fewer points for the third straight game—and had just 15 defensive rebounds to 11 offensive boards for Northeastern, they seemingly concocted a good recipe for winning by forcing six more turnovers than they committed (16-10) and by scoring more points than the Huskies off turnovers (18-11), second chance baskets (15-12), the fast break (10-7) and from the bench (12-2).

Yet the Dutchmen were done in by missed opportunities in every single one of those categories. The Dutchmen had the ball down one in the waning seconds of the first half, but at the end of an otherwise sharp possession, Matt Grogan’s pass down low was stolen by Jonathan Lee, who converted it into a layup that gave the Huskies a 30-27 halftime lead.

Three times in the second half, the Dutchmen forced a turnover and created a fast break but threw or kicked away a chance to close within six points. A David Imes pass eluded Nathaniel Lester just before the under-16 timeout while Mike Moore and Lester accidentally booted the ball off steals by Imes and Moore, respectively, in the final five minutes.

These games don’t exist in a vacuum, of course, but who knows how the tempo and tone would have been changed if the Dutchmen converted all three of those turnovers into fast break points?

Imes’ steal and turnover happened at the beginning of a two-minute stretch in which neither team scored but the Dutchmen missed four shots—two 3-pointers by Moore and two layups by Imes. Moore (17 points, steals) and Imes (10 points and eight rebounds) were the most impressive players on the court for the Dutchmen, but they needed 28 shots for those 27 points.

“Mike Moore had 17 points, but he’s 1-for-9 from 3,” Cassara said. “If he’s 4-for-9, it’s probably a one-possession game. We just need that extra shot to go in. We stole the ball a couple times going down the court to cut it to six and we didn’t even get a shot.”

As for Northeastern, it managed to get the extra shot to go in when it mattered most. The Huskies had eight third-chance points, including a 3-pointer by Lee to start the second half and spark a 10-2 run that basically buried the Dutchmen. Northeastern’s first 3-pointer of the game, by Quincy Ford, was also off a pair of offensive rebounds. And later in the first half, Ford drained a jumper after he rebounded the second of a pair of missed free throws by Kauri Black.

“I told our team I thought we had probably about 10 points in defensive breakdowns where we were late guarding or we weren’t in position,” Cassara said.

There’s no statistical measure for when a team is worn out by losing, the bad breaks it has absorbed and the bad breaks it can’t seem to help but create for itself. The Dutchmen seemed to reach that point Saturday for the first time this month—a month in which they were the only CAA team not to play consecutive home games as well as one of two teams with two two-game road trips (Towson). They were also one of just three teams (along with Old Dominion and Towson) to have two stretches in which they played three of four games away from home.

For the first time since the six-point loss to UNC Wilmington three weeks earlier, the Dutchmen never seriously threatened in the second half. They got within six points once in the final 16:54, on a meaningless 3-pointer by Shemiye McLendon with 42 seconds left.

Cassara did some mixing and matching in hopes of generating something—both Dwan McMillan and Stevie Mejia were on the bench for most of the final eight minutes—but the 10 points the Dutchmen got from their reserves came on a 3-of-13 shooting performance. Northeastern’s two bench points, meanwhile, came on a 1-of-3 effort.

The Dutchmen finally get a homestand this week—it’s Alanis-level ironic that the Dutchmen are playing a school-record 17 home games this season yet spent all of January living out of a suitcase—when Towson and Georgia State visit and Cassara hopes his squad can embark on a February that will at least leave everyone feeling a little better about this season while providing the returnees something to build on for next year.

“We’ve got a week at home, no travel, back to school, hopefully get a little bit of rhythm and get some confidence back and we get a couple shots to fall at home,” Cassara said.

Cassara and the Dutchmen could find reason for optimism Saturday on the other end of the court. Northeastern lost its first eight CAA games last year by a total of 86 points, a margin inflated by a 28-point loss to George Mason. But the Huskies won four in a row immediately after that, finished 6-12 in CAA play—by far the best record of any team to ever open 0-8—and are entrenched in fifth place this season at 7-4.

“We were in that situation last year, where we played good basketball but just not winning basketball,” Northeastern coach Bill Coen said. “I think you learn more from losing than you do winning.”

For the Dutchmen’s sake let’s hope the learning stops now that school has started.

3 STARS OF THE GAME (vs. Northeastern, 1/28)

3: David Imes

2: Mike Moore

1: Stevie Mejia

SEASON STANDINGS

Mike Moore 48

Nathaniel Lester 32

Dwan McMillan 17

David Imes 14

Shemiye McLendon 9

Stephen Nwaukoni 8

Stevie Mejia 6

Moussa Kone 2

Bryant Crowder 2

Email Jerry at defiantlydutch@yahoo.com or follow Defiantly Dutch at http://twitter.com/defiantlydutch.

George Mason 55, Hofstra 50 (Or: They’re going out of their heads going crazy)

2012-01-26T09:09:00.004-05:00

An appropriate song in more ways than one for the 2011-12 Flying Dutchmen.

If I were to rank losses to George Mason on a scale of 1 to 10—one being barely bummed and 10 being Quoting-Ugly-Kid-Joe-pissed—then last night’s 55-50 loss to the first-place Patriots would rank no higher than a five or so.

(I realize it’s not normal to rank losses to a particular opponent on a scale of 1 to 10. But you knew what you were getting into here)

There was no Greg Johnson, driving the lane in the waning seconds with Hofstra down three in the CAA Tournament and Antoine Agudio begging for the ball all alone behind the 3-point line. There was no Agudio missing the free throw that would have given the Dutchmen a four-point lead in the final seconds of overtime.

This was not a lopsided loss by 20-plus points in Fairfax. There was no drunken Mason grad nearly sending me to the other side on the way home from a close loss at Mason. And, of course, there was no Ryan Pearson piling on with Montgomery Burns rubbing his bony fingers together in approval as his nation of Waylon Smithers lackeys declared him the world’s finest sportsman.

No, this one ended with an exhausted Pearson—who scored seven points and pulled down eight rebounds in the second half despite having his face bloodied twice in the first half—exchanging a relieved high five at midcourt with a similarly spent Mike Morrison as Sherrod Wright hit the game-icing free throws to cap a nearly perfect night at the line for Mason (20-of-23—these aren’t Monty’s Patriots) with 19 seconds left.

A few seconds later, after Morrison blocked Shemiye McLendon’s running layup and Corey Edwards grabbed the rebound, new Mason coach Paul Hewitt waved for Edwards to get the ball over halfcourt—not so he could call timeout and draw up a 3-point shot like his predecessor would have, but to run the clock out!

It’s a new era in Hofstra-Mason games (last night featured, by far, the most entertaining in-game Twitter exchanges in DD history) but the loss was the same old story in a whole lot of ways as the Flying Dutchmen fell to 1-9 in the CAA with their SIXTH CAA loss by six points or less.

As has often been the case this year, the Dutchmen were at least partially done in by a lack of bodies. Mike Moore (18 points on 7-of-12 shooting, including 4-of-7 from 3-point land, and a career-high six assists) and Nathaniel Lester (12 points, his CAA-best 14th straight game with at least 10 points) were a fine 1-2 combo again for Hofstra. But while Stevie Mejia, McLendon and Moussa Kone combined for just six points on 2-of-9 shooting in 52 minutes, Mason received 36 points on 9-of-22 shooting over 86 minutes from its reserves. No Mason player played more than 29 minutes while four Dutchmen played at least 28 minutes.

For the fifth time in the last six games, the Dutchmen raced out to an early lead of at least six points—and opened a lead of at least nine for the fourth time in that span—but could not build on it in the first half and squandered late opportunities to escape with the win.

For the third straight Wednesday, the Dutchmen came back from a second half deficit of at least eight points to tie the score or take the lead. And for the third straight Wednesday, the Dutchmen had a chance to tie the score or take the lead in the final minute but couldn’t get over the hump (get it?).

Moore, Lester and Mo Cassara looked steamrolled at the podium, and it had nothing to do with losing to big bad Mason. Every loss hurts at this point, and this funk doubly stings because it consists mostly of close losses to the best of the CAA.

Five of the Dutchmen’s last six games have come against teams currently in the top half of the CAA. The Dutchmen have lost those five games by a combined 33 points, and only once by more than six points.

“I think our energy and our effort’s been great,” Cassara said. “We’re winning at halftime against George Mason. We’re winning at halftime at Old Dominion. We’re down three at VCU. We just run out of gas a little bit, I guess. We’re going to have to keep trying to find ways to finish games, because we’re coming out with energy, we’re having great practices, our attitudes have been terrific. We just can’t seem to kind of get over the hump.”

The Dutchmen had more opportunities than usual to do so Wednesday. The Dutchmen scored the first nine points, didn’t allow Mason—which shot an unimaginable 4-of-23 in the first half—to break into double digits until there were less than three minutes to play and led 20-19 at the half. It was the first time the Dutchmen allowed fewer than 20 points in a half since Jan. 21, 2009, when they TRAILED William & Mary 17-15 at the Arena.

Andre Cornelius took charge for Mason to open the second half with consecutive 3-pointers to jumpstart a 19-10 run for the Patriots that gave them a 38-30 lead at the midway mark. But the Dutchmen inched back, tied the game twice on 3-pointers by David Imes and Moore and took the lead at 41-40 with 6:21 left on another 3-pointer by Moore.

That was the first of four times the Dutchmen took the lead over a span of a little more than four minutes. Imes, who scored all nine of his points in the second half, put the Dutchmen ahead twice with long jumpers from the corner, the last with 2:16 left.

But Sherrod Wright’s 3-point play with 1:47 left put the Patriots ahead for good at 51-50 and the Dutchmen missed an agonizing three shots—a jumper and a 3-pointer by Lester and a 3-pointer by Moore, all of which looked good out of their hands—before Edwards’ two free throws. Then, after Cassara used the Dutchmen’s last timeout with 27 seconds left, Mejia got a good open look at a tying 3-pointer, but it clanged off the rim.

That left Cassara saying the same things he’s been saying for weeks—bemoaning the Dutchmen’s rotten luck and hoping they salvage something from the season in February. “We’re better than our record shows,” Cassara said. “Again, we’ve been in an incredible amount of close games. We just haven’t been able to get something to bounce our way.

“Unfortunately, we just haven’t been able to finish and it’s a combination of a lot of things,” Cassara said. “But we have to keep working. February can be our month. I have to keep telling our guys that. Obviously, we’re frustrated because we’re in every game, especially against the top part of the league. But basketball’s a long season and we’ve still got a good month of February [ahead].”

3 STARS OF THE GAME (vs. Mason, 1/25)

3: Mike Moore

2: Nathaniel Lester

1: David Imes

SEASON STANDINGS

Mike Moore 46

Nathaniel Lester 32

Dwan McMillan 17

David Imes 11

Shemiye McLendon 9

Stephen Nwaukoni 8

Stevie Mejia 5

Moussa Kone 2

Bryant Crowder 2

Email Jerry at defiantlydutch@yahoo.com or follow Defiantly Dutch at http://twitter.com/defiantlydutch.

It'll be weird rooting against Mason w/this guy 1500 miles south, but I think I'll adjust

2012-01-25T17:54:00.002-05:00

Jim Larranaga gives orders to Tony Skinn in this file clip from March 2006.

Meet my friends in low places—err, Mason Nation!

2012-01-25T06:59:00.003-05:00

I’m not sure if it’s the social media version of Stockholm Syndrome, as I pondered last week, or a matter of keeping your friends close and your enemies closer. But somehow, in the two years and five days (but who’s counting?) since I earned Most Loathed Man In Mason Nation status with this calm, reasoned and unemotional screed, George Mason fans have run neck-and-neck with Northeastern fans as the rival fans with whom I interact most on Twitter (and since Northeastern is Hofstra North, it probably shouldn’t count here).

So I thought, with the Flying Dutchmen preparing to play The Bad Guys tonight, it would be appropriate to introduce Hofstra fans to the best of Mason Nation: The fans who are as loyal, intelligent and fundamentally decent as those of us who root for Hofstra.

Of course, I couldn’t find anyone like that, so I asked these six guys instead. Meet my friends in low places (and follow them on Twitter)!

Matt Cerilli:

About Matt: Graduated from Mason in 2010. Triple majored in marketing, management and finger painting.

What he does for a living, other than randomly punch people in the nuts: Is currently a Professional Services Engineer for a service assurance testing company based out of Boston. (OK fine. The dude is smart. Sun, dog’s posterior, all that)

How Matt “met” me via my superduper fair and balanced Twitter feed and/or blog: “I think I came across your account when @gmuhoops retweeted something you said about three years ago and I was like ‘Wow, this guy is a douche.’ That was when I was still sort of new to Twitter and I remember taking everything you said bad about Mason so personal. Then I realized you will never last on Twitter if you do that and just went along with your jokes and threw in my own from time to time. I will admit they still get to me from time to time, haha.”

(I’m pretty sure Matt was the first GMU fan to call me names on Twitter during and following the Running Up The Score Game. Unlike most of the others, he kept it up, as did I. Somehow we didn’t block each other. We ended up following each other on Twitter and meeting and shaking hands a mere six weeks later at the CAA Tournament. Now we’re online besties who take long walks on the sand. Wait, what?)

Why Matt is a nice guy (in his own words): “I always look for the best in people. For example, if you are a Hofstra fan, I try and look past that and find something positive about the person no matter how hard that might be.”

Why Matt is not a terrible guy (in my own words): Roots for the Pistons, Redskins and Washington Capitals, so he knows suffering. Huge baseball fan. Likes the Braves, a class organization that serves as his Mason antidote. Loves dogs. Funny as hell on Twitter.

Yeah, but…: He’s a Mason fan. Carries 17 items to the 12 items or less self-checkout lane. Also, he’s a Mason fan.

Three Questions For Matt Cerilli:

1.) Prove to me you didn’t begin following basketball in March 2006 and don’t freaking use Wikipedia (thank you very much SOPA). Name two former CAA schools, other than Richmond.

Navy and East Carolina are two former CAA schools, but I admit I really only know that from seeing their banners in the Richmond Coliseum during the NCAA Tournament.

(I told you he was smart. He can read!)

2.) Solve this math problem: If Tony Skinn’s fist is traveling at 30 miles per hour towards Loren Stokes’ groin, how long would it take Andre Cornelius to max out Stokes’ credit cards and book a flight to see Jim Larranaga in Miami?

Haha that is probably the funniest math question I have ever been asked. You have to admit, though, Stokes was in the way of Skinn’s fist so it’s partially his fault. (That should get you heated)

(GODDAMNIT)

3.) Finish this sentence: “I knew Jerry Beach wasn’t a complete psychopath when…”

…we finally met up in Richmond during the CAA Tournament and he was just as funny in person as he is on Twitter.

Erik Hernquist

About Erik: Graduated from Mason in 1998. Double majored in business management and finger painting. Also received an MBA from William & Mary.

What he does for a living, other than randomly punch people in the nuts: Works for the Federal Reserve.

Adds Erik: “Speaking of ‘punching people in the nuts,’ my 4-year-old son did that to me a couple of weeks ago and I asked him why the heck he walked up to me and did that. His reply: ‘I want to make sure I don’t have any more brothers or sisters.’ He is small and loves basketball, so he may have a future.”

(Jim Larranaga just signed him to head his freshman class of 2025 at Miami)

How Erik “met” me via my superduper fair and balanced Twitter feed and/or blog: “We must be talking about two different things because ‘fair and balanced’ do not exist with you on your feed especially when the word ‘bias’ trends during Hofstra games. However, I first learned of you via the writings of Michael Litos on CAAHoops.com.”

Why Erik is a nice guy (in his own words): “I have two boys and I have made it a rule that I will not force them to cheer for the Mets and Bills. Not putting them through the same torture I put myself through has to count for something.”

Why Erik is not a terrible guy (in my own words): The guy is a Mets and Bills fan. He REALLY knows suffering. Also, never badmouths me on Twitter and mostly resists making Tony Skinn jokes. Except in this interview. Jerk.

Yeah, but…: He’s a Mason fan. Doesn’t signal when changing lanes. Also, he’s a Mason fan.

Three questions for Erik Hernquist:

1.) Prove to me you didn’t begin following basketball in March 2006 and don’t freaking use Wikipedia (thank you very much SOPA): Which coach “led” the U.S. Olympic team to a bronze medal in 1988, thereby necessitating the formation of the “Dream Team?”

FAIL. I didn’t start following basketball until I attended Mason in ’94. In fairness, the team had seven straight winning seasons prior to 2006, making it to the NCAA and NIT twice each during that stretch.

(That is an acceptable answer)

About as long as it takes a Hofstra fan to say “Mason should have never even been in the tournament in 2006 because we beat them every time we played them that year.”

(Damn right)

3.) Finish this sentence: “I knew Jerry Beach wasn’t a complete psychopath when…”

…after seeing several very entertaining Tweet exchanges with @gheorghetheblog about some of the most random movie and music references I can imagine.

Alan Kelly

About Alan: Graduated from Mason in 2010 with a double major in Information Technology and finger painting. Currently pursuing an M.S. degree in software engineering and a doctorate in finger painting.

Alan adds: “‘Finger painting?’ Pfft. It’s called Phalangeal Art, and it’s a highly respected form of abstract painting which has been taught to many species such as elephants, monkeys sports journalists and art students.”

What Alan does for a living, other than randomly punch people in the nuts: A web developer for a large federal IT contractor. “It’s impossible to make a living exclusively off of punching people.”

How Alan “met” me via my superduper fair and balanced Twitter feed and/or blog: “I think my attention was first drawn to you when you got in an argument with @gmuhoops on Twitter. (You were quickly identified as a crackpot with a blind grudge) Soon after, I discovered that you were a crackpot with a blind grudge AND a blog. (That identified you as even more unstable, as you clearly wasted a lot of time spewing your irrational hate. I hoped the padded cell would find you quickly) My opinions have since mellowed, if only slightly. (I will probably miss you when the padded cell finds you)

Why Alan is a nice guy (in his own words): “I agreed to participate in this exercise, didn’t I? OK you probably wanted more than that. 1.) I’ve never punched anyone from Long Island in the groin. 2.) I do not own a cat. 3.) I hate the Boston Red Sox. 4.) I recognize ‘southern bias’ exists in the CAA.”

Why Alan is not a terrible guy (in my own words): Huge baseball fan who roots for the Baltimore Orioles, which requires a certain amount of soul and dedication. A very funny guy to exchange Tweets with late at night. Recognizes Southern Bias exists in the CAA.

Yeah, but…: He’s a Mason fan. He doesn’t own a cat. Also, he’s a Mason fan.

Three questions for Alan Kelly:

1.) Prove to me you didn’t begin following basketball in March 2006 and don’t freaking use Wikipedia (thank you very much SOPA): Name two mid-majors to reach the Elite Eight in the decade prior to George Mason’s criminal Final Four appearance. UMass and Utah do not count.

Truth be told, I am a converted BCS heretic, so my knowledge of college basketball before the mid-2000s largely revolves around the Maryland Terrapins and the ACC. My first guess would be Memphis, but I’m not sure they should count as a mid-major and plus, the NCAA says it never happened. Gonzaga, obviously. UNLV comes to mind, but I don’t think they’ve made it back recently. Are you counting Xavier?

(Damn kid get to the point! #Irony Yes. Gonzaga and Xavier count.)

Whichever is shorter: The number of minutes that Bryant Crowder played for Hofstra before fleeing for his life and sanity or the amount of time it would take to destroy the Richmond Coliseum if the collective hate of the fanbases of the “other 11” were ever unleashed against it in tangible form.

(OK THAT is funny)

3.) Finish this sentence: “I knew Jerry Beach wasn’t a complete psychopath when…”

…he laughed at a joke I made about fantasy baseball and, even more shockingly, did not blame me personally for the performance of the Orioles players on his fantasy team. (Anybody who relies on Kevin Gregg as a fantasy closer has it coming to them. I mean, really?)

(IT’S A VERY DEEP AL-ONLY LEAGUE SHUT UP!)

“Floppin Dilbo”

About Dilbo: Graduated from Mason in 2004 with a double major in communications and finger painting.

What Dilbo does for a living, other than randomly punch people in the nuts: Wanted to become a sportswriter but is currently working at a low-paying media job at a financially unstable company. Wait. That’s the same thing.

How Dilbo “met” me via my superduper fair and balanced Twitter feed and/or blog: “I’m pretty sure I’d see the DD blog a few times beforehand, but it was the epic Twitter meltdown of 2010 that got my attention. Hofstra got pounded (I mean really pounded. Hard. It was great) by Mason and I believe Jerry was courtside Tweeting away as Coach L kept some starters in a little too long for his tastes.

(I was in the stands. And it was a lot too long)

“I don’t think I was even on Twitter yet, but thanks to the app that had Tweets going straight to CAAZone.com, I witnessed the full fury of Jerry’s anti-Larranaga and anti-Mason madness.”

Why Dilbo is a nice guy (in his own words): “I’m grumpy and tend to be ‘meh’ about most people I meet. But my redeeming qualities include kindness to animals, especially my two beloved cats, loyalty to my saint of a wife, letting people merge into traffic and a dislike for the Mason fans who made fun of Jerry for being unemployed. I have a low tolerance for assholes and bullies, and while Jerry may be completely unhinge when it comes to Larranaga, O’Connor and GMU, he’s…he’s…wait, what was my point here?”

Why Dilbo is not a terrible guy (in my own words): Being serious for the only time here: I was moved by Floppin’s disregard for the worst of the anti-me Tweeters. He’s also a low-paid writer grunt, likes cats and is loyal to the Redskins. How can I not like the guy?

Yeah, but…: He’s a Mason fan. Plus, he’s a Mason fan.

Three questions for Floppin’ Dilbo:

1.) Prove to me you didn’t begin following basketball in March 2006 and don’t freaking use Wikipedia (thank you very much SOPA): Four teams won the NBA Finals between 1980 and 1990. Name the only one of these teams NOT to win it all twice in this span.

The 76ers.

(Correct!)

Sometimes I like to mess with Jerry by telling him Tony Skinn was one of my favorite Mason players of all-time. It’s true, although “the punch” was the darkest moment I’ve had as a fan. To this day I’ll never wrap my head around why Tony did that, and I know we’re damn lucky that it didn’t turn out much, much worse for us that March. Conversely, I understand Hofstra’s bitterness—to an extent.

(STOP BEING REASONABLE!!!!)

3.) Finish this sentence: “I knew Jerry Beach wasn’t a complete psychopath when…”

…he didn’t knife me at the CAA Tournament last year. My seats were about a mile from the court, so he could have done it quickly and disappeared before my screams reached the nearest fan.

(Not true, his wife was there)

I’m grateful he’s sane and didn’t do this (although I might not have minded being shanked the next day after VCU eliminated Mason from the tourney for the 76th time).

(Ha ha)

Ryan Kish

About Ryan: Graduated from Mason in 2006 with a double major in accounting and finger painting.

What Ryan does for a living, other than randomly punch people in the nuts: Runs the GMUHoops.com blog, panhandles around the Patriot Center and Brion’s Grill.

(I’m not making that up. He actually wrote the panhandling bit, along with: “Definitely get more that way instead of any job I could have got with a Mason degree.”)

How Ryan “met” me via my superduper fair and balanced Twitter feed and/or blog: “Good question. I don’t remember. Haven’t we been bickering since the dawn of time?”

(Or 2008, yes)

Why Ryan is a nice guy (in his own words): “I’m really not that good of a liar.”

Why Ryan is not a terrible guy (in my own words): He’s honest about being a bad guy with no soul! He’s also a Jets fan, so he’s not a complete frontrunner. Plus, he began running a Mason blog in 2006 (very easy) and is still operating it today (very difficult). Major respect for anyone who keeps at blogging. I give him major props for that, even if we disagree on, well, everything.

Yeah, but…: He’s a Mason fan. He drives really slow in the ultrafast lane. Also, he’s a Mason fan.

Three questions for Ryan Kish:

1.) Prove to me you didn’t begin following basketball in March 2006 and don’t freaking use Wikipedia (thank you very much SOPA): Two players have won the CAA Player of the Year Award three times. David Robinson is one. Who is the other?

Too easy. George Evans, the ageless wonder.

(Correct! Even if this should be the Mason version of getting 400 points on the SAT for simply writing your name)

165. Oh sorry, I thought you were asking how many CAA wins Larranaga had.

3.) Finish this sentence: “I knew Jerry Beach wasn’t a complete psychopath when…”

…when I found out he was also a Jets fan. J-E-T-S!

(Actually I’m not, but he’s on a roll)

Shawn Brann

About Shawn: Graduated from Mason in 1995 with a triple major in English, speech communications and finger painting. Received a master’s degree from Mason in education in 1999. Received a certificate in educational leadership from Mason in 2006. Currently studying for his doctorate in finger painting.

What Shawn does for a living, other than randomly kicking people in the nuts: Technical Trainer for CACI in the D.C. area, one of the many government contractors in the region.

How Shawn “met” me via my superduper fair and balanced Twitter feed and/or blog: “I first noticed your blog via the comments section of the CAAHoops blog by Litos. He seems to love you. I seemed to irritate him. I had to check out your blog to see why Litos loved you and hated me.”

(Impeccable judge of character, that Litos)

Why Shawn is a nice guy (in his own words): “I’m a happily married man of almost 14 years to another Mason graduate and a proud father of two incredible children. Plus I try to stay active in education—my former career—through extra-curricular activities at my daughter’s elementary school.”

Why Shawn is not a terrible guy (in my own words): He was the first Mason fan to ever write me, in response to this piece from February 2009, and he a.) spelled everything correctly and b.) didn’t tell me to go **** myself! Also has a good sense of humor and asked me to participate in a Q&A at his own blog last year.

Yeah, but…: He roots for Mason. He also roots for the Yankees, Cowboys and Spurs. (Except this year, when he roots for the Cardinals, the Patriots and/or Giants and the Mavericks) Also, he roots for Mason.

Three questions for Shawn Brann:

1.) Prove to me you didn’t begin following basketball in March 2006 and don’t freaking use Wikipedia (thank you very much SOPA): What, beyond Villanova’s upset win, was so unique about the 1985 national championship game?

If my memory serves me correctly, I think it was the FG% of Villanova in the game. I never liked Georgetown hoops, so I rooted hard for Nova that game.

(Acceptable. The answer I was looking for was it was the last game played before the implementation of the shot clock, which made it possible for Villanova to slow the game down enough to beat Georgetown, but anyone who remembers “The Perfect Game” knows his sports.)

I was an English major and former English teacher…I hate math! (Except when it comes to the number of Mason wins over the Pride)

(Dude, it’s the Flying Dutchmen. And shut up.)

3.) Finish this sentence: “I knew Jerry Beach wasn’t a complete psychopath when…”

…we did an interview session with our respective blogs a year ago. Plus. He may have been right about Larranaga, who let me and many other diehard fans/grads down when he bolted for $$s in Miami.

(This Brann guy is OK!)

So it goes…it’s the Hewitt Era now. GO MASON.

(You had to go and ruin it didn’t you Brann?)

Email Jerry at defiantlydutch@yahoo.com or follow Defiantly Dutch at http://twitter.com/defiantlydutch.

Postgame Buffet: VCU 61, Hofstra 49 (Or: I await the day good fortune comes our way and we win down the Kings Highway)

2012-01-24T23:20:00.006-05:00

Do the Flying Dutchmen have to travel down the King's Highway in Virginia to get to Richmond? For purposes of this blog entry, I am going to assume yes.

Buried in day work and something special for tomorrow morning (hint: who does Hofstra play tomorrow?), so here’s a postgame buffet from the Flying Dutchmen’s 61-49 loss to VCU that makes up for in brevity what it lacks in timeliness. Or something like that.

1.) The Dutchmen’s 14th loss of the season was the one that stung the least. The win over James Madison Saturday lessened the desperation that accompanied every game since the start of January. And let’s face it, of the 18 conference games, this was probably the one the Dutchmen weren’t going to win no matter what. Because the Dutchmen have NEVER won at VCU’s Siegel Center. Last night’s loss, in the 2,012th men’s basketball game in Hofstra history, dropped the Dutchmen to 0-9 all-time on the road against the Rams. So, you know, we’re kinda used to this.

2.) Still, this one did sting a bit, because it was very easy to make a case the Dutchmen had a shot at remaining in this one until the last minute for the 17,000th time this year, if not flat-out win the game. The Dutchmen displayed their usual resiliency in the first half, when they fell behind by at least seven points three different times yet closed to within 35-32 when Mike Moore banked a 3-pointer just before the first half buzzer.

And the Dutchmen had four chances to tie or take the lead in the first two-plus minutes of the second half but could never get the equalizer or inch ahead. Who knows what might have happened if David Imes’ 3-pointer from the left corner was a couple inches longer and the Dutchmen grabbed a one-point lead in the first 90 seconds? Instead, missing two shots over five empty possessions proved to be a sign of things to come for the Dutchmen, who were just 4-of-20 from the field and scored just 17 points on 31 second half possessions. Tough to win when the shooting touch goes that ice cold.

3.) Not surprisingly, VCU suffocated Moore after he scored 11 of his game-high 17 points on 5-of-10 shooting in the first half. And unfortunately for the Dutchmen, Moore grew frustrated by his inability to get open and get touches during the second half, when he scored six points—four from the free throw line—and hit just one of his four field goal attempts. It was a lapse into bad habits for Moore, who was similarly covered by James Madison Saturday yet dished to Stevie Mejia for the game-winning layup. After recording multiple assists in five straight games, he had just one assist and tied his career-high with six turnovers Monday. The Dutchmen fare best when Moore gets others involved when he is draped—i.e. in the second half—and any hope they have of mounting a second half run and advancing beyond Friday in the CAA Tournament rests on Moore resisting the instinct to force things offensively.

4.) Here’s a good bar bet question for you (if you happen to discuss Hofstra basketball at a bar, but I’m pretty sure I’d be the only person who did that, if only I went to bars): Name the Dutchman whose current streak of double-digit scoring efforts is the longest in the CAA. It’s not Moore but Nathaniel Lester, who extended that run to 13 games by scoring 12 points while adding a team-high eight rebounds. It wasn’t quite the game Lester appeared headed for at halftime, when he had seven points and seven rebounds, but it was still a very sturdy effort by a player who is very quietly putting together a legitimate run at earning second- or third-team All-CAA honors. Lester ranks ninth in the CAA in scoring and is tied for 10th in rebounding, which makes him just one of two players to rank in the top 10 in both categories. This is the type of year everyone envisioned for Lester when he was the jewel of the freshman class of 2007-08, which makes it so bittersweet that he’s capping his career in fine fashion in the midst of what looks like a lost season for the Dutchmen.

5.) While the Dutchmen didn’t lose this one in agonizing fashion, it was still symbolic of their close-but-not-quite season. “In the first half we were right there,” Mo Cassara said in Brian Bohl’s postgame recap. “We just ran out of gas a little bit and their pressure wore us down.”

In other words, an earnest and tireless effort wasn’t enough to overcome the Dutchmen’s razor-thin margin for error. A team that needs a little bit of everything didn’t get it. While reserves Mejia, Shemiye McLendon and Moussa Kone combined for another solid game (12 points on 5-of-10 shooting), Dwan McMillan was just 1-of-8 shooting and the trio of Kone, David Imes and Stephen Nwaukoni combined for just seven rebounds.

The Dutchmen forced 17 turnovers, but committed 18. And the Dutchmen looked wiped in the second half, and while it didn’t help this was their second road game in three days and their third game in six-day span overall, the second half fade was a familiar one for a team that basically only has an eight-man rotation (though Matt Grogan saw some time in the waning moments). Again: This one didn’t sting nearly as badly as the other seven CAA losses, but it carried with it the “what ifs?” of every defeat other than the Jan. 2 loss to VCU. Unfortunately for the Dutchmen, it almost certainly won’t be the last time that happens in a season in which the line between contention and wearing the road uniforms on Friday in Richmond is a razor thin one.

3 STARS OF THE GAME (vs. VCU, 1/23)

3: Nathaniel Lester

2: Mike Moore

1: David Imes

SEASON STANDINGS

Mike Moore 43

Nathaniel Lester 30

Dwan McMillan 17

David Imes 10

Shemiye McLendon 9

Stephen Nwaukoni 8

Stevie Mejia 5

Moussa Kone 2

Bryant Crowder 2

Email Jerry at defiantlydutch@yahoo.com or follow Defiantly Dutch at http://twitter.com/defiantlydutch.

Hofstra 71, James Madison 69 (Or: Happy Happy Joy Joy)

2012-01-23T18:04:00.003-05:00

I'll teach your grandmother to suck eggs!

Mo Cassara had tried just about everything to coax a win out of the Flying Dutchmen and end the longest streak of bad luck in college basketball this season. He yelled and he provided verbal pats on the back. He worked the Dutchmen hard in practice and he eased up. He expressed frustration at press conferences and he expressed optimism. He implored the Dutchmen to channel the 2004 Red Sox and the 2011 New York Giants.

Turns out all he had to do was ditch his sport coat.

With his coach displaying an ultra-rare look on the sideline, Stevie Mejia drove the lane and converted the winning 3-point play with just over six seconds to go before he provided the suffocating defense at midcourt that clinched the Flying Dutchmen’s 71-69 win over James Madison. The win, the Dutchmen’s first CAA win in 321 days (but who’s counting?), finally ended the second-worst conference start in Hofstra history, a stretch in which the Dutchmen lost seven games by a mere 42 points.

“It’s like the weight has been lifted,” Cassara said from Richmond Saturday night. “It was a big-time winning play. We’ve been talking about how we’ve got to make more winning plays and we had a bunch tonight. Fortunately we were able to make enough down the stretch to win the game in a hostile environment.”

When Cassara flung off the coat, though, it looked like the Dutchmen were destined to suffer yet another gut-wrenching loss. Cassara, a superstitious sort in all facets of life but particularly when it comes to his game day attire, is the anti-Shaka Smart when it comes to his suit jacket: It stays on. Always.

Yet he ditched it in fury with 1:16 left Saturday, right after James Madison took its first lead in almost 16 minutes on a dunk by Enoch Hood. Cassara was already furious over what happened about 90 seconds earlier, when, with the Dutchmen nursing a four-point lead, Dwan McMillan fouled out on the second worst charge call of the week. Actually, this one might have been even worse, since McMillan was at half court when it happened.

(Note: It wasn’t worse than Dennis Allocco’s travesty)

Humpty Hitchens (HIM AGAIN) drained a 3-pointer on the Dukes’ subsequent trip to pull James Madison within 62-61 and even Cassara was thinking the Dutchmen—who were up by nine points in the first half and by eight points earlier in the second half—were doomed. He was so furious he took off the coat because the sleeves were restraining him and “…I couldn’t swing my arms fast enough.”

The Dutchmen were in the midst of one of their best games of the year and were winning even though Mike Moore (10 points on 3-of-10 shooting) was bottled up. And they were finally getting contributions from everyone: Dutchmen reserves scored just seven points in the previous two games but Mejia, Shemiye McLendon and Moussa Kone ended up with 19 points on 8-of-11 shooting.

And yet it was happening again. “I was just so frustrated,” Cassara said. “It was like a Twilight Zone. Playing our butts off and then we just can’t get a break.”

But unlike the previous seven losses, the Dutchmen made their own breaks down the stretch and finally got a couple things to go their way. David Imes, who scored a team-high 11 points in the first half, pulled down two rebounds, one on each end of the floor, following the Hitchens 3-pointer and hit three of four free throws—his only points of the second half—to give the Dutchmen a four-point lead again.

Imes’ defensive rebound came when after the Dukes missed two shots in the paint, including a thunderous dunk by Hood. It was Imes who had one of the Dutchmen’s two missed dunks against Northeastern in a 64-62 loss and Imes who accidentally tipped in a missed Drexel free throw in the 60-54 loss to the Dragons Wednesday.

Then A.J. Davis’ 3-point play and Hood’s dunk finally put the Dukes ahead, Nathaniel Lester—who had another huge second half and scored 17 of his 23 points after intermission—drained a 3-pointer to give the Dutchmen the 68-66 lead.

“I’ve got to credit coach [Pat] Sellers,” Cassara said. “We went through a little rut in the second half, they were just doing so much to take away Mike [Moore]. And [Sellers said] ‘Gotta go to Nat, Nat’s hot, he’s got a good shot, we’ve got to keep going to him.” We called his number a bunch of different times and he hit some big shots.”

But Lester ended up needing Mejia to save him from misery. Lester stole the ball on James Madison’s next trip and, after a timeout, missed a layup with 23 seconds left. Hood slammed home a dunk on the other end, was fouled by Mejia and hit the free throw to put the Dukes up 69-68.

“When Nat misses that layup at the end of the game and they get a 3-point play, they go up, I was like ‘You’ve got to be kidding me,’” Cassara said.

The Dutchmen didn’t have a timeout, but Mejia—who was the third option on the play behind Moore and Lester—got the ball from a heavily covered Moore, drove the lane, hit the layup and was fouled by Hitchens. Mejia, who had hit just 11 of 25 free throws, drained the free throw and then pressured Devon Moore into losing the ball at half-court. Despite contact being made, no foul was called, and the Dukes didn’t get a shot off before the buzzer.

It was a cathartic layup for Mejia, who has struggled badly and lost his starting job to McMillan since suffering a hamstring injury against Boston University Nov. 27. Mejia’s three field goals Saturday marked the first time he had multiple baskets in a game since Nov. 26—the day the Dutchmen stunned Cleveland State.

During a chat in his office last week, Cassara implored Mejia to focus less on what has gone wrong this year and more on the next year-and-a-half. “I’m just so happy for Stevie Mejia, he has been such a shell of himself,” Cassara said. “Stevie and I had this long heart to heart the other day. He’s starting to get healthy—maybe 75 to 80 percent—and mentally he wasn’t. He’s just so frustrated. He’s wanted to do so well and hasn’t been able to.

“I said to him ‘Listen: We’re not talking about Rhode Island anymore or this injury anymore. What we’re going to do is make this a successful year-and-a-half for you, on and off the court.

“Later on he texted me and [said] ‘Thank you. I feel so much better.’ He played that way today. Just so happy for him.”

And after ending the losing streak, Cassara found out that plenty of people were rooting for him, as well. “My phone just blew up—texts from people around the league, ADs, coaches,” Cassara said. “People knew how close we were. It wasn’t like you’re a bad team and you can’t win. It was like, hey, this is a pretty good team, just haven’t been able to catch a break.

“So I really appreciate that. I think that’s a sign that this is not a bad team. Just a team that has been, between injuries and various other things and some tough luck, hasn’t been where it would like to be.”

3 STARS OF THE GAME (vs. James Madison, 1/21)

3: Nathaniel Lester

2: Stevie Mejia

1: David Imes

SEASON STANDINGS

Mike Moore 41

Nathaniel Lester 27

Dwan McMillan 17

David Imes 9

Shemiye McLendon 9

Stephen Nwaukoni 8

Stevie Mejia 5

Moussa Kone 2

Bryant Crowder 2

Email Jerry at defiantlydutch@yahoo.com or follow Defiantly Dutch at http://twitter.com/defiantlydutch.

SWEET FANCIFUL JESUS HOFSTRA WINS!

2012-01-21T18:10:00.005-05:00

#RollPride

Reality beginning to set in for Dutchmen

2012-01-21T15:59:00.006-05:00

Bart will heal the Flying Dutchmen today, when Hofstra finally wins a game!

Mo Cassara struck a positive tone late Wednesday night, when he agreed with Mike Moore that the Flying Dutchmen are a much better team than their record indicates and spoke hopefully of the Dutchmen channeling the New York Giants after Hofstra endued its latest agonizing near-miss and remained winless in the CAA with a 60-54 loss to Drexel.

“As Mike Moore said in the locker room, we’ve all been on teams before that are losing teams or teams that are not winning,” Cassara said. “But I don’t see a losing team in that locker room. I see a team that continues to come out and fight and battle and practice hard everyday. We just haven’t been able to execute enough plays down the stretch.”

“I used a little bit of the New York Giants analogy. The Packers are the best team in the league all year and the Giants, before Christmas, were in disarray. They weren’t winning they were going to fire the coach and the team wasn’t going to make the playoffs. And now they won one game at a key time and then all of a sudden they’re playing well. We’re just waiting for that one win and it’s going to come.”

But even as Cassara remained optimistic and hopeful of a dramatic turnaround from an 0-7 CAA start, realism began to creep into his sentiments. Even if the Dutchmen fare far better down the stretch and in the CAA Tournament than the previous teams to start open the conference season with seven straight losses, the odds are the Dutchmen will have to take solace in playing for and salvaging—wait for it—pride.

Hofstra and Towson are the sixth and seventh teams to start 0-7 in CAA play since 2001-02 and the 11th and 12th to endure such a start in conference history. There’s little doubt the Dutchmen are the best of these 0-7 teams—their seven losses are by 42 points, a margin rivaled only by Richmond in 1994-95 (47 points)—but even a historic end-of-season run by the Dutchmen will make it difficult to avoid the fate suffered by their predecessors.

Only two teams started 0-7 in CAA play and managed to avoid finishing last or next-to-last in the conference (William & Mary in 2004-05 and Northeastern last year). In addition, none of the 0-7 squads went on to win more than one game in the CAA Tournament.

In a conference in which the lack of a bye has proven to be an insurmountable hurdle even for teams that finish in the top half of the conference—as you know, the next team to play on Friday and win the CAA Tournament will be the first—even the most devout of Dutchmen followers will have a hard time envisioning a scenario in which the Dutchmen aren’t headed home well before the Monday night championship game.

“I told our team [the win] might come in February, it might come in the last week in February, and if we can string a couple together and then win a couple games in the CAA, that’s what we’re going to remember and that’s what we’re doing to look to continue to build on,” Cassara said.

Making the climb even tougher for the Dutchmen is an unforgiving schedule. After playing at James Madison today, the Dutchmen visit VCU—where they have never won—Monday before returning home Wednesday to host George Mason. Then there’s a trip to Boston for a game next Saturday against Northeastern, whose rebuilding program appears to be coming to fruition a year ahead of time.

Finally, on Feb. 1, the Dutchmen get Towson for the only time this season. This is the 27th season in which Hofstra and Towson are in the same conference and the first time in which they play just once in the regular season. It’s been that kind of year.

“We’re going to get back to work [Thursday] and we’re going to get back to work on Friday and we go to James Madison and VCU in three days,” Cassara said. “So it doesn’t get much easier. Then we come back home and play George Mason. So you tell me where the break is there. I’d like to know. But we don’t really have one right now.”

Email Jerry at defiantlydutch@yahoo.com or follow Defiantly Dutch at http://twitter.com/defiantlydutch.

Drexel 56, Hofstra 50 (Or: Some people like to rock n’ roll, we’re always singin’ the blues)

2012-01-19T07:45:00.007-05:00

If it wasn't for bad luck, the Flying Dutchmen would have no luck at all.

This is just getting freaking absurd now.

I mean, losing to James Madison by two in which a half-court shot was the difference was bad enough. Not as bad as the Flying Dutchmen losing to Delaware by one in a game in which they never led, a game in which they had a chance to take the lead in the final half minute except Mike Moore—who has made and attempted more free throws than any player in the CAA—missed two free throws. Which wasn’t as bad as the Dutchmen allowing Northeastern to score on 17 of its last 19 possessions to earn a two-point win in which the Huskies never led by more than three.

At oh-for-six, what else could possibly happen to the Dutchmen Wednesday against Drexel? Oh sure, the odds are they would lose, but how likely was it that they could lose in a fashion that would make the previous six defeats seem positively enjoyable and non-torturous in comparison?

How about losing to the preseason favorites, 56-50, in a game in which the Dutchmen were cost two points when David Imes accidentally tapped in a missed Drexel free throw? And were likely cost another two points when the worst officiating crew north of Richmond called Moore for a charge as he drove for the potential tying basket with 17 seconds left?

Did I mention it was Moore’s fifth foul? And that he’d never before fouled out in 53 games at Hofstra? And that Frantz Massenat was in the circle and his feet were the opposite of set?

“With our season so far, it seems like every play has been going against us,” Moore said. “Hopefully the luck can go our way soon.”

It can’t get worse, right? It can’t possibly get any worse than the fashion in which the Dutchmen fell to 0-7, with the losses by a grand total of 42 points. The average margin of defeat for the other six teams to start 0-7 in the CAA since expansion? One hundred and two points.

“Never—I’ve never in my playing career, coaching career, been through where we were so close,” said Mo Cassara, who managed to fashion an upbeat persona during the post-game press conference even though you can bet this is tearing him up inside. “I’ve been on some teams where you’re just quite not good enough every night. And I really feel that this team is good enough. This team’s beaten some very good teams.”

But who the hell am I kidding? It will get worse. It always gets worse. The Flying Dutchmen are the Sisyphus of the CAA, destined to roll the rock up the hill only to get flattened by it in new and agonizing ways.

George Mason visits next Wednesday. At this point, I expect Jim Larranaga to return for one night only, block out the sun in Hempstead and bring back Tony Skinn, who will drain the game-winning 93-footer at the buzzer to give the Patriots the one-point win and then race up to my seat and kick me in the nuts.

And two weeks from last night, Towson visits. Everybody wants Towson to win a game and end the longest losing streak in Division I history. Nobody wants to be the team that loses to Towson. You see where I’m going with this.

One week, two weeks, four weeks, eight weeks from now, we will look back on last night as the good ol’ days. Which, in the moment, REALLY SUCKED.

As usual, the Dutchmen got off to a fast start, draining their first three baskets in a 74-second span to force the ever-entertaining Bruiser Flint to call timeout. The Dutchmen then missed their next 12 shots over a span of 10-plus minutes in which they were only outscored 14-1. Things got progressively worse for the Dutchmen (but not for all their fans—my wife and I won a $50 gift certificate to City Cellar during a timeout, thanks Hofstra!) and Drexel seemed ready to end the suspense and put us out of our misery early for once when the Dragons took a 10-point lead in the final two minutes of the half.

But the Dutchmen, who haven’t won a game this year in which they have trailed by more than five points, inched back from an eight-point halftime deficit. They closed the gap to two points by the first two media timeouts and one point by the under eight timeout. A pair of Shemiye McLendon free throws after the latter stoppage gave the Dutchmen their first lead since 6-4.

“I told our guys it was our ball to start the half, let’s get this thing to a one- or two-possession game at 15 minutes, at the 10-minut mark,” Cassara said. “If we can get it to a tie game, the pressure shifts down to their bench. They’re the favorites.”

Of course, the Dutchmen would never lead again. A Drexel turnover led to a missed 3-pointer by McLendon and Chris Fouch drained a 3-pointer in transition to give Drexel the lead. A Dwan McMillan jumper tied the score for the final time at 42-42. I began a #reversejinx on Twitter and declared the game over around the time Drexel pulled down two offensive rebounds and Dartaye Ruffin finally converted a 3-point play to put the Dragons up 46-42.

“It comes down to one or two plays,” Cassara said. “Shemiye gets a great look at a 3, misses, Fouch comes down in transition and hits a 3 in the corner. It’s plays like that—it’s just really tough for us to fight back from something like that.”

But a 3-point play by Imes pulled the Dutchmen within two with 1:15 left and a 3-pointer by Moore with 35 seconds left made it a one-point game at 51-50. Massenat hit one of two free throws to set up the Moore charge, now and forever known as The Worst Call In The History Of The World, Not Counting Anything That Happened During Drexel-VCU Last Year.

For all my screeching about regional biases and bad refereeing, I’m only kidding 90 percent of the time. OK, it’s only 50 percent of the time, but I’m trying to keep it light 90 percent of the time. Referees have the world’s worst job, one that absolutely everybody is convinced they can do better than the paid professionals.

It’s a lot like journalism, in a way, except leagues aren’t hiring untrained people to do the job for free. Maybe the CAA should consider it.

There’s no joking about how awful the crew was Wednesday night. The trio (I won’t name them, ‘cause I’m a nice guy) called 18 fouls in the first half (nine per team) and 29 in the second half (15 for Hofstra, 14 for Drexel). It’s as if they realized, duh, this is a Hofstra-Drexel rock fight. We’re supposed to call fouls.

McMillan was called for a foul that was whistled by an official across the court, even though the official two feet away from McMillan never moved a muscle. Then there was the Moore foul, which I’d declare an awful foul if it was on a Drexel player and preserved a Hofstra win (of course then I’d do it with a smile on my face and glee in my heart, instead of a perpetual scowl and simmering rage, respectively).

Who calls that with less than 20 seconds to play in a conference game? A CAA official, that’s who. Buzz Peterson is my new favorite coach not named Mo Cassara, and it’s because he told the cold hard truth after he was amateurishly whistled for two technical fouls in a matter of seconds Saturday: Complain all you want, nobody in Richmond ever listens.

“We can’t harp on the referees,” Cassara said.

(I can.)

The Dutchmen had a chance to win a game in which they were 1-of-13 from 3-point land, 9-of-19 from the free throw line (their worst performance since going 6-of-14 against North Carolina Nov. 18, 2010) and got outrebounded by Drexel, 41-35.

Moore had just 13 points. Stephen Nwaukoni, who has been bordering on breakout star status this month, was limited to eight minutes thanks to four fouls. Moore, Nathaniel Lester (10 points, five rebounds) and Dwan McMillan (nine points, five rebounds, two assists, four turnovers, one steal) all finished with at least four fouls, all of which meant Moussa Kone led the Dutchmen with 32 minutes played—five more than his career high and 10 more than he played the last two games combined—and pulled down a team- and career-high nine rebounds.

All that and the Dutchmen lose by six. Which was really four, since Damian Lee slammed home an uncontested dunk with three seconds left. Which was really two, since Imes gave the Dragons a basket midway through the second half by reaching up for a missed free throw by Samme Givens and somehow tapping it in.

“I was just trying to get the rebound,” Imes said. “And I ended up tipping it in.”

And really, it was a tie game because of the brutal call on Moore. And—oh forget it.

“If you look at our stat line tonight, if you covered up the score and I looked at 1-13 from 3 and 9-19 and we get outrebounded, I would have said we probably lost by 20 points tonight,” Cassara said. “But yet it comes down to one play, maybe the chance to tie the game. So we’ve got to continue to build on that.”

Over and over and over and over and over and over and over again.

3 STARS OF THE GAME (vs. Drexel, 1/18)

3: Mike Moore

2: Moussa Kone

1: Dwan McMillan

SEASON STANDINGS

Mike Moore 41

Nathaniel Lester 24

Dwan McMillan 17

Shemiye McLendon 9

Stephen Nwaukoni 8

David Imes 8

Stevie Mejia 3

Moussa Kone 2

Bryant Crowder 2

Email Jerry at defiantlydutch@yahoo.com or follow Defiantly Dutch a thttp://twitter.com/defiantlydutch.

Of bad luck, how good we've had it and Bartering one’s soul for a win, never mind 19

2012-01-18T16:50:00.004-05:00

There are more seasons of The Simpsons than there are games remaining on the Flying Dutchmen schedule. Don't make me keep digging for game day clips and photos!

You may find this hard to believe, given my milquetoast online personas, but I’m an argumentative sort. I enjoy a good debate and defending my side of an issue. And so it has been, in the three-plus years I’ve been writing Defiantly Dutch, that I’ve defended the recent performance of Hofstra men’s basketball and declared that those who criticized the Flying Dutchmen in recent years had no idea how good they had it.

While the Dutchmen have yet to reach the NCAA Tournament since joining the CAA (grrr) and haven’t even gotten to the CAA Tournament championship game since 2006 (double grrr), they have been in the thick of the race on an almost annual basis since breaking into CAA contention in 2004-05.

The Dutchmen are one of just 19 Division I teams to win at least 19 games in six of the last seven seasons. Of course, in typical rotten Hofstra luck, the Dutchmen are the only one of those 19 programs to never reach the NCAA Tournament in that span. But still, even without that life-affirming trip to the NCAA Tournament, such consistency is far, far better than the alternative.

Which, unfortunately, we are observing first-hand now. At 0-6 in the CAA—the worst conference start for Hofstra since the 1987-88 team opened 0-10 in the ECC—and 6-12 overall, the Dutchmen just want to win a conference game, never mind 12 more games after that. You don't need to be a journalism major like me to figure out 19 wins is not likely to happen this year.

And even if we believe the Dutchmen can be the team to rewrite the history of 0-6 teams—of the 14 previous teams to open CAA play 0-6, none finished .500 in conference and none won more than a single game in the conference tournament—the odds are this season will end with a below-.500 record and elimination on Friday or Saturday of the CAA Tournament.

And in many ways, Hofstra was due for a season like this. Even accounting for the fact the regular season is several games longer now than 15 or 20 years ago, it’s damn tough to win 19 games six out of every seven seasons. There’s no shame in having a hiccup 28 percent of the time.

And while my good friend Gary Moore is right that teams generally make their own luck, the Dutchmen’s recent skid has served as a gentle reminder of how decidedly fortunate they have been during this run.

On their way to a 21-win season in 2008-09, the Dutchmen endured a stretch in which they lost six of eight games spanning December and January. But after opening January by getting smoked by Drexel and Northeastern in consecutive wire-to-wire losses, the Dutchmen drew Delaware at home, edged the Blue Hens by five despite a 4-of-24 shooting performance from Charles Jenkins and then lost at VCU and Drexel to fall to 2-4 in the conference.

Then the Dutchmen won four in a row, a stretch in which they beat Northeastern and William & Mary at home and edged James Madison and UNC Wilmington on buzzer beaters on the road. The Dutchmen benefited from a schedule in which they faced the ninth-, seventh-, 11th- and 12th-place teams in a stretch of seven games.

The Dutchmen suffered another midseason funk during a 19-win 2009-10, when they lost nine of 11 and started out 2-7 in the CAA. But over the second half of the season, the Dutchmen played the bottom four teams in the CAA a total of six times and won all six games on their way to authoring one of the best stretch runs in conference history.

There has been no such break this year. Five of the six teams the Dutchmen have played thus far are .500 or better in conference. And who knows where the Dutchmen are right now if the first week of January begins with two home games instead of ends with two road games?

The schedule gets no easier, which tinges this start with an even bigger sense of desperation. The Dutchmen’s final five opponents this month enter tonight with an 18-12 conference mark. That’s doubly impressive considering James Madison’s 1-5 record is included in there.

The Dutchmen get a rematch with James Madison Saturday, but at Harrisonburg. And after that, they have to head straight to Richmond to take on VCU, after which the Dutchmen return home to face first-place George Mason. All of a sudden the idea of two 0-11 teams facing off when Towson visits Feb. 1 is no longer so outlandish.

No matter how bad this bad start gets, take solace in knowing how good we’ve had it—even if you disagreed with me earlier—and knowing I’ve seen much, MUCH worse. The Dutchmen were 28-56 during my three years on campus from 1993-96. They began play in a conference that doesn’t exist anymore (hi Litos!), which is almost as bad as winning a conference tournament that doesn’t exist anymore and didn’t carry with it an automatic bid to the NCAA Tournament (or even the CBI!)

It got better in a hurry after I left—not the first time that’s happened!—and the Dutchmen won 19 games in 1997-98 and won 22 games and reached the NIT in 1998-99 before, of course, winning back-to-back America East titles in Jay Wright’s final two seasons at the helm.

There is ample reason to hope Mo Cassara’s second year is just like Wright’s second year—a painful transition season before his big-time recruits, in this case Jamal Coombs-McDaniel and Taran Buie, arrive—and that another stretch of successful seasons are right around the corner. As bright as the future looks, though, right now I think I’d barter my soul for a win tonight.

Email Jerry at defiantlydutch@yahoo.com or follow Defiantly Dutch at http://twitter.com/defiantlydutch.

Postgame Buffet: Old Dominion 69, Hofstra 61 (Or: Same sing song, makes me sad)

2012-01-18T15:12:00.004-05:00

R.E.M. - Music - More Music Videos

Damn that radio song.

Been there, done that: Blown leads this year, blown leads against Old Dominion the last few years, later than anticipated postgame buffets. Hooray! With just a few hours to go until the Dutchmen try to win their first CAA game of the season for the seventh time, here’s the buffet from the 69-61 loss to Old Dominion Saturday:

1.) Before we get into the meat and potatoes of the Flying Dutchmen digging themselves an even bigger hole, a quick note to marvel at the coaching acumen of Old Dominion’s Blaine Taylor. Old Dominion is 10-5 against the Dutchmen since the start of the 2004-05 season. In five of those wins, the Monarchs came back from deficits of at least eight points, including Saturday’s comeback from a 13-point deficit. And in two other wins, they came back from a five-point second half deficit and a six-point first half deficit. The man can coach, and now that he whom we shall not name is gone to South Beach, there’s no doubt that Taylor is the finest architect in the CAA. This of course is subject to change if VCU becomes a regular visitor to the Final Four or Sweet 16 under Shaka Smart, but at the moment nobody in the league can match the consistency of Old Dominion.

2.) The Dutchmen are consistent too, in all the wrong ways. After another fast start—the Dutchmen bolted out to a 16-3 lead three days after scoring the first nine points against Northeastern—the Dutchmen squandered a second half lead of at least seven points for the second game in a row and the fifth time this season.

The problem Saturday was turnovers and a lack of depth. The Dutchmen had an assist-to-turnover ratio of 4/7 in the second half against Old Dominion and had just one assist and all seven turnovers after taking their biggest second half lead at 46-39 with 16:47 to go.

And while Old Dominion got 73 minutes and 32 points from its bench, the Dutchmen received just 31 minutes and two points from the trio of Moussa Kone, Shemiye McLendon and Stevie Mejia. The inability of the reserves—particularly McLendon, who played a career-low three minutes and has just three points in his last three games—to provide a spark proved particularly costly when the Dutchmen twice went eight straight possessions without a field goal and generally looked exhausted in shooting 7-of-26.

3.) The absence of bench production was doubly noticeable because Mike Moore, Nathaniel Lester and David Imes were a combined 14-of-43 from the field. Moore (19 points) and Lester (10 points) combined for 29 points in the first half but just eight in the second half, including two by Moore. Imes hit two jumpers in the second half as the Dutchmen got off to a fast start but had just two free throws the rest of the way.

The good news is Imes was shooting nearly 60 percent (26-of-44) in his previous six game, Lester is shooting 44 percent (47-of-108) in 10 games following his early season slump and Moore still leads the CAA in scoring. But the Dutchmen simply can’t win when their three most experienced players shoot 33 percent combined and nobody else steps up when Moore gets double teamed in the second half.

4.) I don’t know if this is good or bad, but the Dutchmen continue to look like the best 0-6 team in CAA history. The Dutchmen have lost those six games by 36 points. That’s a smaller margin of defeat than any other team to start CAA play 0-5 since 2001-02. No misprint there.

As our good friend Mike Litos noted Monday, the effort never waned on Saturday, to the point that trying too hard might have contributed to the Dutchmen’s second half carelessness. Led by Imes’ 10 rebounds and Stephen Nwaukoni’s eight boards (the fifth straight game in which he had at least eight rebounds), the Dutchmen ended up outrebounding Old Dominion 37-32, no small feat against a program that led the nation in rebounding margin last year.

And there were the stretches in which the Dutchmen clearly outplayed Old Dominion: The beginning and end of the first half (when the Dutchmen scored five points in the final 12 seconds to take a 38-33 lead) and the beginning of the second half. How is a team like this 0-6 in CAA play?

5.) Well, because the Dutchmen have no margin for error. They’re more talented than the average 0-6 team, but with a thin bench on even the best of days and no otherworldly superstar to carry them down the stretch, they’re not good enough to make up for a poor assist-to-turnover ratio or the end-game defense that plagued them against Florida Atlantic, James Madison and Northeastern.

If the Dutchmen have any hope of faring a whole lot better than the previous 14 teams to start a CAA season 0-6—and only three played .500 or better ball the rest of the CAA season and none won more than a single game in the CAA Tournament—they’ll have to begin minimizing the mistakes tonight against Drexel. Or else I’ll have to update the 0-fer file again and I really don’t want to do that.

3 STARS OF THE GAME (vs. Old Dominion, 1/14)

3: Mike Moore

2: Dwan McMillan

1: Nathaniel Lester

SEASON STANDINGS

Mike Moore 38

Nathaniel Lester 24

Dwan McMillan 16

Shemiye McLendon 9

Stephen Nwaukoni 8

David Imes 8

Stevie Mejia 3

Bryant Crowder 2

Email Jerry at defiantlydutch@yahoo.com or follow Defiantly Dutch at http://twitter.com/defiantlydutch.

It’s just a little losing streak, it’s still good, it’s still good!

2012-01-14T11:15:00.002-05:00

Preach on Homer. And shut up, Bart.

College basketball fandom is all about selective rationalization, and always finding reason to believe it’s still early even when the calendar says otherwise and even when you are a pessimistic pain in the ass in all other facets of life.

For instance: That 62-60 loss to James Madison? Stung like a sonofa, but it was only one game and it was only December. That 17-point loss to VCU 12 days ago? A tough one, but VCU’s going to win the CAA going away. (What’s that? Oh. Never mind.) The Dutchmen were 0-2, and history has proven an 0-2 start is almost impossible to overcome and still earn a bye in the CAA, but as long as they could split the road trip to Delaware and UNC Wilmington and beat Northeastern they’d be fine—2-3 and right in the thick of the muddy middle of the conference.

Then the Dutchmen lost to Delaware, 67-66, in the most unlikely wire-to-wire defeat in the history of sports. But it was still OK. Maybe they’d steal a win at UNC Wilmington, then beat Northeastern and still be at 2-3 after five games.

But they didn’t beat UNC Wilmington, which won last Saturday, 86-80, in a game that wasn’t really that close. The history of 0-4 teams in the CAA is REALLY bad, but I guaranteed on Twitter that if the Dutchmen could beat Northeastern on Wednesday then they’d beat Old Dominion on the road today and then they’d be 2-4. And then, my thinking went, they’d steal a home game against Drexel this coming Wednesday and beat James Madison on the road and they’d be 4-4 with a four-game winning streak going into VCU and the toughest place to play in the CAA.

And then the Dutchmen lost to Northeastern, 64-62, after allowing the Huskies to score on their last four billion possessions (give or take a couple), and even I was done. At dinner Wednesday night—during which not a single bite of food tasted even the slightest bit good—I told my wife we were looking at an 0-10 start in CAA play and the specter of playing Towson, which of course is in the midst of the longest losing streak in Division I history, with 11th place and an 11th straight conference loss on the line on Feb. 1.

I was done. The Dutchmen were done. There’s only so many times you can come agonizingly close before the season goes down the crapper. And three losses by a grand total of five points, with the at Old Dominion-Drexel-at James Madison-at VCU-George Mason-at Northeastern gauntlet coming up, meant the Dutchmen were done.

Except…except that was Wednesday. By Thursday, I was telling myself the Dutchmen were too damn good to be 0-5. I mean, this isn’t Jay Wright’s second team at Hofstra, one that was basically recruited to play in the East Coast Conference (a league that I made up) but was trying to compete in the North Atlantic Conference (a league I may also have made up). There are big-time players on this team.

Sure, they’re not perfect, but Mike Moore is probably going to lead the CAA in scoring and Nathaniel Lester is a nightly threat for a double-double and a legit second half scorer in the Charles Jenkins mold. Stephen Nwaukoni, David Imes and Moussa Kone give the Dutchmen enough bulk to compete down low in a grind-it-out league.

By Friday, I was telling myself how this Dutchmen team does not stack up to the other squads to start 0-5 in CAA play since 2001-02. While the Dutchmen are in a transition season, they are not rebuilding like Delaware in 2006-07 or Northeastern and William & Mary last year, nor are they in the midst of the greatest overhaul in conference history, a la Towson this year.

Mo Cassara is not trying to turn around a program conditioned to second-division finishes, a la Tony Shaver at William & Mary in 2004-05 and 2005-06. And Hofstra is not a program predisposed to underachievement, a la James Madison in 2003-04 and 2005-06 or Delaware 2005-06 or Towson 2009-10 and 2010-11.

I don’t know where the Dutchmen will be come the first weekend of March, only that they will have more than the six wins that, so far, represent the ceiling for a team that opens conference play 0-5. For the second time in three years, I’ll be writing about their rise from the ashes of a terrible start in conference play.

And so it is that this morning I woke up absolutely certain the Flying Dutchmen would win at Old Dominion, a place they haven’t won since 2005-06. Old Dominion can’t shoot straight (I say that in the most endearing, complimentary way possible). Hofstra can hang with the Monarchs on the boards. The Dutchmen are DUE—for not only a good break, bur for their end-game defense to become something more than non-existent.

And then, after the Dutchmen win today, they’ll stun Drexel at home Wednesday and go to James Madison and beat the Dukes a week from today. Then they’ll be 3-5 and bursting with confidence going into VCU. And if they can win that one, and upset George Mason two days later, and then beat Northeastern in Boston two weeks from today—well hell, they not only have a chance at being 6-5 when the month ends, it’s a goddamn ironclad lock. It’s just a little losing streak. It’s still good, it’s still good.

Email Jerry at defiantlydutch@yahoo.com or follow Defiantly Dutch at http://twitter.com/defiantlydutch.

Postgame Buffet: Northeastern 64, Hofstra 62 (Or: Only missed by a fraction)

2012-01-14T10:28:00.002-05:00

Right now, Dutch Nation (snort) is despondent.

I knew the Flying Dutchmen were totally toasted with less than a minute to play Wednesday night, when the above song started playing during a timeout at Hofstra Arena. I mean, I get the intent—the message is all about seizing the moment and all that good stuff—but as the video tells us: Right now maybe we should pay attention to the lyrics.

And right now, a missed beat keeps haunting the Flying Dutchmen, who lost to Northeastern, 64-62, in the year’s first Barone Bowl to fall to 0-5 in the CAA. To quote a Boston-based band (which is what I usually do here), it’s the same old song and dance for the Dutchmen, who have lost their five CAA games by a grand total of 26 points, by far the fewest of any team to start 0-5 since 2001-02. Here’s the postgame buffet that was delayed by work and not a two-day mourning period. Really.

1.) Once again, defensive breakdowns at the end cost the Dutchmen. Except this just wasn’t a matter of allowing a handful of baskets in the final couple minutes, a la against James Madison and Florida Atlantic. The Dutchmen squandered a pair of seven-point leads by allowing Northeastern to score on an amazing 17 of its final 20 possessions over the final 12-plus minutes, and that counts Jonathan Lee missing a free throw with 4.6 seconds left. So Northeastern basically ended the game by scoring on 17 of its last 19 possessions. Tough to win when that happens.

“If you told me tonight we were going to hold them to 64 points, I really would have thought we would have won the game,” Mo Cassara said afterward. “We went in some stretches again where our offense wasn’t clicking and our defensive intensity and focus let down.”

2.) That wasn’t the case at the beginning of the game, when the Dutchmen suffocated Northeastern into missing its first eight shots, kept the Huskies scoreless through their first nine possessions and carried a shutout into the first media timeout. But after falling behind 9-0, Northeastern went on a 12-0 run to grab the lead and begin a game-ending stretch in which it shot a mind-boggling 23-of-42 from the field.

“We’ve been talking about it the last few days, really the last few weeks, what I call multiple effort,” Cassara said. “I think we do a really good job defending maybe one action or two actions, but then we relax for half a second, we get beat or we’re a step slow. We had two times where we had a 3-point lead and we gave up a 3-pointer and a 3-point play where we got beat to the basket. We can’t have that happen. It’s hampered us all year. We do a good job of an initial five, 10, 15 seconds sometimes, then we have a breakdown at the very end.”

3.) The breakdowns weren’t limited to the defense. The Dutchmen had a seemingly solid offensive game, shooting 60 percent in the second half, and an even 50 percent overall while putting three players into double figures. Mike Moore (nine points) and Dwan McMillan (eight points) each finished a basket away from making it four or five players with at least 10 points. Moore, who is battling a lingering groin injury, had a career-high five assists and continually looked to get teammates involved while McMillan had seven assists and just two turnovers.

However, the Dutchmen got just five points from their bench as Shemiye McLendon, Moussa Kone and Stevie Mejia combined for just five field goal attempts. David Imes was 5-of-7 from the field, but one of his misses was a dunk. And while Stephen Nwaukoni continued his breakout performance in CAA play with 10 points, nine rebounds, three steals and two blocks, the one shot he missed was a thunderous dunk attempt just before the first half buzzer that nearly resulted in a Darryl Dawkins moment (Google it kids!). Nathaniel Lester had another big second half, during which he scored 14 of his team-high 19 points, but he stepped out of bounds with five seconds left to basically end the Dutchmen’s hopes.

“Go back to the end of the first half—we do a great job running a play, we send two guys to the offensive glass, two guys trying to dunk the ball and the ball comes out,” Cassara said. “Right now it’s one bounce for us, it’s one play. That’s how fine our margin for error is. Unfortunately we’re doing some good things. We just haven’t been able to finish them off.”

4.) Once again, Nwaukoni’s performance threatened to get lost in the haze of another gut-wrenching defeat, but he is rapidly evolving into a legitimate post presence for the Dutchmen. His ceiling at one point seemed to be that of someone who could absorb minutes, but with 38 rebounds in his last four games and an improving offensive skill set, he’s starting to look like a legitimate CAA big man and someone who could contend for a rebounding title in his final two seasons.

“Stephen’s giving us great energy, he’s keeping a lot of basketballs alive and doing a great job around the basket,” Cassara said. “Really did a good job on post defense tonight. He’s continuing to improve and we need him to do that.”

5.) This was the Dutchmen’s fourth CAA loss by six points or less and their third by two points or less, which statistically makes them the best team to open CAA play 0-5 since the conference expanded (only one of the other 11 teams to open 0-5—William & Mary last year—lost its first five conference games by less than 50 points). But this might have been a season-crushing defeat.

As tough as it was to lose to James Madison and the Humpty Hitchens Experience and as tough as it was to lose by one point to Delaware after never leading, losing to Northeastern at home by two points—after leading for more than 13 minutes in the second half, becoming the first team to score 40, 50 and 60 points in a low-scoring game and losing even though they never trailed by more than three points—might be more than this or any team could bear, especially with a treacherous stretch coming up. How’s this sound: at Old Dominion today, Drexel Wednesday, at James Madison next Saturday, at VCU Jan. 23, George Mason Jan. 25, at Northeastern Jan. 28. Gulp.

While he spoke optimistically as usual Wednesday night, Cassara looked spent as he sat slumped at the podium. “It’s frustrating to lose anytime, and I think it’s especially frustrating for these guys and our staff and our team when we’ve been stringing some good practices together,” Cassara said. “Our intensity and our focus has been good. We’ve remained positive. And like I’ve said, we’ve lost three league games by five total points, So sure, it’s frustrating.

“But we have to continue to move forward. I [said] in the locker room, the great thing about being a basketball player: We get to play again in a couple days and the great thing about this league is we have another great opportunity in two days.”

Right now, that doesn’t sound so great.

3 STARS OF THE GAME (vs. Northeastern, 1/11)

3: Stephen Nwaukoni

2: Nathaniel Lester

1: Dwan McMillan

SEASON STANDINGS

Mike Moore 35

Nathaniel Lester 23

Dwan McMillan 14

Shemiye McLendon 9

Stephen Nwaukoni 8

David Imes 8

Stevie Mejia 3

Bryant Crowder 2

Email Jerry at defiantlydutch@yahoo.com or follow Defiantly Dutch at http://twitter.com/defiantlydutch.

Postgame Buffet: UNC Wilmington 86, Hofstra 80 (Or: I ain’t seen the sun since I don’t know when)

2012-01-09T08:27:00.007-05:00

I can see this "0FerFile," though.

Things were so much simpler and promising when I was younger. I was focused, committed and optimistic; certain I could not only change myself but the world around me.

But here it is, a week later, and not only has my diet yet to begin, I prepared for writing during the overnight hours by wolfing down an ice cream sundae. Not only is my office not clean, it still looks like it needs FEMA intervention.

Most importantly, the Flying Dutchmen have as many CAA wins today as they did on New Year’s Day. Which is to say none. From taking random happenings and declaring they were a sign of a magical evening and season ahead to starting a file on my desktop titled “0FerNotes,” this has not been the start to 2012 anyone envisioned.

In fact, it officially became the worst start to a calendar year of the Defiantly Dutch era Saturday, when the Dutchmen dropped a not-as-close-as-it-seemed 86-80 decision at UNC Wilmington. The Dutchmen are 0-4 in CAA play, the first time they have opened conference play with four straight losses since 1987-88, and history suggests the year will only get longer from here.

So how DID we get here (the Dutchmen at 0-4, not me still eating and working amidst a pile of paperwork like it’s 2011)? Feast on the postgame buffet. Don’t lie. Your diet hasn’t started yet, either.

1.) While there are plenty of valid ways to spin the belief that 0-4 record is not as bad as it looks and that the Dutchmen’s future isn’t as bleak as it might seem, an 0-4 start brings out the inner Bill Parcells/Bill Belichick: It is what it is and you are what your record says you are.

For the Dutchmen, the most ample proof of the gridiron theorem was on display during a pair of destructive stretches in each half in which UNC Wilmington took control. The Seahawks scored on 11 of 13 possessions in a 6:51 span in the first half as they turned an 18-13 deficit into a 38-28 lead. That run was sparked by four offensive rebounds which the Seahawks turned into seven points and symbolized an evening in which the Dutchmen allowed season-highs in points and points per possession (1.217) and had little answer for power forward and sure-fire All-CAA pick Keith Rendleman (19 points on 7-of-10 shooting) while allowing the Seahawks to hit nearly 50 percent (8-of-18) of their 3-pointers.

The Dutchmen briefly managed to cut the gap to three late in the first half and kept the deficit below 10 in the early minutes of the second half before UNC Wilmington went on an 11-0 run in which the Dutchmen failed to score on eight straight possessions, during which they were 0-for-9 from the field and twice failed to convert offensive rebounds into points. The field goal drought actually reached 10 attempts before Stephen Nwaukoni ended the funk for the Dutchmen with a free throw.

Maybe the Dutchmen are better than 0-4, but they don’t have the manpower or the depth to dig out of the holes they have tended to create for themselves this year. The Dutchmen trailed by at least 15 points Saturday for the third straight game and the seventh time this season. They’re 0-7 in those games.

2.) Offensively, the boxscore seems to be an encouraging one for the Dutchmen, who reached 80 points for the fourth time in six games and lost by six points or less for the third time in CAA play.

Nathaniel Lester had 23 points, his second-most ever, and tied a career high with 12 rebounds. Mike Moore scored 22 points and had three assists and three steals. Dwan McMillan also got into double figures with 11 points to go along with two assists and two steals.

But the close margin of defeat and the apparent offensive outburst were each of the lies, damn lies and statistics variety. The Dutchmen got closer than eight points just once in the final 16 minutes—on Nwaukoni’s jumper with four seconds left. The Dutchmen hit all four of their field goal attempts in the final minute, which improved their second half shooting percentage to 29.3 percent (12-of-41). In addition, the Dutchmen had just eight assists, a remarkably low figure on an 80-point night.

And much of the production from the Dutchmen’s three leading scorers was cosmetic. Lester scored eight of his points in the final 41 seconds, 10 points in the final two minutes and 15 points in the final 7:03. Moore was just 7-of-19 shooting, including 2-of-11 in the second half and 2-of-8 overall from 3-point land. McMillan scored five of his points in a 14-second span midway through the second half. In other words: Too little and/or too late.

While the idea of Moore and Lester teaming up to replace Charles Jenkins—with Lester playing the finisher role once defenses key on Moore in the second half—sounds good, they need to distribute their scoring in a more productive manner. They also need help, particularly from Shemiye McLendon, who was scoreless and played just 15 minutes on a night in which six Dutchmen finished with at least three fouls. The Dutchmen got more fouls (10) than points (nine) from their bench, though a couple of Matt Grogan’s four fouls were burned in the waning seconds.

3.) It was not an entirely negative night for the Dutchmen, who got encouraging performances from big men Nwaukoni, Moussa Kone and David Imes. Nwaukoni had nine rebounds and has pulled down an impressive 29 rebounds in the last three games. That’s sixth-most in the conference since CAA play resumed, which makes the Dutchmen the only team with two players in the top six (Lester has 32 boards in the last three games). Nwaukoni, the hardest worker—and perhaps the rawest player—on the Dutchmen, also continued evolving on offense and again displayed his new-found jumper during an eight-point performance.

Kone tied a career-high and set a new one, respectively, with six points and seven rebounds in just 15 minutes. Imes was rendered a non-factor in the first half thanks to three fouls, but he had five points and three rebounds in 15 second half minutes, which puts him right on pace for the near double-double Mo Cassara would love to see from him on a regular basis. With Old Dominion and Drexel coming up in the next 10 days, the Dutchmen will need their forwards to continue creating opportunities on the boards.

4.) What other positives are there to be taken from this 0-4 hole? The Dutchmen have the talent to win CAA games—they are not undertaking the most massive rebuilding project in conference history, a la Towson. If they can score 80 points on a night in which they shoot less than 40 percent and lose by six after their worst defensive effort of the season, then how far are they away from turning a corner and winning some games?

The Dutchmen’s four losses have been by a combined 26 points, the second-smallest margin of defeat amongst the 14 CAA teams that have started 0-4 since 2001-02. (William & Mary lost its first four CAA games by 24 points last year) For all intents and purposes, they are a Humpty Hitchens half-court shot and three missed free throws against Delaware away from being 2-2 and being amongst the gaggle of teams in the CAA’s muddy middle.

A season that has already been unpredictable even by #CAAHoops standards also provides hope the Dutchmen can make up some ground quickly. VCU, pegged by a certain dope as the no-doubt-about-it conference champion after the Rams’ rout of the Dutchmen last Monday, has lost two in a row and is looking up at George Mason and Old Dominion as well as Georgia State, Delaware and UNC Wilmington, just like we all figured back in October.

(Fortunately, VCU’s loss to Georgia State Wednesday inspired self-satisfied Mason fans to crawl out of the woodwork and declare I have no idea what I’m talking about. And this time it didn’t even take suggesting Jim Larranaga falls in the water whenever he walks off the poolside deck at his palatial Miami home.)

It certainly helps to view the Dutchmen’s chances through blue-and-gold tinted sunglasses, but the idea they could win three or four in a row just as quickly as they lost three or four in a row is not completely outlandish. Which is all well and good and optimistic, but…

5.) …the Dutchmen will have to make history just to approach .500. Since the CAA expanded in 2001-02, the average finish of the 12 teams to open league play 0-4 is 11th (well, 10.46th) with 3.23 wins. Six of those squads finished last (10th prior to 2005-06). Only Towson in 2009-10 and Northeastern last year managed to win as many as six games and only Towson finished as high as eighth. Teams that have opened 0-4 since 2001-02 have won a total of four CAA Tournament games, none after the Friday opening round games.

In addition, the last Hofstra team to open conference play 0-4 finished 2-12 in the East Coast Conference (you can look it up, Litos!) 24 seasons ago. Now, of course, that won’t have an impact on the Dutchmen as they try crawling out of this hole. But the scope of the job ahead is daunting, and if the Dutchmen dug themselves all the way to China in starting 0-2, then they’re in Antarctica by now.

And history is not on their side as they prepare for Northeastern Wednesday: Only three of the last 12 teams to open 0-4 won their fifth game. Oh geez. I really don’t want to have to update my “0FerNotes” file Wednesday night.

3 STARS OF THE GAME (vs. UNCW, 1/7)

3: Nathaniel Lester

2: Mike Moore

1: Stephen Nwaukoni

SEASON STANDINGS

Mike Moore 35

Nathaniel Lester 21

Dwan McMillan 13

Shemiye McLendon 9

David Imes 8

Stephen Nwaukoni 5

Stevie Mejia 3

Bryant Crowder 2

Email Jerry at defiantlydutch@yahoo.com or follow Defiantly Dutch at http://twitter.com/defiantlydutch.

Different methods, same objective for Cassara and Peterson

2012-01-07T17:29:00.001-05:00

Among the 53 Division I men’s basketball programs that changed head coaches after the 2009-10 season, only four are giving a greater share of minutes to and receiving more scoring from their freshmen this season—in the head coach’s second year at the helm—than UNC Wilmington. Seven freshmen have combined to play 1,354 minutes and score 489 points for the Seahawks, which represents 52.1 percent and 55.2 percent, respectively, of UNC Wilmington’s overall output.

At the other end of the spectrum is Hofstra. Only four of the 53 schools with a second-year head coach are receiving less minutes and scoring from their freshmen than the Flying Dutchmen. While the class technically consists of three players—Moussa Kone, Jordan Allen and Jereme Good—Allen is expected to redshirt and Good is a walk-on. So Kone has accounted for all 48 points and all but six of the 258 minutes the Dutchmen have received from freshmen, which represents 4.7 percent of the points and 8.6 percent of the Dutchmen’s overall output.

Yet while the circumstances by which Buzz Peterson and Mo Cassara inherited their teams demanded that they build their programs in different ways, they are doing so with the same goal in mind: To bring about the type of stability that yields the success to which both schools have grown accustomed. With the Dutchmen visiting UNC Wilmington tonight, we thought it would be interesting to look at their approaches and ask each coach the rationale behind the decision-making process.

***

While Cassara took over a program loaded with senior and veteran leadership and focused on bringing in his first impact class of newcomers in his third season, the cupboard was just about bare at UNC Wilmington for Peterson, who inherited a 9-22 team and saw four players either transfer or flunk out of the program in his first few months.

With point guard Chad Tomko entering his senior year and only one building block—sophomore big man Keith Rendleman—in place, Peterson not only had the opportunity to start anew with his second recruiting class, but little other choice.

“What we decided to do, instead of going the transfer or juco route, we decided, hey, let’s just go with the high school kids,” Peterson said Friday. “Let’s build this program up and back into the top third [of the CAA] like it used to be. So it’s going to take some times, let’s go that route.”

Peterson and his staff ended up signing eight freshmen for this season, two of whom are redshirting. Luke Hager took a redshirt before the season and Craig Ponder, who started three of the first four games, opted to redshirt after suffering an ankle injury in November. Of the six remaining freshmen, three—Adam Smith, K.K. Simmons and Cedrick Williams—rank among the Seahawks’ top four in points scored and minutes played. Smith leads the way with a team-high 16.8 ppg in just a shade over 30 minutes of action.

Emphasizing youth required patience on the part of Peterson as well as the UNC Wilmington administration and fanbase, which, after four losing seasons in the last five years, is eager to again taste the success the Seahawks enjoyed in winning four CAA titles from 2000 through 2006.

“You’ve just got to make sure that your AD and president and everybody are on board,” Peterson said. “Sometimes, your boosters and alumni, they want to see you win instantly. But the problem is this thing was not in great shape. What we’re trying to do is get it back to where it was. It’s not easy and it takes a little time if you want to do it the right way, the only way I know how to do it.”

Peterson and his staff, meanwhile, have found it necessary to remain patient in all facets of coaching—from re-implementing most or all of what they put into place last season to guiding the newcomers through their freshmen year.

“It seems like we’re almost starting all over again,” Peterson said. “I feel like we’re doing a lot of the same things, teaching a lot of the same things, I put in place last year. So hopefully after this year, a lot of that is in place and we can start the building process.”

The Seahawks have exceeded expectations thus far: Despite a rigorous schedule that included road games at Maryland, Dayton, Toledo and Wake Forest, UNC Wilmington is 6-7, including 6-2 since an 0-5 start, and 2-1 in CAA play after beating Northeastern in Boston on Wednesday for the first time in program history. A win tonight would give the Seahawks their first four-game winning streak in almost four years.

“Eager to learn—eager to learn and listen,” Peterson said of his freshmen. “Sometimes they don’t follow through. But they’re bright-eyed and seeing what it’s like to go through [a season]. They really do listen and that’s the thing about having some young kids. It [results] in some good habits and it pays off. This bunch here is willing and they want to get better.”

“We’ve got to be patient with them and it’s not just watching them on the basketball court. We’ve got to watch everything they do, not just on the court but off the floor. Trying to just instill some good habits, on and off the floor. After time that will pay off.”

***

For Cassara, the challenge was balancing long-term objectives with giving the veterans he inherited a chance to win in their final season or two. Last year’s team featured Charles Jenkins, the best player in school history, as well as Greg Washington, Hofstra’s all-time leading shot blocker, and won 21 games while finishing third in the CAA.

Two of this year’s captains are fifth-year seniors Nathaniel Lester, who redshirted last year, and Mike Moore, who is in his second season at Hofstra after transferring from Fordham. The Dutchmen have exhibited flashes of promise in beating Cleveland State and Iona but are 6-9 overall and 0-3 in the CAA, where two of their losses have been by a combined three points.

“That’s certainly in your mind all the time—those guys are all veteran guys, older guys, who have paid their dues and worked to get to the position they’re in,” Cassara said.

With that in mind, Cassara and his staff tried finding players in the spring of 2010 who could contribute right away. Of the four players in Cassara’s first recruiting class, three have played vital roles for the Dutchmen during the last two seasons. Senior point guard Dwan McMillan and sophomore forward Stephen Nwaukoni are current starters while sophomore guard Shemiye McLendon is the Dutchmen’s sixth man.

“I think because of the coaching changes and some various other things, we’re still very much in that process of really trying to string recruiting classes together,” Cassara said. “Over the last year-and-a-half we’ve had to plug some holes to get us through.”

Cassara’s approach with his second recruiting class was impacted by a series of developments last spring. Malik Nichols, who committed to Hofstra in the fall of his senior year and was expected to play right away for the Dutchmen, opted to go to prep school and re-open his recruitment.

And Jamal Coombs-McDaniel and Taran Buie decided to transfer from UConn and Penn State, respectively, The Hofstra staff had ties to both players—ex-UConn assistant coach Patrick Sellers is the newest member of Cassara’s staff while Cassara heavily recruited Buie while he was an assistant at Boston College—and focused their efforts on the duo, who agreed to transfer to Hofstra this summer.

“Those guys are not only very talented and can definitely be very good players in this league, but we had ties to them both,” Cassara said. “So that changes your focus a little bit, to look at transfers and different possibilities. Those two guys popped up at the right time.”

McCoombs-Daniel and Buie can also provide the type of stability not often associated with transfers. McCoombs-Daniel will turn 23 shortly after he suits up for the Dutchmen for the first time while Buie will have three seasons of eligibility remaining.

With McCoombs-Daniel, Buie and Allen all practicing with the Dutchmen on a daily basis, Cassara is hopeful the chemistry—between the redshirts and the Dutchmen who will return next season as well as incoming freshmen Dallas Anglin and Jimmy Hall—will take less time to develop once November rolls around.

“I think they have a nice situation, to sit back and see some of the things that might work and might not work,” Cassara said. “They’re gaining knowledge and information and experience. I think down the road that will benefit them. It may not necessarily come to fruition in the first month of next season, but I think that can be very valuable down the road for those three guys.”

With much of next year’s class of newcomers already in place, Cassara, like Peterson, sees the objective of rebuilding the program coming to fruition, even if the current composition of their rosters is different.

“We’re still very much in that process of really trying to string recruiting classes together,” Cassara said. “Now we’re starting to look over the long run and plug some holes with transfers and redshirts.

“I think we’ve started to back up some kids for next year, we’ve signed young kids. Now we just want to continue to build with this and string a couple of classes together and get some real consistency in the program.”

Email Jerry at defiantlydutch@yahoo.com or follow Defiantly Dutch at http://twitter.com/defiantlydutch.

A Christmas (present) story of a Jenkins jersey journey

2012-01-06T23:48:00.005-05:00

VICTORY!!!!

It’s not every day you go from half-asleep to wondering if you’ll get arrested for theft (that’s not really a theft) in about half an hour. But my unexpectedly adventurous Friday began with a text from Hofstra’s head SID Stephen Gorchov at 2:33 p.m.:

“Jenkins starting tonight”

No first names needed. No punctuation either. Some statements don’t need exclamation points.

My wife got home from work a few minutes later and I told her the good news. Suddenly our Friday night plans had to end with us home and in front of the TV by 10:30. OK, who am I kidding, those were already our end game plans. But still. We were excited.

Then she said “You’ve got to go to Bay Shore!”

Bay Shore is not normally a place someone goes when he or she is excited. Sure, it’s got the Boulton Center theatre and a nice waterfront. But other than that, meh, you know, where we live now is as exciting. Which is to say not at all.

However, Bay Shore was also our former home. More importantly, our old apartment in Bay Shore was where the NBA Store has sent the Charles Jenkins T-shirt my wife ordered for me for Christmas. Twice. Even though we haven’t lived there since October 2006, a few months after I cost us our security deposit by tearing the paint off the walls following The Great Tom O’Connor Screw Job.

How it ended up there—twice, even though my wife corrected the address twice—is a long story I don’t really want to get into right now, since Jenkins is starting tonight and I don’t have a lot of time. But if I wanted to wear the T-shirt tonight, I had to get to Bay Shore pronto, because according to UPS, the second T-shirt was delivered there this morning.

So I got into the car and raced to Bay Shore. I broke the speed limit like usual, but knew “Jenkins starting tonight” would not only get me out of a ticket but earn me a police escort to my old apartment.

Alas, the long arm of the law didn’t interrupt me in my mission, and as I drove on to my old street, “Home Sweet Home” started playing on XM. That’s got to be a good sign, I thought.

I pulled into the complex and held my breath. What would I do if the box wasn’t there? Knock on the door? Introduce myself to the guy or gal who inherited the apartment?

“Hi. You don’t know me, but I used to live here and you have my Charles Jenkins T-shirt. It was mailed here by accident by the NBA—what? Charles Jenkins. Played at Hofstra. CHARLES JENKINS. HOFSTRA. School in Hempstead. On Long Island. Half an hour from here. Why are you reaching into your pocketbook OWWWW MY EYES WHY ARE YOU MACING ME??”

Then again, what would I do if it WAS there? Just run up, grab it, get in the car and peel ass out of there? That wouldn’t look weird or suspicious or criminal at all.

I turned towards our old apartment and gazed towards the corner of our stoop, where packages were always left. I didn’t see it. My heart sank. Damnit. Now I have to knock on…

NO WAIT THERE IT IS!!!

Better yet, the complex was largely empty of cars. The parking spots around our apartment were all open. There was one car idling in the roadway a couple dozen feet away. I pulled into my old spot and sat there for a minute, hoping that car would leave soon and that Joe Blow in My Old Apartment didn’t show up in the interim. “That package there? It’s mine.”

Then I saw a woman from another apartment go out and towards the idling car. That’s it, I thought, this is MY TIME. I pumped myself up by humming the first few bars of “No Easy Way Out.” (Admit it, you don’t know if I’m kidding or not) I opened the door, darted out and up the stairs, noted that the apartment next door still had pumpkins out, grabbed the package, saw my wife’s name on the label and headed back to the car.

Between the time I opened the door and the time I sat back in the driver’s seat, I expected half a dozen neighbors to be yelling at me and the cops to show up and order me from the vehicle. I’d be taken to jail, get Mo Cassara’s voice mail with my one phone call and spend the weekend in solitary after I kept chanting “Jenkins starting tonight.” I’d need various entertainers to take up my cause in order to have any shot at escaping a lifetime in prison.

But absolutely nothing happened. Lady at the car remained at the car. Nobody was looking at me. As usual with Hofstra-related things, I was the only one going nuts. I called my wife and mustered up the most dramatic voice I could.

“I got the package.”

I peeled ass out of there and raced home, feeling like equal parts Jack Bauer, MacGyver and Encyclopedia Brown. A mile or so from the apartment NBA Store refuses to recognize, Howard Jones’ “Things Can Only Get Better” turned up on the radio. For 28 years now I’ve thought that song was lame and saccharine. But this time, with Hofstra 0-3, a Charles Jenkins T-shirt on the seat next to me and Jenkins readying for his first career start, I could only think: Preach on Howard. Wherever you are.

Email Jerry at defiantlydutch@yahoo.com or follow Defiantly Dutch at http://twitter.com/defiantlydutch.

Postgame Buffet: Delaware 67, Hofstra 66 (Or: Do I have to write the words?)

2012-01-05T07:22:00.006-05:00

Also good: This Jan. 4 came and went without me ending up on the side of the road and my car all busted up.

I thought I’d seen it all in 18 years of watching Hofstra basketball. Conference championships—some of which were even won in leagues that actually existed!—eight-point plays, stunning comeback wins, buzzer-beaters by iconic future NBA players.

Of course, rooting for the Flying Dutchmen means plenty of lows—that’s to be expected as a mid-major fan. But still, we’ve been through a lot, from wondering if we’d ever get into a real conference (cough, hi Litos, cough cough), pondering the what ifs about a narrow loss in the conference tournament, the heartbreak that defined what should have been a euphoric 2006 postseason, a month-long period in 2010 in which the Dutchmen had as many coaches as they had the previous 22 years and all the blown leads and last-minute losses that still stick in our craw all these years later.

But even by our star-crossed standards, last night’s 67-66 loss to Delaware was utterly freaking brutal. I’m sadistic enough to try and find out if a team has ever lost a one-point game in which it never led, so I’m glad there doesn’t seem to be a way to conduct this research.

However, I’m absolutely positive that if a team has ever done what the Dutchmen did last night, it didn’t do it like the Dutchmen, who fell behind by 15 points barely six minutes in yet clawed back to tie the game four times in the final 5:14 but squandered three chances to take the lead—the last time when Mike Moore, an 80 percent foul shooter, missed both free throws with 22 seconds left and the game tied 65-65—and lost when Shemiye McLendon missed the potential game-tying free throw with two seconds left.

It sucked. It really, really sucked. What could have been a seismic, season-defining victory that served as a testament to the toughness and resiliency of the Flying Dutchmen instead turned into a crushing defeat that could linger as long as the James Madison defeat, which was the second loss in a four-game skid.

Regardless of how the Dutchmen bounce back at UNC Wilmington Saturday, they are now mired in a hole from which it is almost impossible to emerge (more on that in a bit). Really, it couldn’t have been any worse if the Blue Hens beat the Flying Dutchmen back up the New Jersey Turnpike, broke into the Hofstra Arena and stole the 2000 and 2001 America East championship banners.

Yet because I’m a sadist, and so are you, I’m going to write a lot about it, and you’re going to read it in the postgame buffet. Which this time is being authored by someone who DIDN’T stay in a craptastic Howard Johnson’s and catch the stomach flu there. So yay. I’ve got that going for me.

1.) In ways symbolic and literal, the Flying Dutchmen are paying the price for Charles Jenkins’ greatness the last three seasons. Buoyed by Jenkins’ ability to shift into Wolf/Takeover/Beast mode in the final minutes, the Dutchmen were 27-9, with three losses per year, in games decided by six points or less or in overtime in his final three campaigns.

They are 1-3 in such games this year. The easy thing is to say the fates have evened out, but fate has a funny way of evening out once Jenkins is on the west coast. The Dutchmen have not found someone to replicate Jenkins’ ability to put the team on his back and will it to victory.

There are players displaying the potential to fill that role. Moore had two game-tying jumpers and scored 24 points despite being shut out for the first 13-plus minutes. Lester finished with a double-double (15 points and 11 rebounds) and put together another big second half in which he scored 11 points. Stephen Nwaukoni had a career-high 12 rebounds, including seven in the second half and three offensive boards in one sequence.

Between the opening tip against Colgate and halftime Wednesday, David Imes was 17-of-27 from the field. McLendon has scored in double figures in three of his last four games and has a penchant for late-game dramatics: Wednesday marked the first time in four tries he’s missed a free throw that could tie or put the Dutchmen ahead in the final two minutes.

But no one has pulled a Jenkins yet and made the difference between defeat and victory. As the leading scorer in the CAA, Moore is the player most qualified to assume Jenkins’ role, and he just cannot—cannot—miss two free throws with the chance to give the Dutchmen the lead for the first time in the final half-minute of play.

Especially when he’s such a reliable free throw shooter: The back-to-back misses marked just the third time Moore has missed both ends of a free throw sequence in 48 games at Hofstra. He’s missed fewer than two free throws in a game 35 times. To lose when Moore had the chance to complete the comeback at the free throw line might be the most demoralizing part of the defeat.

2.) Last-minute free throw shooting potentially costing the Dutchmen a comeback win is the most easily lamentable part of the defeat, but a sloppy first half—and in particular a rough first few minutes—was the real culprit and the reason the Dutchmen had to spend the entire game playing catch-up.

The Dutchmen committed six turnovers in the first were down 19-4 a mere 6:13 into the game. It was just about the polar opposite of what Dwan McMillan promised after the loss to VCU, and McMillan and the other veterans in the starting lineup have to do a better job of making sure the undermanned and undersized Dutchmen—who have little margin for error in the best of times—don’t put themselves in such predicaments.

The Dutchmen also need more consistency out of the veterans. Lester, who has reached double figures in scoring in each of the last seven games, needs to be a bigger part of the offense in the first half. Moore needed 25 shots for his 24 points last night. Imes missed six of his last seven shots last night. And McMillan is just 2-for-10 from the field with seven assists and eight turnovers in the last two games.

3.) The resiliency of the Dutchmen and the ability of Mo Cassara and his staff to make halftime adjustments remains encouraging. While it’s reasonable to worry the Dutchmen will be feeling the after-effects of this loss for games to come, it speaks volumes for their character that they were able to keep chipping away at Delaware’s lead and trade flurries with the Blue Hens in the second half, even if they never got the tie-breaking basket that probably would have led to victory. The Dutchmen also committed just four turnovers in the final 34 minutes.

And Cassara continues to mix and match and find ways to bring the Dutchmen back into games. The three-quarters press defense worked wonders in the second half, when the Dutchmen caused eight turnovers, and while Blue Hens power forward Jamelle Hagins put up an eye-popping 21 points and 18 rebounds, he was limited to six shots in the second half. Effort—from players or coaches—will rarely be an issue for the Dutchmen which is just one reason why…

4.) …losses like last night really sting. This is a team for whom you wish success. Of course, as the curator of a mildly biased Hofstra blog, I always feel that way. But this team, in particular, is easy to root for. It will be remembered as a transition-era bunch, which is a nice way of saying the core players were stuck here when Tom Pecora left and the Cassara-recruited role players are just holding down the fort until he builds the program back up.

You want a team like this to have some success so that its one run together doesn’t go down as an eyesore in the media guide. While we’d all obviously like to see this season end with an NCAA Tournament game or seven, it would be satisfying—not to mention far more realistic—to see the Dutchmen finish a game or two above .500, make a little run in the CAA Tournament and perhaps accept a berth to the CIT (but, dear God, not That Which We Shall Not Name).

But history suggests that’s just about impossible now. The Dutchmen and Towson are the 19th and 20th teams to open CAA play 0-3 since the CAA expanded in 2001-02. Of the previous 18, only one finished .500 in conference play and won more than one game in the CAA Tournament. And that was George Mason, which bounced back from an 0-3 start to finish in sixth place at 9-9 and advance to the championship game in 2006-07. And as you know, the Patriots had some players who had played pretty deep into the season the year before (grrrr).

Even with Mason’s turnaround boosting the numbers, the average finish for a team that starts 0-3 is far from good—10th place (well, technically 9.78th) with exactly four conference wins. Other than Mason, no 0-3 team has ever won more than one CAA Tournament game.

To put the average finish for an 0-3 team into context: Hofstra won five games in its worst CAA season back in 2001-02. And the Flying Dutchmen haven’t won fewer than five conference games (discounting the five-game ECC season of 1993-94) since 1987-88, when it went 2-12 in the ECC (no, really, Litos, I swear!). That squad is just one of three Hofstra teams to open conference play 0-3 or worse in the last 30 years. The other was the 1995-96 team, which finished 5-13 and lost in the first round of the NAC Tournament in Delaware (oh my God it all connects!). So…yeah. It’s a long climb back.

5.) There will almost surely be more nights like last night, and also more nights like last Thursday against Iona in which the Dutchmen win a game in which nobody thought they had a shot. It’s that kind of season in the CAA—why hello there, first-place Georgia State—and one in which an 0-3 start doesn’t have to be as ruinous as perhaps it would have been in past seasons. The basketball season is full of ebbs and flows, and the Dutchmen could be feeling really good about themselves a week from today if they can head to UNC Wilmington Saturday, beat the Seahawks and return home and beat Northeastern on Wednesday.

But shedding last night’s loss, heading to North Carolina tomorrow and earning a road win is a lot to ask, especially now that UNC Wilmington just beat Northeastern in Boston for the first time ever and has won four in a row and six of eight. Scratching out two wins in the next six days is a lot to ask, yet the alternative—with the Dutchmen following up the home game against Northeastern with games against Old Dominion, Drexel, James Madison, VCU, George Mason and Northeastern again—is too dreadful to consider.

3 STARS OF THE GAME (vs. Delaware, 1/4)

3: Nathaniel Lester

2: Mike Moore

1: Stephen Nwaukoni

SEASON STANDINGS

Mike Moore 33

Nathaniel Lester 18

Dwan McMillan 13

Shemiye McLendon 9

David Imes 8

Stephen Nwaukoni 4

Stevie Mejia 3

Bryant Crowder 2

Email Jerry at defiantlydutch@yahoo.com or follow Defiantly Dutch at http://twitter.com/defiantlydutch.

At 0-2, Hofstra’s in a big hole (Or: Hello? China? Little help?)

2012-01-04T18:51:00.001-05:00

This may or may not be a self-portrait.

Once again channeling the first week of March here with some quick research and reportage of data (makes me sound important!). With the Flying Dutchmen falling to 0-2 in CAA play with the loss to VCU Monday, I was curious to find out how teams who have opened 0-2 have fared in the long run.

Short answer: Not good.

Over the previous 10 seasons (since the America East Four joined the CAA), 30 teams have lost their first two CAA games. The average number of wins for those teams: 5.3. And the average finish for an 0-2 team is ninth (well, technically, 8.87th), though that is skewed a bit by the fact there were only 10 teams through 2004-05.

Only five of those teams have finished .500 or better in conference play and only one finished as high as fourth—and that was Drexel back in 2004-05, when the top six teams earned first day byes in the 10-team CAA. No team has won the CAA after opening 0-2, though both George Mason (2006-07) and William & Mary (2007-08) made it to the title game after playing on Friday. And James Madison reached the CIT semifinals after opening 0-2 in 2008-09.

So the climb will be steep for the Dutchmen as well as fellow 0-2 squads Drexel, William & Mary and Towson. There is some good news heading into tonight for these four teams: Twelve of the 30 previous squads to open 0-2 won their third game, including Hofstra in 2002-03 and 2007-08. Of course, Drexel faces Towson in another #ECCHoops tilt, so at least one team will be 0-3.

Email Jerry at defiantlydutch@yahoo.com or follow Defiantly Dutch at http://twitter.com/defiantlydutch.

Postgame Buffet: VCU 80, Hofstra 63 (Or: Never mind that noise you heard it’s just the HAVOC under your bed)

2012-01-04T17:58:00.004-05:00

VCU's going to give the rest of the CAA nightmares all year long. (Also: Enjoy this, for when it is from an era in which the idea of Metallica uniting with Lou Reed sounded like parody instead of reality)

And on the second day of the year, everyone else in the CAA realized they were playing for second place.

VCU continued its sizzling post-Final Four run by routing the Flying Dutchmen, 80-73, at Hofstra Arena. While the margin of victory was plenty, it could have been much worse. In winning its eighth in a row, VCU dominated the Dutchmen with athleticism, depth and efficiency: The Rams played 13 players (not at once, though it seemed that way at times), had three players shoot 45 percent or better and had just 29 possessions in the second half, when it bled the clock and took advantage of the undermanned Dutchmen by pulling down eight offensive rebounds over the final 10 minutes.

“At the top—that’s the best team we’ve played,” Mo Cassara said. “They’re better, deeper, more athletic than Oregon State, Cleveland State or Iona. And I think the other piece of that is they’re playing very well right now. I told Shaka [Smart] after the game I saw them play on TV earlier in the season and they were a very different team than they are right now.”

Barring a stunning upset in Richmond, we’ll all be watching VCU on TV the first Monday night of March. Since the next game is a mere three hours away as a I type this (hooray for being back to work!) here’s a quick VCU postgame buffet.

1.) Had a certain someone else who led a CAA team to the Final Four over the last six seasons been coaching the Rams, VCU could have put up 100. But that’s what makes VCU so scary. While the Rams have the firepower to channel Loyola Marymount circa 1990, they compliment their gobs of talent with resourcefulness and by playing within an actual system. This is what happens when a coach follows up a seemingly once-in-a-lifetime Final Four run with actual substance. It will absolutely not take VCU five years to win another NCAA Tournament game.

(Who knew? It still feels so good to take shots at That Guy)

“[People] talk about VCU, how aggressive they are athletically, but they do a great job of sharing the ball,” Cassara said. “They do a great job of sharing the ball. They make that extra pass all the time. I thought we did a great job a handful of times—10, 20, even almost 30 seconds defensively—then one breakdown, they make an extra pass.”

2.) That said, the effectiveness of VCU’s “Havoc” style of ball can’t be understated. While it was encouraging to see the Dutchmen play so well against a high pressure team such as Iona, it didn’t take long Monday to realize the Rams’ athleticism and skill level was on an entirely different level. VCU’s relentless nature stunned the Dutchmen, who committed 21 turnovers—their most since Jan. 9, 2010 against Old Dominion.

Dwan McMillan, who played so well in the Dutchmen’s three-game winning streak, turned the ball over six times and fouled out. Five other Dutchmen had at least two turnovers apiece.

“One time on the bench I said ‘We’re just a little slow to every ball tonight,’” Cassara said. “And then about five minutes later I said ‘Either we’re really slow tonight or they’re just really, really fast.’ I think it’s a combination of those things. We need the ball to go into the basket to get a little confidence and every time we got it close, they just made a tough shot.”

“Coming in before the game, Coach [Patrick] Sellers drew up the game plan and he said that if we come into the postgame saying that we handled their pressure and we didn’t have as many turnovers as we had on this stat sheet right here, we would have won the game,” Mike Moore said. “That obviously wasn’t the case.”

3.) Cassara said Sunday the Dutchmen would be in trouble if Moore didn’t lead the CAA in scoring, and the Dutchmen got a glimpse at what life could be like if Moore was shut down. Limited by a groin injury he suffered against Iona and smothered by VCU, Moore scored just 14 points on 4-of-14 shooting.

While the Dutchmen had three other players in double figures, only Shemiye McLendon (13 points on 4-of-8 shooting, including 2-of-3 from 3-point land, in 26 minutes) came close to becoming the big-time scorer the Dutchmen needed with Moore hampered. David Imes had 10 points on 4-of-4 shooting but missed much of the first half with foul trouble while Nathaniel Lester (10 points, nine rebounds) scored all his points with the game no longer in doubt in the second half.

“I thought Nat did a better job of being aggressive tonight, especially in the second half,” Cassara said. “We have to get more production from David and Nat and Shemiye and continue to share the ball. I thought a couple times mike really shared the ball well, he threw the ball ahead, he gave some other guys good shots and good looks. Unfortunately we just couldn’t get enough stops on the other end to cut the gap.”

4.) While looking for positives in a 17-point defeat trends dangerously close to the moral victory zone, there were some causes for encouragement in the Dutchmen’s performance. VCU ended any hopes of a Dutchmen comeback by opening the second half on a 6-0 run and expanded the lead to 20 with 15 minutes to play, but the Dutchmen closed the gap to 13 points four different times and avoided getting completely blown out of the building.

There were also several parts of a winning equation in place: In addition to the four players in double figures and Imes continuing his offensive resurgence, Stephen Nwaukoni pulled down eight rebounds in just 23 minutes. Despite a lack of size, the Dutchmen should be fine on the boards, especially as Nwaukoni (four fouls) and Moussa Kone (four points and four fouls in 11 minutes) become more efficient and experienced. And Stevie Mejia provided much-needed depth at point guard by scoring four points in 11 minutes in his return from the hamstring injury that was expected to sideline him well into January.

The Dutchmen also impressed Cassara with their effort and enthusiasm despite trailing by double digits for most of the final 22 minutes. “I told our guys in the locker room there’s some positives,” Cassara said. “I thought in the huddle all of our guys continued to battle. They continued to say the right thing. I think a month ago, we weren’t ready to face that kind of adversity.”

5.) The good news is that on most nights this season, the Dutchmen won’t need everything to fall into place just to have a chance to compete. The bad news is they are 0-2 heading into a two-game road trip to Delaware and UNC Wilmington, but they need a couple wins in a hurry because the schedule gets progressively rougher after this week: Northeastern, at Old Dominion, Drexel, at James Madison, at VCU, George Mason, at Northeastern.

This is where that James Madison loss in December hurts. It’s a lot easier to stay afloat in the CAA by winning every other game when you’re 1-1 instead of 0-2.

“That’s going to be one of those games in this league where [when] you have to play three games [in six days], it’s a lot less about them and a lot more about us,” Cassara said of tonight’s tilt. “We’ve got to come out with great energy and great effort and we’ve got to go find a way to win some games on the road.”

Fortunately for the Dutchmen, McMillan seemed to be in pre-Iona mode right after the game when he promised a better performance moving forward.

“They just brought more effort and energy tonight, something that we had for the last week-and-a-half, two weeks,” McMillan said. “But you won’t see that out of us anymore. We’re gonna step it up on Wednesday.”

3 STARS OF THE GAME (vs. VCU, 1/2)

3: Mike Moore

2: Shemiye McLendon

1: David Imes

SEASON STANDINGS

Mike Moore 31

Nathaniel Lester 15

Dwan McMillan 13

Shemiye McLendon 9

David Imes 8

Stevie Mejia 3

Stephen Nwaukoni 3

Bryant Crowder 2

Email Jerry at defiantlydutch@yahoo.com or follow Defiantly Dutch at http://twitter.com/defiantlydutch.

In which I am confident the Dutchmen can pull the upset tonight thanks to two images unrelated to anything we will actually see tonight!

2012-01-02T18:19:00.004-05:00

OK so Loyal Reader Matt was right, that is blurry. But Charles Jenkins scored his first NBA points today. This is clearly meant to be!

And this was the last song on the radio as I pulled into the house Thursday night. Swear to Jenkins. So let Dwan McMillan break the VCU havoc for 40 minutes, let Mike Moore pour in 30 and let Shemiye McLendon hit a bunch of key 3-pointers as the Flying Dutchmen give a sneak preview of what will happen nine weeks from tonight! So let it be written so let it be done.

Defiantly Dutch Q&A: Mo Cassara

2012-01-02T07:27:00.002-05:00

There’s no easing into the real start of CAA play for the Flying Dutchmen, who have been sitting on an 0-1 mark for 30 days now and get VCU—the conference’s best team in non-conference play and, as you may recall, the program that went all the way to the Final Four last year—at Hofstra Arena tonight before embarking on a two-game road trip to Delaware and UNC Wilmington.

But the Dutchmen bounced back from a brutal start to December and are bursting with confidence after ending the month with three straight wins, including a very impressive effort against Iona Thursday night. Mo Cassara was kind enough to take a few minutes out of his final night off for the next two-plus months to discuss the Dutchmen heading into the CAA season and his hopes and expectations for the Dutchmen. Thanks as always to Cassara for his time.

How much better do you feel now than three weeks ago?

Certainly, I know that there’s a lot of basketball to play. But I feel a lot better. I think our whole staff does, that we’ve been able to not play well and kind of go through a period of time where, between injuries and not playing well and various other things, that we were able to get through all that and then get back and put together some good wins. I feel a lot better from that angle.

How much of the slump do you think was a result of losing Stevie Mejia and Bryant Crowder right after the team had gotten a glimpse at just how good they could be with those two in the lineup, and how much of the recovery is a matter of knowing that this is the team you’ll be going forward the rest of the season?

I think both things were in play. I think there were a couple of injuries and [they were] not sure who was playing and who was going to play what role. Other than really the first week or 10 days after that, it was kind of up and down and back and forth. We made some decisions and we started to get some guys healthy and Stevie was shelved so we just had to move forward. Once we got some continuity that way and continuity with practice and practice time, it helped us.

What was the most important thing you learned about the Dutchmen during the non-conference season?

They’re a pretty resilient group. There were a couple times where I thought we were really going to go through a bad stretch where we were able to bounce back and fight through it and come back and have good practices. Even [through] the losses I thought we were getting better. They’re a pretty resilient group.

Tom Pecora always used to say seniors and veterans had to take ownership of a team when it was struggling. How impressed have you been with your four core veterans?

I think Dwan really symbolizes that. A year ago at this time he was done playing—played a few games, really, and was never really able to get [going]. He has really embraced being a senior and knowing that this is his last opportunity and he’s really become the vocal leader for the team.

They’re all doing their own things in their own way. I think one thing about leadership is you want guys to do what they do well—don’t try to do things they don’t do well. Nat Lester is not an incredibly vocal kid, that’s not who he is, but he’s doing a lot of the dirty work the last couple games. He’s started each game with an offensive rebound and putback and one. That’s leadership to me, that’s leadership from Nat where he says ‘I’ve got to go get off to a good start here and do things for the team.’ And Mike has done that by scoring and Dwan has done that with a lot of activity, verbally or with his quickness. And Dave has been steady. That’s the thing for him to do. Hopefully he can continue to have nights like he had the other night.

What did you learn about CAA play last year that you can apply this year?

I think the challenge of the schedule. With this week, there [are] three games, with two on the road. I think I’m already advance thinking about that, even after the Iona game—first thing [he thought was], I’ve got to prepare to play three games, we’ve got to [strike a] balance. I think the challenge of the schedule, I think we’ll be able to apply some things that will help us down the road here.

The CAA is wide-open this year. How can you use that as a motivating tool for this team, especially given that it’s probably not the one you envisioned having back in October?

I think our guys continue to watch the scores and monitor the scores. And certainly, James Madison is a very good team and we know we certainly had an opportunity to beat them. We’ve beaten a couple other really high level mid-major teams in Iona and Cleveland State. Now it’s time to string a few in a row. I think the one big key—and this is the thing we were able to do last year—is we were able to win some games on the road. That’s something we have to really do.

Last two questions. Hofstra will contend for a CAA Tournament bye if…

Dave Imes continues to put up double-doubles.

And Hofstra will struggle if…

Mike Moore doesn’t lead the league in scoring.

Email Jerry at defiantlydutch@yahoo.com or follow Defiantly Dutch at http://twitter.com/defiantlydutch.

Bits and Bytes: Of redshirt comparisons, Hofstra scorers atop the CAA, non-conference facts & Mr. Belvedere

2012-01-02T07:22:00.006-05:00

Is the Wesley on the left the one William & Mary beat last month? And if so, did #Beasthoven yell STREAKS ON THE CHINA NEVER MATTERED BEFORE! WHO CARED! afterward?

Ringing in the new year by spending the last strands of time off by doing a little research I won’t have time to do by this time tomorrow and channeling “Just The Facts” week –i.e. CAA Tournament week—with a no-frills approach to the presentation. If you want witty prose you will just have to wait! Without further ado:

—I’ve been pondering this one for a while—ever since Nathaniel Lester scored a career-high 33 points in the season opener for the Dutchmen—and finally got to crunch the numbers: How does Lester’s season thus far measure up to the senior season way back in 2003-04 for Danny Walker, who is the only other upperclassmen to redshirt during the Defiantly Dutch Era and who, like Lester, set a career-high in points in the first game back after missing what should have been his senior season?

Answer: Pretty well. Through 13 games, Lester (13.2 ppg, 6.7 rpg, 38.5 shooting, 10 games with 10 or more points, one game with 10 or more rebounds, one double-double) is exceeding Walker’s 13-game numbers (9.6 ppg, 4.9 rpg, 36 percent shooting,, five games with 10 or more points, no games with 10 or more rebounds, no double-doubles) in just about every category.

Walker was a better 3-point shooter (14-of-39) than Lester (6-of-27) and had 16 blocked shots at this point in his senior season compared to just three for Lester, but Lester has 21 steals as opposed to just eight for Walker. Both endured extended slumps: Lester was just 13-of-58 shooting in a five-game span from Nov. 22-Dec. 3 while Walker shot 4-of-23 in a four-game span from Dec. 23, 2003-Jan. 5, 2004.

In addition, Lester has started all 13 games. Walker started the first eight for the Dutchmen but came off the bench in the next three before returning to the starting lineup for game no. 12.

I have to admit, I thought the numbers would be closer than this. I remembered Walker didn’t start his entire senior season, but I thought his reserve duty happened later in the year. I will try and revisit the comparisons later in the season.

—This is interesting: With Mike Moore leading the CAA in scoring (21.4 points per game) for the second straight week, Hofstra has had the leading scorer in the CAA in 32 of the last 42 scoring periods dating back to the start of the 2009-10 season. And that percentage improves to 32 of the last 39 when the first three weeks of the 2009-10 season—during which Jenkins ranked second or third in the CAA—are discounted.

In addition, Hofstra has had someone in the top two in the CAA in scoring in 38 of the last 42 weeks. The only exceptions: The three weeks from Nov. 21-Dec. 12, when Moore ranked fourth but had played more games than anyone in the top three, and the second week of the 2009-19 season, when Jenkins was third.

Jenkins led the CAA in scoring in 29 of the final 31 periods of his career. The only exceptions: The second week of last season (when Drexel’s Chris Fouch was averaging 24.5 points in two games compared to Jenkins’ 23.0 points in four games) and the final scoring report of 2009-10, when he was edge at the wire (20.8 ppg to 20.6 ppg) by Denzel Bowles, who Denver Broncosed his way into the scoring title by qualifying for the title in the last week of the season (qualifiers must play in 75 percent of their team’s games and Bowles sat the first semester after transferring from Texas A&M).

And win a bar bet with this bit of trivia: Jenkins and Moore are not the only Hofstra players to lead the CAA in scoring at the end of a week. Lester led the league in scoring in the first weekly report of this season thanks to his 33-point effort against Long Island.

—I had some fun on Twitter last week declaring that Rhode Island, which has victimized Hofstra and James Madison for its only wins this season, had clinched a CAA Tournament bye, along with Florida Atlantic, following the Rams’ win over the Dukes Thursday night.

And since I am insane, and since I had a few spare minutes for the last time until next Christmas, I decided to figure out just who fared the best against the CAA during the non-conference season The answer: Florida Atlantic shares the no. 1 seed in the not-really-the-CAA-Tournament along with Virginia at 3-0 apiece. LaSalle went 3-1 while Oregon State, Massachusetts and Missouri all went 2-0. Six other schools, including Dutchmen opponents Boston University and Manhattan, went 2-1 against the CAA.

Other weird and wacky non-conference facts: LaSalle, Rhode Island and Liberty were the only schools to play four CAA schools. Only one non-Division I squad faced a CAA school, and William & Mary easily handled Wesley (presumably named after the bratty kid from Mr. Belvedere) 70-47. Two CAA schools played a non-conference opponent twice: VCU swept Western Kentucky in back-to-back games Nov. 20-23 while William & Mary lost to Liberty Nov. 14 and beat the Flames six days later. And eight of Hofstra’s 12 non-conference opponents played someone else in the CAA the last two months—everyone except St. Francis, Cleveland State, Wagner and Colgate.

—And lastly, one more nugget that has made its way into the last two game recaps but warrants further attention here. The Flying Dutchmen hadn’t recorded as many as 13 steals in a game in almost six years before doing it the last two games against Colgate (13 steals) and Iona (14 steals). Those were the Dutchmen’s most steals since they recorded 17 thefts against Georgia State Jan. 5, 2006. It doesn’t mean this team will get railroaded by Tom O’Connor, or even that it is the best defensive team since the ’05-06 bunch, but it’s worth keeping an eye on heading into conference play.

Email Jerry at defiantlydutch@yahoo.com or follow Defiantly Dutch at http://twitter.com/defiantlydutch.

McMillan's urgency sparks Dutchmen

2012-01-01T22:25:00.002-05:00

For most of his first year-and-a-half at Hofstra, Dwan McMillan’s Flying Dutchmen career seemed destined to be defined by bad timing. An eye injury he suffered in practice during Christmas week last year ended his season after 11 games, which was a game or two too late for McMillan—who had two years of eligibility after transferring from Indian Hills Junior College—to qualify for a medical redshirt. And with Stevie Mejia eligible this season, McMillan’s time as a starter appeared over.

As it turns out, though, McMillan’s timing this year has been perfect. With Mejia battling a lingering hamstring injury, McMillan has grabbed the starting point guard spot, steadied the Dutchmen and fueled a three-game winning streak that has turned their season around heading into the New Year and the real start of CAA play Monday against VCU.

In addition to playing the point as well as anyone has in the last decade at Hofstra, McMillan has also become the vocal leader the Dutchmen needed in the post-Charles Jenkins Era. He saved his best for the last game of 2011, when he spent all week encouraging teammates before he had 10 assists and handled the Iona press on offense while sparking a ferocious defense that caused 23 turnovers in the Dutchmen’s stunning 83-75 upset of Iona.

The inspired performance seemed to be another instance of appropriate timing, since McMillan suffered his injury just before the Iona game last year. But the calendar, nor the dwindling number of games he has left in a Hofstra uniform, has no bearing on McMillan’s approach.

“It’s always a sense of urgency—there’s urgency in life, period, so I don’t just take this as this is my last year,” McMillan said Thursday night. “I just look at it [as] I’ve just got two months left in my basketball career, but these are going to be my brothers for life, so why not just cherish it and get everything we could out of it right now?”

McMillan began imploring the Dutchmen to do that in the days leading up to the game against Binghamton Dec. 17. The Dutchmen were in the throes of a four-game losing streak and reeling after blowing late leads against Boston University and James Madison and getting routed by Wagner and Manhattan. In a meeting after the Manhattan loss, McMillan implored the Dutchmen to begin snapping out of their funk and preparing for Iona and VCU by treating the Binghamton and Colgate games like they were Iona and VCU.

“It was just gut-check time—look in the mirror—and we could have just gave up,” McMillan said. “I told the guys, Binghamton and Colgate, we’ve got to play those as if they are like Iona and VCU. And for some part of the games, I think we did. We didn’t play the whole 40 minutes [like that] but I think we came out here today and proved to people not only in New York but to the CAA that we are ready to play.”

McMillan has led with actions as well as words. He has 38 points on 13-of-27 shooting in the last three games, during which he has collected 23 assists and committed just nine turnovers while recording six steals and playing all but 14 minutes. McMillan has a 19/6 assist-to-turnover ratio in his last two games, the best two-game mark since Woody Souffrant had an 18/5 ratio Dec. 23-28, 2001.

He was also the one who called the Iona game the Dutchmen’s Super Bowl and told them throughout shoot-around Thursday they would not lose. “A year ago at this time he was done playing—played a few games early and was never really able to get [going],” Mo Cassara said. “He has really embraced being a senior and knowing that this is his last opportunity and he’s really become the vocal leader for the team.”

McMillan said it’s a role in which he thrives. “I think I’m a natural-born leader,” McMillan said. “You’ve just got to do things for the team and get everybody behind you. I just want everybody to play for each other. That’s the only way we’re going to win games.”

McMillan’s leadership could pay dividends down the road for the Dutchmen as well. He said it’s imperative for he and veterans such as Nathaniel Lester, Mike Moore and David Imes to set the tone for the future of the program—freshmen such as Moussa Kone and Jordan Allen as well as transfers Jamal McCoombs-Daniel and Taran Buie.

There’s plenty to do before McMillan hands over the baton, though. While the Dutchmen were picked eighth in the CAA’s preseason poll, McMillan and the rest of his teammates know the conference should be wide-open and unpredictable and are feeling pretty good about themselves after beating the two best teams on their non-conference schedule. So, to paraphrase one of Cassara’s mantras from last season: Why not them?

“[The Cleveland State and Iona] wins do nothing for us if we don’t do anything in the CAA,” McMillan said. “Conference play is the most important thing. If we could get 13 [wins] and do something in the CAA Tournament, we’re looking at a good shot to get an NCAA Tournament [bid]. And that’s our ultimate goal.”

And with that in mind, McMillan wasn’t in much of a mood to celebrate Thursday night—or two nights later on New Year’s Eve, for that matter. “It’s over—it’s over, we’ve got practice tomorrow,” McMillan said. “I’m on [teammates] for tonight. Nobody can go out. We’re not doing nothing. We’re going into our rooms, we’re resting our bodies. It’s time to go.”

Email Jerry at defiantlydutch@yahoo.com or follow Defiantly Dutch at http://twitter.com/defiantlydutch.

Postgame Buffet: Hofstra 83, Iona 75 (Or: If the cards are cold, don’t go folding)

2011-12-31T04:20:00.002-05:00

The rap here is as awful as the win over Iona was awesome.

Iona players had waited 31 days for Thursday night and the opportunity to play in front of their friends and family. But the Flying Dutchmen had waited a lot longer—a full 365 days—just to play the Gaels and get a measure of revenge for the worst loss of the Mo Cassara Era.

And the differences in focus were obvious throughout. From the spirited demeanor of the Hofstra bench to David Imes (16 points, 15 rebounds) and Nathaniel Lester (21 points, 10 rebounds) putting together double-doubles in perhaps the best efforts of their careers to Cassara pumping his fist after a Moussa Kone dunk sealed the game with less than a minute to play and the sight of usually placid Lester firing the ball skyward as time expired, the Dutchmen were the better and more attentive team in putting together a stunningly thorough 83-75 win in front of a spirited crowd of 4,258 at Hofstra Arena.

“Sheesh, I can’t even tell you,” Imes said when asked how satisfied he was by the victory a year to the day after the Dutchmen were destroyed by Iona, 87-62, in New Rochelle. “I just know that everyday, when we found out they were on our schedule, we just waited until this day to take advantage of it and just make up for [last year],” Imes said.

“A year ago tonight was a tough night,” Cassara said. “But it was a big turning point for us. I think from that point on we played very, very well throughout the rest of the season. So obviously a big turning point for us this year, as well.”

Don’t be surprised if it turns out to be one for Iona, too. Judging by Tim Cluess’ demeanor late Thursday, I wouldn’t want to be Siena on Tuesday night. Anyway, here’s the postgame buffet from the Dutchmen’s third straight win.

1.) Afterward, everyone on both sides recognized that while the Flying Dutchmen viewed this as their Super Bowl—Dwan McMillan’s words—Iona viewed it like Homecoming, and figured they’d treat the Dutchmen like the Dutchmen football team treated Charleston Southern back in 1995 (you probably had to be there).

“I’ll keep it simple: Just give Hofstra all the credit,” Cluess said. “I thought they came and played a heckuva game from the get-go. They came with more energy, they played harder than us and took it to us right from the start. It looked like it meant more to them than it did to our guys today.”

Cluess said he was growing concerned that his team, which went 6-2 on the eight-game road trip it completed Thursday, was beginning to buy into its hype as the best team in the metro area when he noticed players were talking more about ticket requests. “I think our guys were drinking the Kool Aid a little too much,” Cluess said. “I knew we were in a little bit of trouble when it became more of an issue for some of the guys about tickets for the game than about the game itself.”

Cluess also admitted he didn’t expect Imes and Lester to shoot as well as they did, which is understandable given their struggles much of this season (more on that shortly). But Iona star forward Mike Glover unintentionally provided a glimpse into how the Gaels approached the game when he needed help remembering Imes’ name and assumed he’d never before enjoyed such a robust rebounding game.

“I think it was—who was it? Dave? Dave Imes had, what, 15 rebounds in the game?” Glover said. “Shocked me. I didn’t think he ever had 15 rebounds in a game against anybody.”

Imes had 17 rebounds twice last season (against Wagner and UNC Wilmington) and Thursday marked his seventh career double-double. Those numbers aren’t Glover-esque—he has six double-doubles this year alone—but still, they’re pretty good.

“Pretty much proved today that he can rebound just as good as any other big man in the country,” Glover said.

2.) This was the type of win Cassara would like to bottle and uncork another 27 times this year (do the math!). Not only did the Dutchmen bring the type of effort and emotion he’d like to see every game, but this was a win in which the veterans all played their optimal game.

Imes entered Thursday with just 12 points and 20 rebounds in his previous four games, during which he was just 5-of-24 from the field. But he was 7-of-13 shooting against Iona and had as many offensive boards (six) as the previous four games combined.

“It’s a big confidence booster,” Imes said. “I needed that.”

Lester’s impressive shooting night was less surprising—he is 15-of-35 in his last five games following a five-game stretch in which he was just 13-of-58—but the Gaels weren’t the only ones stunned by Lester’s huge and consecutive 3-pointers midway through the second half. The first came with 10:07 left to play immediately after a Hofstra timeout and just after Iona had closed within single digits for the first time in the second half. The second 96 seconds later again extended the lead to 12.

Not only were those Lester’s first 3-pointers in 26 days, they were his first after a streak of nine straight misses dating back to the James Madison game and half as many 3-pointers as he had in his first 25 attempts of the season. They were also, quite likely, his biggest baskets since his freshman year way back in 1907-08—err, 2007-08—when he hit a series of clutch last-minute shots.

Mike Moore, meanwhile, opened the game by hitting just one of his first six shots but hit drained seven of his final nine attempts on his way to a game-high 24 points. Most notably, he had five assists, tying a Hofstra career high, and continued to display renewed determination on defense, where he had three steals and got a piece of Kyle Smyth’s 3-pointer late in the second half.

“It was easy for me tonight because my other guys were picking me up,” Moore said. “We had the lead from the beginning so I wasn’t really stressing about missing shots. They were good shots. I know I can make those shots and my teammates believe in me, so I just kept shooting and making the right pass.”

After the Dutchmen took their biggest lead at 57-38 with 14:33 left to play, Moore, Lester and Imes combined to score 20 of the Dutchmen’s final 26 points as they fended off Iona’s comeback and finished off the win.

“A lot of credit to Mike he was a little tired at the end and he dropped the ball off to Dave, he dropped the ball off to Nat and those guys stepped up and made big shots,” Cassara said. “And that’s what we need them to do. If you look at their stat lines, it’s terrific, but I’m really just proud of our effort overall. And that’s the way we’re going to have to win. To win games we’re going to have to do it as a group.”

3.) While Moore, Lester and Imes combined for 61 points on 52 percent shooting, the most pivotal player for the Dutchmen—and the one who inspired me to go with the FOUR stars of the game for the first time ever, SPOILER ALERT—was just 3-of-11 shooting and didn’t pull down a rebound. But without Dwan McMillan’s efforts on and off the court, the Dutchmen do not win this game.

McMillan continued his masterful play at point guard with 10 points, nine assists and just four turnovers over 40 minutes (he missed a handful of seconds before a media timeout in the second half). His 19 assists the last two games are the most by a Hofstra player in a two-game span since Charles Jenkins had 22 on Feb. 18 and 21, 2009.

McMillan continually—and seemingly effortlessly—broke the Iona press while igniting the Dutchmen’s own press defense. McMillan harassed ex-high school teammate Scott Machado into six of Iona’s 23 turnovers, the most by a Hofstra opponent since UNC Wilmington needed three overtimes to commit 24 turnovers on Jan. 14, 2006. And the Dutchmen recorded 14 steals, the second straight game in which they had their most steals in six seasons.

He also set the tone for the Dutchmen last week by declaring he was ready for Iona. “I thought Dwan was great,” Cassara said. “I gave him a lot of credit in the locker room. His attitude and effort in practice, in shoot-around today—he just kept saying ‘We’re not gonna lose, we’re not gonna lose tonight’—has been tremendous.”

“I told the guys during practice ‘this is a must-win, we’ve got to be up for this team,’” McMillan said. “Some of the losses that we had, we got up—it wasn’t 15, but we got up six or seven and we didn’t finish the game—so we finished this game.”

4.) Perhaps the most impressive part of the win is the Dutchmen played Iona’s game and paid zero attention to my pre-game prattlings about how the only way to beat Iona was by slowing things down. The Gaels had 84 possessions, their fourth-most this season, but averaged a season-low 0.89 points per possession. The Dutchmen set a season high with 83 possessions.

“We talk about playing to tempo,” Cassara said. “We were able to get some really easy baskets in transition and the staff kept saying if we get something in transition, let’s attack and let’s get an easy basket or let’s get fouled. If we don’t, then pull out and run some offense. I think down the stretch we did a really good job of that.”

5.) Following the game, I screamed on Twitter that I was writing in Cassara for President. Maybe it’s a smidge early for that, but not too early to declare he can, as Bum Phillips said about Bear Bryant, “…take his’n and beat your’n and take your’n and beat his’n.”

This is the second year in a row in which Cassara has navigated the Dutchmen through an early season crisis and put them back on course, but this time he didn’t have Jenkins to rely upon. It is absolutely remarkable that the Dutchmen, in a span of a little more than three weeks, went from trailing for 76-plus straight minutes against Wagner and Manhattan to never trailing Iona by more than two points and leading the Gaels for the final 28 minutes.

Part of the resurgence was the good fortune of playing winless Binghamton and game but overmatched Colgate in consecutive home games, but Cassara deserves a ton of credit for putting the Bryant Crowder distraction behind the Dutchmen and getting the group he’ll take forward refocused and re-energized after a demoralizing four-game losing streak. The Dutchmen also have an identity and a vocal team leader, two things they lacked during the skid, and Cassara and his staff deserve plenty of plaudits for coaxing those traits out of a reeling team.

“I think anytime when you’re going through a stretch, a period, where you’re not playing real well, you’re trying to push and pull and find anything that can work,” Cassara said. “We’ve been trying to push some different buttons and do some different things [and] really get a better sense of ourselves. Our energy and our effort and our excitement in practice has been tremendous and I think that showed tonight on the court. I’m really proud of our guys.”

And now the Dutchmen head into the new year feeling pretty good about themselves and knowing they not only beat the two best teams they faced during the non-conference season—and may have recorded the CAA’s two biggest non-conference wins—but that they did it with two drastically different squads. Feeling good on New Year’s Eve doesn’t guarantee anything, and the best team in the CAA awaits Monday, but the Dutchmen are in a far better spot than anyone could have envisioned two weeks ago.

“On paper, probably the two best teams that we’ve played all year are Cleveland State and Iona—RPI-wise, personnel-wise—and we’ve beaten both of those teams,” Cassara said. “So we certainly have the capability and the ability to be very competitive not only in the non-conference but in our league.”

4 (that's right 4) STARS OF THE GAME (vs. Iona, 12/29)

3: Nathaniel Lester

1: David Imes

1: Dwan McMillan

1: Mike Moore

SEASON STANDINGS

Mike Moore 28

Nathaniel Lester 15

Dwan McMillan 13

David Imes 7

Shemiye McLendon 7

Stevie Mejia 3

Stephen Nwaukoni 3

Bryant Crowder 2

Email Jerry at defiantlydutch@yahoo.com or follow Defiantly Dutch at http://twitter.com/defiantlydutch.

Five pre-game thoughts: Iona

2011-12-29T18:41:00.001-05:00

1.) Oh my goodness! It’s the return of pregame thoughts! Christmas really IS the season of miracles! And limited work weeks that were supposed to be completely free of work but aren’t. But anyway.

1b.) The Flying Dutchmen suffered their share of lopsided defeats during a memorable 2010-11, but none stung quite as badly as the 87-62 loss to Iona a year ago tonight in New Rochelle. While part of the Dutchmen’s problem was bad timing—in addition to Brad Kelleher making his first start in place of the injured Dwan McMillan, the Gaels were primed to destroy someone after head coach and former Hofstra player Tim Cluess forced the Gaels to stay on campus and practice on Christmas Day following a loss to Vermont—the loss was the least competitive one of the season. It led to plenty of good things for Hofstra—after Mo Cassara held a boot camp of his own over New Year’s weekend, the Dutchmen opened January with five straight wins, including the seismic upset of George Mason—but the loss is still clearly on the mind of the nine Dutchmen who experienced it, either on the court or on the bench.

“We needed these last two games to get our mojo back for Iona,” McMillan said after the win over Colgate last Thursday. “We’re looking at that game as a measuring stick, because we’re ready for them after what they did to us last year.”

Motivation won’t be a problem today, not with so many New York-area natives on the team and with most of the players knowing one another from high school and AAU ball. “We played together at St. Benedict’s,” McMillan said when asked about Iona’s star point guard Scott Machado. “He knows me and I know him.”

2.) Of course nobody’s Rex Ryan enough to declare the Dutchmen look forward to proving they are the best team in the New York area. That’s Iona. The Gaels are 10-2 and a buzzer-beating half-court shot by Purdue away from being 11-1. They’re a remarkable 9-2 on the road or at neutral sites with wins over Maryland in Puerto Rico and over Denver at Denver, where the Gaels came back from a double-digit deficit in the second half in the mile high air. This is Iona’s eighth straight road game and the closest the Gaels have been to New Rochelle since Nov. 28.

3.) The Gaels are winning by channeling Loyola Marymount circa 1990 (Google it everyone who wasn’t high school age or older 21 years ago!). Iona has scored 80 or more points nine times, 90 or more five times and 100 or more twice. They have yet to average below 1.06 points per possession in a game and are averaging 77 possessions per game, a figure Hofstra hasn’t even reached once. And as our friend Guy Falotico pointed out today, the Gaels can beat you any which way with a big-time big man (Seton Hall transfer Mike Glover), slasher (Arizona transfer MoMo Jones) and a ruthlessly effective point guard (Machado).

The best way to beat Iona, obviously, is to slow the game down, but the Gaels are 2-1 in games in which they had fewer than 70 possessions, and one of those losses was at Marshall in the midst of this eight-game road trip. The Flying Dutchmen don’t need to channel Villanova vs. Georgetown circa 1985 (Google it, etc etc) but they must limit mistakes, maximize their offensive opportunities and force Iona to play a more moderate tempo.

4.) McMillan’s ability to break the Iona press will be a key for the Dutchmen, who can’t afford to give Iona additional opportunities with turnovers. The equation that lifted the Dutchmen past Colgate in the second half needs to work again: A balanced scoring attack and an ability to get players other than Mike Moore involved once the defense keys on him. The Dutchmen need at least two of the McMillan-Nathaniel Lester-David Imes-Shemiye McLendon quartet to score in double figures. Defensively, there’s no stopping Glover, who has five double-doubles and has scored 20 or more points five times this year, but Imes, Stephen Nwaukoni and Moussa Kone have to come up with a way to limit his damage. If the Dutchmen win this game, it’ll be because Kone had a coming out party.

5.) While there are at least 20 games left in the season, it’s no stretch to declare these next two will determine the direction the Dutchmen will take in 2011-12. Iona and VCU are the two best teams Hofstra will see all year, so a split will provide plenty of optimism for those hoping the Dutchmen can move into the top half of a down CAA. Even a pair of competitive losses will engender some hope the Dutchmen can steal a few games come the end of January and February. (We won’t even get into what a sweep would mean) A pair of lopsided defeats, though, and it’ll be tough to sell the idea this is anything other than a rebuilding/transitional season. Rest assured Mo Cassara got no rest even during his trip home for Christmas and that he was obsessing over how to beat Iona and VCU the entire time he was upstate. He’s got his hands full taking on the high-powered Gaels and Rams at less than full strength, but in Mo we trust to keep the rest of the season interesting.

Email Jerry at defiantlydutch@yahoo.com or follow Defiantly Dutch athttp://twitter.com/defiantlydutch.

Learn all about Iona fandom with Gaels fan Guy Falotico!

2011-12-29T15:52:00.004-05:00

Our good Iona friend Guy Falotico--better known as @IonaGuyF--was kind enough to help Hofstra fans prepare for tonight's big metro tilt by answering a few mostly intelligent questions from yours truly today. Thanks to Guy for his time and see you all tonight!

How did you become "IonaGuyF" and how close did you come to becoming, say, "MaristGuyF" or, heaven forbid, "SienaGuyF?"

I actually started off my postgrad years as a computer science major. Iona's CS program was very strong at the time and they gave me some academic scholarship cash to go there, so it was the easy choice.

What was hoops and the hoops atmosphere at Iona like during your undergrad years?

I graduated from Iona in 1991. Arrived there in the fall of 1987. So, basically I got there after the Valvano and Kennedy years, just in time to see the program return to mediocrity and obscurity. The atmosphere was still pretty good, but in those years LaSalle was ridiculously good. Those are still the best MAAC teams I've ever seen.

What were the best and worst moments of your college years fandom?

Best moment I can recall while in college was Sean Green's 43-point performance in the MAAC semifinals in Albany against Siena. The Gaels had to endure a halfcourt buzzer-beater at the end of regulation. I'd never heard an arena get so loud and thought we were finished, but Green wasn't to be denied on that day. Of course, Iona had nothing left the next day in losing to St. Peter's in the finals. The worst moment while I was at Iona was a home game against Lafayette, one of the worst teams in the country that particular year. Iona led by 20 at the half. A friend of mine, who had such a knack for calling stuff like this we called him “Clutch”, stated, “Iona will trail at some point in this game.” We all thought he was nuts. Iona went on to lose by 10. So, yes, we were outscored by 30 points in one half on our home floor by one of the worst teams in the country. Ouch.

I recall you writing on Twitter how you almost became a sportswriter but wisely came to your senses. Is that true, and if so, what do you do now? Also, do you have a time machine I could borrow so I could mimic your actions?

As a soph at Iona, I had the opportunity to cover high school sports at what is now the Journal News. Ended up staying there 5 years, about 25 hours a week. Best job I ever had. The problem was that they rarely hired from within, no matter how good you were. A major beat opened up, and they’d pull someone from another paper. Being that young, I didn’t understand that—of course I get it now. But at the time, I didn’t want to stick it out, or move somewhere else for an opportunity. Very naïve of me. So I switched industries. Somehow found medical editing, and I’ve been doing it for 16 years now. I work on a team of editors who all have PhDs, and I hold my own. I’ve gone from breaking down high school basketball games to developing case studies of patients with moderately active rheumatoid arthritis. Nowhere near as much fun, but it pays considerably more. That said—if I can return to the age of 23, I would have left the area to cover sports. But then I wouldn’t have my wife and kids. Hard to think of them not being around.

How did you end up becoming a moderator at IonaHoops.com as well as the curator of Iona sports news on Twitter?

Should give you a very quick MAAC message board history. Back in 1997 or so, a few MAAC fans found each other in an AOL chat room. I was one of them. Another who was in there, Hofstra fans know well—Jack Styczynski. Not long after that time with AOL, Jack started the first true MAAC board, which grew pretty popular—popular enough for a young company named Rivals.com to approach several of us to start up individual team sites. So, for the 1999 season, IonaHoops.com was born. I enjoyed running the site—going to all the press conferences and stuff. Was a way to keep my hand in the industry, too, in case I wanted to make a run at getting back into sports (by this time I was married). Two seasons later Rivals wanted to start charging us to have a site on their network, so we all left. Most MAAC teams have maintained team boards on various message board networks over the years. IonaHoops.com has also remained “just a message board”, first on Voy, then on Arborwood, and now on ProBoards.

I’ve been asked often over the years why I don’t just run my own sort of Rivals site for Iona, or nowadays, a blog such as yours. I now have 2 kids, and they keep me busy. I coach Little League and Pop Warner in my town (Stratford, CT), and I’m part of the PTA at their school. I was also elected to serve on Iona’s alumni board of directors, so I do more with the college than just attend sporting events now. I just don’t have the time to put into a blog.

As for Twitter, I love it. I read somewhere that Facebook is for people you used to be friends with, and Twitter is for people you want to be friends with. Perfect description. I love bringing Iona fans info and I love following all the basketball writers, from the ESPN and CBS guys to the guys who bust their butts on barely-read blogs. You don’t realize how much info is out there on your team until you do a Twitter search for them.

How many games do you go to in the average season?

I get to every home game most years, and a handful of the local road games. I also try to get to the cool preseason tournaments Iona’s been involved with. Two years ago, I took the whole family down to Orlando for the Old Spice, and we had a blast. This year I went to San Juan by myself and had a great time. Next year Iona is in St. Thomas, and I’m going to try to get the whole family there. In 2014, Iona’s at Old Spice again, so we will all make that trip.

As for the MAAC Tournament, I believe I’ve missed it once in the past 25 years. Regarding Iona’s NCAA trips, believe it or not I’ve only made it to one of them. Had some reasons for missing the others—my wedding, wife late in pregnancy, having no money due to getting laid off from a job, etc. But I have already told the wife that I’ll be there if Iona is in the NCAAs this year, and will be at every game as far as they go—hey, after what we’ve seen from GMU, Butler and VCU in recent years, you never know.

I like to complain about the hexed nature of Hofstra basketball, but you went through something few people have ever experienced--a two-win season in 2006-07. How awful was that, especially coming off an NCAA Tournament season the year before, and what were those two wins like?

Amazing that we went from having a halftime lead over an eventual Final Four team in the NCAAs to losing to a D-III school in an exhibition the following season. Even after that we didn’t realize how bad things were going to be. The losses just kept mounting. But I’ll tell you something—it’s “easier” being a fan when you know your team is poor, because the “pressure” is off. You root hard for the kids and see the younger ones develop. The media buildup was crazy! Suddenly we have major networks sending reporters to our games to cover the sad-sack Gaels trying to get that first W. And the fans showed up more and more, too. I was so happy to see the kids finally win. There were some great guys on that team. Thankfully the frosh got to taste some winning before they left.

Things have obviously gotten better since then, and Iona is the overwhelming pick to win the MAAC this year. How satisfying is it as a fan to be on the other end of such a metamorphosis, and what is it like rooting for the team everyone else is aiming at? Also, do you have proof Kevin Williard and Tim Cluess CANNOT walk on water?

Willard’s efforts were remarkable, and you knew he wasn’t going to be here for the long haul. Only gripe Iona fans had was that the team simply couldn’t score under him. Great defense, zero offense. Enter Cluess, the polar opposite. Great offense, no defense!

When MoMo Jones committed to Iona and we were all waiting on whether the NCAA would allow him to play this year, I was truly indifferent. This year’s Gaels were going to be good with or without him, and part of me was thinking toward the future—you can just give MoMo the keys for 2 years after Machado leaves. But now that he’s playing for us, I see that he does give us a dimension we didn’t have last year—that pure scorer who can fill the basket in a variety of ways. We had Glover inside, 3-point shooters outside and Machado running the show, but no one with that consistent in-between game, and no one who can get past you to the rim. MoMo has made us better in that regard, and because of his presence on this year’s roster Iona has a chance for a special season.

But you talk about the contrast from 2007, when I barely even looked at boxscores after games, to now, when I’m checking on our RPI daily, even multiple times a night. Our RPI is 12 right now—that’s just nuts. But to me it’s also nuts that we have no votes in either Top 25 poll. You can’t tell me we’re not one of the top 40 teams in the country. Ridiculous.

Hofstra fans are jealous of schools who went to one of the newer postseason tournaments and had a good experience there. How did the CIT help Iona last year?

I thought it was a great experience for the kids. Nobody cares about any postseason tourney not named NCAA—except for the teams in them. It gave the team a few more games together against good competition. The atmosphere at the CIT final was the best I’ve seen at an Iona home game in recent years—shame we lost to a good Santa Clara team.

Tell us the most fun thing about rooting for this year's team, as well as anything that keeps you up nights w/worry (if there is such a thing). What is this team's ceiling?

The most fun thing about this year’s team is the dream of what could be. I remember seeing a story prior to the start of the season where Iona was labeled “this year’s VCU”. What an amazing thing VCU did last year—not even the best team in your league and you go all the way to the Final Four. Can Iona do that? They would have to improve drastically on defense. In fact, they need to do that just to ensure they GET to the NCAAs. Last mock bracket I saw had us as a 10 seed. That’s not ideal for a deep run, because you’re looking at facing one of the top 8 teams in the country in the second round. But that would be a nice problem to have. If Iona gets to the NCAAs and loses in the first round, it would be disappointing. Win a game there and we’re in the talks of one of the best MAAC teams of all time. Reach the Sweet 16 and leave no doubt.

My one worry other than the defense is whether these guys have learned to WIN a championship. Iona was a huge favorite in last year’s MAAC finals vs St. Peter’s. John Dunne’s defensive gameplan was BRILLIANT that night, and we lost Kyle Smyth to injury in the first half. That’s the other reason the CIT run was good for the team—but, again, we lost in the finals. My fear is getting to the MAAC finals again, not quite having the resume for an at-large, and then wondering whether we have enough to beat Fairfield or Loyola or whoever with the money on the table. It’s here where I think MoMo makes the difference for us and gets us over the hump.

Do you think tonight's loss to Hofstra will fuel the Gaels the rest of the year?

Well, one thing’s for certain, your 284 RPI will not be helpful. An Iona loss would eliminate any room for error in terms of at-large—we’d have to win out, including BracketBuster, to the MAAC finals and lose to the second-best MAAC team to be on the right side of the at-large bubble. As Iona has been away from home for a month now, I expect good Iona representation at the game tonight, and for the Gaels to play well. But certainly if the Hofstra that beat Cleveland State shows up, Iona will be in for a dogfight. One thing you’ll see is that Iona’s defense is a great remedy for any offensive issues you guys have been having, It should be interesting because I know Hofstra is capable. Good luck to both teams—and no injuries for either side, please!

22 Short Facts About The Golden State Warriors!

2011-12-28T22:31:00.006-05:00

I'm going hungry, GOING HUNGR-YYYYYYY, so #LetHimScore, Mark!

If you’re like me, you haven’t eaten since Christmas night as you wait for Charles Jenkins to score the first points of his NBA career. To keep your mind off those terrible hunger pains, I present to you 22 short facts about the new beloved favorite team of Defiantly Dutch—the Golden State Warriors. How many times can I manage to rant about Hofstra in these facts? Many, many times!

1.) The Warriors are an original NBA franchise, founded as the Philadelphia Warriors in 1946 as part of the fledgling Basketball Association of America (which became the NBA in 1949). The Warriors won the first BAA/NBA title by beating the Chicago Stags in the championship series. It’s just like Mark Jackson winning his first game over the Chicago Bulls Monday night!

2.) The Warriors moved to San Francisco after the 1961-62 season, began playing home games in Oakland in 1966 and were renamed the Golden State Warriors at the start of the 1971-72 season. It’s just like Hofstra moving from Calkins Hall to the PFC to the Arena and dropping the Flying Dutchmen nickname!

3.) The Warriors have won three NBA titles, taking home the grand prize in 1955-56 as well as 1974-75, when they earned their only championship on the west coast with a four-game sweep of the Washington Bullets in the NBA Finals.

4.) In their last non-road regular season game as the Philadelphia Warriors on March 2, 1962, Wilt Chamberlain scored an NBA-record 100 points in a 169-147 win over the New York Knicks in front of fewer than 5,000 fans at Hershey, PA. In the nearly 50 years since, only one NBA player (Kobe Bryant with 81 points) has come within 20 points of matching Chamberlain’s feat. Yeah but did he ever beat William & Mary with a game-tying 3-pointer to force overtime and a game-winning, buzzer-beating 3-pointer in overtime?!

5.) Chamberlain, not surprisingly, is the leading scorer in Warriors history with 17,783 points. (Urge to make sophomoric joke about scoring rising…)

6.) The Warriors have retired the numbers of five players so far: Chamberlain, Alvin Attles, Rick Barry, Tom Meschery and Nate Thurmond. Chris Mullin (the Warriors’ all-time leader in games played) will become the sixth Warriors player to see his number raised to the rafters on March 12, when the New York native and St. John’s legend sees his no. 17 retired. Yeah but did any of the Warriors’ stars have their numbers retired while they were still active?!

7.) Thurmond is the Warriors’ all-time leading rebounder with 12,771 boards. He was also the first player in NBA history to record a QUADRUPLE double on Oct. 18, 1974, when he recorded 22 points, 14 rebounds, 13 assists and 12 blocked shots in his debut for the Chicago Bulls. OK. Even Jenkins hasn’t done that.

8.) One player who will probably not have his number retired by the Warriors is Latrell Sprewell, who was suspended for the final 68 games of the 1997-98 season for twice choking coach P.J. Carlesimo during practice.

9.) Carlesimo is one of 24 men to coach the Warriors. His .289 winning percentage (46-113) is sixth-lowest in franchise history, but he coached more games than anyone below him.

10.) The winningest coach in Warriors history is Attles, who won 557 games over two stints on the bench as well as the 1975 NBA title. Fellow Hall of Famer Don Nelson ranks second with 422 wins, also spread out over two stints.

11.) The Warriors’ all-time record is 2330-2752 (.458), meaning they are a mere six-season winning streak away from going over. 500! The Warriors were within striking distance of the break-even mark through the 1993-94 season (1816-1902), however, since then…

12.) …the Warriors have gone an avert-your-gaze 514-850 (.377), during which they have recorded just two winning seasons (2006-07 and 2007-08), endured four 60- loss seasons, four other seasons in which they lost at least 50 games and, remarkably, reached the playoffs just once (2006-07).

13.) The Warriors have made the playoffs 28 times, but 22 of those trips came in their first 29 years of existence, during which the Warriors reached the NBA Finals six times and got as far as the conference finals another five times.

14.) The Warriors have made the playoffs just six times in the last 34 years. Five of those trips came in an eight-year span from 1986-87 through 1993-94. Still, basketball fans of a certain age—say, 38—have fond memories of the last time the Warriors were reasonably competitive. Such as…

15.) …when Speedy Floyd set NBA records by scoring 29 points in the fourth quarter and 39 points in the second half of the Warriors’ lone victory over the Lakers in the 1987 semis. And then there was the high-scoring “Run TMC”-era Warriors of 1989-90 and 1990-91, who, led by the trio of Tim Hardaway, Mitch Richmond and Chris Mullin, went just 81-83 with one playoff berth but led the league in scoring in ’89-90 and finished second in ’90-91. The Warriors appeared primed to remain in contention when they acquired top overall draft pick Chris Webber in 1993 and won 50 games as he won the Rookie of the Year award in 1993-94, but Webber had a falling out with Nelson, refused to suit up again for the Warriors was traded to the Bullets in November 1994. It’s a lot like the Bryant Crowder saga, except not.

16.) The Warriors missed the playoffs 12 straight seasons from 1994-95 through 2005-06, which made them the only team in the NBA (other than the Charlotte Bobcats, who began play in 2004) not to appear in the postseason in that span. Yeah well Hofstra went 23 years in between NCAA Tournament berths, so there!

17.) The Warriors made that one playoff berth in the last 17 seasons count, though, by squeaking into the playoffs as the eighth seed in 2006-07 and producing the biggest upset in the history of the 16-team playoff format when they knocked off the top-seeded Dallas Mavericks in six games in the first round. The Mavericks won 67 games during the regular season, 25 more than the Warriors. I will write a whole lot about this when the eighth-seeded Flying Dutchmen take on top-seeded VCU in the CAA quarterfinals.

18.) Alas, the next year, the Warriors won 48 games and missed the playoffs entirely—the only NBA team to win 48 games and sit home for the postseason. Basically, it was the equivalent of having a top 30 RPI and not receiving an at-large bid to the NCAA Tournament. No truth to the rumor Tom O’Connor ran the NBA Playoffs that year.

19.) Eighteen former Warriors are enshrined in the Pro Basketball Hall of Fame. Jenkins will make it 19!

20.) One of those Hall of Famers, Rick Barry was the NBA’s all-time leader in field goal percentage—a cool 90 percent—at the time of his retirement. He has since been surpassed by Steve Nash and Mark Price, each of whom are at 90.4 percent, but Nash and Price have a combined 5,466 free throw attempts. Barry had 4,243 all by himself.

21.) Rick Barry was so cool, he shot free throws like this. Take note, Mike Morrison!

22.) New Warriors coach Mark Jackson played more games in the NBA—1,296—than any head coach in history. He ranks third all-time in assists with 10,334—a mere 10,333 ahead of Charles Jenkins, who also has 12,489 fewer points than his head coach. Remedy that tonight, Mark, and let me eat again!

Email Jerry at defiantlydutch@yahoo.com or follow Defiantly Dutch at http://twitter.com/defiantlydutch.

A Christmas Story: Jenkins’ Hofstra family ready to share in his NBA debut

2011-12-25T17:29:00.006-05:00

For a few weeks this fall, Charles Jenkins Sr. and his wife Patricia were like any other parents of a recent college graduate who welcome their child back into the fold as he searches for his first “real world” job in a tough economy.

Speaking with a hearty laugh and tongue planted firmly in cheek, Charles Sr. said last week that “….my wife enjoyed having him around—I did too, I wouldn’t tell him that. We were anxious to see him get a job and leave. It’s the same. No different.”

Their son finally got that job and moved out—3,000 miles to the west, where tonight Charles Jenkins will punch a clock as a professional basketball player for the first time in front of a national television audience when the Golden State Warriors host the Los Angeles Clippers at 10:30 on ESPN.

Jenkins’ NBA debut on Christmas night is the culmination of a dream come true not only for the Jenkins family but also for the extended Hofstra family, all of whom will watch its favorite son with an uncommon sense of—wait for it—pride as well as an uncanny sense of connection shared by those who watched him for four transcendent years as well as the Flying Dutchmen basketball alumni who helped him prepare for and find his NBA opportunity.

“It doesn’t get any bigger than Christmas Day,” said Speedy Claxton, the former Hofstra superstar and current Warriors scout who was in the Warriors’ draft room and implored his team to draft Jenkins with the 44th overall pick of the draft in June. “I played 10 years, I played on Christmas Day once.”

“Watching Charles will be my Christmas present,” said Jason Hernandez, the former star Hofstra point guard and Claxton teammate who trained Jenkins throughout the summer and fall.”

“The Hofstra connections—it means a lot,” Jenkins said from Warriors camp last week. “I’m a part of Hofstra for the rest of my life. That goes far from the new guys that come in to the alumni that are here for me. The Hofstra family is a big one—once you get into it and you meet everybody, you build a friendship that lasts forever. That’s the friendship that I built with Jason Hernandez and Speedy Claxton.”

***

While the Warriors drafting Jenkins was the bit of unforeseen serendipity needed to give hisNBA journey a storybook ending, the pairing of Jenkins and Hernandez was a natural and predictable fit. Hernandez opened the training facility Pro Hoops after the end of his professional career in Puerto Rico and often worked out with Jenkins during the latter’s stellar career at Hofstra. Shortly after his senior season ended, Jenkins teamed up with Hernandez and his staff, which put Jenkins and other NBA Draft prospects through rigorous two-a-day workouts.

Prior to the Draft, Jenkins’ schedule on Monday, Tuesday, Thursday and Friday consisted of basketball workouts at Pro Hoops from 9 to 10:30 a.m., followed by strength and conditioning from noon to 1:30 p.m. and skill specific workout (such as shooting or ball handling) from 3 to 4 p.m. On Wednesdays and Saturdays, Jenkins’ basketball workout went from noon to 2 p.m., immediately followed by an hour of core flexibility exercises.

Hernandez also introduced Jenkins to his sports nutritionist, Wendy Meyer-Sterling, who put him on a diet that allowed the already sculpted Jenkins to shed 16 pounds and record the third-best body fat percentage at the NBA Combine.

Once the lockout dragged into October, Jenkins left the apartment he was renting on Long Island and headed back home to Queens. Like most parents with a college graduate back in his or her old bedroom, the Jenkins didn’t give Charles a curfew. Unlike most parents with a college graduate back in his or her old bedroom, the Jenkins didn’t have to worry about where their son was in the late night hours or if he was doing everything possible to find a job.

“I knew I had the opportunity to play in the NBA and I just wanted to stay focused,” Jenkins said. “I know so many people in the world that would love to be in the position that I am. I didn’t take anything for granted. I just want to go and be the best player I can every day when I wake up.”

On the weekends, Jenkins went bowling or to the batting cages with friends and was home by 2 a.m. During the week, he was in bed well before the late news and out the door to work out at Pro Hoops before his Dad, a noted early riser even in retirement, was awake.

“I admire his work ethic,” Jenkins Sr. said. “He works extremely hard and I admire that. Even now I admire the fact that he gets up and goes to work hard and works hard everyday. I’m very proud of that. I think it’s a good representation of the family as well that he works hard to accomplish his goals.”

“I was always impressed with Charles’ work ethic and willingness to listen and then implement what he learned,” Hernandez said. “I was not surprised though. His parents are great people who work hard and they obviously instilled this into him. At Pro Hoops we always talk about training as a lifestyle and Charles believes that as well.

“We would be in the gym regardless of a season because this is what we do and who we are.”

***

The fate of the 2011-12 NBA season was uncertain long before the Draft. Of course, uncertainty is nothing new for Jenkins, who was lightly recruited out of high school and endured two coaching changes and the transfer of two starters prior to his senior year at Hofstra.

Still, an uncertain draft day was unexpected for Jenkins, who was expected to go in the second half of the first round but remained the top available prospect for the first hour of the second round. Yet even as other players flew off the board in the second round, Claxton never considered the possibility he and the Warriors might end Jenkins’ long wait.

“Most of the mocks had him in the first round and we had him in the first round,” Claxton said. “I really didn’t think about it until it came down to the last pick before ours.”

Claxton officially scouted Jenkins just once, at Manhattan last December, but saw most of his home games from his courtside seat at Hofstra Arena. And when the 44th pick arrived, and Jenkins was still available, Claxton wasted no time making his pitch for his fellow Hofstra alum.

“You always look at who is the best available and his name was first for a long time,” Claxton said. “I told [fellow executives]—I forget who else was the other option—but I told them this is somebody that is a great kid, that can really play and he’s a position that we need. He fits. That’s kind of a no-brainer. Everybody jumped on board and we just went with it.”

While the small but boisterous crowd at Bar Social celebrated Jenkins’ selection, a pair of former teammates began texting one another and marveling over the wild turn of events that linked a trio of Hofstra basketball legends and how the one team employing a Hofstra grad was able to give Jenkins a well-earned opportunity to play in the NBA.

“It was very, very, very exciting,” Claxton said. “Not only did I help him, but I helped the program to still keep their name out there and to show people that we’re producing pros.”

“I think the Hofstra connection is very cool,” Hernandez said. “[Claxton] scouts for a living and played in the NBA so he isn’t going to just vouch for anyone because his credibility and job are on the line.

“We texted each other the night of the draft and the sum of the conversation was that this is what it’s all about. Speedy and I were able to get to a NCAA Tournament together and now as professionals we were able to connect again and not only see an individual succeed, but Hofstra succeed once again.”

***

Jenkins’ success continues to unite Hofstra as well. His magnificent senior season turned him into an Internet superstar, earned him the honor of having his number retired by Hofstra while he was still wearing it and made a Flying Dutchmen basketball ticket an unusually hot item.

The two men who coached Jenkins at Hofstra appreciate how his success yields dividends at two different schools and marvel at how Jenkins, Hernandez and Claxton ended up intertwined.

“When you look at the bloodlines with Charles and then all the way down through Speedy and Jason and Norman Richardson—[and] Carlos [Rivera] and Loren [Stokes] and Antoine [Agudio] in the middle of that—we’ve always had great help from our alumni in recruiting and always been able to use our former players as points of reference for the guys we are recruiting,” Tom Pecora said this summer. “It’s good to see this continue at that level.”

“I think it’s incredible, it speaks volumes about the Hofstra basketball family—Jason Hernandez, Speedy Claxton and Charles Jenkins all tied together in this thing,” Mo Cassara said. “Part of what makes Charles so great is the Hofstra connection. These former players have been around him and influenced him so positively over the last couple years. And Charles embraces that too, which is really great.”

Hofstra, meanwhile, remains Jenkins’ foundation. He remains in constant contact with his ex-teammates and either watches Flying Dutchmen games online or gets reports from his Dad, who has season tickets. On his Facebook last week, Jenkins wrote “solid weekend for sports…both Hofstra men & women’s basketball won…and so did the Warriors!!!”

“I just want to thank everybody for their support—the Charles Jenkins Facts to the athlete page to the new 'Section 22' that they made [at the NBA Draft], I just want to thank everybody for staying with me,” Jenkins said. “I’ve got a big fanbase on Long Island and I hope everybody’s watching on Christmas.”

While Patricia Jenkins celebrated Christmas with her son today and attends her first NBA game tonight, the rest of Jenkins’ Hofstra family—spread out from his living room in Queens to thousands of other households nationwide—will be checking their watches during dinner and willing 10:30 to arrive.

“Such a short time ago he was running around with a Hofstra jersey on, helping us out last year,” Cassara said with a laugh. “I’m obviously going to be thrilled. It’s a great moment not only for Charles but for Hofstra basketball.”

“Watching Charles is like watching me—I’m reliving my career watching him,” Claxton said. “I wish him the best of luck. I hope he doesn’t get hit with the injury bug like I did once I got there and he can have a stellar career.”

And if you’re looking to get out of the house and can get to the Jenkins home in Queens, well, Jenkins’ Dad and at least one of his ex-teammates would welcome extended members of the family.

“Every Christmas I’m usually at his house,” said Nathaniel Lester, Jenkins’ co-best friend the last five years along with Greg Washington. “So I’ll just continue with that routine.”

“My son-in-law is going to spend the day with me [at] the house,” Charles Jenkins Sr. said. “Come by if you want.”

Email Jerry at defiantlydutch@yahoo.com or follow Defiantly Dutch at http://twitter.com/defiantlydutch.

This man is now getting the same AARP mailings as my Dad!

2011-12-24T14:50:00.003-05:00

As usual on Christmas Eve, we wish a very Happy Birthday to the Man Who Saved Hofstra Basketball, Jay Wright, who turns 50 today. FIFTY. FIFTY FOR GOD'S SAKE HOW IS THAT POSSIBLE?! He's supposed to be 32 and inheriting the reigning East Coast Conference champions forever. But don't worry Jay. Even though you are now getting the same junk mail as my Dad, you're still much hipper.

And as usual today, I also wish a very Happy Birthday to the Woman Who Saved Me From A Lifetime Of Reading Old Hofstra Media Guides Alone. She reads them with me! Happy Birthday to my wonderful wife, and Merry Christmas and Happy Holidays to the entire DD readership! Thanks for your loyalty and patience this year as I drown in joyous Day Job work. Hopefully I'll do a better job of carving out time to write in 2012. Along those lines, we'll have a gift for you tomorrow to digest after you wolf down your ham, turkey and pumpkin pie, so stop by.

Email Jerry at defiantlydutch@yahoo.com or follow Defiantly Dutch at http://twitter.com/defiantlydutch.

Postgame Buffet: Hofstra 82, Colgate 59 (Or: All I want for Christmas is a two-game winning streak)

2011-12-24T04:34:00.004-05:00

Did you know there was a movie called All I Want For Christmas? Me neither.

Mo Cassara was probably speaking figuratively, not literally, when he described what the Flying Dutchmen’s two-game winning streak heading into Christmas meant to him and the rest of the team. He probably meant a loss to Colgate would leave him obsessing over the state of the Dutchmen during Christmas at his parents’ house in upstate New York instead of enjoying food and football.

Probably.

Fortunately for the Dutchmen, they removed any doubt from the equation with a dominant second half in a wire-to-wire 82-59 win over Colgate Thursday. “Lets us go home,” Cassara said with a laugh late Thursday night. “Lets us go home. Lets everybody go home.”

While only time will tell if the second half against Colgate propels the Dutchmen to bigger and better things, heading into Christmas off a victory sure beats losing in the last game before Christmas, as the Dutchmen did from 2006 through 2009. Here’s the postgame buffet (eat up, that diet isn’t starting until Jan. 3 anyway):

1.) This was a full circle type of victory for the Dutchmen, who haven’t played this well nor had this many reasons to feel good about themselves since the previous long holiday weekend. Of course, the Dutchmen team that took the court Thursday was far different from the one that knocked off Cleveland State Nov. 26, and Colgate is ranked 203rd in the RPI this morning, a mere 202 spots lower than Cleveland State was when the Dutchmen pulled off the upset win.

But still: It was vital for the Dutchmen to go into Christmas—and their preparations for the potentially defining games against Iona and VCU immediately after the holiday break—with a sense of confidence about the team they will have for the short- and long-term.

The Dutchmen had five players score in double figures the same day the Bryant Crowder saga finally came to a predictable end (Hofstra announced his departure from the basketball team for the ever-vague and ever-handy “personal reasons” via a 14-word press release; that’s 11 more words than games played at Hofstra, for those of you keeping score at home) and Stevie Mejia returned to the bench with an aggravation of the hamstring injury that cost him the better part of four games and three weeks.

Mike Moore had another big game with 24 points, five rebounds and two steals, but in another parallel to Cleveland State, the Dutchmen thrived in the second half even though Colgate focused on shutting down Moore, who drained four 3-pointers and had 19 points in the first half. Yet even with Moore limited to five second half points, the Dutchmen racked up 47 points thanks largely to the quartet of Shemiye McLendon, Dwan McMillan, Nathaniel Lester and David Imes, which combined for 36 points.

McLendon scored 15 of his career-high 17 points in the second half while McMillan finished with 13 points and Lester and Imes had 10 apiece. Getting Lester and Imes into double digits was particularly pivotal: Lester has scored at least 10 points in four straight games immediately after a five-game slump in which he shot just 22 percent. And Imes entered Thursday in the midst of a two-and-a-half game scoreless streak.

“A lot of credit to the whole team, we started to share the ball [when] they played box and one on Mike and once they did that, other guys made some shots,” Cassara said. “Mike obviously got off to a great start today, but when we’ve got other guys in double figures and guys like Shemiye and Dave and Dwan are making shots, we become a much better team.”

2.) The Dutchmen also looked like a much better team once they went to the three-quarters press early in the second half. The constant harassment wore down Colgate, which, a la Long Island in the season opener, had a chance to take the lead on its first possession of the second half before it got blown out of the building.

The Dutchmen forced eight turnovers, outscored Colgate 38-18 in the final 16 minutes and allowed the Raiders to score on just 12 of 34 second half possessions (discounting when they got the ball with 0.7 seconds left). Overall, the Dutchmen recorded 13 steals, their most in almost six years (17 against Georgia State Jan. 5, 2006).

“We turned them over 18 times [overall] and really there were a couple times there we almost had a couple more,” Cassara said. “I thought we really did a good job tonight and our effort and energy was terrific, especially in the second half.

“When we get a few easy baskets, all of a sudden, the game opened up a lot and they can’t just key on Mike and we become a much tougher team to beat.”

3.) In routing the Raiders, the Dutchmen finished off an opponent for the first time since Cleveland State (sorry, Binghamton, we feel bad for you but beating you by 20 doesn’t count). The Dutchmen, of course, squandered large second half leads and lost in crushing fashion in the waning moments to Florida Atlantic and James Madison.

“Actually on the board and [during] a couple timeouts I wrote in big letters [on his clipboard] ‘FINISH,’” Cassara said, evoking memories of how he implored the Dutchmen to complete their win over Cleveland State. “That’s something we have to learn to do. We’ve let a couple games slip away here [that] we had an opportunity to win and we just didn’t execute well enough down the stretch. And this was a step forward for us tonight.”

4.) Mejia will certainly play for Hofstra again, but if he’s out for an extended period of time, Cassara can rest easier (which is to say, rest at all) knowing McMillan is evolving into the Dutchmen’s leader, on and off the court. McMillan put together his first double-double of the year with 10 assists to go along with his 13 points. He also recorded three steals and committed just two turnovers. And McMillan was the architect of perhaps the prettiest play of the season late in the second half, when he faked a Colgate defender, whirled around 180 degrees and threw a behind-the-back pass to Imes, who hit the layup.

In his last five starts in place of Mejia, McMillan has an assist-to-turnover ratio of 26:13. Granted, that number is skewed by Thursday’s stellar outing, but only once in that stretch did McMillan have more turnovers than assists (Wagner).

“I always had the confidence,” McMillan said. “I was just waiting for opportunity. And unfortunately Stevie went down, but I told [the Dutchmen] ‘I got ‘em. I got us.’”

McMillan has also become the vocal leader the Dutchmen have sought since Charles Jenkins graduated. Prior to each of the last two games, it has been McMillan shouting instructions and encouragement during the pre-game huddle.

“In the locker room, on the court, he’s been doing just a tremendous job,” Cassara said. “His message has been great everyday. His energy’s been terrific and he’s instilled a lot of confidence in not only myself but the rest of the team.”

McMillan was clearly still amped up while sitting with Cassara, Moore and McLendon in the interview room. He sat fidgeting at the podium while staring ahead with what even Bobby Knight might dub a “game face” and answered the first question to him—which was about how upbeat the Dutchmen looked all evening—with this classic response:

“We’re ready to go. That’s all I’m gonna say. We’re ready to go. We’re ready for Iona and we’re ready for conference play. That’s it.”

5.) Perfect segue! Iona is the last and biggest game of the non-conference season for a Dutchmen squad eager to take on the best team in the metro area and prove it wasn’t nearly as bad as it looked in getting waxed by the Gaels by 25 points last Dec. 29.

Cassara couldn’t ask for much more than to enter the Iona game fresh off a pair of convincing wins in which the Dutchmen led for the final 76-plus minutes. That, of course, came immediately after a stretch in which the Dutchmen trailed for 70-plus straight minutes against Wagner and Manhattan. So the only thing predictable about this Dutchmen team is its unpredictability. Still, better to spend a week eagerly anticipating Iona instead of dreading the loaded Gaels.

“For the last week or two, me and D-Mac are really trying to stress to the team ‘This is the game that everybody needs to come out and play [at a] high intensity for so we get that momentum going into conference play,’” Moore said. “Definitely a big game on our schedule.”

3 STARS OF THE GAME (vs. Colgate, 12/22)

3: Mike Moore

2: Dwan McMillan

1: Shemiye McLendon

SEASON STANDINGS

Mike Moore 27

Dwan McMillan 12

Nathaniel Lester 12

Shemiye McLendon 7

David Imes 6

Stevie Mejia 3

Stephen Nwaukoni 3

Bryant Crowder 2

Email Jerry at defiantlydutch@yahoo.com or follow Defiantly Dutch at http://twitter.com/defiantlydutch.

Hofstra 82, Binghamton 62 (Or: Sure feels good to me)

2011-12-22T07:30:00.006-05:00

Pretty sure I'm the only basketball blogger with two Warrant references in the calendar year 2011. What can I say, I have my niche and I try to fill it well.

When it comes to cathartic, losing streak-snapping victories, the Flying Dutchmen’s 82-62 rout of Binghamton Saturday doesn’t quite rank up there with the annihilation of UNC Wilmington Jan. 27, 2010. A CAA win is a CAA win, even when it comes at the expense of a team as overmatched as UNC Wilmington was two Januaries ago, and that victory—which snapped a five-game conference losing streak and a stretch of nine losses in 11 games—was the basketball equivalent of a five-course, soup-to-nuts meal.

The Dutchmen weren’t nearly as ruthlessly effective in ending a four-game losing streak Saturday, but they didn’t have to be against a winless Binghamton team that is paying for the sins of its forefathers and is on the very short list for the worst in Division I this season. In food terms, this was a binge at the drive-thru in which we wolfed the food down in the car and may or may not have belched loudly afterward.

Still, a win’s a win, and this one felt good, and even if it wasn’t exactly fine dining, it was one on which the Flying Dutchmen could build. People walked out of Hofstra Arena with smiles on their faces for the first time in four weeks. The wife and I argued all the way home over whether or not Matt Grogan merited 3 Stars Of The Game consideration (no spoilers!). Mo Cassara slept for the first time since the Saturday after Thanksgiving. OK, well, maybe not.

“Obviously pleased with the outcome tonight,” Cassara said. “I think sometimes, when you’re not winning and the ball’s not going in the basket, it’s easy to get down, it’s easy to question a lot of things. And I think a lot of credit has to go to our staff. Sometimes you work a lot harder when you’re losing than you do when you’re winning. And we’ve worked real hard the last couple of weeks, even though we haven’t had some of the wins we wanted to have.”

Here’s a postgame buffet I’m not even calling a postgame buffet because it’s so damn late. Can’t wait for the holiday break.

1.) Whenever the Flying Dutchmen struggled under Tom Pecora, he’d always say the seniors needed to take ownership of the situation. So it was a good sign that the lone seniors on this year’s team—Mike Moore, Dwan McMillan and Nathaniel Lester—combined to score 57 points and were the three Dutchmen to score in double figures.

Moore was brilliant in scoring a career-high 32 points, tying a school record with seven 3-pointers and chipping in a team-high seven rebounds. That effort earned him co-player of the week honors in the CAA. McMillan had perhaps his best game in a Hofstra uniform with 15 points—his most ever against a Division I opponent—on 5-of-6 shooting. And Lester had 10 points and five rebounds and has 21 points (on 7-of-15 shooting) and 13 rebounds in his last two games.

“[Moore is] doing a lot of things for us,” Cassara said. “If he can continue to play complete games on both ends scoring, passing, rebounding along with Nat, along with Dwan—and they each have their own roles—if we can do that and start to play 40 minutes of that, we’re going to get some Ws.”

2.) For Moore and McMillan, in particular, their performance on the court was not nearly as important as what they did off it. Moore said afterward he called a players-only meeting after the Manhattan loss in which he implored everyone to play hard for 40 minutes.

“We just challenged each other—what can we do better?” Moore said.

McMillan, meanwhile, jumped into the center of the huddle after introductions and took over the Charles Jenkins role as the player shouting last-second encouragement. As transfers in only their second year in the program, neither Moore nor McMillan can be expected to lead quite like Jenkins, who was a three-year captain as well as the best player in school history. But the Dutchmen need leaders, and there’s no better candidates to assume the responsibility than their best player and their most emotional one.

“It’s great—it’s all part of their development,” Cassara said.

3.) Playing Binghamton has a way of curing a lot of ailments, but there’s no denying the week off between games did wonders for the Dutchmen’s psyche, as did the calendar allowing the opportunity for a fresh start. In between taking exams, the Dutchmen held a series of extended practices in which Cassara emphasized gradual improvement with the beginning of the real season finally on the horizon.

“It’s a challenging week, but I think having that week off was very valuable,” Cassara said. “We walked into practice Monday and said ‘We are going to commit to getting a little better every day. We are going to be enthusiastic and energetic about getting a little bit better everyday. If we do that, winning will take care of itself. And we all committed to that and I think we made a step in the right direction today.”

4.) While the senior starters had impressive games, the Dutchmen also got nice contributions from subs Grogan (six points on two 3-pointers), Shemiye McLendon (eight points, five assists—tying his career high—and two steals), Stephen Nwaukoni (seven points and two rebounds) and Moussa Kone, who hit both of his field goal attempts and pulled down four rebounds in his first appearance off the bench this year.

The bench is not yet the strength it appeared to be during Bryant Crowder’s cameo in Rhode Island, but now that Stevie Mejia is back, at least the Dutchmen have some depth again. And while Mejia, who took Kone’s spot in his return from a hamstring injury that cost him three-plus games, was scoreless and missed all four shots, his presence in the lineup along with McMillan provided a glimpse of what the Dutchmen might be able to do with a smaller lineup against lightning-fast teams such as Iona and VCU…whom the Dutchmen just happen to play in the two games following tonight’s tilt with Colgate.

“A lot of sleepless nights this week,” Cassara said in reference to the lineup change. “I didn’t want to tinker too much with what we’re doing, but at the same time, I just wanted to give us a little bit of a quicker, maybe smaller lineup with a little bit more defensive intensity. It certainly wasn’t anything against Moussa, he’s done a great job for us through the early part of the year as a true freshman. Just a little coach’s thoughts, nothing too much other than that.”

5.) There was still plenty to improve upon from Saturday. Most notably, David Imes continued his baffling slump by going scoreless for the second straight game. He has two points in his last three games, and none in the Dutchmen’s last five halves of action. Getting Imes untracked in the next two games is surely at the top of Cassara’s to-do list.

The Dutchmen committed 19 turnovers and got a bit sloppy against an opponent whom they could afford to get sloppy against. And the Dutchmen let Binghamton hand around, sort of: The Dutchmen led by a game-high 24 midway through the second half but surrendered a 15-5 run that allowed the Bearcats to close within 14 with just under four minutes to play.

“I think today was a step in the right direction,” Cassara said. “We still have some things to work on. We have to learn to execute a little better, take care of the ball a little bit better down the stretch. I think it was real important to at least get a little confidence towards that mission for us really moving forward.”

3 STARS OF THE GAME (vs. Binghamton, 12/17)

3: Mike Moore

2: Dwan McMillan

1: Shemiye McLendon

SEASON STANDINGS

Mike Moore 24

Nathaniel Lester 12

Dwan McMillan 10

Shemiye McLendon 6

David Imes 6

Stevie Mejia 3

Stephen Nwaukoni 3

Bryant Crowder 2

Email Jerry at defiantlydutch@yahoo.com or follow Defiantly Dutch at http://twitter.com/defiantlydutch.

Postgame Buffet: Manhattan 68, Hofstra 59 (Or: The good ol’ days may not return...at least this year)

2011-12-12T08:56:00.005-05:00

Works on so many levels. Including as a HINT, Loyal Reader Missy!

The scene takes place dozens of times every day at the Division I level. Even though a wall-rattling tongue-lashing awaits it, the losing team can’t get off the court and out of sight of the final score fast enough once the buzzer has sounded. And before he’s able to get behind closed doors and unload, the losing coach is stopped by the winning coach along the postgame handshake line and offered a pat on the shoulder and some words of encouragement.

It’s just been a long time since the Flying Dutchmen “starred” in such a show. But there were the Dutchmen shuffling off the court after a 68-59 loss to Manhattan that was not nearly as close as the final score indicated and so unsightly that the scoreboard at Hofstra Arena went dark seconds after the game went final. And it was Mo Cassara, fresh off a 21-win rookie season, getting encouragement from Steve Masiello, the first-year Manhattan head coach who inherited a program that won 17 games the previous two years.

But it was that kind of day in what is quickly turning into that kind of year for the Flying Dutchmen, who lost their fourth in a row—their longest losing streak under Cassara—and for the sixth time in seven games as they assured themselves of entering the new year with a losing record.

Afterward, Cassara was asked if this was his most frustrating stretch since arriving at Hofstra. “Uhh, I would say that would be a safe bet, yes,” Cassara said.

For better or worse, he’s got a full week to stew over this one. Here’s another indigestion-filled postgame buffet:

1.) Fifty-one weeks after leading Manhattan from start to finish at Draddy Gymnasium, the Dutchmen didn’t lead once Saturday. That’s only the beginning of the ugly numbers and trends.

For instance: The Dutchmen haven’t led in the last 70 minutes and 43 seconds. They were down by 16 points less than 11 minutes into the game Saturday. They averaged less than one point per possession for the fourth straight game and are averaging a meager 0.71 points per possession in the last two games. They are 5-of-28 from 3-point land in the last two games.

More alarmingly, the Dutchmen were outrebounded for the second straight game, and this time, it wasn’t a matter of getting gassed in the second half. Early in the first half, David Imes and Nathaniel Lester each got a hand on a Manhattan miss, yet Manhattan’s Rhamel Brown slipped between the flat-footed duo, grabbed the rebound and kept alive a possession that ended in a 3-pointer. And just minutes later, Lester let a loose ball that last touched a Manhattan player skip out of bounds without going after it.

Manhattan finished with a 43-32 rebounding edge and pulled down 14 offensive boards. “I felt like we got a couple great stops, a couple opportunities where I thought we had got the momentum back in the first half and the second half,” Cassara said. “And just little things—offensive rebounds, a block out, a hustle play—right now we’re just not executing those. We’ve got to get back to that. I thought earlier in the season we were terrific at that. Out at Oregon State, [the] LIU game—I thought we really did a great job of that and we’ve kind of lost our way a little bit there.”

2.) It doesn’t get any better in the macro sense. This is the 11th time the Dutchmen have started 3-7 or worse at the Division I level. None of the previous 10 teams finished .500 or got beyond the quarterfinals of the conference tournament.

The last Dutchmen team to endure a stretch like this turned things around in historic fashion: After losing nine of 11 games at midseason, during which it battled a spate of injuries and illness and played with a shortened roster, the 2009-10 Dutchmen won eight of their final nine regular season conference games to become the first CAA team in history to finish over .500 in conference play after falling as many as five games under .500.

Of course, that team had Charles Jenkins, who led the Dutchmen to a 27-9 record in games decided by six points or less and/or in overtime the previous three seasons. At this moment, the Dutchmen don’t have someone who can avoid a regression to the mean in that department, or single-handedly lift a team out of its morass.

The Dutchmen outscored Manhattan 53-45 over the final 29 minutes, yet they only got as close as five points once and never got closer than seven points in the second half. Unlike the last three years, the Dutchmen can’t score the basket on offense nor, despite decent surface defensive stats, make the stop on defense that turns the momentum in their favor.

“I feel like that’s kind of a microcosm of the last maybe three weeks for us,” Cassara said. “Some of the games we’ve been behind, some of the games we’ve been ahead, it’s been one key player here or there where we just can’t quite get that one stop or maybe we can’t make that one extra basket. And it kind of steamrolls after that.”

3.) This is one of those stretches in which Tom Pecora would have said his seniors and veterans need to take ownership of the situation. Unfortunately for the Dutchmen, that didn’t really happen Saturday.

Mike Moore (a game-high 20 points and a team-high three steals to go along with five rebounds) was better than he was Tuesday and played all 40 minutes, but he was just 5-of-15 from the field—including 2-of-8 on 3-pointers—and committed four of his five turnovers during a first half in which he looked as distracted and discouraged as he did against Wagner.

Lester’s final line (11 points and eight rebounds) looks pretty good, but he collected all 11 points in the final eight minutes and five of the boards after he returned from an extended benching midway through the second half. It has becoming increasingly clear in the last three weeks that the inconsistency that dogged him throughout his first three years didn’t disappear during his redshirt season.

At least Lester got back into the game. Imes, who has started all 43 games the last two years, sat the final 17:28 even though he had no fouls and four Dutchmen finished the game with four fouls. He ended up going scoreless for the first time as a starter. After scoring in double figures and pulling down seven rebounds in his first two games of the season, Imes has reached those marks just twice in his last eight games.

On a team seemingly filled with players battling confidence issues, Imes’ plight is the most concerning. Even when his shots weren’t falling, Imes never appeared tentative on the boards—until Saturday.

“I went with a little smaller lineup—I thought Stevie [Nwaukoni] and Moussa were a little more aggressive to the basket,” Cassara said. “I just felt like that [starting] lineup wasn’t really effective tonight.”

4.) What does Cassara do from here? He played the positive reinforcement card after the loss to James Madison nine days ago, then went hardass with a predawn practice last Monday, then went with a combination of the two after the loss to Wagner on Tuesday. On Saturday, the Dutchmen remained in the locker room at halftime until there was less than three minutes to go during intermission, and after the loss, Cassara’s voice echoed through the walls and into the media room. I doubt he was enthusiastically asking about everyone’s Christmas lists.

Perhaps this week he will end up taking the foot off the gas in practice, a la Pecora at the end of January 2010, in hopes it yields better game results for a thin team. Whatever he does, Cassara is in an unenviable position of needing to shake things up with a shaken team and a bag of tricks limited by the circumstances engulfing the Dutchmen.

Multiple times Saturday, Cassara whirled towards the bench as if to direct someone into the game, only to realize he had no options. Stevie Mejia is hurt, Bryant Crowder remains suspended, Charles Jenkins isn’t coming through that door and Jamal Coombs-McDaniel and Taran Buie are coming through that door in sweats, at least until the 2012-13 season opener.

Fill-in point guard Dwan McMillan had a good game Saturday, when he collected nine points and five assists and continually allowed the Dutchmen to break Manhattan’s press, but while Shemiye McLendon had nine points, four rebounds and two steals, he was just 3-of-12 from the field in 31 minutes. Nwaukoni had six points and two rebounds but picked up four fouls in 21 minutes. Moussa Kone brought a little life to the Arena with three blocks and a pair of thunderous second half dunks but had four fouls in 23 minutes and remains raw. Matt Grogan saw extended time (nine minutes) for the second straight game and missed all three 3-point attempts, but in his defense he hasn’t played this much since high school.

“We haven’t found that combination or that confidence yet to find a way to win,” Cassara said. “So we have to continue to work hard. We have to continue to string some good practices together and we have to continue to fight and find ways to get better. We’re going to do that moving forward here after exams.”

Said Moore: “Guys have to get a little bit more confident out on the court, make some plays Two, three plays and we were right within five. Couple more plays, we tie the game up. So guys just have to believe in themselves and make plays out there.”

5.) Cassara’s not using the same verbiage, but he’s got little choice other than to rely on another Pecora-era old reliable: Early pain for late gain. As lousy as things look right now, it is still only December. As always, the most important weeks of the season for the Dutchmen are the first 10 of the new year. And a wide-open CAA at least gives a little bit of hope that a flawed and undermanned team can still create some havoc.

“We’re doing some pretty good things, we just have to learn how to win,” Cassara said. “But we’ve got a long way to go. We’ve got a lot of basketball to play. We want to be playing our best basketball in January and February and I still believe that this team can do that. So we’re going to work really hard here over the next couple weeks to get a little confidence back and get some victories as well.”

3 STARS OF THE GAME (vs. Manhattan, 12/10)

3: Mike Moore

2: Dwan McMillan

1: Nathaniel Lester

SEASON STANDINGS

Mike Moore 21

Nathaniel Lester 12

Dwan McMillan 8

David Imes 6

Shemiye McLendon 5

Stevie Mejia 3

Stephen Nwaukoni 3

Bryant Crowder 2

Email Jerry at defiantlydutch@yahoo.com or follow Defiantly Dutch at http://twitter.com/defiantlydutch.

Wagner 58, Hofstra 43 (Or: Things can get a little strange in a New York minute)

2011-12-10T14:17:00.004-05:00

Don Henley makes solo albums faster than I produce game recaps! (Grrr)

Do this sportswriter thing—whether it’s of the actual paid variety or not—long enough and you come to understand that declaring doom every time the local five (or nine, or 11, or…how many players on a hockey team again?) strings together consecutive duds gets you nowhere fast, unless you want to end up screaming about self-generated storylines on the radio or with a bunch of talking heads on the idiot box. Which is what most sportswriters seemingly want to do these days, but that’s neither here nor there.

And after some time, you realize, with minimal exception, every season has several story arcs and ebbs and flows. The old coaching cliché is true: A team is never as good or as bad as it looks at any given moment.

Which is good for the Flying Dutchmen, because this given moment looks pretty rotten following Tuesday’s 58-43 loss to Wagner. (Sorry for the delay, which of course I promised wouldn’t happen anymore this year. Speaking of rotten, I’d like to give you my week, except I like you too much)

“You guys know me, I’m not going to make excuses,” Mo Cassara said afterward. “We obviously have a long way to go and we have a lot to improve on. I’m not a huge stat guy but statistically we just didn’t play well tonight. We’ve got a lot of guys that really have to play a lot better.”

Here’s the postgame buffet (don’t worry, it’s not rancid, I’ve refrigerated it) from Staten Island:

1.) At first glance, the Dutchmen avoided the type of loss that ends up in the media guide for all the wrong reasons. They got to 40 points, avoiding their first sub-40 point performance since Feb. 28, 1999. They hit just 13 field goals, scored only 20 second half points and committed 20 turnovers, none of which is very good but none of which were historical: The 13 field goals were the fewest in a game since Nov. 10, 2007 (Charles Jenkins’ debut). And the Dutchmen scored 20 points in a half twice during the 2009-10 season and committed 20 turnovers against Old Dominion Jan. 9. 2010.

So it wasn’t that bad, right? Not quite. The Dutchmen went an incredible 23 consecutive possessions in the second half—a span of 13:59—without hitting a field goal. Only a pretty good performance at the free throw line during that drought (12-for-17) prevented the Dutchmen from enduring a terribly superlative performance. And Nathaniel Lester’s jumper with 1:17 left ensured the Dutchmen would score more points in game no. 2,000 than Hofstra did in any of its 17 games way back in the debut season of Flying Dutchmen basketball in 1936-37. So…yay?

“We just had too many turnovers—you can’t turn the ball over the way that we did tonight,” Cassara said. “We turned the ball over 20 times on the road, it’s going to be very, very hard to win. We just couldn’t produce easy baskets tonight.”

2.) It’s also very, very hard to win when you are down to six scholarship players. The Bryant Crowder Saga continues to drag on, with the enigmatic 6-foot-10 center still suspended. Stephen Nwaukoni was left back at campus with a 103 degree temperature and while Stevie Mejia was in uniform, he was available only in an extreme emergency as he continues battling a hamstring injury.

All of which meant Matt Grogan played a career-high 19 minutes—11 more than he’d played in the first eight games combined—and shared the court with fellow walk-on Jereme Good. Twice. I don’t need to dig through media guides to tell you that’s never happened before in the DD Era.

Remember when I was raving about the Dutchmen’s depth? That was awesome. A mere two weeks later the Dutchmen are ravaged, though Nwaukoni should be back this afternoon and the hope is Mejia is back pretty soon.

“That’s where we are right now,” Cassara said. “Unfortunately, a lot of times in basketball, you have to be good, you have to be a little lucky and you have to stay healthy. Last year, we had all those things happen. We were pretty good, we stayed very healthy and we got lucky. We had a couple breaks go our way. This year we just haven’t had those things happen. And that’s part of the game—that’s part of the challenge for us as a staff and as a young team. We’ve still got to find a way to put the ball in the basket and find a way to squeeze out some wins here.”

3.) The Dutchmen will need much better performances out of most of their veterans in order to squeeze out some wins between now and the real start of the CAA season. Lester had his best game in weeks (12 points on 4-of-11 shooting with a team-high seven rebounds), but while Mike Moore had 15 points and four steals, he was just 4-of-16 from the field, committed six turnovers with zero assists and seemed to let his frustrations get the best of him most of the evening.

Dwan McMillan had eight points and six rebounds, but just three assists and five turnovers. David Imes had two blocks and two steals but just two points (on 1-of-8 shooting) and six rebounds. And Shemiye McLendon had an Iona-esque game with five turnovers and two points in just 22 minutes.

“This has been a tough stretch for us,” Cassara said. “I think we really got beat up physically and mentally from that two weeks of travel and losing a couple tough close games and right now we don’t have that internal fortitude to fight ourselves through it. As a coaching staff we’ve got to push and fight our guys through that and we’ve got to find a way to get better.”

4.) Things weren’t entirely bleak for the Dutchmen Tuesday. The Dutchmen held an opponent below 70 points for the fourth straight game and the sixth time in seven games. Wagner, three days removed from putting 90 points up on St. Francis, had as many turnovers (19) as field goals.

“You know, I think we’re doing some really good things defensively,” Cassara said. “We forced them into some turnovers. We got some good stops. We gave up too many easy second-chance shots when we got tired there, but I like where we are defensively.”

The Dutchmen also had a good couple days of practice prior to the game, leading Cassara to believe that once the Dutchmen finally get a win, the rest of the pieces could begin falling into place, much as things did after the Dutchmen snapped out of their January 2010 funk by throttling UNC Wilmington 93-54 Jan. 27 to begin a season-ending stretch in which Hofstra won nine of its final 10 regular season games.

“That year we just got better as the year went on, learning from all the close losses,” Lester said. “Going to practice and watching film and getting better day by day—that’s how we picked it up.”

5.) Of course, today’s opponent, Manhattan, has won three in a row and just throttled Fordham by 34 (the Jaspers play Towson next—does that mean Cassara will eventually coach there?), and if the Dutchmen can’t win this one they may have the unenviable task of trying to snap a losing streak against a winless opponent when Binghamton visits next Saturday. The pressure is building, and the frustrating thing is a win in one or more of the games the Dutchmen squandered late would have changed the entire landscape of the season.

“As a coach you look at the big picture a lot of times, and I knew sitting at home late at night after a couple of those [close losses] that these were the games we were really going to feel those losses a lot more,” Cassara said. “Certainly you feel them now because there’s certainly two to three games in our schedule that we clearly could have won with a bounce here or a bounce there. You win those games, we come here without some bodies, with some injuries and various things, then the pressure’s not on you as much because you know that you’ve got a couple wins in your back pocket. Unfortunately we don’t.”

3 STARS OF THE GAME (vs. Wagner, 12/6)

3: Nathanel Lester

2: Dwan McMillan

1: Mike Moore

SEASON STANDINGS

Mike Moore 18

Nathaniel Lester 11

Dwan McMillan 6

David Imes 6

Shemiye McLendon 5

Stevie Mejia 3

Stephen Nwaukoni 3

Bryant Crowder 2

Email Jerry at defiantlydutch@yahoo.com or follow Defiantly Dutch at http://twitter.com/defiantlydutch.

20 things you should know about Hofstra basketball on the eve of the 2,000th game in school history!

2011-12-06T15:15:00.004-05:00

Before game 2,000....a guy who used to watch me in his dorm room at Hofstra will list 20 facts about Flying Dutchmen basketball. Some will be factual!

Did you know the Flying Dutchmen play the 2,000th game in program history tonight against Wagner? You do now! In honor of reaching a big, giant, cool round number, here’s 20 things you should know about the history of Flying Dutchmen basketball, most of which are actually factual! (Not sure yet what I'll do when they actually play the 2,012th game in school history IN 2012)

1.) The Flying Dutchmen played their first game in 1936, a year after the school opened, and, in what must rank as one of the most inauspicious debuts of all-time, lost to New York University 60-21. Sophomore Nathaniel Lester led the Dutchmen with eight points and seven rebounds. (That may or may not be true) The loss stood as Hofstra’s worst defeat for another 153 games. More on that shortly.

2.) Hofstra is 1,142-857 (.571) all-time. The first win in program history was a double OT 42-40 barnburner over Staten Island (but not Wagner) in the third game of the 1936-37 season.

3.) A total of 422 players have suited up for the Flying Dutchmen, per this year’s media guide.

4.) The Flying Dutchmen’s most frequent rival is longtime conference foe Drexel (72 games), followed by fellow ECC/NAC/America East/CAA rival Delaware (71 games), local rival Manhattan (59 games), constant conference mate Towson (54 games) and…

5.) …tonight’s opponent, Wagner, whom Hofstra has faced 50 times and with whom it shares some neat bits of history. The Flying Dutchmen scored the most points in program history in a 118-88 win over the Seahawks in 1971-72. Wagner provided the only blemish on the best season in school history when it edged Hofstra, 50-48, in 1959-60. The Dutchmen finished 23-1 but did not make the Division II NCAA Tournament. Tom O’Connor’s Dad was on the Selection Committee (that may or may not be true). The Dutchmen are also in the midst of a 23-year winning streak against Wagner, though they have played the Seahawks just four times since the Seahawks’ last win in 1988-89.

6.) On the other end of the spectrum, Hofstra has played 102 teams one time apiece, including Oregon State and Cleveland State this year.

7.) When Charles Jenkins suits up for the Golden State Warriors Christmas night, he will become the seventh Hofstra alumni to play in the NBA, following in the footsteps of Nathan Militzok, Bill Thieben, Rich Laurel, John Irving, Speedy Claxton and Norman Richardson.

8.) Hofstra played its first game against Wagner in 1945-46, which makes this the Dutchmen’s third-oldest active rivalry. Hofstra’s second-ever game was against St. Francis, whom Hofstra beat Nov. 19 (and whom Wagner beat Saturday). And Manhattan, whom the Dutchmen play in game no 2,001 on Saturday, first played Hofstra in 1937-38.

9.) The most lopsided win in school history was a 75-10 thrashing of USMMA. The 10 points, not surprisingly, are also the fewest allowed by Hofstra. Ironically, in that it may or not be irony, the 65-point win provided sweet revenge for…

10.) …the most lopsided loss in school history, a 66-15 pasting at the hands of USMMA in 1944-45. Jim Larranaga’s grandfather was the USMMA coach and my grandfather stepped off the farm long enough to blog about Larranaga’s poor sportsmanship. A bunch of USMMA fans got him back by vandalizing his crops. (The preceding two sentences may or may not be true)

11.) Eleven head coaches have strolled the sidelines for the Flying Dutchmen. Butch van Breda Kolff, who had two stints as head coach spanning 13 years, has a program-record 215 wins.

12.) The longest losing streak in program history was a 12-game skid endured during the 1987-88 season.

13.) The Dutchmen have scored more than 100 points 29 times, first in a 102-91 win over Baltimore in 1954-55 and most recently in the 2010-11 opener, when they beat Farmingdale 102-62. That was the first time Hofstra had exceeded 100 points since Feb. 28, 1992, when the Dutchmen beat…Maryland-Baltimore County 103-87. Is that ironic?

14.) Counting the program’s Division II days (through 1972), Hofstra has played in a postseason tournament 14 times: Eight NCAA Tournaments, four NITs and two That Which We Shall Not Name And Are Only Counting Here Because It Makes Numeric Sense.

15.) The Dutchmen have given up 100 points 19 times, first in a 104-85 loss to Muhlenberg in 1954-55 and most recently in the second game of the 2010-11 season in a 107-63 loss to North Carolina. The Dutchmen gave up a school-record 119 points to Brigham Young early in the 1983-84 season. Robbie Bosco threw for nine touchdowns. (That may or may not be true)

16.) Bill Thieben scored a school-record 48 points in a 82-62 win over Wilkes in 1954-55. Steve Nisenson, who broke Thieben’s career scoring record and held on to it for 43 years, has come closest to Thieben’s mark with 47 points against—you guessed it—Wagner in 1964-65. Twelve players have scored 40 points in a game for the Dutchmen, most recently Charles Jenkins a year ago Thursday, but only four have done it in since the 3-point shot was implemented.

17.) Thieben also holds the school single-game and career record for rebounding with 43 against Springfield in 1954-55 and a remarkable 1,837 in just three seasons. Someone who matched Jenkins’ record for games played (128) would have to average 14.4 rebounds per game in order to break Thieben’s mark.

18.) The longest single-season winning streak in school history was an 18-game run during the 2000-01 season. The Dutchmen won 23 straight games spanning the 1959-60 and 1960-61 seasons.

19.) The Dutchmen have had 41 winning seasons—including 18 in a 19-season span from 1945-46 through 1963-64—29 losing seasons and four .500 seasons.

20.) The Dutchmen have won 20 or more games in a season 19 times (damn! So close!), including 26 apiece in 2000-01 and 2005-06. Each season ended with a loss in the first round of the NCAA Tournament (That may or may not be true about the 2005-06 season and may or may not be what I say to myself in order to quell the rage still bubbling underneath).

Email Jerry at defiantlydutch@yahoo.com or follow Defiantly Dutch at http://twitter.com/defiantlydutch.