Bits and Bytes: Of going forth in fourth and going scoreless

The Flying Dutchmen better end up connecting four! (This game ruled)

One of the segments of yesterday’s recap that ended up on the cutting room floor was a reminder that the Flying Dutchmen’s three-game losing streak should have us focused only on Northeastern on Saturday and not any sort of machinations over the final three weeks of the CAA schedule that could allow the fourth-place Dutchmen to move up in the standings.

We remain steadfast in following that wordy variation on a familiar cliché, but the entire CAA hit a mathematically relevant mile marker Wednesday, when the conference season reached the two-thirds mark. So it’s acceptable—just for today, or at least until the Dutchmen win tomorrow and get us all pondering how they can still finish first!—to look back at the history of teams that were in the top four through 12 games (dating to when the league expanded to 12 teams in 2005-06) and whether or not they eventually earned a bye.

Generally speaking, the news is good for teams that are in top four after 12 games: Seventy-five percent—15 of 20—of those squads earned a bye. But, more importantly for our purposes, the team in the most precarious position is the fourth-place squad.

Only two of the five teams that have been in fourth place at this point in the season have earned a bye, and each of the last three teams in this position have fallen out of the top four by season’s end: Drexel fell to sixth in each of the last two years and Delaware fell all the way to seventh in 2007-08. Uh-oh, that’s an awful lot of ECC representation there.

But wait! ECC alumni also account for the fourth-place teams that landed a bye: Drexel in 2006-07 finished fourth and Hofstra took third in 2005-06. Hooray ECC!

As for the first-, second- and third-place teams through 12 games: The news is really good for co-leaders VCU and George Mason (VCU currently holds the tiebreaker because the Rams beat Old Dominion while Mason fell to the Monarchs) as the first- and second-place teams after 12 games have not only earned a bye but also accounted for the regular season champion every year.

History is less convincingly on the side of third-place Old Dominion, as three of the teams in third through 12 games have finished in the top four (William & Mary in 2007-08 fell to fifth and VCU in 2005-06 fell to sixth). Of course, the Monarchs have their own bit of history suggesting they’ll stay in the top four: They’ve earned a bye in each of the last seven seasons.

Going by the trends, Old Dominion being in the top four at this point is a good sign for the Dutchmen, since the Monarchs have come from outside the top four and earn a bye three times (from tied for fifth to fourth in 2008-09, from tied for sixth to fourth in 2007-08 and from tied for fifth to fourth in 2006-07). The others: William & Mary (from sixth to third last year) and UNC Wilmington (from fifth to second in 2007-08).

—One trend that is not a good one for the Dutchmen is Greg Washington’s sudden slump. The senior co-captain has gone scoreless in each of his last two games, which, as we noted yesterday, is particularly jarring since it comes on the heels of a three-game span in which he shot 63 percent as well as an eight-game stretch in which he scored in double figures six times and an 11-game stretch in which he shot 58 percent (51-of-88). Only eight players have ever shot that well for Hofstra over the course of an entire season dating back to 1947-48.

However, scoreless games—at least this season—are nothing new for Washington, who has now failed to score in four of his 23 starts this year (he didn’t score against Western Kentucky Nov. 19 and UNC Wilmington Jan. 19). That’s double the total he had in 43 career starts entering this season. And both of those bagels came during his freshman season, when he made just six early-season starts.

Washington is the first Dutchman to go scoreless in consecutive starts since Greg Johnson capped the 2008-09 season with back-to-back 0-fers against UNC Wilmington and Old Dominion. Darren Townes also had two straight scoreless starts earlier that season against James Madison and UNC Wilmington.

However, neither Johnson nor Townes spent nearly as much time on the court during a scoreless effort as Washington, who played 29 minutes against Drexel and 31 minutes against George Mason. Johnson played 17 minutes combined in his two games while Townes played a total of 26 minutes in his back-to-back scoreless starts. Dating back to 2008-09, only one other Dutchmen has started and gone scoreless while playing more than 25 minutes (Nathaniel Lester, 28 minutes against Georgia State Feb. 25, 2009)

In (pardon the pun) defense of Washington, he contributed far more in his consecutive scoreless efforts than either Johnson or Townes. Washington racked up four rebounds, five blocks and a steal against George Mason and seven rebounds, one block and two steals against Drexel. He also had 10 rebounds in 34 minutes against Western Kentucky (he had just one rebound when foul trouble limited him to 15 minutes against UNC Wilmington).

Johnson, meanwhile, had a total of one assist in his final two games with the Dutchmen while Townes collected five rebounds and two blocked shots in his back-to-back scoreless games.

Only one other Dutchmen has gone scoreless in a start this season (Brad Kelleher against Iona Dec. 29). The Dutchmen received just three scoreless starts last year, all from Cornelius Vines. Remarkably, the Dutchmen had 16 games in which a starter went scoreless in 2008-09, which makes their 21-win season all the more impressive. Johnson “led” the way with five scoreless starts while Townes and Arminas Urbitus had four apiece and Lester, Tony Dennison and Miklos Szabo had one each.

—As we posted last week on Twitter, Flying Dutchman legend Loren Stokes, who has played professionally overseas since his graduation in 2007, is back in the States and playing for Erie, the NBA Developmental League affiliate of the Cavaliers and Raptors.

The Erie Times-News ran a lengthy and interesting feature this week on Stokes, who has had a real rough go of it over the last couple years. His Mom, who was diagnosed with colon cancer while Stokes was at Hofstra, died of the disease a year-and-a-half ago and Stokes returned home from Belgium after last season and hadn’t played until signing with Erie as he took care of his daughter and uncle, both of whom were sick.

His uncle died last Saturday night, one night after Stokes debuted for Erie and scored five points with three rebounds and two assists in a win over Maine. Here’s hoping things begin getting better for Stokes, and soon.

—Oh and one more interesting nugget from that story: Stokes’ coach is Jay Larranaga, son of you-know-who. We kid you not. This comes a little more than three years after Stokes was teammates in the NBA Summer League with that wonderful piece of work Tony Skinn.

And we think we’re haunted by 2006. You think son of you-know-who ever asks Dad for tips on slowing down Stokes or has a Chris Farley Show moment with Stokes?

—I vented on Twitter earlier today about this “scouting report” from SI.com identifying Charles Jenkins as the 13th-best NBA Draft prospect among college seniors. The placement is fine, but the analysis is something south of well-informed. See for yourself.

—Lastly, belated congrats to Loyal Reader Jojogunne, who trounced the field in the Charles Jenkins Record Game by nailing everything almost to the second. He predicted a free throw in the 30th minute. Pretty damn impressive—as was just how close Jenkins came to hitting his average time for his 16th point. As we noted early Saturday, Jenkins scored his 16th point an average of 31 minutes into a game. He scored the record-breaking point with 10:15 to go—a mere 16 seconds away from the 31st minute. All of which proves that if you’re going to bet (even if you wager and win nothing at all!), bet the trends.

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

George Mason 76, Hofstra 52 (Or: AAARGH! Our groins!)

George C. Scott stars as Tom Pecora in "Team Getting Hit By Basketball In The Groin."

Well…at least the punch in the jewels this time was only of the symbolic variety. Right?

The didn’t-quite-work-out-the-way-I-would-have-hoped-and-let’s-leave-it-at-that 76-52 loss to George Mason Tuesday night wasn’t the first time the Patriots have symbolically punched the Flying Dutchmen in the crotch since Tony Skinn’s real thing three years ago. There was, of course, the 64-61 upset win over the Dutchmen in the quarterfinals of the CAA Tournament two years ago, when Greg Johnson drove to the basket with Hofstra down three as time expired instead of trying to hit a 3-pointer. Then there was last year’s 85-78 double-overtime loss in Hempstead, which would have been a regulation win had Antoine Agudio hit both free throws to give the Dutchmen a four-point lead in the waning seconds.

Those were painful, but this was worse—another non-competitive loss to a CAA contender, and perhaps the most discouraging and most thorough one yet. The Dutchmen trailed wire-to-wire for the fourth time in seven games against the top four teams in the conference, against whom they are just 1-6. They were down by 34 late in the second half (their largest deficit since the season opener against Clemson) and suffered the program’s most lopsided conference defeat since a 71-47 loss to UNC-Wilmington Jan. 4, 2003.

By midway through the second half, I was listening to the XM ‘90s station being piped in at the restaurant and trying to see how many songs could serve as an appropriate soundtrack to the game. Winners in the literal interpretation division included “Barely Breathing” by Duncan Sheik and “Closing Time” by Semisonic. Winners in the ironic interpretation division included “High Enough” by Damn Yankees, “Shiny Happy People” by R.E.M. and “You Get What You Give” by the New Radicals. Songs that had nothing at all to do with what we were watching included “Damn I Wish I Was Your Lover” by Sophie B. Hawkins and “I Don’t Wanna Fall In Love” by Jane Child. Remember her? Had the spiked hair and the chain from her nose to her ear? Probably showing up on a VH-1 “Where Are They Now” show as I type?

Where was I? Oh yeah.

Despite Hofstra’s size advantage, Mason outscored the Dutchmen in the paint 38-24 and held a 28-22 advantage on the defensive boards. Darren Townes had perhaps his best game of the year with six points and nine rebounds in 23 minutes, but I wonder if we’ve seen the last of Dane Johnson in a meaningful role after he gave up three inside baskets in a seven-minute stretch in the first half and sat the final 30 minutes.

Tom Pecora put in a smaller, sharper-shooting lineup and switched to the press with the Dutchmen down 25 at the first media timeout of the second half, but the Patriots responded by breaking the press and converting two uncontested lay-ups on their next two possessions.

The Patriots scored 27 points off 19 Dutchmen turnovers (the Dutchmen scored just six points off 14 Mason miscues) and their bench outscored Hofstra’s bench 37-30, including 19-5 in the first half.

The Dutchmen had 23 offensive rebounds, but that’s because they shot 28.8 percent (19-of-66) from the field—the second-worst effort of the season and only a sliver better than the 28.6 percent they shot against Western Michigan.

It’s officially another slump for Charles Jenkins, who was 4-of-15 in his second straight subpar game and sat out the final 7:01, a la against Northeastern in Boston. But Jenkins was red-hot compared to Tony Dennison, who had the worst shooting night by a Hofstra player in at least three years in going 2-of-19 in 31 minutes. Cornelius Vines’ team-high 16 points were of the “lies, damn lies and statistics” variety: He hit his last three field goal attempts and outscored Mason 9-0 in the final 3:05, but he was just 2-of-12 shooting before that.

The struggles of Jenkins, Dennison and Vines symbolize part of what’s ailing the Dutchmen. For all the talk of the improved front court play and depth, the Dutchmen still rise and fall on the play of their guards, particularly on offense. A Hofstra player has taken at least 10 shots from the field 52 times this season. All but four of those efforts have been by a guard. The only post player to have more than one 10-shot game this season is Greg Washington. On Tuesday, Townes was the only post player with more than two points.

The ratio of 10-shot games this year is actually worse than it was last year, when the Dutchmen’s offense revolved almost entirely around Jenkins and Antoine Agudio and guards produced 54 of the team’s 59 10-shot games. The ratios in the three previous seasons: 74-2 in 2006-07, 70-21 in 2005-06 and 57-14 in 2004-05.

The Dutchmen aren’t as bad as they looked last night, because nobody is that bad. The hustle and effort still seemed to be there and teams that are 9-2 in games decided by five points or less have something a lot of teams are lacking. And the Dutchmen’s final six conference opponents are a combined 25-43 in conference play, which means there’s still some opportunity to rebuild the collective confidence.

But teams that are 1-6 in games against the top four teams in the conference—and are winless on the road against Northeastern, VCU, Mason and Drexel—can’t be expected to go deep in Richmond, either.

I usually frown upon trying to compare a team in one sport to a team in another. You know, apples and oranges and all that. But if you’re a Hofstra fan, all you can do at this point is look back to Sunday and hope the Dutchmen are the CAA’s version of the Arizona Cardinals, a team that fattened up on the also-rans on its schedule, got hammered by decent competition, made the playoffs only because someone had to represent the NFC West yet nearly became one of the most unlikely champions in NFL history.

And hey, a bottoming-out defeat at the hands of a team nicknamed the Patriots turned out to be the fuel to the Cardinals’ Super Bowl run. Yeah, we’re reaching. But if you saw the basketball-in-the-groin game last night, you understand. Come back tomorrow for an explanation of how else Jenkins, Vines and Dennison symbolize the Dutchmen’s other ailment.

Email Jerry at defiantlydutch@yahoo.com. And join the Defiantly Dutch group at Facebook today!

VCU 68, Hofstra 60 (Or: In which beggars suddenly become choosy)

Chester Lampwick isn't greedy. As long as he's got his health, his millions of dollars, his gold house, his rocket car and victories by the Flying Dutchmen basketball team, he doesn't need anything else.

What would you have thought, last Tuesday morning in the aftermath of one of the most discouraging losses of the Tom Pecora Era, if you were told the Flying Dutchmen would lose by eight points at VCU on Saturday? My guess is you would have been satisfied with a competitive defeat that provided the Dutchmen something to build upon, as opposed to the I-don’t-even-know-where-to-begin-fixing-this vibe of the Northeastern loss.

Well, that’s what I would have thought, anyway. The wife reports that she would not, in fact, have been willing to accept an eight-point loss to VCU. Which is probably why she’s a better poker player than her risk-averse husband, but that’s neither here nor there.

So why, then, did it feel as if a precious opportunity had slipped through the Flying Dutchmen’s hands during a 68-60 loss? Given the way the week started for the Dutchmen, there is no shame in losing by eight to the pre-season favorites in an arena in which Hofstra has never won. In fact, it was the second-closest game a Pecora-coached team has played at VCU: The 2001-02 team fell to the Rams by two, but the next five regular season defeats at VCU were by a combined 66 points.

The Dutchmen didn’t lead once in the second half and didn’t get closer than four points in the final 13 minutes, so there was no reason to wonder what could have happened if not for a bad bounce here or a bad call there.

Yet after the win over Delaware Wednesday that fixed everything—or at least coaxed a lot of us off the ledge—and an encouraging first half Saturday, it didn’t seem unreasonable to believe the Dutchmen could pull off the upset.

The Dutchmen avoided the first half fade that ruined their chances against Drexel (which jumped out to a 14-4 lead and never trailed) and Northeastern (which jumped out to an 11-0 lead and, you guessed it, never trailed) and would have carried a lead into the locker room if not for Eric Maynor driving the length of the court and hitting a buzzer-beating jumper with Charles Jenkins and Greg Johnson in his face. Hofstra looked much more cohesive and patient on offense and Jenkins hit as many field goals (four) in the first half as he did against Delaware—and he only needed eight shots to do it, not 24.

And hey, this is the CAA, where it would make sense for the Dutchmen to open the week with a 23-point loss at Northeastern and end it with an upset win at VCU.

Instead, the unpredictability of the CAA was summarized hours later and 250 or so miles to the south, where UNC-Wilmington—whose porous defense seemed to give the Seahawks a real shot at going 0-fer-the-conference—surprised the Blue Hens, 75-72. That’s right. In the span of seven days, the Blue Hens beat the preseason favorites, lost to a team that literally could not shoot straight and lost to a team that hadn’t won since the day after Thanksgiving and whose 10 straight defeats had come by an average of 21 points. Trying to project this stuff is for the sadistic, I tell you.

The second half proved the Dutchmen are still the work in progress that Pecora described during a conference call last week. The pieces are there and the box score looked pretty good, but it’s just not a complete puzzle yet.

Jenkins continues to emerge from rock bottom, led the Dutchmen with 15 points and five assists and added eight rebounds, but his slump is still a 7 or 8 on a scale of 1 to 10, as he proved by shooting 1-for-8 in the second half and finishing with a team-high five turnovers. Maybe, Pecora figures, the answer is shooting less instead of more.

The Dutchmen are deep, but not yet deep or strong enough to withstand a sputtering Jenkins and a non-existent Cornelius Vines, the latter of whom fouled out after setting season lows in minutes (17) and points (six). In addition, all four shots Vines took Saturday were from beyond the arc.

Nathaniel Lester’s role keeps growing—he tied a season high with 28 minutes played and had seven boards, the third time in four games he’s had at least that many rebounds—yet his eight points came on 3-of-10 shooting.

Speaking of work in progress, to watch Larry Sanders (16 points, 13 rebounds) dominate down low was a reminder that Greg Washington is still the biggest work in progress—literally—on the Dutchmen roster. It’s one thing to be 6-foot-10, it’s quite another to be a freaking behemoth like Sanders. Washington’s suddenly stellar play in December wasn’t a fluke, but it wasn’t necessarily a sign of things come this season for the still-spindly Gee Dubs. Washington made his fifth straight start Saturday, but his minutes in that span are as follows: 29, 23, 23, 18 and 14.

He played only seven minutes in the second half Sunday, during which VCU outscored the Dutchmen 24-8 in the paint. At some point, Darren Townes will have to escape from Witness Protection to provide more depth in the front court. In the meantime, I once again humbly offer Washington my extra 25 pounds. I’m even willing to negotiate it up to 35 pounds.

Anyway, what we went through Saturday is a pretty good idea of what’s to come over the next seven weeks: Jumping back and forth between trying to minimize expectations and hoping the Dutchmen can shoot the moon—and the ball, too. Litos was impressed with what he saw in the defeat and wrote Sunday that he projects a 9-9 conference finish for the Dutchmen—and as many surprising victories as unexplainable defeats. It’s sadistic, I tell you.

Email Jerry at defiantlydutch@yahoo.com.

In which I realize the history of Hofstra basketball goes back at least five years

Who knew, in 1998, that the first and oft-repeated line of this Third Eye Blind song was about Flying Dutchmen fans circa 2009?

As the song goes (not the one above...that'd be too predictable), I was wrong Tuesday when I wrote a Tom Pecora never had to rebuild a team’s wounded psyche on the fly. Actually, that’s not how the Social Distortion song goes at all. A California punk/blues rock band writing a song in 1996 about Tom Pecora rebuilding a team’s wounded psyche on the fly would just be weird.

Anyway, the Flying Dutchmen also skidded ashore after a red-hot start in 2004-05, when a team picked to finish seventh in the CAA took advantage of a lightweight non-conference schedule to begin the season 9-0—the program’s best start ever at the Division I level—but immediately thereafter endured a 1-5 stretch that included four straight conference losses.

That season’s slump and the current 1-4 skid that has followed an 8-1 start by a team picked to finish seventh in the CAA aren’t mirror images of one another. For one thing, this is much deeper: The Dutchmen have been outscored by 49 points in the losses and their point total has dwindled in each of the five games—from 81 to 64 to 62 to 56 to 50. In 2004-05, the Dutchmen were outscored by 28 points in the five losses and they scored at least 66 points in every game but one in the six-game stretch.

In addition, Hofstra has trailed wire-to-wire in its last two games, a “feat” not accomplished in any of the five previous seasons (the box scores at the Hofstra site go back to 2002-03).

But there are plenty of notable similarities. The 1-5 run four years ago began with the game that had long been identified as the biggest challenge on the OOC—an 80-75 loss to Syracuse. This one began with the 97-81 hammering by UMass, which was one of only two games on this year’s OOC against a school from a major conference.

The fourth loss in the 2004-05 stumble was a 70-58 defeat at the hands of VCU in which the Dutchmen made a key lineup change—senior Wendell Gibson, who was recovering from knee surgery, became a starter in place of Aurimas Kieza—set season-lows for points and assists (six) while committing a season-high 20 turnovers. Carlos Rivera and Antoine Agudio shot a combined 0-for-9 in the first half as the Dutchmen were limited to 18 points overall.

These Dutchmen suffered their fourth loss in five games against Northeastern Monday, when Tony Dennison was benched for the first time this season as Greg Johnson made his first start. The Dutchmen scored their fewest points and committed their most turnovers and missed the season low in assists by one. Charles Jenkins and Cornelius Vines shot a combined 1-for-6 during Hofstra’s 18-point first half.

This team has a lumbering senior center with injury-wracked knees in Dane Johnson. That team had Gibson. This team’s two best players are sophomores Jenkins and Greg Washington. That team’s three best players were sophomores Rivera and Loren Stokes and redshirt freshman Agudio. This team features a senior point guard in Johnson who has one more shot to live up to the high expectations bestowed upon him when he arrived on campus as a freshman—just like the 2004-05 team and Woody Souffrant.

And speaking of high expectations, this team has a trio of JUCO transfers who were projected to make an immediate impact in Dennison, Vines and Miklos Szabo. Four years ago, JUCO transfers Kenny Harris and Adrian Uter were touted as potentially valuable big men.

Here’s another similarity the Dutchmen hope to experience tonight when they host much-improved long-time rival Delaware: The 2004-05 team snapped its losing streak against the Blue Hens with an 80-66 win at the Arena.

And here’s another reminder to follow Michael Litos’ suggestion and step away from the ledge (says the guy who has written 2,000 mostly fretful words over the previous two days): The Dutchmen didn’t immediately turn their season around following the Delaware win and were 6-6 after 12 conference games that season, but they won their final six contests to earn a first-round bye and led top-seeded Old Dominion by 10 points in the second half of a conference semifinal before falling to the eventual champions. The Dutchmen earned a bid to the NIT, where they fell in the first round to St. Joseph’s to finish 21-9.

Of course, if they lose tonight and look as disjointed as they did Monday, feel free to re-enter panic mode. Then I’ll really begin to wonder if this is 1995-96 all over again. More on ’95-‘96, win or lose, tomorrow. In the meantime, Darren Townes is again the pick to click. And come back later today, when I may have something really interesting for you. How’s that for an enticement to make a return visit this afternoon?

Email Jerry at defiantlydutch@yahoo.com.

Christmas (Flying Dutch, please beat Iona at home)

Who sings Christmas better than Darlene Love?

Crazy days and nights here at Defiantly Dutch World HQ as we prepare to host Christmas Eve and travel Christmas Day, so a real quick post today (which, of course, is what a blog is supposed to be, but I was typing something long-winded and missed that memo).

First, I’ll follow in the footsteps of fellow Huey Lewis and the News fan Michael Litos as well as Kyle Whelliston at Mid-Majority by sort of establishing a posting pattern for the holidays. We’ll have a recap of tonight’s game tomorrow and then we’re off until Monday. The plan is to post the first three days of next week, but that may change too. I’ll be out of state at that time so we’ll see what happens.

On to tonight: I’m curious to see what kind of lineup Tom Pecora utilizes. Is tonight the night to see if Greg Washington can handle 30 minutes? Dane Johnson and, in particular, Darren Townes have not met expectations thus far. Not saying to bury those guys, but they’re seniors and Washington is looking like a game-changer as a sophomore. Pecora sees in the long- as well as the short-term. It might be time to start making Washington a centerpiece.

Pecora loves Mike Davis-Saab, who is one of those truly team-first guys. I won’t be surprised at all if he sees double digit minutes as Pecora tries to shake up Johnson and Townes. In fact, Davis-Saab is the pick to click (groan).

Tony Dennison has a bigger long-term role than Greg Johnson, but he’s been ice cold and it’s starting to affect Charles Jenkins. Plus, Johnson committed just one turnover in 17 injury-plagued minutes against Iona in February. I think you’ll see a lot of him tonight.

And don’t sleep on the Gaels just because they’re 4-7 and because the strength of their OOC schedule (224) is lower than the much-maligned slate played by Hofstra (189). Iona has played three teams ranked in the top 105 by Ken Pomeroy (the Flying Dutchmen have played just one, Clemson), lost to Wisconsin by two in overtime and to Southern Miss by one. Of course, the Gaels have also played six teams ranked 230 or lower and lost to Western Michigan (whom Hofstra beat in OT for its first win of the year) by 13, so there you go.

I’ll predict a Hofstra win, because that’s what I do, but I also won’t be surprised if Pecora is willing to absorb some painful lessons in this one.

Either way, if you do nothing else besides watch/listen to Hofstra tonight, make sure you watch Darlene Love on Letterman, because it’ll put you in the Christmas mood and get you right here, especially if you’ve been slow to get into the spirit thus far. That, and Love on Letterman is as much a part of Christmas as Charlie Brown. And games against Iona, apparently.

Email Jerry at defiantlydutch@yahoo.com.

UMass 97, Hofstra 81 (Or: Lies, damn lies and statistics)

UMass prepares to end another fast break by hoisting and making yet another 3-pointer in a drubbing of Hofstra. In related news, was there any cooler voice in video games than the one that made "Double Dribble" into one word?

If all you saw of the Flying Dutchmen’s 97-81 loss to UMass Saturday was the box score, you might think Hofstra—which had its eight-game winning streak snapped—had one of those defeats in which it could find plenty of positives.

The 81 points were the second-most of the year for the Dutchmen, who played UMass even in the second half (49-49). Hofstra once again displayed its new-found front court depth by racking up an incredible 61 rebounds, six shy of the school record set during the 1954-55 season, and pulling down 36 offensive boards, the most in at least 20 years. Last year, the Dutch had 13 games in which they had 36 or fewer rebounds—offensive and defensive combined.

Miklos Szabo had a monster game with 10 points and 17 rebounds while Greg Washington (13 points, seven rebounds) continued his star-making emergence and Cornelius Vines (21 points, including five 3-pointers) continued to evoke memories of Antoine Agudio. And it would have been difficult for anyone to slow down the Minutemen on a day in which they shot a Double Dribble-like 15-of-26 from 3-point land.

The truth, unfortunately for the Dutchmen, was not in black and white. It was in color right there on the laptop—at least until there were six or so minutes left, when the UMass video feed went out, leading me to wonder if the broadcasters had invoked the mercy rule.

The Dutchmen collected 36 offensive boards because they shot 31-of-85 from the field, which is a statistical way of saying that had the game been played on a farm adrift at sea, they would have had a hard time hitting the broad side of the barn or the water. Each half featured a stretch in which Hofstra missed six straight shots.

Szabo’s double-double was not nearly as dominant as it might have looked: He collected his 10 points on 3-of-11 shooting from the field, including 0-for-4 from 3-point land, and even air balled a free throw attempt in the first half.

UMass was so dominant offensively that it was already up 22 before Tony Gaffney, who entered the game as one of the nation’s top post players, finally hit his field goal with 16:19 left in the game. (Of course, it sure helped that 7-foot-1 Luke Bonner hit three 3-pointers and drew four charges in his first game in a month) The Minutemen led by double digits for the final 30 minutes and were up 28 (96-68) with 3:24 to play before allowing the Dutchmen to go on a 13-1 run that made the final score much closer than the reality.

Tom Pecora certainly wasn’t fooled by the margin of defeat, and he made it clear afterward the Dutchmen were headed for a couple intense days of practice before hosting Iona Tuesday. And while fans and followers of UMass wonder if a victory like this indicates the program is close to returning to its glory days of the ‘90s, the lopsided loss provided a reminder that the Dutchmen—while still better than just about anybody expected—still have a lot of questions and not a whole lot of time to answer them before conference play really begins.

(Yes, that’s right: For the second time in four weeks, three Massachusetts newspapers covered a UMass-Hofstra game. What a concept.)

Like this: Who are the Dutchmen, particularly on offense? The revamped front court has not yet manifested itself in consistent production. Szabo has shown bits and pieces of an all-around game and Washington—who continued to display a deft shooting touch both down low and from beyond 10 feet in going 6-of-9 from the field Saturday—appears to be the real deal with each passing day.

But where, exactly, are Dane Johnson and Darren Townes, who were expected to anchor the revamped front court? Johnson set a season-low by playing just seven minutes—only the fourth time in 40 games he’s played less than 10 minutes. At least he had six boards in limited action and the excuse of early foul trouble (he picked up all three fouls in the first 20 minutes).

The increasingly regular disappearance of Townes is far more worrisome. For the third time in the last four games, Townes (two rebounds, two fouls) played just eight minutes, including less than three minutes in the second half. He didn’t slip into single digits in the minutes column once last season, when he averaged eight points and 6.7 rebounds per game. He’s reached eight points just once and six boards just three times this season.

As good as Washington has looked lately, he’s not yet a 30-minute-a-game guy. If Johnson and Townes can’t provide the Dutchmen 20 minutes a game, who can?

The three-headed backcourt, meanwhile, is a two-man show thus far. I’m going to predict that Vines follows in the footsteps of the mysterious Demetrius Dudley and becomes only the second player in Hofstra history to score 1,000 points in two seasons.

But Charles Jenkins’ second straight subpar game—by his standards, anyway—further underlines the need for somebody to lessen his load. Jenkins has doubled as the point guard most of the season and has led the Dutchmen in assists eight times, but the dual responsibilities may be affecting the rest of his game: Jenkins has made just eight of his 29 shots the last two games and has been limited to 12 points or less in consecutive contests for the first time in his career.

Right now, it doesn’t look as if the ice-cold Tony Dennison—who was 2-of-11 shooting Saturday and is shooting just 32 percent (30-of-94) through 10 games—is ready to absorb those duties. He’s also got just eight assists in 10 games. Does Greg Johnson, who was limited to less than 10 minutes for the fourth time in the eight games he’s played, emerge at Dennison’s expense?

Defensively, meanwhile, the Dutchmen earned some well-deserved accolades for their performance during the eight-game winning streak, but the two best teams on the non-conference schedule racked up 195 points. Griping over the schedule is a pointless exercise, and given the questions that still persist about the Dutchmen, it’s tough to blame Pecora for hoping to build his team’s confidence instead of its RPI in December. Still, even though there’s no Clemson or UMass awaiting Hofstra in the CAA, it’s fair to wonder how the Dutch will fare against the upper echelon in the conference.

One encouraging sign: The last time Pecora and the Dutchmen were here, they went on to the best season in program history. Michael Litos had his prognostication shoes on last Tuesday, when he reminded readers of the 2005-06 Hofstra team, which had won four games by 10 points or more before it visited VCU and got waxed 87-64. The Dutchmen responded by winning 20 of their next 23 games before falling to UNC-Wilmington in the CAA final and getting screwed by the Selection Committee six days later.

Will these Dutchmen respond to this sobering defeat like those Dutchmen responded to the VCU loss? That’s the biggest question of all—and one Hofstra will begin answering Tuesday

Email Jerry at defiantlydutch@yahoo.com.

We're no. 11! We're no. 11! (And other bits and bytes)

Vyvyan, Neil, Nigel and Mike are all on the bandwagon, even if we're playing popular American music instead of British punk.

Some bits and bytes, most looking back, one looking ahead:

—The bandwagon is getting more crowded. Two wins last week seemed to impress the coaches who vote in the mid-major poll at Collegeinsider.com. The Flying Dutchmen made the biggest leap in the rankings in moving from 19 to 11 in a poll released Monday. Only one CAA team—VCU at no. 9—ranks ahead of Hofstra.

Plenty of room here, but if you don’t hurry you might have to fight for seats in the middle and front of the bus. Because everyone knows the cool kids sit in the back, and the prime real estate—the very last seats on the bus—are already occupied by Sully Ray and my wife. They’re also in charge of the music, which means an eclectic mix of Bruce Springsteen, Billy Joel and the New Kids on the Block performing the very worst Christmas song ever recorded.

Where was I? Oh yeah.

—My first attempt at pegging a surprise contributor (that game needs a much better name, BTW, so if you’ve got any ideas, email me at defiantlydutch@yahoo.com) went fairly well Saturday. Neither Tony Dennison nor Darren Townes had breakout games, but both produced something to build upon in the 68-52 win over St. Francis.

Dennison remained cold from outside (0-for-3 from 3-point land) but drove the lane for four layups and finished with nine points in 26 minutes, his most extensive playing time since Manhattan. Dennison is listed at 6-foot-3 and 180 pounds, right around the size of the recent superstar guards at Hofstra, but he looks broader than Loren Stokes, Carlos Rivera or Antoine Agudio and better built for slashing to the basket, particularly if he never finds his form from beyond the arc (11-for-40 thus far).

After playing just 27 minutes in the previous three games combined, Townes played 21 minutes against St. Francis and tied a season-high with seven rebounds. He also had six points and equaled his season total entering the game with two blocks, including one of his fellow no. 21, Nigel Byam (best name of the year, bar none).

—I hope someone else in the audience hears/sees the name Nigel and thinks of The Young Ones, the freaking hilarious British comedy that aired on Sunday nights on MTV in the mid-80s. It’s true: MTV used to show something other than music videos. I know that’s shocking to you, kids.

—I can’t decide if someone should assume point guard duties from Charles Jenkins or not. He seemed a bit out-of-sorts Saturday, when he tied his season low by scoring 11 points on a season-worst 4-for-16 shooting. He drained his only 3-pointer in six attempts immediately after Greg Johnson replaced him at the point following the second media timeout of the first half.

Yet on the other hand…why mess with what’s working when your best player is able to make multiple contributions even when his shots aren’t falling? He had 10 rebounds Saturday, tying his career high set against Iona in February. And the other time he had 11 points, he dished out a career-high nine assists against Manhattan.

He also added seven assists Saturday, putting him within flirting distance of the first triple-double in school history. When your best player has a down game by his standards yet still puts up a line that reads 11-10-7, you’ve got a pretty good best player.

Jenkins has earned plenty of comparisons to Stokes, but while Stokes had plenty of eye-popping double-doubles (like the 30 points and 15 boards he racked up against William & Mary Jan. 20, 2007), he never put up a line like the one Jenkins produced Saturday. Among recent players, Rivera came closest to Jenkins’ stat line, coincidentally enough against St. Francis on Dec. 20, 2005, when he had 11 points, 10 assists and four boards.

—Greg Johnson, meanwhile, had one of those “why can’t he do this all the time” games Saturday, when he scored five points (only the third time this season he’s gotten into the scoring column), tied a season high with three assists and recorded five steals, two more than he had all year coming into the game. He did have three turnovers in 17 minutes, so it wasn’t quite perfect. But as the lone pure point guard on the roster, I remain convinced he’s going to pull a Roberto Gittens in the second half of the season and get big minutes down the stretch.

—Shame on me for not pointing out Friday that a win Saturday would lift Tom Pecora out of a tie for fourth place on the all-time win list at Hofstra with his best friend and predecessor, Jay Wright. Well, congratulations to Pecora, who now has 123 wins in just over eight seasons. He’s 23 wins behind Frank Reilly and 29 wins behind Paul Lynner, so Pecora will become the second-winningest coach in Hofstra history when the Dutchmen cut the nets down in Detroit on the first Monday of April! Alas, Butch van Breda Kolff’s 215 wins are still multiple seasons away for Pecora.

I have no idea how rare it is, but I can’t imagine it’s all that common for a heir apparent to record more wins than his mentor. Either way, it’s pretty cool that two coaches have been able to craft such distinctive legacies over a 15-season span.

—Lastly, the game against UMass this weekend just got a lot more interesting after the Minutemen shocked Kansas, 61-60, Saturday. Sure, the Jayhawks were decimated by graduation and early departures for the NBA and the win was in Kansas City and not at Allen Fieldhouse, but still, a win over the defending national champs on their turf is pretty remarkable anytime.

The win provided further proof UMass is better than its 3-6 record: The Minutemen have lost three games by four points or fewer and dropped another by seven points. They also played Memphis, which fell to Kansas in the national championship game last year, so the schedule is RPI friendly.

Speaking of the RPI: I have zero faith Hofstra can get an at-large bid even if it goes 31-2 and falls in 12 overtimes in the CAA final, but regardless, this is the Dutchmen’s best chance to boost its standing in the RPI before conference play starts. More on the Minutemen later this week, but one look at the UMass roster and the year-to-date stats indicates this will be the biggest test—literally—of the Dutchmen’s new-found depth and inside presence. A win Saturday and the bandwagon might get really cramped.

Email Jerry at defiantlydutch@yahoo.com.

No longer the pits for Nat?

Megaburgers for all after Nat Lester leads the Flying Dutchmen to the CAA crown!

The Flying Dutchmen’s 61-56 win over Stony Brook Wednesday wasn’t an aesthetically pleasing one, but it was plenty interesting—particularly the sight of Nathaniel Lester on the floor at the end of the game.

Lester played the final 8:37 against the Seawolves and set a season high with 20 minutes, seven points and three rebounds. Before Wednesday, Lester had not played more than seven minutes in the second half in any of the Dutchmen’s first seven games. He didn’t get off the bench at all against Western Michigan or Old Westbury and played more than five minutes in the second half just twice—in the lopsided season-opening loss to Clemson and Saturday against Towson, when he played seven minutes.

That Lester has set a season high for second half minutes in consecutive games indicates he may be ready to emerge from the pack of guards on the Hofstra roster and establish himself as a consistent member of the eight- or nine-man rotation. His talent is unquestioned, and at 6-foot-5 he’s big enough to play forward or present matchup problems for the opposition at guard.

But from afar, Lester’s body language suggests he’s a sensitive kid whose confidence comes and goes. He scored 14 or more points four times in a seven-game span last December yet reached double figures just twice in the Dutchmen’s final 20 games.

Lester’s relationship with Tom Pecora—again, from afar—seems to be a work in progress as Pecora employs some tough love with the quick hooks. But Pecora knows it’s way too early to give up on someone like Lester, especially given that Lester is the only true sophomore on the squad. Charles Jenkins (who is exactly 10 months younger than Lester) and Greg Washington both redshirted in 2006-07.

Lester’s first shot Wednesday was one of those it’s-out-no-it’s-in-no-it’s-out-no-it’s-in specials that rattled around the rim for about an hour before falling through. I’m convinced he’s not nearly as busy the rest of the night if that shot bounces out instead of in. From my days as a terrible pick-up player at the local Y, I can tell you I knew if a day would be good by whether or not my first shot went down (it so often did not).

Who knows? Maybe a shooter’s roll was the turning point for Lester and Pecora.

—Speaking of turning points, sort of, I meant to start this Wednesday, but, well, I forgot. Something about new furniture and some guy coming in to fix the rug and it turning into a day-long process featuring my most profanity since Selection Sunday 2006. I don’t want to talk about it.

Where was I? Oh yeah. One of the few predictable things about the Dutchmen this season is the unpredictability of the Dutchmen rotation. Guys who are struggling or stapled to the bench one game will emerge as key contributors the next. So that gave me an idea: Try to identify the surprise contributor (or contributors) prior to every game.

My guess Wednesday was going to be Tony Dennison, who had been ice cold in his previous three games (7-for-24 from the field, including 2-for-12 from 3-point land). Dennison was better against Stony Brook (2-for-6 from the field, including 2-for-5 from beyond the arc), but he was also on the bench down the stretch in favor of Lester and has played just 40 minutes the past two games.

So I’ll stick with Dennison for Saturday against St. Francis and also add Darren Townes to the mix. (Yes, this increases my odds of being able to pat myself on the back Monday. My blog, my rules) Townes has started the last four games, but his minutes have read like a locker combination: 24-11-8-8. Foul trouble has saddled him the last two games (three fouls against both Towson and Stony Brook), but he didn’t draw a single foul against Fordham Dec. 3.

The Dutchmen are deep, but not so deep that they can’t use a lot more than eight minutes out of Townes. Big game Saturday, you watch. If you’re going, I’ll be the guy yelling about Sean Titus.

Email Jerry at defiantlydutch@yahoo.com.