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Post by rgs318 on Dec 10, 2019 22:53:51 GMT -5
State of the locker room? I got a feeling the password for the transfer portal is written above the entrance to that room in very large letters. Any further departures would be addition by subtraction for the most part. Wishful thinking on your part? Can we stop the nonsense about the coach's future (after only 7 games) into a season we knew was going to. be a difficult one? Are your fantasies about the portal supposed to be making us worry? ...or do you imply you have inside information unknown to others? How about letting us get through the season without needlessly insulting our players? Terrible loss. Plan to see a few more bad losses, some in the PL. Patience was something many said we would need. Try to show some now.
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Post by Non Alum Dave on Dec 10, 2019 22:59:21 GMT -5
Nights like these are when I think of one of my close friend's favorite sayings: "100 years from now it won't matter."
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Post by rgs318 on Dec 10, 2019 23:09:51 GMT -5
How about "A billion Chinese couldn't care less about this game"...along with a few million Americans. It will pass. I am waiting too see what will happen next.
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Post by Non Alum Dave on Dec 10, 2019 23:16:52 GMT -5
Hoping Coach Nelson can figure it out. I don't know if the New D-1 Coaches Manual has a chapter on losing at home to a D-3 team.
I do want to give credit to UMB. As lousy as we were, they had guys making plays when they needed to, and never backed down.
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Post by longsuffering on Dec 10, 2019 23:24:50 GMT -5
If you don't think that's part of the problem....I don't know what to tell ya Two of the lowest points in HC hoops history have occurred in the last month. Not good. I thought this team was going to be a pleasant surprise. I guess my cred on this board is shot. No, you're one of the better ones.😁
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Post by Sons of Vaval on Dec 10, 2019 23:27:33 GMT -5
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Post by longsuffering on Dec 10, 2019 23:31:37 GMT -5
Try to remember how encouraged we were after the Maryland Game. We've got to get back to that Scrappy underdog mindset. Tonight will help.
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Post by KY Crusader 75 on Dec 10, 2019 23:35:43 GMT -5
Verbeek and Niego, our two tallest guys with a 4 or 5 inch height advantage over many of UMB's bigs, combined for 3 rebounds in 43 minutes of play. Were they not near the basket?
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Post by bfoley82 on Dec 11, 2019 0:12:33 GMT -5
UMass-Boston plays Tufts tomorrow (December 11th) at home against Tufts and will be a heavy underdog.
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Post by timholycross on Dec 11, 2019 0:32:08 GMT -5
State of the locker room? I got a feeling the password for the transfer portal is written above the entrance to that room in very large letters. Any further departures would be addition by subtraction for the most part. Wishful thinking on your part? Can we stop the nonsense about the coach's future (after only 7 games) into a season we knew was going to. be a difficult one? Are your fantasies about the portal supposed to be making us worry? ...or do you imply you have inside information unknown to others? How about letting us get through the season without needlessly insulting our players? Terrible loss. Plan to see a few more bad losses, some in the PL. Patience was something many said we would need. Try to show some now. My remarks were in reference to this post "Frankly, this has to raise a question or three about Nelson, too, as well as the state of the locker room. :" It was a defense of the coach. I interpreted the poster as stating the players don't like him; there are problems in that regard; and gave my admittedly tasteless opinion that the inmates shouldn't be running the asylum. Perhaps a quantum leap on my part. If that's not the truth, and I hope it is NOT, then frustrated as I am, the guys have the right to try and get better.
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Post by Crucis#1 on Dec 11, 2019 0:55:44 GMT -5
For all of us Crusaders, on the court, on the bench, in the offices in the Hart Center, in the stands watching the games in the Hart Center, and fellow members on Crossports....... Courage!
We have seen darker days in the past, and lighter days will again prevail.
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Post by sarasota on Dec 11, 2019 2:03:14 GMT -5
27 D1 sports.......who's kidding who.......would we have had the new sports facilities if an alum hadn't decided to dump tens of millions on the school? I'm sorry to resurrect this, but we are......a small academy on a hill in Worcester. We're a fish in a pond. The problem is not the size of the fish. That is what it is. The problem is the size of the pond. The pond has become way too big. That's why we're a small fish. Reduce the size of the pond and we won't be a small fish any more. Get out of D1. It's a big tail wagging a small dog. We have two models right here in Massachusetts....Amherst and Williams. THEY should be our lodestars.
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Post by bfoley82 on Dec 11, 2019 2:55:53 GMT -5
27 D1 sports.......who's kidding who.......would we have had the new sports facilities if an alum hadn't decided to dump tens of millions on the school? I'm sorry to resurrect this, but we are......a small academy on a hill in Worcester. We're a fish in a pond. The problem is not the size of the fish. That is what it is. The problem is the size of the pond. The pond has become way too big. That's why we're a small fish. Reduce the size of the pond and we won't be a small fish any more. Get out of D1. It's a big tail wagging a small dog. We have two models right here in Massachusetts....Amherst and Williams. THEY should be our lodestars. Amherst and Williams endowments are much bigger and both schools are much more prestigious than Holy Cross. I would put every NESCAC school ahead of HC in terms of academic prestige.
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Post by WorcesterGray on Dec 11, 2019 2:56:12 GMT -5
My remarks were in reference to this post "Frankly, this has to raise a question or three about Nelson, too, as well as the state of the locker room. :" It was a defense of the coach. I interpreted the poster as stating the players don't like him; there are problems in that regard; and gave my admittedly tasteless opinion that the inmates shouldn't be running the asylum. Perhaps a quantum leap on my part. If that's not the truth, and I hope it is NOT, then frustrated as I am, the guys have the right to try and get better. My only points in the post you reference were that a) I don't think Nelson is blameless for this loss, and that b) I'm guessing there is a lot of frustration on everybody's part (players and coaches) that could become toxic and divisive. I have no idea how the players feel about Nelson, and it doesn't matter - they need to play better. I respect Nelson for acknowledging his own mistake (not having the team mentally ready) in the presser - he's learning, too.
After the suspensions of the unholy three in February 2018, the team went off the rails in the Navy game. Then Benzan called a players-only meeting, they went out and beat BU, and finished the season respectably. I don't get the sense that there's any leadership like that in the junior class, but if there is, it needs to come to the forefront now.
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Post by bfoley82 on Dec 11, 2019 2:57:56 GMT -5
27 D1 sports.......who's kidding who.......would we have had the new sports facilities if an alum hadn't decided to dump tens of millions on the school? I'm sorry to resurrect this, but we are......a small academy on a hill in Worcester. We're a fish in a pond. The problem is not the size of the fish. That is what it is. The problem is the size of the pond. The pond has become way too big. That's why we're a small fish. Reduce the size of the pond and we won't be a small fish any more. Get out of D1. It's a big tail wagging a small dog. We have two models right here in Massachusetts....Amherst and Williams. THEY should be our lodestars. Oh yea, Amherst has 25 athletic teams and a vast majority of them are national championship contenders once every ten years or so at worst.
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Post by WorcesterGray on Dec 11, 2019 2:59:12 GMT -5
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Post by WorcesterGray on Dec 11, 2019 3:02:31 GMT -5
Telegram story.
WORCESTER — The Holy Cross men’s basketball team suffered its most lopsided loss in school history, 101-44, to Northeastern on Nov. 19 at the Hart Center. Tuesday night’s 69-66 overtime defeat at the Hart Center to Division 3 UMass-Boston could have been even more difficult to stomach.
“It’s embarrassing,” freshman forward Joe Pridgen said.
“It’s unacceptable,” first-year HC coach Brett Nelson said. “We’re all in this together, myself included. Our guys didn’t have the right mindset coming into this game. We’ve got to grow up, we’ve got to learn.”
UMass-Boston was HC’s first non-Division 1 opponent in the regular season since the Crusaders defeated Nichols, 101-70, here on Nov. 23, 2014. That was the last time HC scored 100 or more points.
HC had previously lost to only one Division 3 school, and that was defending NCAA Division 3 champion Williams in December of 2003. Williams returned to the Division 3 title game later that season and lost. UMass-Boston improved to 6-2 overall and 1-1 against Worcester colleges, having lost to WPI, 68-62, on Nov. 23.
HC blew a 16-point first-half lead and fell to 1-9, 0-4 at the Hart Center. The Crusaders are off to their worst start since they lost their first eight games and 13 of their first 14 in 2010-11.
Pridgen led the Crusaders with a career-high 32 points, but no one else had more than seven. Pridgen scored his previous career high of 21 in HC’s victory over Mercer on Dec. 2. The Crusaders entered the night shooting only 64 percent from the foul line, and they made just 15 of 26, 57.7 percent. Pridgen missed 7 of 16.
Junior guard Charles Mitchell paced UMass-Boston with 21 points, and his 5-foot-9 twin brother and backcourt mate Charlie had 12. The Mitchells led New Mission High to two Massachusetts state high school championships. Senior guard Dasan Cinelli had 14 points for the Beacons.
Pridgen opened OT by sinking a 3-pointer, but HC didn’t score another basket. Freshman guard Tommy Burris hit a 3, and junior guard Michael Boyd hit a jumper to cap an 8-2 spurt that gave UMass-Boston a 67-64 lead with 40.1 seconds left. Pridgen sank two free throws with 29 seconds remaining, but HC fell short.
“We gave them hope down the stretch,” Pridgen said, “and they capitalized on it. It’s a tough feeling. It’s not something we want to have in our culture, taking teams lightly like that and thinking we’re going to be able to walk all over them just because they’re Division 3. They showed up to play, and we didn’t.”
HC trailed, 57-52, with 4:40 left in regulation, but Ryan Wade hit a 3-pointer, and Pridgen converted a conventional three-point play to put the Crusaders ahead, 58-57, with 1:16 remaining. Charles Mitchell drained two free throws, and Pridgen hit one to tie the score, 59-59. In the closing seconds of regulation, Pridgen missed a drive and Austin Butler missed the putback to force OT.
Freshman guard Drew Louder averages a team-high 13.7 points for the Crusaders, but he sat out his third consecutive game after suffering a hip injury against Hofstra. The Crusaders also were without junior guard Kyle Copeland, who was sick, and junior forward Matt Faw, who sprained an ankle Saturday at San Diego. Both had started five games this season.
“I don’t care who’s injured, who’s hurt,” Nelson said. “There are no excuses. We’ve got to play better basketball. To have 21 turnovers, that’s unacceptable. We’ve got to grow from it.”
HC was much bigger, but the Beacons were quicker. Four HC starters were 6-foot-5 or taller. UMass-Boston started three players 5-foot-10 or shorter and no one taller than 6-foot-4. That 6-4 starter, sophomore forward Malik Lorquet, fouled out 33 seconds into the second half after collecting five points and six rebounds.
UMass-Boston played HC for the first time. In their only other game this season against a Division 1 opponent, the Beacons lost to UMass-Lowell, 88-45.
“I’ll give UMass-Boston credit,” Nelson said. “Those kids hung around. They got down 16 points (33-17) in the first half, and we took our foot off the pedal, and those guys started making shots.”
Lincoln Yeutter’s jumper pushed HC’s lead to 44-33 early in the second half, but Charles Mitchell sank two free throws with 12:19 left to cap a 13-2 run and pull UMass-Boston even with HC, 46-46.
Pridgen made 7 of 9 field goal attempts and scored 17 points in the first half to help HC grab a 40-31 led.
The Beacons jumped to a 7-2 lead, and Lorquet’s two free throws pulled them even, 14-14, with 11:04 left in the half, but Pridgen scored eight points during a 17-2 run that put HC in command, 31-16.
The Crusaders visit Canisius at 2 p.m. Saturday.
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Post by sarasota on Dec 11, 2019 4:35:25 GMT -5
27 D1 sports.......who's kidding who.......would we have had the new sports facilities if an alum hadn't decided to dump tens of millions on the school? I'm sorry to resurrect this, but we are......a small academy on a hill in Worcester. We're a fish in a pond. The problem is not the size of the fish. That is what it is. The problem is the size of the pond. The pond has become way too big. That's why we're a small fish. Reduce the size of the pond and we won't be a small fish any more. Get out of D1. It's a big tail wagging a small dog. We have two models right here in Massachusetts....Amherst and Williams. THEY should be our lodestars. Amherst and Williams endowments are much bigger and both schools are much more prestigious than Holy Cross. I would put every NESCAC school ahead of HC in terms of academic prestige. Thank you. That's exactly why we should emulate them.
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Post by sader1998 on Dec 11, 2019 5:39:59 GMT -5
What IS the system? Ten games in and it’s not apparent to me, either on offense or defense.
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Post by hcpride on Dec 11, 2019 5:48:11 GMT -5
Amherst and Williams endowments are much bigger and both schools are much more prestigious than Holy Cross. I would put every NESCAC school ahead of HC in terms of academic prestige. Thank you. That's exactly why we should emulate them. I hear what you are saying about D-3 given HC's size and lack of success in D-1, but we have so little in common with secular Amherst and Williams I am not sure they have any relevance to HC.
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Post by Non Alum Dave on Dec 11, 2019 6:25:07 GMT -5
Trying to regroup here. Two extremes less than 3 weeks apart: being up double digits against Harvard, and well, last night.
I think sader81 said it best on the other thread. Coach and players BOTH in unchartered waters.
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Post by timholycross on Dec 11, 2019 6:25:48 GMT -5
Amherst and Williams endowments are much bigger and both schools are much more prestigious than Holy Cross. I would put every NESCAC school ahead of HC in terms of academic prestige. Thank you. That's exactly why we should emulate them. ...but wouldn't. Whatever change to a lower level of play they'd make, TPTB would do it half-assed. Get rid of the chiefs and the indians would stand a chance.
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Post by Non Alum Dave on Dec 11, 2019 6:39:11 GMT -5
To be honest, my biggest concern right now is the health of Druzi, and whether or not his hip is a long term problem. If the team is as talentless as I am hearing here, than logic would dictate that he is sorely missed, regardless of his defense.
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Post by WorcesterGray on Dec 11, 2019 6:48:21 GMT -5
Lowder came with a warning label - there was some discussion at the time of his recruitment/commitment about whether the 2018 hip injury (sufficiently severe that he had to be carried off the court on a stretcher) would have long-term effects. After the injury, the only offer new offer he got during AAU summer play was from Ferris State.
He consistently appears to have some difficulty moving laterally at the defensive end. Whether that's a lingering effect of the earlier injury or not, the re-injury certainly won't help.
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Post by bigfan on Dec 11, 2019 8:16:28 GMT -5
We are at rock bottom. It's time for the school to step up and help the athletic department. If this continues there will be no one at the games. How much more can we the fans take.
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