As the season approaches every team has questions. This series is going to look at three key ones.
1. Who or how does Hofstra replace Charles Jenkins? – All right, I started with the obvious one first, but this is definitely the biggest question. Jenkins had the best offensive rating the in the country last season for a player that used at least 28% of his team’s possessions. That’s high volume at high efficiency and it drove the Pride’s offense. And that offense in turn drove Hofstra to a surprisingly competitive campaign in the CAA.
Some of those thing though weren’t just Jenkins. The Pride turned the ball over on only 14 percent of their possessions, the best during conference play. They hit 80 percent of their free throws, best in the conference, and 50 percent of their twos, second best. Yes, Jenkins helped a lot, but he couldn’t do it alone. Hopefully Hofstra remembers that lessen.
Of course someone still has to produce all those points. That burden will probably fall on Mike Moore, Stevie Mejia and Nathaniel Lester. Mejia seems like an underrated piece of the Hofstra puzzle right now. At Rhode Island in 2009-10 he led the Atlantic 10 in assist to turnover ratio. He was also a pesky on-ball defender and got to the free throw line way more than you’d expect for a guy listed at 5’9”. Mejia could be the guy that helps this Hofstra team be better than the sum of its parts again.
2. Will the defense improve? – Defense was what held Hofstra back last season. The Pride allowed 1.05 points per possession, 234th in the country. It was a combination of a number of factors, but the biggest ones were a lack of rebounding and leaving too many three-point shooters open. Its doubtful teams will shoot 38 percent from three against Hofstra again this season, but now that Greg Washington has graduated someone else has to help out on the boards.
Bryant Crowder was a big time junior college recruit by Cassara out of the College of Eastern Utah, where he averaged 5.8 rebounds per game last season. The guess here is that Crowder starts and freshman Moussa Kone finds his way into the rotation. Kone is a 6’7″ forward from the Bronx and picked Hofstra over Manhattan, St. Peter’s and Stony Brook. Kone is a player that can really help in the post because of his long arms. His skills are ones that will easily translate to the next level as long he manages to stay out of foul trouble.
3. Is this year really to prepare for next year? – It’s never a good idea to look ahead, but Hofstra’s roster in 2012-13 could be formidable. UConn transfer Jamal Coombs-McDaniel will be eligible and only a few key players graduate. Cassara will have had a year to bring in another set of talented recruits and Crowder, Mejia and Kone will all have had a year in his system. The Pride were picked eighth in the CAA’s preseason coaches poll. If Cassara finds a way to meet or even exceed those expectations, it’s likely that Hofstra will find itself right back in the top half of the league come next season.
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