The discussion goes in a very interesting direction and I see plently to learn from. One has to consider that not only the stalled aircraft was difficult to recover, but also the crew's state of mind. The closer they came to impact, the more difficult it was to get out of this funnel, this narrowing tunnel.
Like in most accidents, it would have been easiest to escape the spiral (literally and metaphorically) at the beginning (just keep pitch, wings level and thrust), and the more away from the fair way they got, the more difficult it became to save the plane and her inhabitants.
When the captain came to the cockpit, it was already impossible, aerodynamically and CRM-wise.