UPDATED: Warriors miss against UC Santa Barbara
Too many missed shots led to a missed opportunity for the University of Hawai’i basketball team.
The Warriors shot a season-low 36.8 percent in a 75-64 loss to UC Santa Barbara on Thursday night. The Warriors had a chance to move into second place in the Big West Conference with a victory. Instead, they dropped to 15-7 overall and 4-4 (tied for fourth) in the conference.
The Gauchos improved to 15-6 overall and are in a tie with UC Irvine for the Big West lead at 6-2.
“I told the guys in the locker room, I really didn’t think we played all that bad,” head coach Gib Arnold said. “It was a frustrating game in that we never could get any rhythm offensively, and gosh, we just couldn’t hit shots. We had guys that have been hitting shots all year. We’ve always had at least one guy getting kind of hot that you can run plays to, and we didn’t have that tonight.”
A “Retro Aloha Shirt Night” crowd of 5,773 at the Stan Sheriff Center watched in frustration as the Gauchos overtook the cold-shooting Warriors in the second half. The Warriors had a three-point lead at intermission, but shot just 32.1 percent in the second half, including 1 of 9 from 3-point range.
“Of course, they had a very good defense tonight, but I think it was more our shooting,” senior forward Christian Standhardinger said. “It was just one of those days. Other days come when we hit a lot more shots and they’re really in trouble. I wouldn’t say they got lucky tonight, but they got lucky tonight.”
Sophomore forward Isaac Fotu finished with 17 points on 7-of-16 shooting, and also grabbed eight rebounds. Standhardinger added 15 points on 5-of-12 shooting, and nine rebounds. Senior guard Brandon Spearman contributed 11 points and five rebounds.
Each of the five Hawai’i starters shot below 50 percent from the field, and the guard trio of Keith Shamburger (1 for 9), Garrett Nevels (3 for 11) and Spearman (4 for 11) combined to go 8 for 31.
“They just weren’t falling,” Arnold said. “You look at the starting three guards, and that’s a tough line for those guys on the offensive side.”
The 64 points marked just the third time in 22 games this season that the Warriors did not reach 70 points, and they also passed for a season-low seven assists.
Arnold noted that Hawai’i kept it close with defense, limiting the Gauchos to 43.9 percent shooting. However, UCSB went 8 for 22 from 3-point range, including 5 for 9 (55.6 percent) in the second half. Three of those second-half 3-pointers came during crucial possessions in the final four minutes of the game, allowing the Gauchos to prevent the Warriors from rallying.
“We did some good things, and then they hit three 3s with one second on the shot clock,” Arnold said. “I thought our defense came in that second half when we were down nine and we got a spark. We got it going and our defense got stop after stop after stop … I don’t think the score indicates how poorly or how good we played. It was just one of those nights – frustrating.”
UCSB head coach Bob Williams said: “As a team we made a lot of big plays in the second half. But those were four really big 3s. I can’t remember a game in recent years when we made that many big 3s in the final six or seven minutes of a game.”
The Warriors wore aloha shirts during the pre-game warmups, and it seemed to provide a boost as they raced to a 16-7 lead to open the game. The Gauchos eventually tied it at 29, but Hawai’i managed to take a 37-34 lead at halftime. In the first half, the Warriors shot 40 percent from the field, while the Gauchos shot 35.5 percent.
UCSB opened the second half with a 3-pointer by Zalmico Harmon to tie it at 37, and the Gauchos later went on an 8-0 surge to take a 55-46 lead with 12:22 remaining.
The Warriors had several possessions to close the gap in the closing minutes, but managed to make just three field goals in the game’s final seven minutes.
“I think the shots just weren’t falling” Fotu said. “I don’t remember any bad shots. Looking at the stats, I think we just missed a lot of shots.”
UCSB star forward Alan Williams fulfilled his role as an inside force, finishing with game-highs of 20 points, 17 rebounds and five blocked shots. The 6-foot-7, 275-pound junior shot 7 for 15 from the field and 6 for 9 on free throws.
“It took a lot of energy out of me, personally, to play defense on him – box him out, try to front him all the time,” Fotu said. “It definitely affects our offensive game.”
Michael Bryson added 18 points for the Gauchos, including two of the shot-clock beating 3-pointers in the closing minutes.
The Warriors will host Cal Poly in another Big West home game on Saturday. The Mustangs did not play on Thursday, and are tied with Hawai’i at 4-4 in the conference.
(Game photos courtesy Brandon Flores / www.brandonfloresphotography.com)
CLICK HERE TO VIEW PHOTO GALLERY
Thursday’s Big West results
UC Riverside 72, Cal State Fullerton 69
UC Davis 90, Cal State Northridge 86 (OT)
UC Irvine 61, Long Beach State 58
UC Santa Barbara 75, Hawai’i 64
Only way to do it, if UH is thinking regular season title:
First half Big West play: 4-4
Second half Big West play: 8-0
Hard to do, however , in this league, and UH defending AND shooting well, can win 6 or 7 games at least. Starts with Poly.
Guys stay together, get your shooting in, and no need the lob passes, make fundamental 4-1 fast break opportunities, sometimes the easy pass to guys filling the lane, and sure two, better than the super play . Save that for when totally in sync , or have game in control.
Go Bows Go Warriors, get the win against Poly and stay One Ohana!
added correction to my above statement!
Hard to do, however , in this league, and UH defending AND shooting well, can win 6 or 7 games at least in last 8 game stretch… Starts with Poly.
Guys stay together, get your shooting in, and no need the lob passes, make fundamental 4-1 fast break opportunities, sometimes the easy pass to guys filling the lane, and sure two, better than the super play . Save that for when totally in sync , or have game in control.
Go Bows Go Warriors, get the win against Poly and stay One Ohana!
The crowds for Theme nites against LBSU and UCSB awesome. Good job, Maniacs and student section. Maybe, UH gets a little too hyper, or lose focus when students in the house, I think for these last Four home games, UH will play well for the students and Maniacs.
This team has 8 more regular season games, 4 more at home(including the Poly game this Sat.) and 4 more on the road, with senior nite at home against Fullerton , March 8 at 700pm Stan Sheriff Center, hopefully by then, UH will have 10 or 11 games won, would be awesome, and what a sendoff for Christian, Davis and Spearman.
As Nevels, Negus, Jankovich said in interviews, and the whole team from the start of season, even last fall, WHY not, aim high, work hard to get there, Win the regular and Big West Conference titles. Either one, they are in NIT or NCAA. Why not UH?
Stay Positive guys, the UH fans got your back , from 14 active guys and 3 RS’s, stay united, and One OHana!!
Saw the game… my thoughts:
1. Basically, the poor shooting did them in. Offense was executed pretty well for the most part… UH was getting open looks.
2. All three starting guards had bad offensive games. Combined 8-31 FGs and 2-16 from 3pt. UH can survive one guy having an off night, maybe two, but three starters having off nights will be a loss no matter the location and opponent.
3. Defensive effort was good and UH’s athletic guards were able to bother UCSB shooters for most of the game. Where UH got hurt badly was the 2nd chance points allowed. UH gave up 23 2nd chance points. Way too many. UH did get 19 2nd chance points of their own, but you cannot allow 23. UCSB also caught fire at the end of the game, plus hit a few absurd shot clock buzzer beaters to put the dagger in the game.
4. For some unknown reason, UH has been shooting very poor at the SSC lately. In the last 5 home games (going back to the Omaha win), UH is shooting a terrible 26.4% from 3pt. UH really hasn’t taken that many bad shots either, so it’s hard to explain the shooting slump at home.
5. Since getting the POW award, Shamburger has been in a bad shooting slump. The good news is that he’s been clean in the turnover department, but his shooting has been off (under 20% the past 3 games).
6. Attendance: This will be the last time I gripe about attendance because there’s no hope for UHMBB to get the home crowd they deserve at SSC. SERIOUSLY?!?!!? 5,773 stated attendance????? UCSB is the best team in conference, Alan Williams is the best player in conference, UH needed as much support it could get, and last night was one of the lowest attended games of the year. UH is averaging a paltry 6,142 at home this year. True, there have been few name opponents, but come on man, the horrific Bob Nash teams drew more people.
It’s something I cannot explain. This team is the most talented, most athletic, and most fan friendly style of play UH has produced in decades, but we can barely produce a 1/2 full SSC vs the top conference opponent? ALSO, I have no clue how Riley Wallace’s mediocre, snails pace offense teams during his last 4 years could routinely get 7000-8000 every home game, but nobody shows up for this year’s team. You can say that the Big West doesn’t provide name opponents, but that shouldn’t matter much because the WAC didn’t have any good teams other than Utah St and NMSU the past several years.
Jamie Smith has helped bring in more students, that’s one of the few positives I see with the fans right now. Fans that actually show up do a great job and get loud, but seeing most upper sections empty and lots of empty seats sprinkled in the lower bowl makes the SSC far less intimidating that it should be.
There, I feel better now that I’ve vented a little.
Getting back on topic….
Looking ahead at the 2nd half of BW play, UH is now 2 games back. UH still isn’t out of the reg season title race just yet, but will likely need to sweep the last 8 to win. Not impossible, but UH has to play perfect ball.
Last year, the team got red hot around this time but peaked out too early and ended with a whimper.
I’d rather see Gib extend the rotation to 9 guys to get them primed for the BW tourney. Right now, the rotation is basically only 7 guys. Smith is the only guy getting significant minutes from the bench. In BW play, Rozitis only gets 9 min/game to give Fotu and Stanhardinger a break. Valdes and Enos get spot duty here and there.
I understand that UH’s best chance is to have the starting 5 on the court as much as possible, but Valdes, Thomas, & Jovanovic had shown they can be solid contributors. Quincy has been a solid 6th man, but there needs to be more depth as we approach the postseason.
I was hoping to see more Jawato & Harper this year, but looks like Enos has leapfrogged him in the pecking order for bench shooters.
Gib is right, they didn’t play poorly. The team just has to break out of their shooting funk. The only way to break the slump is to keep shooting!!!
UH shot selection has been good, and few forced contested shots. Just gotta find the touch and they will be back on the win streak.
shooting was Awful. Nevels needs to be the zone buster but wasn’t getting the ball at the right time ,passing needs to be faster and we need to be a little more patient and get more ball movement instead of jacking a jumper from the three at the start. Shamburger , please change your pre game mantra -IT AINT WORKING, SITTING ON THE BENCH WITH YOUR HEADPHONES ON WHILE EVERYONE ELSE IS PRACTICING THEIR SHOTS, YOUR POOR SHOOTING PERCENTAGE SHOULD TELL YOU THAT YOU SHOULD BE SHOOTING DURING WARM UPS TO GET YOUR STROKE, IF YOU WANT TO BE A GOOD SHOOTER , YOU GOT TO PRACTICE THE SHOT OVER AND OVER. MUST WIN TOMORROW WARRIORS!!
One of the most effective things I saw last night was in the first half when Shamburger brought the ball in a couple feet from the paint and took a jump shot. We should see more simple plays like that.
The attendance at games has plateaued in the past couple of weeks but understandably so. This isn’t the team we saw in the pre-season. The players need to regain our confidence because their commitment just doesn’t seem 100% at all times. Between a ticket, parking, food, beer, and gas, I spend at least $50 a game. That’s not cheap for me nor for most people.
Although the student section has grown since Jamie has returned, they’re just not that loud. They’re more interested in being on the jumbotron than actually cheering the team. A rather laid back student section that accounts for 10% of attendees combined with 50% senior citizens and 10% toddlers means we’re not that energetic or intimidating of a crowd. Sure, everyone gets into it for maybe MAX 2 minutes out of a 40 minute game…. that’s just not good enough. Furthermore, it’s shameful when 30% of the fans leave with 2 minutes to go and we’re down by 10 points. Seeing fans leave in exodus like that is a huge blow to the team’s self esteem. It’s a downright shame. I would lock the doors and not let people leave if I were in charge.
With the largest and most professional looking arena in the conference (at least I think it is), we’ve got to use it to our advantage to help the team. We have to make it the most intimidating arena. We’ve got to make it loud every single second. Heck, I’m clapping non-stop every game. And it sickens me to see other people around me with arms folded and whispering to each other. We need to get more people to the stan sheriff and it starts with us telling our coworkers, friends, family, classmates, neighbors, bank clerks, grocery clerks that we have an awesome basketball team that deserves our attention. We need more signs. I really want to make some signs in German, Latvia, Serbian, Maori, etc. and get the guys pumped!
Former UH athlete-….I agree on the shooting part. UH does not shoot as well at SSC since start of season. They might be so emotionally trying to defend, get out and run, they forget the legs, the touch on their shots, either from the rim, to mid range, FT line and 3 line. This team is one of the best scoring teams in the land. They will get back to scoring in the 80’s again. I always think this way, if UH scores 80 or more points, and on the season, hold their opponents to 71 pts or less, they win. This squad, has to have both, Defensive effort, and shoot well to win, they can do it. Glad, that they have this mini slump, after the first half of season, would be bad if they went into a 4 game losing streak going into BWC tourney play. That is how Gib has to approach it with team, as you and others have said, Now, it is an Eight game season, still up for grabs 1)Regular season title=NIT 2)seeding for BWC tournament 3) winning BWC tourney =NCAA 4)get 20 plus wins, for season overall= good for recruiting and Program.
Some of us old, geriatric set, we went to all home games at Klum, Bloch Arena-Pearl Harbor, Blaisdell and Finally the first years of Riley at the new SSC. The cost of tickets were cheaper, the concession cheaper, no internet, no video games, no party hardy youth and adults, Life IN the 21st century, …the 5000+ that come to every game, they are the heros, and the team really loves them. Team also knows, that many more thousands view games online or on cable provider, as long as they have 20 plus win season, that core 5000-maybe Eagle…9000 for senior nite, will be there. Enjoy the games in person, while you all are still young and not disabled. UH MBB , is the premier BB program at UH, though much respect for Beeman’s program, however the Men’s BB success drives the interest and it makes money too!
Go Bows. And thanks for great in depth analysis, FUHA!
Uhfanzonly1. Former attendee of games with the ohana, for 40 years, until got much too old and disabled! However, even if had to follow on radio, we listen to boys play from Missouri to Lihue
Go Bows!!
FUHA…also, after that terrific road trip, and sweep against Davis and Irvine, I feel that if the guys get off the rock, and go to Cali, they are so focused, much energy, they have been playing great, even going back to that competitive game at Mizzou, and the Win at N. Arizona. High energy, they stayed together on O and D, and shot well.
Actually, away from( and I include the Lihue game against Chaminade) UH is 4-3, 2-2 in BWC, so UH get the important win against Poly, if UH gets shooting touch, and I believe they will, inside out game, and transition along with D, they will be anxious to get out on road, and try to win every game.
As long as coaches don’t give up, team will not give up, as Nevels says, and all the guys say, especially seniors, too much more basketball to play , many goals to acheive. Especially peek in March!
Uhfanzonly1.
Go Bows!!
As long as coaches don’t give up, team will not give up, as Nevels says, and all the guys say, especially seniors, too much more basketball to play , many goals to acheive. Especially PEAK(sorry for typo, above NOT PEEK) in March!
Uhfanzonly1.
Also, one last observation that just came to mind…. hopefully the team can carry out on the return game at UCSB…
UH must make Alan Williams play defense. During the game, Alan Williams was able to rest and play help defender most of the time he was on the defensive side. UCSB rests Williams by sagging into their zone or UH doesn’t attack him when in man defense. Since both Fotu and Standhardinger are versatile big men, maybe Gib needs to call up offensive sets that Fotu/Standhardinger are moving a lot so Williams has to chase.
Fotu had the assignment of defending Williams and he burned a ton of energy trying to deny entry and try to keep him off the glass. Thus, Fotu’s offensive efficiency went down. Fotu missed some shots were automatic in the past month or two. That’s what UH must to do Williams… wear down his legs playing defense, that will make him less effective on offense.
Maybe put Jovanovic on WIlliams to defend him and let Fotu guard the other UCSB big that doesn’t do much. Stefan could play super aggressive and fouls won’t be an issue. Can’t put Rozitis on Alan because Big Bird isn’t strong enough.
Former UH Athlete, I tend to agree with uhf, about fans, even if UH were battling top 25 teams, and were undefeated, to fill arena with 8-9000 in 2013, hard sale. I go to games when off work, I love effort, sad and frustrating the losses to LBSU and UCSB. Both teams are not top 25, have good one or two players, and they are playing well.
Agree with you, Gib, put Stefan Jovanovich, he is the most physical and agressive, what Caleb Dressler, would have been had he not had back injury. Then Isaac, would be fresh, and go to work. Hard to play 40 minutes of tough D and still have offense, leave the D assignment, to Jovanovich, he would gladly bang with him for spot time. Then Gib put in fresh, Standhardinger and Fotu.
This Big West is still up for grabs, agree with others, that LBSU, Irvine and UCSB, will finish with 4 or 5 losses, unless over next 7 games they go off, some games remaining they play one another, so they, the top 3, will lose games. UH can, I believe as hoopsa and uhf say, win on the road, they seem to play better in Cali now. Lot of , nearly 70-90-100 family fans and friends cheering them on, in those tiny gyms.
Former Athlete, let us hope UH gets Poly on a good, offensive, and defensive game, just have to watch out for Eversley.
FANS don’t give up on Team Ohana. Now This Cal Poly game is the most important of the season, and the next game, and the next till end of regular season.
Hope guys are in the gym right now, or later this evening, and tomorrow, shooting, FT’s, layups, 3 pointers, midrange, put in a no lob rule for practices, all fundamental.
Isaac, correct, above video, Fotu worn out, those D minutes against Williams , he is a load. However, if Jovanovich plays him just for D good. If Fotu, and Standhardinger run, go to different spots on the floor, vary the offense, Williams would have to chase, agreed, still think as do others and the team and Coach Gib, that UH learns from losses to LBSU an UCSB and gets the wins at their gyms.
If UH wins tomorrow nite against the Mustangs, win overall record= 16…UH will have 7 more regular season games before BWC tourney, so 4 shots at 20 wins overall (including the DII wins over Chaminade and Hilo)that would be a milestone, if they could get that 20th win at home against Fullerton, on March 8 2014 Sat. at SSC awesome, if it could be the 21st win, better yet, if it were a share of BWC regular season crown, MO Awesome Yet, Better.
So , this Poly game, against the Mustangs, must win, and usually, on Saturday nites, with that 6000+( I hope more)fans in attendance, UH plays better. Just hope they sweep , doable, the next 2 road games, then come home at 7-4 for next 2 game homestand!
So much more season to go, not too much leeway, should be exciting down to the wire, chase for regular and BWC tournament titles!
Go Rainbows!
😀
I don’t know what it is about this team. Seems as if they play poor on Thursday and great on Saturday. Like the Tasmanian whirlwinds don’t appear until they feel the sting of a loss. Understandably we got shooting problems last night. But that’s only half the game when it comes to scoring. We got capable big men that can score inside. I know Isaac had his hands full guarding Williams and he is the only one that played well on both sides of the court. Santa Barbara is a good team but Hawaii should have beaten them on our home court. Why did Isaac have to guard Williams the whole way? We are a good enough team to win home games on bad nights. We probably got two choices from here on out. Go with the 5 starters throughout most of the game and settle for NIT, or gamble with increase bench play and get them tournament ready for the Big West Championship and see if we can win it all.
At 36.8% FG shooting probably every team in the Big West could have beaten UH last night. Very, very, very disappointed. I wouldn’t be surprised if we lose on Saturday as well. Cal Poly just seem to have our number. Looking at last night, I noticed that people were playing out of control. Standhardinger losing his feet and losing the ball, Fotu getting stripped in the paint repeatedly, Spearman driving to the basket out of control and either losing the ball or called for an offensive foul. Quincy throwing a bad pass on a lob dunk attempt when a simpe layup would have suffice. Bless Shamburger, he tried to make some shots, but he was missing all night, but he did have very good looks. Just gotta knock them down. I felt sorry for Nevels. He didn’t take many shots and if anybody should take more shots it should be him. He pretty much shut down 3 pt shooter Boswell from UCSB and in fact Boswell only scored 2 points on 2 F/T. Overall, I thought the team played selfishly and not as a team.
Our basketball team is hot and cold. We just cannot seem to get the consistency to put away opponents, especially in the second half. At 4-4 after 8 games you can expect much the same the rest of the way. We will probably finish either 8-8, 9-7, or if lucky 10-6 in the conference. At 10-6 I think that’s about 4th in the conference, maybe 3rd. Right now, the only game that matter is Cal Poly tomorrow night.
Derek….good points. BWC parity. UH wins at Irvine, blows out Davis in Cali, both wins on the road. Loses two winnable games here against LBSU and UCSB. Hey weren’t we saying , or at least some fans on this forum and Gib, that the BWC would be like the wild west. it is proving to be.
Correct , the one constant, truism, the NEXT game is the biggest one. UH starting the last half of conference play, last 8 games, the only team they have not played yet is Fullerton, that should be a fairly matched home and home series.
I can see the guys trying to be really Defensive minded this past game or two, especially last night, turnover UCSB several times in a row, towards ending of game, then they can’t make point blank baskets, cannot hit mid range or three, Christian not getting his touch fouls, and guys missing their FT’s.
Reality: Clean slate. Gib has video, will go over, with staff, fine tune scout. They have seen every one except Fullerton, and Fullerton has beat some of the top 4 teams already. These next 8 games pretty much the season for UH. finish BWC regular season either 8-8(I think they will do much better), 10-6(gives Gib and program that magical 20 win regular season record), 11-5( up there with top one or 2)and finally if they run the table go 8-0 over last games, finish at 12-4 and win the regular season title, auto invite to NIT and momentum into BWC tournament to win it all and go to NCAA’s.
As long as UH can get fresh legs, second win, remember, this is HALF point of season, guys are also going to school, lifting, dealing with emotinal stuff that normal young men have, and they want to win so badly. They have to Go Back to the One Ohana, use 14 guys, Mantra, win one for Hawaii, win one for the fans, win one for the team, they will be back.
Let’ s see which team shows up this Saturday nite against Cal Poly, I think the team that beat St Mary’s, or Davis on the road, and upset Irvine on the road, ..I would be really surprised if UH lost. However, team , get it together, be as one, they were so great beginning of year, with their team play outstanding, they have to give the ONE OHANA, EFFORT!
Our team, it seems, does not handle the pressure very well, or should I say we don’t thrive on pressure.. Other teams I watch, say like Cincinnati play a lot of close games, a lot of low scoring games and they seemingly always pull out the win, such as yesterday against UConn, and against like Pittsburgh, and Louisville. A lot of teams are just at good as them, but their team just believes they are going to win in the end. They trailed UConn most of the game, but pulled even at about 7 minutes mark and then make key shots and stops of keep a thin lead and won by 5. That’s the name of the game, SHOTS & STOPS. You could see the intensity and turned up the hustle late in the game. Yet, they stayed in control. Obviously, that’s not us. We start to get down by 5 or more and we start to take quick shots and get helter skelter in the second half. Panic start to set in and we get deeper and deeper in the hole. That’s what happened at Poly, against Long Beach, and Santa Barbara. The answers are mostly mental. It’s a mind set. I don’t know if the team has a psychologist, but it wouldn’t hurt.
this is so disappointing and turning out to be like previous gib years….high expectations but bellow average results….knowing from experience I bet at least 2-3 players will leave at the end of season….im really losing hope and a lot of it has to do with gib being a horrible coach with horrible assistants….hard to stay positive when you don’t see anything new from the coaches
imagine what riley wallace could do with these players….omg.
Well hfan…Tavs..etc.,.if we want team to win..we gotta stay positive. If UH loses this home game against Poly..then start to panic..Gib will be here for several years..do not see UH buying him out..
hawaiifan09..don’t give up on Gib and team..UH could still win 20 games and the BWC Tournament. .NCAA invite..
You know what cures the boo birds? A Win!!
Go Bows!!
😀
I agree with playhoopsa, cannot give up on Gib and the team. The athletes, have worked really hard since summer. Gib upgraded the guard rotation. Agree, Gib has to develop bench for run at Big West Tournament title. Have to get win against Poly Mustangs. I agree too, this team, away from the Stan Sheriff Center, the are much more focused, and can sweep these road trips.
It all starts tomorrow against Cal Poly, Sat . nite 700pm. get that win, and UH is 1-0 to start second half of season, go out, all effort, on the road, get sweep, they come back 3-0, start of second half of season, and momentum again.
Sure would like to see UH finish 10-6, or 11-5, and playing their best ball Big West Tournament time.
This conference is up for grabs, as others mentioned, Irvine can be beat by 9th place team, so can LBSU and UCSB. UH they get their shooting in order as well as the good defense they played against UCSB, except for those “prayer” 3 pointers by that non shooter for UCSB, UH would have won. Shoulda , coulda, woulda, starts with a W against the Mustangs, super hero nite!
Now , is the time when the true UH MBB fans will stick with team, energize them, Coach and staff do their job, and guys do their part on the court. Look for a good game against Poly.
Basically, are we for or against Gib and the Team, I would think that 99% of fans are disappointed in 2 home losses, however 100% support team, coach, and want to cheer them on to wins, they will, still think UH will finish 10-6 or 11-5 with a chance to win Big West Tournament and go to Dance. Hey, let the boo birds, and negative guys and gals, come out, when team loses a few games, but the True UH fans, will be cheering when UH wins 6 out of next 8 games, gotta stay positive as hoopsa says.
Good morning hawaiifan09; you have finally woken up and seen the light of day. All others, wake-up – UH will NOT go 8-0 in second half of season. at best they will go 5-3 . . . finishing 19-9; oh, so disappointing. It’s okay to be dreamers or wishful thinkers, but you gotta keep it real sometimes.
Hello, hello, . . . I am reaching out to Eagle, FUHA, playhoopsa, UHfanzonly1, jjay, winbows1; time for you guys to wake up and have a cup of java. Enjoy the next few games; dark clouds approaching fast! Mahalo.
First, I want to start by talking about the 3rd party to the game: the refs. I’m not taking anything away from UCSB; I want to talk about what UH is dealing with. To be straight: UCSB had the higher RPI, and they won Thursday. They got the big rebounds, and shot better, and the better players this time. But we always talk about UH not playing good on the road…is it as simple as that? I think it’s something more tangible, in the form of foul calls.
UH only got 16 FTs to score their 64 points. In the pre-season, remember UH was getting ~27 FTs a game, to score ~75 points. UCSB got 26 FTS, once again the visiting team shoots more FTs than UH in the Big West. I ask this question: did UH get benefit of officiating in preseason (shot 45 FT against Chaminade to score 94), or are they getting short-shrifted in the Big West? Either way, UH is not as good as people thought when we won those 2 games in the Diamond Head Classic. We were simply getting more FTs back then. Watch for yourself, when UH scores 80 points they are getting ~25 FTs. Look back at the Omaha game stats, exactly similar shooting performance by UH when we won 77-73, with 35 FTs: http://espn.go.com/ncb/boxscore?gameId=400502979
No shortage of effort Thursday from UH; stop thinking it’s a home/road thing. But we kept trying to drive, and getting the ball stripped on dribble drives. And we kept trying to get shots at the rim, and getting capped. Before, we were getting foul calls. Is this possible: Alan Williams blocked 5 shots, and these are shots he’s blocking right at the point of release not swatting the ball out of the air, and he only fouled 2 times? UCSB did a lot of hacking on dribble drives, and they only fouled 16 times? Were we always this bad at exposing our dribble, we played some good teams? I know Nevels got really mad when the refs called him for a foul for trying to chop at the ball.
Second, our shooting. Outside of the week he won POW, Shamburger has not just been in a shooting slump, but taking bad shots too. He should not be shooting 5 to 9 threes a game. His % has been low even back to his days at San Jose St. For Shamburger, an inordinately high number of the shots he takes are threes. He needs to stick to more twos. There’s a reason why he is seeing a lot of open 3s. Spearman is another guard shooting more 3s than he should be. These guys are 30% shooters only, but they take ~7 threes each.
Thursday Nevels shot horrible, only 1-6. But he should be taking the 3s. Maybe, like Fotu said, he was one of the guys who lost his legs from playing defense.
Look at this: Boswell on UCSB, who is a 47% shooter, only took 2 threes. Nevels was shadowing him well. Probably got tired. But on the other hand, Boswell did not try to shoot his requisite 8 threes a game. His team won.
I understand, they all had a bad night shooting. Realistically, when they get wide open shots they should shoot them, that is how this team plays, it is within the flow of the offense even if it is Shamburger and Spearman. imo what really hurt UH’s scoring was not getting the FTs! We’ve scored points without good perimeter shooting all year. But we need more shooters (and a defensive presence….). UCSB brought a team with 3 guys that can shoot consistently, and they’ve got a big time center. Taran Brown is a 6’8″ high jumper, and only a soph for UCSB. We’ve met our competition for the Big West, and we’re not superior to them.
We won’t have Spearman next year but we will have Shamburger. Who will get Spearman’s shots? I hope it’s Nevels. I know Negus is coming in next year too, and maybe he can shoot some 3s; hopefully Shamburger will shoot fewer 3s.
Personally, I think Nevels can play the PG position in our offense. There was one play Thursday where UH ran a double screen on Shamburger’s man, but Shamburger was afraid to shoot and tried to dribble around but got stopped by help defense. Why not let Nevels handle the ball, and run the double screen to let him step back and shoot openly? Nevels drives to the basket well enough (as good as Shamburger), and he passes to open shooters out of the corner of his eye. He’s really smart, he knows where to find guys in our offensive sets. Nevels/Fotu is a good enough combo for any offense, we don’t need to wait til next year for Negus.
btw I love Fotu’s offense. But Thursday he only fouled 1 time, playing against Alan Williams, and he had 0 steals and 0 blocks. smh I guess realistically Fotu is not a classic center, but his defensive effort is lacking. I know he was fronting Williams all night, as expected, but he was also giving up a ton of offensive rebounds. Fotu himself had 5 offensive but only 3 defensive rebounds. That’s a big part of why UCSB won — Williams didn’t shoot good % either, but they got many 2nd chance points. If we stopped the offensive rebounding, their shooting was as lousy as UH. Fotu needs to get into it more, if it means picking up fouls. Let these guys earn points at the line. He gives us a lot on offense, but this team needs a lot on defense too. It’s asking a lot, but we need something from someone.