UPDATED: Warriors fall in OT thriller to Cal Poly
Reese Morgan swished a go-ahead 3-pointer from the right corner with 6.9 seconds remaining in overtime and then sealed the victory with two free throws with 2.7 ticks on the clock Wednesday night to lift visiting Cal Poly to a stunning 61-57 victory over Hawai’i in the Big West Conference men’s basketball opener for both teams.
An enthusiastic crowd of 6,219 at the Stan Sheriff Center watched UH’s Aaron Valdes score 20 points, grab six rebounds, and collect five steals as the Rainbow Warriors fell to 12-5 overall. The Mustangs, who represented the Big West in last year’s NCAA Tournament, improved to 8-5.
“It was … crazy,” said Valdes, who scored all but five of his points after halftime. “We made plays, they made plays … they just made the last play, and that was the difference.”
UH led, 55-54, after Valdes’ two free throws with 1:47 remaining, but Cal Poly took the lead back at 56-55 on Brian Bennett’s layup in traffic with 1:15 left. After the Rainbow Warriors lost the ball on their next possession, Valdes got a steal and threw a lead pass to Roderick Bobbitt, who scored on a breakaway layup to put Hawai’i ahead, 57-56, with 35.3 showing on the clock.
But Morgan answered with his go-ahead 3-pointer 30 seconds later and then sank the game-sealing free throws after a Rainbow Warriors turnover on the ensuing possession, when Morgan intercepted Bobbitt’s crosscourt inbounds pass intended for Stefan Jankovic on the opposite wing.
“Janks was actually a decoy, we had a screen set up for Aaron for a three(-pointer),” UH coach Benjy Taylor said. “But (Bobbitt) must have saw something … but it shouldn’t have come down to that.”
There certainly were more than enough other turnovers (13) and missed field goal attempts (37) that the Rainbow Warriors could blame, and also potential missed free throws by Bennett, who scored a game-high 20 points despite shooting just 2 for 9 from the free throw line.
“Instead of layups, he should have been shooting free throws,” Taylor said. “We talked about it … but it didn’t happen.”
Cal Poly led, 38-29, after Bennett’s tricky layup in traffic with 13:54 remaining in regulation. But Mike Thomas’ putback started UH on an 18-4 run capped by Quincy Smith’s layup on a cut to the basket that put Hawai’i up, 47-42, with 5:12 left.
The Mustangs regained the lead at 49-47 when Morgan swished a 23-footer from the top of the arc with 2:49 remaining, but the Rainbow Warriors took it back at 51-49 on Negus Webster-Chan’s 3-pointer with 1:50 remaining. Cal Poly then tied it at 51-51 on Bennett’s layup with 1:16 left.
After the teams traded turnovers, UH turned it over on its final possession of regulation when Bobbitt lost the ball out of bounds on a drive to the basket with 5.3 seconds remaining. The Mustangs then advanced the ball to Morgan on the left wing, but his 22-footer glanced off the rim as the horn sounded.
Isaac Fleming opened overtime with a layup to give the Rainbow Warriors a 53-51 lead, but Morgan — who was 0 for 8 from the field in the game’s first 37 minutes — answered by swishing a 23-footer from the right wing 30 seconds later to put Cal Poly ahead, 54-53. Morgan was perfect (8 for 8) from the free throw line and finished with 17 points.
Hawai’i played without starting off guard and senior captain Garrett Nevels, who is recovering from surgery on his right (shooting) hand on Dec. 31. Nevels is second on the team in scoring average at 11.4 points per game and also averages 4.7 rebounds per outing.
“We did miss him — his rebounding, his scoring,” Valdes said.
Taylor said Nevels’ absence hurt two-fold, since it forced Fleming to move from his role off the bench into the starting lineup.
“We needed that punch off the bench from a scoring standpoint, and we didn’t have that,” Taylor said. “Our starting group didn’t have energy, the first 10 minutes of the game, we were not energetic enough, not at all. Having Garrett out, we lose that. And now that we don’t have Isaac off the bench, we lose that, too. We gotta get that figured out, we gotta start the game ready to roll.”
Cal Poly led at halftime, 30-23, after an ugly 20 minutes. The Mustangs jumped out to leads of 14-2, 16-4 and 18-6 before Hawai’i finally got untracked — sort of. An 8-2 run started by Webster-Chan and capped by Bobbitt’s layup off Valdes’ steal cut it to 20-14 with 5:29 remaining in the first half, and the Rainbow Warriors later closed to 26-22 on Valdes’ layup off Webster-Chan’s assist.
But Bennett swished a tough 18-foot fadeaway from the left corner as the shot clock expired with 57 seconds left, and Ridge Shipley ended the half with a layup with 6.6 seconds remaining to put the Mustangs ahead 30-23 at the break.
UH made just 6 of 25 field goals (24 percent) in the first half, including just 1 of 7 from 3-point range, and was out-rebounded 24 to 18.
“I thought the tempo was in our favor, but the reason the game was in the 60s is that we couldn’t make shots,” Taylor said. “In the first half, our inside game didn’t finish at the basket, and that kind of set the tone. I knew we would get back in it, and we did, but then we had some end-of-half blunders. We’re a very inexperienced team, we have a lot of young basketball players, and they make mistakes. But their minds and hearts are in the right place, so we’ll bounce back.”
Hawai’i finished with a .327 field goal percentage, though Cal Poly was not much better at .356. The Mustangs out-rebounded the Warriors, 46-36.
Cal Poly entered the game as the NCAA leader in fewest turnovers per game at 8.4. However, the Warriors collected eight steals and forced the Mustangs into their season-high of 18 turnovers.
“We didn’t handle it,” Cal Poly head coach Joe Callero said of Hawai’i’s defense. “We had 18 turnovers. The game went into overtime because they are so good at pressuring the ball. I thought we did a poor job as a team handling their pressure and I think you can see why they beat Colorado and Nebraska and almost beat Wichita State, because they pressure it and because they’re hard to score on because they keep you so distorted by denying and pressuring the ball so much.”
The Warriors will return to the Stan Sheriff Center court on Saturday to host Cal State Northridge in another Big West game. The Matadors (4-12, 0-1) lost at UC Davis, 71-61, on Wednesday night.
Janks gave a good interview at the end of the game. Very stand up guy. Great teammate. The team has got to come together at the end of the season. Stop second guessing. Keep the faith ! Go Bows !
it was an ugly game. IMO, they have to work on crisp passes. The opponent had a pretty good game plan giving Bobbit some pressure upcourt, trapping him, etc. As it starts with Bobbit @ UHbb.
The GOOD: UH forced Cal Poly into a season high 18 turnovers and held them to a 35.6% shooting percentage
The BAD: UH got outrebounded 36 – 46 and shot a dismal 32.7%
The UGLY: UH had a chance to win it at the end of regulation but made an unforced turnover. UH also had a chance to win it at the end of overtime but couldn’t even get a shot off.
TAKEAWAY: UH needs to come out ready to play every night, regardless of the opponent. Nevels or no Nevels, UH had multiple chances to win this one but just didn’t take advantage. Lots of lessons to be learned from last night. Hopefully it lit a fire that will grow throughout conference play. UH still has 15 games left and I still like them to finish near the top.
Let’s GO BOWS!
Pocho, good observation on CP’s game plan in pressuring Bobbit. They were able to disrupt the flow in our offense. We sorely missed Nevels leadership, defense and scoring. Our bigs need to do a better job of boxing out and as a team we have to do a better job on the free throw line – missed some critical one and ones. I hope they can regroup and put this loss behind and focus on Saturday’s game. We have to protect our home court as conference wins on the road won’t be easy.
One word: experience. Cal Poly made all the big plays by their experienced players who played in a bunch of big games last year in Big West Tournament and NCAA’s. UH was without Nevels so that means they had no experienced players on the court and it showed at the end.
This is not the end of the world and still just the beginning of the season. These Warriors have no quit in them and that was great to watch. They kept fighting to the end!
My ticket was in section BB above the tunnel where the referees leave the court and there was some fans booing at the end but that was at the referees and they deserved some of it. A lot of fans stayed to the very end when the team stands together for the alma mater. We are still very proud of these guys and will be there to cheer again for must win game Saturday!
Good Comments
Seems BM quoting Callero as fans booing (and hissing @) his team —
?maybe in their area or just took it personally, like champs…
i think they played like Champs, found a way to W
UH could learn from them, hit shots with game on line
IMO though (near us) just directed at refs
ʻBows Get off the mat…bounce back, get stronger
(Finished ʻStrongerʻ, climbing back, NOT Enough;
Better to ALSO Start Strong and Stay Even or Ahead
Displaying Some Youth and Losing Ugly Sucks
But Gotta Learn)
The Extra day probably fortunate
Newspaper said the booing and hissing was for Cal Poly, or it was for the refs as Chuck says.
Benji on radio said Roderick was cramping up during the game, maybe towards the end ? He played the whole first half and 42 out of 45 minutes of the game.
UH did help cause Cal Poly to have the 18 turnovers, which had previously averaged 8.4 per game. And had 8 steals( Valdes had 5) and 7 blocks ( 2 each for Negus and Javonovic) .
Jankovic in the interview showed a good disposition and perspective.
Bobbitt should watch out, due to his prior arm injury. He took a high tumble to the floor over someone’s back, was it Bennett’s ?, trying to go up to block a shot and caught himself with his two hands .
They need to really play more disciplined on defense. Too many failed attempts at steals and lack of on-ball defense, led to getting beat off the dribble. I really like Valdes offensively, but he takes way too many risks on defense (especially off the ball) and last night it really hurt UH.
Tough lost but not the end of the world. Nevels was sorely missed and the flow was not there. Guards seemed to be trying to do too much on their own at certain points of the game and that has to be fixed. Our posts were not getting the ball or posting up at the block. We failed to challenge their big guys all game offensively. When we got the lead we got there by giving the ball to our hottest and best shooters. Valdes and NWC rarely saw the ball again in a position to score the final minutes of the game. Several times they were wide open on the wings and under the basket and we ignored them. Too much 1 on 1 style of play and not using our screens. NWC hit a key 3 and jumper and then we forget about him. Valdes did the same and we forget about him too? I didn’t see Poly forgetting about their top two scorers in the late part of the game. Bobbitt didn’t have his best game either but he will bounce back. We need everyone to step up in these games and we need everyone to play aggressive the whole 40 min. The team was real flat in the beginning of the first half. In conference play the teams have time to scout us and they know our tendencies. We have to be ready for a tough conference. We’ll be fine, we just need the guys to learn how to play and understand each other more. Just my observation from the game.
Anyone notice the “new plays” that Benjy was working on over these last couple of free weeks?
This UH team has good defense, but unfortunately that’s been their only way of creating an offense (fast breaks). A few days ago people were saying this team was well-balanced and anyone could score. Now we lose Nevels and who picks him up? The Missouri transfers played like transfers from lesser schools.
What reliable set does UH have when it comes down to crunch time, as last night’s game did? Like someone said above, we don’t have a go-to play, that’s why we never went back to Valdes at the end.
Oh well, I guess we have a couple more days to put in more new plays. To replace the old ones.
Baller4Life: Basically that is it.. UH has to learn, now they have video, the bigs, just 3 for UH have to play big, As a Team they have to attack the glass on O and D. They miss Nevels.. he will not be in there, unless he starts to practice and can contribute, so UH team has to make adjustments..
Facts: After, High Point loss, UH later goes to Maui and upsets Pitt.
After, being exhausted, travel and time difference, and losing opening game in Florida tournament, UH wins 2 games in row on the road.
After BYU loss without NWC, UH comes back makes a run, and almost goes 3-0 and potentially winning the DHC..
So, after this Poly loss, team has always shown a bounce back effort, live, play and learn, and despite, losing 2 key bigs, departed and now with Nevels out.. One play , defend 3 point shooter, or not turnover ball, regulation or end of OT, UH still might have won. however shoulda, coulda , woulda.. PAU,, nuff, game over, move on.. and try to win First BWC game.. will do wonders, for UH’s confidence, now we really will see how coaching staff and team responds.. team has never given up, since Oct 28 2014.. don’t expect them to regress… they only can get better, Up to Benjy and staff, to get guys better and Team to respond.
CSUN game going to be another war.. they have some good athletes..
Hey 4900 almost 5000 in house on work nite? Good Crowd.. could there be near 6000+ on Saturday nite.. hope so, and with parents and kids, I think people will come out.. UH has to get to 1-1., then win on road, come back against Davis and Irvine, which will be huge games at home at SSC
Go Bows !!
Bobby C said today CSUN’s Stephen Maxwell is better than Cal Poly’s Bennett.
He said Bennett is not that good or something, but that he knows how to post up and play around the basket. He looked real good to me. Also, that UH should have fouled him instead of letting him shoot the close in ones because he’s not a good foul shooter, But he made his last two FT’s.
UH did kind of neutralize Nwaba, although he had some good assists, 4 total .
team went in with the wrong mentality. prior to the game, benjy said our game plan would be to use up the shot clock. that’s not our game. we rush to the basket and score. high intensity. we went in trying to mimick their game plan. big mistake! shouldn’t change something that isn’t broke.
terrible passing on our part. never saw so many lob passes in my life. never saw us do that in any of the previous home games! every time we did a long, over the head pass, I felt like cal poly couldn’t stolen it. none of our guys were checking in to give support to the handlers.
who came up with the game plan on our last possession with only 3 seconds left? cross court pass to janks? we should’ve had bobbit pass it to flemming or valdes and had them chargein the paint, get a two-pointer or draw a foul. and why the heck did benjy taylor take a timeout with three seconds left, and with bobbit heading to the opponent’s basket? the inbound pass automatically uses up one second.
terrible game by our guys. terrible coaching decisions too.
Fleming in pre-game interview: ‘you’ll never see us lose at the ssc.’ talk is cheap, BOY.
felt like cal poly *could’ve* stolen it.
last comment then I’m done.
crowd was awesome in the second half. felt like we were a huge factor in getting the team back into the game. the guys really need to step it up and forget the pre-season. as far as I’m concerned, we’re 0-1.
Tavs great comment. Crowd was awesome last night. Gave me chills and I’m sure players felt it too. Our play calling was questionable but our defense wasn’t. We played a bit like we did against High Point with te guards thinking they can score or penetrate on anyone. We have to have more ball movement and control on offense by our guards. It’s not about dribbling at the wing or at the top of the key as soon as you get the pass. It’s about cutting, screening and looking for the open man. A good example is Flemming. When he gets the ball he starts to dribble and by doing that doesn’t become a triple threat and doesn’t allow the offense to set up. All of our guards do this too many times in a game, missing the post up or the cuts to the basket.
Look at who was on the court, Valdes, Thomas, hardly any extended minutes PT last year, Fleming freshman first time BWC and DI ball, Bobbitt new to DI BWC wars, and NWC, out almost couple of years from Mizzou. Team will learn, This is Real Deal season, the BWC season.. think Poly, they did not do really well , 7th seed going into BWC play, well coached, not the greatest athletes, yet, just do enough, .. Benjy Taylor and staff, huge coaching job, they have the data, the video, and can they work on their weaknesses , even without Nevels, and get better, not like Football team, just get better and lose, get better and get wins.. 9, 10 game wins in BWC.. I still think so.. Just the way they lost, and TAVS is right, crowd you could hear them from Manoa, all the way to Serbia awesome.. would think Bobbitt should go to basket more, however, he is out on the perimeter, looking to lob, or make long entry passes, he should go into the paint more, either score, get fouled , assist or make basket, plus if he has that mid range to 3 ball .. well too much analysis,.
As Valdes stated this morning SA article.. both teams fought, made runs, big plays, and Poly made big shot and play down the end.. UH has to get better, though they miss Nevels leadership and rebounding.. That Garrett Nevels, did not know how tough a guy he is.. he can rebound like a 6’9″ guy, .. probably UH would be even with Poly on the boards.. UH getting outrebounded, especially those O boards for Poly, was hurting them, and Bennett, just a garbage man, great hustle, Pump Fake, and draw foul or make the easy layup.. Next time, UH will be ready for him, take him out..
Well Benjy congratulations on first half season award, and keeping team together.. sure team is 0-1, they will not go undefeated at home in BWC, however. still 15 more to go.. can they win 9 or 10 out of last 15 BWC regular season games, without question.. have to have more O sets, and go to plays in last 2 minutes or so , to close out games, every BWC game will be similar.
Hey, Fans don’t give up, if Coach and Team don’t , and start to get some wins.. we should not. And WI UH MBB fan nation is backing the Bows.. Just have to revamp, the O and D , rebounding, will be test for Coaching and Team getting much much better..
Go Bows !!
Baller4life and TAVS good observations.. Comes down to Coach Taylor and staff,the adjustments and team execution.. It really showed sometimes, like the guards, did not know what to run, jack 3, or go inside? As Valdes , Thomas commented, Poly scouted UH so well, every pass, every cut, Poly guys were right there, UH had plays, however could not run them.
Adjustments.. heck UH should have won that game, could Not close out game..
Learn, get better , then execute and WIN..
Crowd excellent, 4800? seemed like we could hear 9800 !! Awesome.. hope .. a lot will come out Saturday.. UH that defense that brought them that 5 point lead, late, was fantastic,.. just the execution…
Ahhhh, good thing have game against CSUN on Saturday Jan 10 2015.. 700pm… UH gets that huge needed win.. forum board will be happier,, Team shows improvement., Coach makes adjustments, and Team executes for wins.. that is what we want to see.
Go Bows.. Get Better, execute, Stay As One, and Finish Strong.. Still 15 more games, and maybe 3 more after that to go.. Just Get Better, and win, one game at a time !!
Kind of funny comments in the other forum about the announcer asking the crowd to stand at the start of the game and also at the start of the 2nd half. Only a few stood at the beginning of the game, but about 50 % for the 2nd half.
Supposed to sit down when the other team scores or in the 1st half when UH scores ? One guy said he was tired of standing and another said he had to sit down because his saimin was getting cold.
I just watched the TV recording of the game and first thing I have to say is the game is not even close to being as exciting on TV as it is in person at the arena! Just as others have already said, the fans were rocking the house last night and I really think it helped the team in the second half. They really could have folded after the bad first half but they kept fighting to the end.
There was one stretch that the crowd was as loud and crazy as ever! It starts in the video around 2:50 mark when Janks gets the big reject on one end that leads to a Valdes 3-ball, and then Valdes with the steal and dunk! It was also like that at times in the Wichita State and Colorado games. This team playing exciting ball and getting the fans to notice and come to the games. They just have to learn to finish.
islandman,
really didn’t like that billy v asked the crowd to remain standing after most people were already sitting. kinda makes the whole thing lame. he really should’ve made that announcement during warm up. it’s a nice initiative, but it’s really just copying what the Wichita fans do.
any thoughts on the singing of the anthems? I thought they were atrocious. less than half the attendees applauded and I even heard some boos. I actually kinda think the singing jinxed the game in favor of cal poly.
Lots of excues today. Some still making predictions of 10 wins in conference. Hmmm. And no demands for extension for Benjy today.
Tavs — I saw on tv, at least one mainland team’s fans stand for the entire game, jumping up and down too. That’s nuts. Can’t eat your saimin .
As for the anthem, was kind of chuckling at the variation in the version. Sometimes,a simple version is the best .
Game showed that we really missed Nevels. The only 2 guys that were scoring a bunch were Bennett and Morgan and you knew Morgan was the only guy who could make a 3. So why didn’t the Warriors shadow him the entire time on the last possession? Smith left Morgan to help on the ball. What was a mistake, he should have never left Morgan out of his sight. But, I’m not going to only focus on that play. If Nevels played, I don’t think Morgan should have scored 17 points anyway. We missed his leadership, intensity, and of course scoring.
Well that was an ugly performance. As mentioned earlier, UH did do a good job of being a very pesky defensive team. I do find it encouraging that they were able to force the nation’s more careful team into 18 turnovers.
As bad as they played, they proved that their defense will keep make every game winnable in the BWC.
Obviously, end of game execution was pretty horrible. So not much more needs to be said. Freshmen made freshmen mistakes, clock management wasn’t good on last possession in regulation, costly mistakes turnovers during end of game possessions.
These issues arise because UH has still not found a go-to scorer to turn to when times get tough. This is where missing Issac Fotu really hurts UH. Nobody (yet) has shown the ability to consistently create a good look for themselves vs a set defense.
Now that yesterday is done… UH cannot afford to lose anymore home games and hope to stay in the top 4 of the conference. I guess the good news is that conference standing means nothing in the BWC because nobody is getting an at-large bid to the big dance. Everything rides on playing their best ball in the BWC tournament. Given what I’ve seen, UH has a ton of room to improve offensively. To mention football, I see UHMBB with the potential to Fresno St FB… Fresno was mess offensively for most of the year trying to rebuild lost pieces to the NFL. By the end of the year, the Fresno offense finally started to click and play better. UH had the bad luck of drawing Fresno at the last game of the season and predictably got beat badly. Had UH played Fresno early in the season, UH probably wins the game pretty easily because Fresno was that terrible.
Getting back to BB… UHMBB offensive sets are still a little unruly. UH is still trying to work in Janks, Nevels is out now, and so the starting 5 is still in flux. By the 2nd half of the BWC schedule, if UH smooths out their offense, they will be a dangerous team come tournament time.
As I said earlier, UH’s pesky defense is going to make every game winnable.
FUHA- I agree with you point. The team still hasn’t found their go to scorer because our guards are no looking for them. They seem to be the ones that either want to be the hero and make that last second shot or always making that cut to the basket only to pass the ball out late when they are in traffic in the lane. As I said earlier in regards to last nights game. NWC and Valdes were hot late and we failed to go back to them in the offense. Both Valdes and NWC were on the weak side open and Valdes on several plays was seen with his hands up asking for the ball for an open 3 And under the basket. I wasn’t the only one screaming during the game to pass him the ball when he was open either. Janks can shoot too and he was either out of te game for defensive purposes or not in on the rotation. This is where we broke down in regulation and OT. With Nevels back fully healthy this team will thrive. Now you say there is no go to guy is not right. We just failed to get them the ball in an offensive set.
The freshman did okay but we have to start going a little deeper down the bench and have other guys ready to go.
Go Bows.
CP’s trapping zone was different and it bother UH’s guards. CPs knows how to trap without getting called for the reach-in fouls. UHs guards couldn’t step thru and get an entry pass in. The early missed outside shots in the first half meant they gave up on the permeter shots and tried to go inside, and to avoid the trap they threw bad passes . I think the double tech fouls threw them off too. I think Issac was worried about the early foul…
Otto,
what really pissed me off was watching our guards get trapped and seeing the rest of our players just watch and not help.
Someone mentioned those lazy cross court lob passes – those were scary.
Jawato was sick, per G Dickman, last night. I didn’t see Brocke on the bench, only Zach with Garrett .
Joe Callero’s thoughts, click on 2nd picture on the left side of the webpage under “Top Stories”, below:
http://www.gopoly.com/sports/mbkb/index
We dont have a go to scorer , Nevels is sorely missed ,we hope is healing fast , all aspects of our game were poor, passing , turnovers on offense , lack of rebounding , shooting foul shots , etc.
We need a complete turnaround for saturday’s game ,come on Warriors , this is conference schedule time !! Lets Go!
If you watched the Wahine vs Cal Poly today, you can see what a very quick ball handling guard can do – she was too darn quick and either got past the Wahine guarding her or dished off an assist; 8 assists, 1 turnover; 5 rebounds and 19 points.
She ran rings around the Wahine, though Ashleigh and then Marissa were able to slow her down some.
islandman…know how you love women bb too…we want team do well
leahy and leahy interesting take…benjy acting coach..jim wait and see before offering turn him into HC..lock in..see how do in bwc…benjy humble..team too..never lost back to back games despite defections and ailments..benjy got there attention..still nwc..av…mt… rb..if..tons of talent..they have no where to go but up..finish strong..learn now..they were picked to finish 5 or 6 reven with fotu…just play loose, smart, tough and have fun..totslly confident uh mbb will get better and have winning record..when nevels and hopefully healthy shooting well jawato will be dangerous bwc tourney time
Laura Beeman said on tv sport newscast her team learning picked to finish 2nd bwc..she fully confident they will be at top come march..hope so…she pretty confident young lady..
and what happens?
Cal Poly upsets wahine 70-65 in cali..you are right those quick guards run rings around the muscular thick wahine guards..
crazy
one thing..,even steven…wahine 0-1, men. 0-1…hope they both win on saturday
I like benjy humble approach
bet team ready..cannot hesitate as selitto said on tonite’s animals..they have guys can create..yet go stiff..just loosen up..make solid mature passes,and finish game..MT leading shot blocker , really a 3 being rim protector
me thinks benjy just get more set rotation with jovanovich..just band and box out..
block everything and don’t jump with pump fakes
nortridge good..uh mbb play that last 7 minutes defense from star..they will beat csun
team time to prove they battling for top spots
wonder when nevels be ready?
Wahine= 0-1
Men= 0-1
Sat…hope both 1-1
Go Bows !!
🙂
RunBows — i didn’t realize Mike is now the leading blocker.
As for the Wahine, they were missing Kuehu and Toaeina today. The announcer pronounced it ” Kueehu “.
BM reports Benjy in charge of schedule last four years.
Okay… I’ll take a DIFFERENT TWIST to this Hawaii loss…
What if… Cal Poly is THAT GOOD? Don’t forget, last night was Cal Poly’s 4th Big West win in a row. Cal Poly is the reigning Big West champs! They clobbered Santa Barbara, beat Irvine, then beat Northridge for the championship last year… then won their first game in the NCAA tournament.
A couple of weeks ago, they gave Gonzaga a pretty good tussle… but you KNEW Coach Joe Callero had one thing on his mind this past few weeks… January 7… he circled that date and got his team damn ready to play on January 7. Getting video on Hawaii is so easy… Diamond Head Classic video is accessible from ESPN and Oceanic Cable televises ALL the Hawaii home games… so Callero’s staff has a lot of footage on Hawaii to watch… and to look for weaknesses, which they obviously did.
I wouldn’t be surprised if Cal Poly was top 3 in the Big West regular season… I think they’re THAT GOOD…. they play tough defense, they are very patient, they play as a TEAM, and they commit themselves to Callero’s game plans…
Hawaii may have better talent… but for now, Cal Poly plays like the better team.
I thought Cal Poly was just tougher; they came out and punched UH in the mouth, and the ‘Bows didn’t respond in kind. I think that’s where they missed Nevels; his toughness and his experience having gone through conference play.
Hopefully, the team learned that nothing is given in conference play; every victory will be hard-earned.
OTTO good observation.
bigdaddy: yes, Otto good observation. Now Benjy and staff, going over video, and have scout, do what needs to be done, you know all the other teams, will trap, and try to disrupt the UH guards, kind of turning the tables defensively on UH.. Team and Isaac fleming can do it.. just have to be smart.. well they have a tough loss on their hands.. they can learn from it.. come out strong, super strong on O and D, they can get their First BWC win, on Sat Jan 10 at SSC for the BWC.
Go Bows!!
Not fall on one guy, though wish, guards, would have kicked out to Aaron or Negus, during that last minute or so.. those guys were hot.. last plays of regulation, just seemed like team was very much exposed as lacking execution and experience.. Even Coach Taylor has to figure it out.. He mentioned how tough Poly would be, and he was right, every one of the remaining 15 BWC games, going to be a WAR..
Go Rainbow Warriors.. and Isaac Fleming.. just prepare for one win at a time, keep emotions in check. and learn.. someone, or two, has to step up as leader on the court.. maybe Bobbitt? Those lazy passes, killed UH too, and that 3 pt shot at end of game, Bobbitt telegraphed, pass, and Janks did not come to meet ball, he would have stepped in 3 feet closer, he would have had ball at top of key for the open 3 point shot to win game.. However, water under the bridge.. Hey.. only one game, one loss, UH live and learn, have to get better.. play BEST BALL, and healthy whole team, in March that is the Key, lot of games left !!
🙂
Hey bigdaddy, I assume you are either, former prep/HS or AAU coach for Isaac? Or just a keen basketball mind and ex college/HS Baskeball star from Delaware?
What would you do, any suggestions to son Isaac and the Team? How can the lock down, and avoid, what happened to them In Poly loss?
Just wondering.. I know, you check into this site by smart phone, so short blurbs..however we appreciate your insight..
Thanks bigdaddy.. Isaac Fleming, a talent.. I am just assuming, he is learning, as a freshman, first time BWC conference play and DI experience, remember a few weeks ago, he was all tournament team for DHC. .. so he can ball.
Thanks bigdaddy, shout out to Delaware !! and thanks for sharing Isaac Fleming with UH MBB program.. they STILL can HAVE good Season, I am confident of that.. smart very smart team, they will learn..
Runbow its all mental two techs two bad games when that happen the player is trying to stay in the game instead of playing the game.We discuss free throws ( always been 85 to 90 % shooter) instant replay at this level and maintaining your composure the scout is out.Basketball is simple play your game within the team concept.
I have noted it before, Quincy is a GO TO SCORER when the clock is running down. Quincy has an extraordinary WILL TO SCORE when the game is on the line. It seemed like Morgan was hitting those long threes all night long, but in reality, it was just there at the end when then game was on the line. He only hit three shots the whole game. It would seem the percentage was ‘to let him shoot’, especially from so far away. But he made all three shots. That still seems lucky. Quincy led his Junior College Team to an undefeated season, and if I can say it ‘not looking that lucky’, but rather looking like he was working really hard. Someone you actually would have a lot of confidence in. Not just hoping he would be lucky. Speaking up for Quincy, he works really hard to win games, and it shows especially at the end when the game is on the line.
That said, I agree with I think most here that Valdes had the hot hand. It depends how hot the hand is, but he was head and shoulders the stand out scorer of the game. If he was ready, and called for the ball, he should have been the first option. Hot hand = first option. Janks and NWC might be closers, and we are lucky to have second and third and fourth options, and we do. So it was just a call by Bobbitt, and a bit of miscommunication perhaps. But going with the Hot Hand is going with the flow. We are not talking about earning it, just who has the Hot Hand.
Going to the Hot Hand: I recall a line at the end of the film ‘The Unforgiven’, where Clint Eastwood says, “Its not a matter of ‘deserves'”. Give it to the Hot Hand. Its not a matter of ‘deserves’. Doesn’t matter who it is. Just playing the game. Just winning the the game. All in a days work.
You have to give props to Callero’s defensive game plan…should not have been a surprise to anyone as he has a history of taking teams out of their offensive schemes.
We obviously did not know how to react to their 1-3-1 and by making a chalkboard change at halftime without them actually ever doing it on court… we were left with a couple of futile diagonal passes from Bobbitt to Valdes that did not connect…if they had, it would have quickly broken down that defense. Those lobbing passes over their point defender, Nwaba, were the right move, but he is such a good athlete…made it dangerous.
Cal Poly has not lost a game yet at their horse barn and they will get plenty of wins this year due to their defensive skills. We will have more knowledge of what to expect next time and hopefully a healthy Nevels.
Great game last night at Irvine…Long Beach is tough and unfortunately for the BWC, Mamadou is back from his foot injury after missing 9 games.
Well, we are now officially strapped in for this conference ride…the good news is that our BWC traveling partner is a very good Davis team, which should give our opponents a tougher game than years past.
Focus now on CSUN…need to get our Mojo back.
GO BOWZ
I don’t know how many of you were watching Long Beach State beat UC Irvine last night because it was on one of the Fox Sports stations. If you saw it maybe you might agree with me that Long Beach was impressive and look like they want to be the “team to beat.”
Caffey is Caffey and he led the team to the win. The announcers were saying he is like a pro player out there but they have a lot of other weapons. Tyler Lamb is their sixth man or at least he was in last nights game and he is talented as anybody in the league.
By the way Irvine had Big Mamadou back and you can see the difference he makes when he is in. Nothing goes inside but he is also super slow so easy to beat him in transition. The shooter Luke Nelson was still out for Irvine and the announcers said he is a big loss until he come back.
UH need to improve quick because some good teams to play this year! I think UH so young that they have the most room for improvement and that makes them dangerous against everybody.
Didn’t Cal Poly beat us handily last year at home and away? The fact that this was a close game and could have been a win if we took better care of the ball down the stretch and played fundamental basketball at the end tells me that UH is better than last year; and they can and will overcome these mental relapses. This is the second big game that we shot ourselves in the foot. But these things are fixable. Now we just need to go back to Cal Poly and steal a win from them.
servant, we lost last year’s away game but then beat them at the ssc.
Last year, Cal Poly beat us by 12 there, but lost to UH by 9 later at SSC, as Tavs mentioned.
( Wahine lost two close games last year to Cal Poly, then by 14 pts in the Big West tournament).
I noticed that UH beat St Mary’s last year in the DHC.
my starting five while nevels is out:
jovanovic, janks, fleming, bobbit, valdes. janks with the tip off.
islandman, yep, I was at the st.mary’s game. i can’t remember the score but i remember we beat them comfortably.
TAVS… if you’re talking about last season’s St. Mary’s game, I believe we won by only 2 points… it was a last second shot by Christan Standhardinger… it WAS a great game!
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=GOXTl2VBhvw