UPDATED: Valdes, Bobbitt shine in Warriors’ rout of Howard
Hawai’i’s non-conference men’s basketball finale Saturday night lived up to its billing as a “numbers game,” and the Rainbow Warriors ended up with more than enough of them to pull away from Howard, 94-59.
A highly entertained Stan Sheriff Crowd of 6,043 watched Roderick Bobbitt score a game-high 31 points, including 20 in the first half, and Aaron Valdes record only the third triple-double in program history with 16 points, 15 rebounds and 11 assists as the Rainbow Warriors closed out non-conference play at 11-2 entering Wednesday’s Big West opener at home vs. Cal Poly. Howard fell to 7-8.
Hawai’i withstood a 29-point performance by the nation’s leading scorer, James Daniel III, a dynamic 5-foot-10 whirling dervish.
Quincy Smith added 15 points, four boards and three assists for the Rainbow Warriors.
“It was a great team win, everybody contributed and did their part,” said Valdes, who joined Bobbitt (12 points, 10 assists, 10 steals vs. UH-Hilo in 2014) and former NBA starter Reggie Carter (12 points, 12 assists, 11 boards in 1975) in the exclusive Rainbow Warrior Triple-Double Club.
Bobbitt and Daniel, who entered the night leading the nation with a 29 points-per-game average, put on a spectacular show in the first half by scoring 20 points each.
Bobbitt opened the game with a deep 3-pointer from the left wing, then later hit back-to-back 3’s to cap a stunning 20-2 run which put Hawai’i ahead, 30-10, midway through the first half. Daniel answered with his own consecutive 3’s to cut it to 30-16, and after the Rainbow Warriors later stretched the lead to 45-26 on Bobbitt’s 3-pointer from the top of the key, Daniel immediately answered again with his own triplet to cut it to 45-29 with 2:48 remaining.
Bobbitt drained yet another 3-pointer — his sixth of the half in seven attempts — to give UH a 50-33 lead with 1:32 left before halftime, but Daniel responded with his fourth 3-pointer (in six attempts) to cut it to 50-36 with 26 seconds remaining, and that’s where the score stood at the break.
Bobbitt added three assists and one steal in the first half, and Daniel had four assists and one steal in the first 20 minutes.
“(Daniel) probably gets more ball screens than everyone else, and we did not do a very good job on him to finish the half,” Ganot said. “But we knew he was going to be a heck of a cover.”
As for Bobbitt, who had back-to-back 30-point games against No. 3-ranked Oklahoma and Auburn less than two weeks ago, Ganot said, “He’s a competitor, and he naturally rises to the occasion. Now, he’s even more consistent in rising to the challenges.”
The Bisons closed it to 55-45 on Daniel’s 3-pointer five minutes into the second half, but Isaac Fleming, Valdes and Smith scored on consecutive layups to start a 17-3 lead capped by Stefan Jankovic’s layup to extend the lead to 72-48 with 10:26 remaining, and Howard could not get closer than 21 points the rest of the way.
Daniel exited the game with over five minutes remaining, and Valdes reached his triple-double with a 10th assist courtesy of Smith’s late 3-point basket.
“Gotta thank Quincy for that,” Valdes said.
Ganot said Valdes “is under-rated as a passer.”
Overall, the Rainbow Warriors notched 24 assists on 33 field goals, after dishing 24 assists on 31 field goals vs. Mississippi Valley State on Tuesday.
“The hardest thing to guard is ball movement,” Ganot said, “so we need to continue with sharing the ball.”
Said Smith: “When we share the ball, we get the shots we want, whether they sag off on us or guard us close.”
Especially in the second half, UH was effective at off-ball cuts to the basket through Howard’s zone defense, leading to crisp interior passes and high-percentage baskets. Hawai’i out-scored the Bisons, 40-10, in the paint.
“We know each other’s tendencies, so we know where each other is going to be,” Valdes said.
Smith was a beneficiary of that attack, scoring on 7 of 11 field goals, including five layups. He also swished a floating baseline runner and a 3-pointer from the right wing.
“One of the ways to attack is to make him a cutter,” Ganot said. “To be good, we gotta be able to play different ways, with different styles. It’s a misconception that against the zone, you just need to shoot 3’s. You gotta be able to score inside and out, even against a zone.”
Ganot said he is grateful for “putting the non-conference (schedule) to bed,” and for getting through it relatively unscathed health-wise.
“We’re about as close as you can be (to 100 percent health) through the grind of the season,” Ganot said, adding that “this group is very good when they are fresh.”
After the post-game singing of the alma mater, the Rainbow Warriors dished out one bonus assist — forming a “human tunnel” for the UH women’s basketball team running onto the court for warmups against Penn in the doubleheader nightcap. In what is believed to be a program first for a men’s/women’s doubleheader, the men played first at 5:30 p.m. followed by the women at 8 p.m.
Ganot said the tunnel came as a result of emcee Bill Van Osdol’s last-minute request.
“Gotta give Billy V an assist on that one,” Ganot said.
(Game photos courtesy Matt Osumi)
Poor shooters’ defense.
Improved team-offense provide leading marginal spacing creates invincibility!
Way to avoid 6-2, 4-4 in conference home, road win-lost respectively?
Great win! Looking forward to the 1st conference game on wed. Should be a good matchup. Bows need to stay out of foul trouble. Take care of the ball, play smart! Love this team!
Let’s go Bows!!
KellyO and Bigdaddy, enjoy your comments and real perspective, support the team, hope they do well,. Keep that passion for MBB going.
And I hope things turn out alright.
Aloha and Much Mahalo to WI too, for allowing share of opinions.
Uhfanzonly1 out.
Go Bows and Warriors , you all chase your hoop dreams !
🙂
Fleming is smooth, he bamboozled the refs and wasn’t called for traveling one time. They showed it on TV, he had dribbled, picked up the ball and bounced it one more time. But i thought he worked hard to stay with Daniel as did Q, Roderick and any others. I thought Daniel was pretty good at dribbling to get his shots and he only started missing a lot near the end of the game.
As far as this is Otto’s or the same team as last year ,
” … Callero might wonder if they’re the same guys. It’s obvious they’re different players than a year ago, with expanded skill sets.
‘ If they’re the same players as last year, we’re in trouble,’ first-year coach Eran Ganot said, when asked about the improvement of individuals that were a big part in UH winning 22 games last season. They were 12-4 headed into conference play last season, 11-2 now.” (Reardon column today)
N2: 10-6, Would Be About The Best They’ve Done in BWC…
“MAYBE” Better?
(Look Forward to Complete WI Synopsis)
2012: WAC 6-8 6th
2013: BWC 10-8 5th
2014: BWC 9-7 4th
2015: BWC: 8-8 5th (Tourney Championship Game Loss)
Kenpom who (Relatively Accurately Projected 11-2 Pre-Season)
Projects 12-4 BIG WEST Run
(That Would Be ‘Classic’ .500 Road, Sweep Home or Similar)
Of Course, BOO Birds Say, Prove It!)
At Very Least In Two Short Weeks we get a Quick 25% Indication:
Two of Top Three Challengers @ Home, Two ‘Winnable’ Road Games…
Zebras Don’t CHANGE Colors, Do They?
BUT This Team Already Looks Very Different from Last Years’…
GO ‘BOWS!
Happy New Year Warrior Insider Supporters, Players and Families,
My family would like to wish everyone a happy new year. Thank you to the players who are great, young men. My son continues to look up to all of you. He and his friends enjoyed copying all the players on the bench after a “3” was made, or a dunk or whatever crazy antics you all did. The team is a team regardless if you are on the court or not.
It was great to see all the players get time in, and of course kudos to the great game and records broken in last nights game. I did a brief read of some of the recent posts. I see that everyone is still going back and forth of which coach/coaches should take credit for the current success. I would like to give the credit to the players and players’ families. They are the ones who continue to grow through all of the changes that the University has gone through. The families continue to send their sons over the ocean so the players can be apart of OUR team. The players are growing and rounding out their games so well. It fills my heart with pride to know that we can support THIS team and THESE players.
Thank you UH men’s basketball team for always giving us something to talk about! Thank you to the WI staff for the quality write ups, photos and video that you provide to all of us.
New Year’s Resolutions: To have all posts be positive, to support the UH men as solid student athletes and to be thankful that we all live in the beautiful land of ALOHA! Go Bows!
Up to # 56 @ Kenpom.com
Surprise! More Than 6,000 In-House Last Night
More (Like a Dozen in our Area) asking How to Find their Seats
(Lower Bowl? Don’t Understand That, Yet — S’posed to be ‘Sold Out Neighborhood’)
CROWD WAS LOUD!
For UHMBB: THIS is a FUN TEAM To Watch, People
IF You’re One of those “Opponent Watchers”
CAL-POLY
And BWC Got NEXT Eight / 16 with Road
BUT ONLY IF OC-16 Was a Full-Time Player…
Whatever Probability And Statistcs Mean …
‘Cos THIS Team is Continuing to IMPROVE EACH GAME Without Regression And Slippage
AND EXCEED Previous Projections
Favored ALL Home Games
AND NOW Within ONE POINT of being FAVORED ALL GAMES in BWC
INCLUDING THE ROAD…
GO ‘BOWS!
May Be ABOVE And BEYOND
——————
IF YOU’RE One of THOSE “Laughing” At ‘Improving Projections’,
Maybe you just need a little more time
OR (We ALL) NEED some BWC Evidence
To Get Off of our PRE-Judices
Maybe NOT Every Decision is Wrong,,,
Maybe Matlin IS Good (I Don’t Have a Complete Opinion Yet)
AND Tough Enough to Get to Work
Despite WHO He Gotta “Work For”
(I Think Even They Can Tell It IS Them On The HOT Seat…)
THAT ‘Could’ Be One of The Reasons
They’re NOT Being Handed Solutions And Success…
I Don’t Like UH ADMIN OR State Lack-of-Leaders, Either
It IS Almost Criminal to Allow The Degradation of Your OWN Benchmark, Marquis, Front-Porch Programs
BUT At Some Point We Gotta Turn This Ship Into The Wind…
eagle ….6,043 could be tickets issued ? The SA said attendance was 4,288 .
To those who may knock the Wahine’s performance, they did win the 2nd half of the game, although you want to win the whole game. Also, the Ivy League is currently ranked 14th in conference RPI for the Women and the Big West is ranked 21st.
The Ivy League is ranked 19th in conference RPI for the Men, while the Big West is currently ranked 12th. This could change, i assume, because the West Coast is ranked 16th. The Mid-Eastern which Howard Univ. plays in is ranked 31st out of 32 conferences.
Can’t wait for the Wednesday game against Cal Poly! Gotta redeem last year’s at home loss. I’m confident we’ll win but it’s definitely going to be a close game. If memory serves me correctly, Cal Poly likes to shoot threes.
The wahine just need to cut down on the turnovers. The first quarter was very ugly.
Yes, Morgan and Sutlive, who are making most of Cal Poly’s 3’s are shooting them at 47.7 and 47.5 %. Nwaba is the leading scorer and rebounder at 11.5 pts and 5.6 rebounds per game. Also, has 61 assists to 28 turnovers with 22 steals.
How I look at it, this year’s team got more discipline than last year’s team. That’s one of the reasons why I feel that they will be able to handle the Big West teams this year. Plus we have a coach whose strength is in game preparation and strategy. We have been lacking this from our previous coaches and that’s why some inferior teams would occasionally whip our butts in the BW. But of course the other abilities are teaching fundamentals and recruiting. The former he is probably good at, but the later is a still a question mark. You can be a good fundamental and strategy coach but if you can’t recruit the athletes (Nash) you’re dead in the water.
servante,
Ganot is good at recruiting. For all you doubters, check out his bio at the Saint Mary’s website: http://www.smcgaels.com/ViewArticle.dbml?ATCLID=204951407
Ok now try recruit to Hawaii? That’s why I said it’s a question mark because until now he has not recruited anyone noteworthy.
Owies, Buggs, and Purchase sound promising. Drammeh definitely has skills – just has to adjust to D-I. Tummala may be inconsistent but he has proven his worth to the team. He’s very composed and brings great leadership, as evidenced in the Auburn game.
servante
Recruiting ..uh mbb team and former team..let’s compare previous coach 1st recruiting class Bo Barnes..Dominic Brumfield..Jordan Coleman..Vander Joaquim..Bobby Miles..Anthony Salter Josten Thomas and Trevor Wiseman..mentioned guys I don’t think none ever graduated..correct me if i’m wrong..jmo..one of the worst recruiting classes ever at uh mbb..jmo..
Next years recruiting class..just wait..harder to recruit because of postseason ban..who would want to come to Hawaii..I would like to see current coach recruit local..uh mbb good to go..jmo..still I bet that 1 million mangoes uh mbb will have a similar recruiting class as above maybe could be the worst in uh mbb history..
go bows!!
Numbers don’t lie:
*Points per game:
Last year: 73 / This year: 81
*Field goal percentage:
Last year: 43.8 / This year: 47.8
*Rebounds:
Last year: 35 per game / This year: 39 per game
*Assists:
Last year: 13 per game / This year: 17 per game
warriorhaw and servante, and other die hard fans…Walter Roese and otto were relentless recruiters, just horrible recruiting class there first year..How much money does current uh mbb team have to spend to send assistants out on trips to scout?..Instead, uh mbb watch local hoops Kaiser, Iolani, Punahou still actively recruiting, if possible that final Right Fit, SF or PF to shore up front court..the 5 new guys flying in first week of July..and be here for Summer, all preparing working very hard for next season..
servante, the most important last information of the day.. I remembered otto 2nd year recruiting class not too good either ..2011-2012 Recruiting Class
Dillon Biggs, 6-7, 195, F, Fr., Los Angles, Calif., Dorsey HS
Gerry Blakes, G, 6-4, 175, Fr., Inglewood, Calif., Morningside HS
Hauns Brereton, F, 6-7, 205, Jr., Bartlett, Tenn., Western Nebraska CC
DeShawn Mitchell, G, 6-5, 205, Jr., Newark, N.J., Snow College (Utah)
Ronnie Stevens, F, 6-8, 225, Fr., Gardena, Calif., Serra HS
Shaquille Stokes, G, 5-10, 160, Fr., Brooklyn, N.Y., Lincoln HS
Hit or miss and they missed for the most part.. whatever happens to uh mbb recruting..PONO..For uh mbb fans that no more cancel illegal financial boosters not PONO..warrior insider nation not happy..I think uh mbb staff have what it takes to secure athletes..if can to get recruit
whole uh mbb fandom..what a relief!! Now uh go have fun I am happy..can sleep now
mahalo pono!!
get recruits and ready to rock..
go rainbow warriors!!
MBBHoops,
Who would want to come to Hawaii despite post-season ban? If this current team continues to do well and wins the BWC and the tourney – therefore further proving that Ganot is a tremendous coach – players will want to come to Hawaii. If current Juniors like Hawaii, are close knit like they say they are, feel like they’re improving under Ganot, and continue to win, I think they’ll stay despite a post-season ban. Why risk going to another school for one year and risk not fitting in with a new system, new coach, and new teammates? That’s a gamble that could ruin a career.
Perfect example is Keith Shamburger. Was a starter at UH, had a great winning season, but then decided to transfer to SEC school Missouri. What happened? Mizzou ended with a 9-23 season and finished last in the SEC. What’s Shamburger doing now? Sitting at home in Cali not playing pro-ball. I’m confident his post-college career would have been different had he stayed at UH.
Bobbitt and Valdes co-BWC Players of the Week?
I would hope so.. really great game they had.
some online or espn commentator, saying UH will finish 53rd RPI and make the ncaa tournament.. I still say, MBB team and coach G.. don’t pay attention to that distraction.. just win One game at a time. and have to Win BWC tournament to guarantee NCAA invite. an at large for BWC conference very hard to get.. if any chance..Go Bows and Warriors !
🙂
A lot of the MBB fans between 50 and 90 years of age remember the first NCAA probation, took long time to come out of that 2 year penalty..last NIT appearance 1974.. post season ban..2 year period..1977-79..then next NIT appearance 1989.. that was long and tough road .. to wait..
I remember, and a lot of old fans remember.. that 24 year wait for bigger dance invite was a long time..Same with this 3 year probation, going to take time get good recruits, like Houston/ Smalls,/ Beaubrun/ Lott and company, those were great gets. really strong athletic defensive minded teams..
NCAA probation never good. Ganot has a challenge.feel for him..Walkons. or Europe,or some gets from Australia maybe, or some freshmen wanting to play from local HS or Cali..under radar types.maybe come here during ban. RECUITING TO HAWAII TOUGH AS IT IS.. Ganot has that challenge.. AND I agree to disagree.. WAIT fans. let us see how Eran does coaching in conference against really good coaches. they might not have overall talent of UH. top 8 , however at their gyms they are awesome..hope the best..for the Bow Warriors !
eagle:
enjoy your enthusiasm, and KellyO the balance, bigdaddy94 the thoughts the heart and mind of the guards, what they really feel.
My feeling, I know I cannot go, in seventh decade and handicapped, home bound… with this team on verge of starting BWC season before hitting the road at 14-2, best start in decades.. in conference play.
NO reason that 8000 EVERY night should not be in house attendance.. if only 6000 as you say, with another 4300 empty seats , that is a travesty.. those EXTRA 4300 are still awaiting whatever comes next. post season or not for next season. or other things on their minds.
Otto, great coach and you can get auto to from Otto..great sense of humor and good guy.
Loved that Bows. team 2014-15, The Best coaching and mentoring job in MBB history.. because of the horrible circumstances. we love you Otto III. !!
🙂
And this years Warriors . Go get an ncaa bid for Otto III..!!
🙂
Good Points on Post-Season versus PROGRAM, PLACE And PEOPLE/ (Teammates & Staff)
Tummala said IF HE “understood the vibe’ @ Hawai’i he’d have been here three years;
Aaron Valdês (and family) paid their own way;
ALL The Players Would (NOW) have a Lower Cost of (Not-So-Much) Living almost anywhere else,
AND Suffer Lower Cost of Attendance Subsidies here;
The TOTAL “POST–Season” the Last Three Years has been A BWC Tourney LOSS Each Year And TWO Wins Last Year…
(I DO Want UHAdmin to FINALLY Stand and Fight FOR (Not Against!) The Players And Announce APPEAL Today or Soon…)
IF they’re here Now they probably understand (at a Deeper Level Than US) WHY they’re here…
Much) = Not Caught Typo [Not New Name–Laugh]
UHf1 and 12:26 am post, the bracketology is assuming UH wins the Big West tournament.
As far as attendance, maybe times have changed economically and can we still get 8,000 fans through the turnstiles ?
Regarding a post-season ban, Connecticut won the national championship the next year after its post-season ban in 2012-13. But i think they had only one senior who transferred out for 2012-13. For the sanctions against UH in 1977, they had probation for two years, did that include a post-season ban ?
MBBHoops, are you related to Uhf1 ?
Islandman, are you paranoid? ha, ha, j/k. I was wondering when someone was going to comment and I didn’t want to sound paranoid myself. lol. When you see a new blog name pop up several times, you do tend to wonder and start to examine the style and content.
Happy New Year to everyone.
Joe Lunardi has Hawaii in the braketology right now as a 13 seed going against #4 seed Louisville in the Midwest regional. Very interesting going up against Rick Pitino, another school that is being investigated for some shading recruiting involving call girls set up by a former assistant.
I will say this about this year’s team. They play well together and look for the open man. Yeah, more improvement is needed, but you can see progress and the team is getting better. The good sign is that the team wins convincingly when they are supposed to win so they take care of business. The 2 losses, at Teaxas Tech and Oklahoma in the DHC
are no slouches. In fact, Texas Tech has lost only one game and The Sooners are still undefeated at 12-0. Tech is 11-1. I like this team and Ganot and his staff are doing a fantastic job. No comparison between this staff and Taylor and Arnold staffs. This staff knows what the hell they are doing and are not being out coached.
And nice to see that Manroop Clair is doing much better at Seattle. He’s shooting a lot of 3s for them. He’s still a junior so he’s still going to get better. I thought he would turn into a good player. It was such a disappointment for me as Arnold ran him out and didn’t see his potential. When he came into the UH program Clair was still 17 years old. Had he stayed, Clair would be a senior this year and he certainly would help the team with more firepower and hustle. Still pissed with Arnold for that.
MENTION in Bracketology….
Getting ‘Some’ Attention…
?Was Declaring “No New Name”
Paranoid as Well?
That Doesn’t Mean We’re NOT Being “Followed”
No Wait! That’s the Twitter-Verse….
IM — It Looked A Lot More Like 4000
SO Gib, Benjy AND ERAN ALL Want The Bigger Number?
Still … I think I See Some Changes….
NJ: Any OR Every One of Those Improved Stats Could Become “One More WIN”
I Believe they ARE Big Part of Margins of Victories, CONSISTENCY And are Feeding The Improving Power Ratings
There is no doubt that Ganot can recruit. Look at the St Mary’s team that he helped to assemble. They are one of the best teams on the west coast with a record of 13-1 with their lone loss to Cal. They also don’t have a single senior on their roster. You need to give Ganot some time since he was dealt a bad hand with the loss of scholarships and the NCAA punishments but I think he will be a better recruiter for his system. It seemed like Gib went after talent and sometimes it didn’t fit into what he was trying to run which is why a number of players got into it with him. St Mary’s has a system and recruits good players who also fit into it. Pineau and Fitzner their bigs who have ties to Hawaii are a stellar duo who can shoot the ball and play in space. I think Purchase can fill a similar role.
Nice if Ganot take it to another level in 3 years after the smoke clears from Ban and scholarship reductions..NCAA run to championship, need NBA type players.. AC Carters, Tom Hendersons, Tommy Barkers, Predrag Savovic, Trevor Ruffin, Bob Nash’s, why settle for down under kids, unless, they are the few diamond in the rough, Bogut, Longley, Jack Purchase uncle, or friend, relative Andrew Gaze, Delly from the Cavs,. Patty Mills from San Anton..
Going be super tough to get guys out of Kahuku, or better yet, some Punahous, St Louis, Iolani, Kaiser, and Mid Pacific, always has the big kids. 6’9″ transfers, sometimes from euro.. I tell you.. if recruiting is shot.. with the NEGATIVE recruiting against Eran and staff..ERAN listen up.. get a couple maybe even 4 or 5, the best that you feel can play some forwards and guards.. freshmen .. from local HS. or military ex ballers..They would Gladly, I tell you be estatics to play for Hawaii, even if UH has one year ban.. just enjoy going to UH manoa and represent the * 808 .. our younger fans in our family. if Eran his first 9 guys he uses to play during the Post Season ban year next season.. 4 of the first 8 are from Hawaii , HS, or transfers back to Hawaii from mainland schools. guaranteed. 4800 will show, up.. no pressure,.lot of luau and poke, tail gate.. and MAKE the tickets even cheaper, local boys on team, during down year.. will bring back excitement.. guaranteed… why not..? give the Hawaii boys a chance.. if not.. sad.. only chance for local boys to play DI for maybe next 10 years.. if they good enough.. chance em, take, Chance from Kaiser, and that 6;8″ guys from a couple of HS.. locally you won’t regret it.
Excellent pre-conference performance by the Warriors. Already in double digit wins! The combined record of the two teams we lost to is 23 – 1. One of them is ranked #2 in the nation and playing against the #1. I’ll be rooting for OU to pull the ‘upset’, as it should elevate them as the runaway top dog in the nation.
Guys, this year’s team is special. From the players, to the coaching staff, everyone is locked in and committed. If we can stay healthy this year, we can not only make a run in the conference, but a run in the big dance isn’t out of the question. These statements are not unfounded. Our team has been improving every year for the past 4 years: 16 wins, 17, 20, up to 22 last year. This year we’re already at 11 with 16 winnable conference games coming up, plus the Big West tournament. 25 wins is not out of the question.
I’ll boldly predict a 7 – 1 home conference record and 6 -2 on the road bringing our record to 24 – 5 come post-season. Then 27 – 5 after we’re done with the Big West tournament for the automatic berth and perhaps an 11 or 12 seeding?
This is the years boys…let’s do it! Let’s GO BOWS!!!!!
I’m hoping too that Ganot will bring in good players. If he does he could really take this team to another level. We have not had a big time coach at Hawaii. Ganot could put us on the map. By now everyone knows he can coach Yes Gib did not recruit anyone special in his first year. But we all know he is a good recruiter because he’s proven it. Ganot could well be a good recruiter for Hawaii. But we have no stats on that yet. Only time will tell.
Servante :
Give Eran the BWC season. see how he coaches.. on the road, and against well scouted opponents.. Cal Davis, LBSU, Irvine, UCSB.. has some excellent coaches, in their little arenas they are like the Golden St. Warriors..
When Jim Halm, Bruce O’Neil, Rick Pitino, where scouring the mainland for the Melton Werts, Tom Barkers, Rod Aldridges, Phil Lotts, Ray Reeds, , Troy Bowes, Cliff Beaubruns,Tim Shepherds. , Tony Marnoneys, Tom Hendersons, Thomas Loudens, Boyd Batts, Keith Bowmans, Victor Tiny Kelly, Jerome Freeman, Al Davis, Dwight Holiday, Reggie Carters. Henry Hollingsworths, George Letts..Andre Morgans..man.. they was some athletes. from rural areas or inner city, tough love places. that is the type of athletes UH need to advance in NCAA tournament..one day… have to be BEASTS.. one Isaac Fotu, would have dominated his Junior and this his Senior year if he was still here.
Some down under guys.. okay.have to be great ones.. developmental.. however the rural and inner city USA 2plus to 4 star athletes. who fit Hawaii/ team ball. UH can go FAR in the NCAA tournament.. sad to say , with the politics at UH. and MBB limbo. might take 3 or 4 years. to get consistent again..
add Riley and Jamie Dixon and Bob Nash on staff on getting some of those great rural and inner city tough kids.. made a diffenrence. some of those guys they got played in NBA..
As far as tough inner city recruits, how were Puida, Ostler, Karl English, Phil Martin, Savovic,Mark Campbell, Burneika,Haim S, McIntyre, Akpan. Were they from the inner city ? They were part of at least one of the last two teams that made the NCAA’s in 2000-01 and 2001-02. Which of those players did Jackson recruit ?
As far as beasts, Oklahoma didn’t have a beast playing today, other than Spangler, losing to Kansas. I only saw the last few seconds of the game and haven’t followed Kansas but Ellis doesn’t look like too much of a physical beast but plays very well.
Besides politics, it was the actions of former coaches and their aggravating the situation that set UH back.
Valerie. Happy new year to you and your family. Great post and well said. If only the Australian guard got on it would have been a great way to enter the new season. Thought being up by 30+ every player would hit the floor. Poor form on coaches as I agree these young men do us all proud. Hope new recruits don’t read into this too much.