Men’s basketball: Hawaii vs. Maine
In the most one-sided victory of the season, Eddie Stansberry scored 21 and Samuta Avea added 17 as Hawaii overpowered Maine, 91-51, today in the Stan Sheriff Center.
Stansberry connected on two of 28 3-point shots in the Diamond Head Classic, but he hit his first two treys as the ‘Bows raced to a 10-0 lead.
The game marked Eran Ganot’s return to the sideline after 51 days medical leave.
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The ‘Bows have hit 10 of their first 14 shots of the second half to widen their lead to 71-34 with 11:16 to play.
Brian McInnis is checking, but it appears UH is entering the top 10 of biggest blowouts.
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Despite a debatable play near the end of the first half — Drew Buggs’ apparent 3 was nullified because of a shot-clock violation — the Rainbow Warriors still took a 44-27 lead into the intermission.
Samuta Avea had 15 first-point points, the most spectacular a one-handed jam on a pass from Buggs.
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Samuta Avea’s tip-dunk of Drew Buggs’ missed 3 gives him 13 first-half points and extends UH’s lead to 42-22 at the fourth media timeout (3:50 left in the first half).
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Samuta Avea’s 11 points have paced the ‘Bows to a 31-18 lead at the third media timeout.
Andrew Fleming, Maine’s leading scorer entering the game, has not taken a shot. He has committed a turnover.
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The ‘Bows have hit 77.8 percent of their shots in taking a 22-13 lead at the second media timeout.
Sergio El Darwich leads the Bears with eight points.
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The ‘Bows stormed to a 10-0 lead thanks to Eddie Stansberry’s regained shooting touch.
Stansberry, who hit two of 28 3-point shots in the recent Diamond Head Classic, swished his first two 3s today.
Samuta Avea added seven points as the ‘Bows led, 13-5, at the first media timeout.
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The Rainbow Warriors play host to the Black Bears in the final non-conference game before opening league play on Jan. 8.
This also marks the return to the bench/sideline for head coach Eran Ganot, who was on medical leave for 51 days. Offensive coordinator Chris Gerlufsen had served as acting head coach, compiling an 8-5 record.
The Bears, according to the scouting reports, play at a deliberate tempo. They are a post-up team shooting better than 50 percent inside the 3-point arc.
seeing trevor ruffin on the jumbotron was jarring. i thought he died. ruffin against louisville at the neal blaisdell center was the most thrilling performance i ever witnessed live by a hawaii athlete. the 3-point line was only 19’9″, but ruffin was shooting well-beyond the line.
all of eddie stansberry’s misses from long-distance drew iron. i am encouraged. i am also encouraged that the team was sharp from the outset. they like their head coach.
welcome back, eran ganot.
great job, chris gerlufson. that utep game was awesome.
it was slightly dispiriting to see some of our bigs being outplayed by a team that lost to dartmouth at home by 29. the american east is all about vermont.
We need bigs like Da Silva. Enough of the slow plodding type. I hope when Hulland comes back, UH can rotate Da Silva, Hulland and Raimo in the post and mix and match. I have lost confidence in Carper. Never seen a 7ft get blocked so much like Carper is being blocked. Dude need to go hard and go fast to the rim.
He can get away with just laying it in the hoops in HS but at D1 everybody can jump so he have to go hard and fast to the bucket.
I hope Da Silva doesn’t join the football team.
DaSilva looked good. And more importantly, he realized that the other team was Maine. I think the other big was having Power 5 flashbacks. Before the tournament, he was functional. Confidence issues, right now. I’m hoping for 6 points and 4 rebounds from him during the conference season.
Just arWound the corner. HAPPY NEW YEAR
Carper is too nice. Soft on the block. Need to get meaner. More passionate. Watch some John Molle video tapes. Hang around with Pritchard and Mautautia for a week maybe. Needs to get something going with his physicality. So much potential there. Or work on the elbow jumper if you cant post on the block. Somebody help him. Seems like a very nice guy. Too nice.
The late John Molle; that guy was a bulldog. If he could dunk, he wouldn’t be laying it up gently against the glass. Rodrick Bobbitt should take all of our backcourt guys to Tantalus and have a primal scream session.
I’m just catching up on the game on the Big West TV site.
Holy moly, I hate to be that guy, but the in-arena announcer is horrible. My Auntie Nancy would be more exciting and she’s OLD.
They need to bring the volleyball announcer in for basketball games.
RealTimeRPI has Hawaii finishing 11-5 in conference including losses on the road in their first two games.
http://realtimerpi.com/rpi_418_Men.html
Maybe Madut could make a difference? A more aggressive Carper will. Samuta needs to pass off penetration a little more (lots of open backdoor when he drives). Set up Stansberry with more kickouts and swing passes instead of depending on him to create for himself. Trust Raimo (inside out), Trust Hensley (to glue). Play a little better team defense. And let Buggs do his thing.
Big West is predicted (via RealTimeRPI numbers) to be a three team toss up this year with UH one of the three. Coaching staff is a much stronger unit top to bottom now. Can do.
HAPPY NEW YEAR, BLOG !!!
GO WARRIORS !!!
2020 MWC CHAMPIONS !!!
UH opened against Florida A & M. Florida A & M upset Iowa State at their place. Hawaii could have been one of those teams. They were deadlocked with Oregon at the half. Texas Southern took the Ducks almost down to the wire. Oregon got separation around the three-minute mark.
There is no reason both the men and women’s teams can’t win the Big West and get to the NCAAs. The conference looks down on both fronts.
Junior Madot comes advertised as being able to shoot off the dribble. If Madot is Dominic Waters, he’ll help. If Madot was eligible for the fall semester, Coach Ganot could have redshirted Kameron Ng, albeit a walk-on. He looked good in the waning moments against Maine.
January 1, 2020 and no new blog entry by ST.
On this day 13 years ago I made my first comment after ST indicated he might close down the blog until UH football started up again.
Here are second to fourth posts of the day:
Yep….Happy New Year everybody. And thank you Stephen Tsai. Awesome.
Hulland is practicing, per today’s paper but the team had 3 days off ending today.
Good morning Tsaikos on a wet and raining morning.
13.
Hulland’s 14 point outburst at Pauley Pavilion was intriguing. Shades of Jarinn Akana at Chapel Hill.
Balangardi to join the upcoming Mayoral race. Former UH assistant coach, color analyst, and executive at KGMB and KHNL where he set up UH sports packages that helped expose the Hawaii Athletics programs and brought in millions in revenue for the University. I wonder if he does become Mayor if his influence can help Hawaii Athletics once again. Lots of other more important problems on his agenda (per SA article) but UH Athletics is a big part of his persona. Maybe he could lend some guidance (as Mayor or not) later. Seems like an efficient leader.
You win in Hoops if you score more points than the opposing team. If UH cannot shoot its gonna be a long season. Their inside game is average at best. Could be a long season unfortunately.
#10. I would think Madut will redshirt. For one, he’s way behind picking up offensive and defensive sets. For another, it wouldn’t be fair to Madut to burn one of his two seasons of eligibility for a half season of marginal playing minutes. If there’s an emergency need at guard, maybe. If not, he should redshirt, learn the system, help the scout team, adjust to academic demands and have two full seasons to play.
Ganot always seems to be one player away. This season he’s missing something. Next year we will probably say the same thing. But the Big West is just so wide open for UH to take. Madut may make a difference now. He should make a difference next season. But maybe he will be that “one player” that will be the difference maker two years from now. Big West contenders for sure. Tough decision to make considering Beon Ja Riley for next season. Just stay healthy everybody.
18.
my bad. i thought madut was practicing with the team.
Stansberry clutch.
Buggs cluth.
Hawaii beat a team that beat UCLA at Pauley.
Two players played kinda sucky.
But Hawaii always has a chance if that sucky player isn’t Stansberry.
Not a big turnout for Titans basketball. That helped. Neutral court atmosphere.