Ganot’s time is now
A new chapter of Hawaii men’s basketball begins on Thursday.
Eran Ganot will be introduced as the Rainbow Warriors’ new coach, the 21st in program history.
This is a position Ganot sought for some time, even at his young age of 33 — his youth is a little deceptive when you consider he’s been a coach pretty much since his playing days at Swarthmore came to an end.
He’s spoken about how he would only want to coach at a place he felt a special meaning and connection, and UH is on that short list. His regular trips back to the islands over the last several summers back that up.
Ganot’s choice over interim coach Benjy Taylor has certainly set some folks off, as a listen to local sports radio or perusal of message boards will testify. Ultimately, it went beyond the many on-court successes for Taylor and the 2014-15 Rainbows (more on that in Thursday’s print edition), but they should still be saluted for what they accomplished.
Now, who stays, and who goes?
First, Ganot will have to assemble a staff of his own. He may consider elements of the current crew — Senque Carey, Brandon Loyd, Brad Autry and Jamie Smith — or bring in a totally new group from the outside. Associate head coach and regular assistant positions were posted on the “Work at UH” site on Wednesday.
Of course, player movement is a distinct possibility when you’ve got a regime change. You can bet that Ganot will make speaking to the team a top priority upon his arrival, and try to retain as much of the team as he can. UH has a young core that, as Taylor said many times, can do some really positive things if it sticks together for the long haul.
Well, it may be unrealistic to keep everyone.
Freshman guard Isaac Fleming gave the most overt indications that he may elect to move on. This is not a huge surprise, as Fleming was seen as incredibly loyal to Taylor, the coach who brought him into UH, and has a redshirt year to burn. Nothing is a certainty yet, however.
But by and large the team kept quiet as the news broke on Wednesday. You might expect some to attend Ganot’s presser Thursday, class schedules permitting. Indications were some were amenable to a new coach coming on board.
Many of you are not yet familiar with Ganot. He was the third assistant, and quite young, the last time he worked at UH under Bob Nash and through some of the transition to Gib Arnold. Those teams did not enjoy rampant success on the court, though Ganot was hailed for his tireless work ethic at the time. Jordan Coleman was to be one of his first signature recruits at UH, but Ganot landed softly at Saint Mary’s once Nash was dismissed. Coleman didn’t last long under Arnold, transferred to a junior college, and ended up having a productive three-year career at Valparaiso.
Now Ganot has a chance to build something in his own image. He’ll draw from his mentors, Riley Wallace and Randy Bennett, but things will inevitably take their own shape under this first-time head coach.
He will really start to shape opinions the moment he takes the podium and speaks at the Stan Sheriff’s Wong room Thursday morning at 9 a.m. Hawaiiathletics.com plans to have a live stream running, as will KKEA 1420-AM radio.
Are the Bows returning to Wallace-Nash snooze ball? That is my biggest fear. The return of an offense that made the Pahoa lava flow look fast. Auwe!
Let’s Go Bows! Let’s Go Bows! Let’s Go Bows!
College basketball, as a whole, is “snooze ball”, which is why the CIT experimented with a 30-second shot clock.
Bob Nash could have had a better tenure as head coach if UH didn’t hire him so late in the recruiting game. Nash, with the exception of Bill Amis, was stuck with Division II talent. His biggest mistake was signing players for the sake of signing players. He should have left some scholarships open and take his lumps during his inagurual season.
Rodrick Flemings let Nash down.
No heart.
Julian Sensley, under Wallace, was equally frustrating.
Riley Wallace led Hawaii to 3 NCAAs.
That’s better than Northwestern, St. Francis(NY), William & Mary, Army and The Citadel, five programs who have never been there, five programs who were there at the outset of the NCAA Men’s Basketball Tournament.
If Carl English hung around for his senior season, it could have been four.
Ones who call basketball played under Wallace “snooze ball” knows nothing about basketball.
Benji is already crying and blaming new AD of “hidden agendas”. Yeah, what class – he had no guts to accept the extension offered to him. He boasts that no one else would have been able to accomplish what he accomplished this year – yeah right – if he was so confident of himself, what was he afraid of when he declined the extension offer? All you pea brains thought of that?
This university is sorely in need of wins (no, men’s volleyball ain’t going to perpetuate this) and Benji was basically giving a clinic on how to do that to the revered guy in the office in the same area (the famous guy known as Norm Chow). They are sorely in need of wins amidst their boo-hoo’g about being in the red (are they still trying to figure out why this is?)
Benjy had this program back on the right track.
Uh, have you thought of these? Doesn’t look like it.
The big question is what kind of an offense will he run? Deliberate or free-flowing? It has to be exciting to bring the fans in. Benjy set the bar high. UH averaged 6366 fans/game in 2015 at the SSC under Benjy Taylor. Two games drew 8,000+. The jury is out.
UH only had 8 wins against teams in the top 200 — I am giving them a wide berth here. Below average 8-12 record against teams in the top 200.
This is an example of fans needing to look within the numbers, beyond “22 wins”.
I’m repeating myself here only because UH keeps repeating themselves: but they finished 5th place in the Big West again.
The UH basketball team is lagging behind, just look at the UH Wahine basketball team that won the Big West. Beeman got hired at the same time as Arnold/Benjy, and while the Wahine have ascended, the Bows have stayed at 5th in the Big West.
The claim that Benjy had an exciting offense is perplexing. The previous year UH averaged 78.3 points per game, then under Benjy that fell to 72.1 points per game. I can only assume that the fans are confusing “beating a team that isn’t even in the Top 200” with “exciting game”. It’s no surprise that the offense is stalling under Benjy, in spite of the players getting better — it’s because Benjy failed to install any system plays.
I give Benjy credit for being a good administrator and keeping the talent together. He earned his koa bowl this year. Looking forward to getting a basketball coach this year, and doing better than 5th in the Big West.
BENJY GOT SCREWED !!!!! UH should be ashamed of themselves. This guy rallied a program and the players. Is this how you say Mahalo ????? I now know how David Matlin treats his friends or people who bust their okoles for him. Watch your back !!!!!
#6, Benji gave Chow a clinic? How hard is that?
I was pulling for Benjy, but I am excited about this hire. I trust Dave Matlin. I know he made the best decision for the University. I feel bad for Benjy. I like him, and his style. He seemed to genuinely like the players, and he gave them second chances. No one ended up in the dog house like with Gib.
But you gotta love Matlin’s ability to pull the trigger and make what he feels is the right decision vs. the popular one. Only time will tell if this was truly the right call, but after listening to Eron at the presser, he seems to be wise beyond his years. He deserves our support, and I think (“think” being the operative word) he will do great things for UH basketball.
If Benjy is as talented as we all think he is, he will land on his feet. Imua.
@Chicken – “This university is sorely in need of wins (no, men’s volleyball ain’t going to perpetuate this) and Benji was basically giving a clinic on how to do that to the revered guy in the office in the same area (the famous guy known as Norm Chow). They are sorely in need of wins amidst their boo-hoo’g about being in the red (are they still trying to figure out why this is?)”
Don’t you worry about Mr. Chow. He will be fired at the end of this year. 8-29 after 3 seasons is a joke. The football team will be lucky to win 3 or 4 games this year with the killer schedule that they have. Then, adios, Mr. Chow… chow, baby. When was the last time we appeared on national TV? Baseball better start looking over its shoulder too. You guys are below the Mendoza line in terms of wins. And it’s been consistently losing seasons the past few years.
Ganot is a good hire. But I also preferred Benji. How long do you think Ganot going last at U.H. before some big-name program scoops him up? Money talks. And U.H. ain’t talking. They aren’t even whispering. Benji would have stayed 20 years. He’s the right fit. Ganot wants to make a name for himself. When Ganot leaves, U.H. will be in dire-straits once more. It’s a vicious cycle U.H. decision-makers fail to see. Longevity breeds success in the world of basketball. I’ll be impressed if Ganot signs a deal where he makes the bulk of the money on the back-end of his contract. Just look at the wahine coach who could be possibly jumping ship soon.
CAN GANET HIRE TAYLOR? OR WILL THAT BE BLAH-VERMIN’S CALL, AS EVERYTHING ELSE SEEMS TO BE?
Ganot is our Pitino.
At least this time around, we got him to coach the team
Chow needs to listen to that . . . or needed to, heh.
Seawalker April 9, 2015 at 11:44 am
. . . Just look at the wahine coach who could be possibly jumping ship soon.
Beeman is staying 🙂 : http://khon2.com/2015/04/09/beeman-withdraws-from-utah-consideration-to-stay-at-hawaii/
OOPS, PARDON THE MISSPELLING; GANOT vs GANET, AND BLEY vs BLAH.
It is OK. I seem to interchange “Benji” and “Benjy” . . . not that it’s going to matter now . . . 🙁
Coach Ganot looks to be fair
He doesn’t look like his predecessor who some say casted aside some players when he got here. Ganot doesn’t have the looks to throw any returning players under the Bus.
Let’s Go Bows! Let’s Go Bows! Let’s Go Bows!
Go Get Em Coach Ganot! Hook Em Up and Reel Em In
You know . . . it’s OK to have these guys, especially the newbie coaches and administration (which, essentially, seems to be ALL of them right now . . . not Trepasso or Shoji, though) to prove themselves to us. Let’s not give automatic “get out of _______” cards before they’re barely moved into their UHAD offices.
Lower campus has been making consistent mistakes since goofing on June Jones’ contract. They DESERVE to earn OUR trust.
It’s THEIR onus right now. OK? The proof is up to THEM.
1970s brand of UH fandom is over. This is the era of proof.
great hire, finally UH is doing something right
Mr. Bouncingball, I know what I like and the vaulted flex motion offense made me snooze. Granted with AC and Alika it was fun but how exciting was snooze ball since. How exciting would an Alika led team be without a once in a decade talent such as AC. Come on , you know I’m right. Take care .
Let’s stand behind UHbb and give Ganot some time to prove himself . And I agree with GoBows maybe this time around UH landed a former UH Assistant in the likes of Pitino and Dixson.
As a long time season ticket holder I was sad to hear that Benjy Taylor was not selected to be head coach. I think he deserved at least a two year contract given that he was able to keep the players together, win over 20 games and bring an exciting brand of basketball to the fans. Yes, the competition wasn’t strong but scheduling wasn’t his fault. If for whatever reason he doesn’t work out, after two years there would then be a search for a new head coach. I’m willing to give Ganot a chance but it isn’t as if he has tremendous experience or even head coaching experience. The same questions on whether he can recruit exists with him. I hope he doesn’t bring a boring style of basketball to UH. Also if his teams don’t win, expect attendance to fall as we have seen with the football team. I guess we will see how this progresses but I think Benjy got a raw deal. I’m disappointed with how Benjy was treated by the UH.
So I guess the big ??? now is how many players
who are eligible to return for next season will
bolt ???
It’ll be interesting to see who stays and who will be recruited in. Pretty sure this team will be different again next year. Three years in a row with a different coach and different style of play. Hope we win 20+, because the returning team under Benjy would definitely hit that mark.
If the players accept him and he allows creativity look for a banner year. If not, look for a 3rd or 4th place finish in the conference.
You can win with athletic players (Kentucky/Duke) and you can win with smart players (Butler/Princeton). You just have to coach a little harder with the latter.
Nothing wrong with the flex offense, (Pitino himself liked it) it’s the players that make it work/or not work.
Hopefully UH learned a lot from the Arnold contract fiasco and thought about what clauses to put into new contracts. And hopefully Coach Chow’s 5 year contract type will not be repeated. UH needs the ability to terminate contracts early if performance is substandard. And release redacted copies of the head coach contracts. Integrity begins with transparency.
Ganot says he will run the St Mary’s uptempo pick and roll offense and add some spread to it like international teams (and the San Antonio Spurs). Perfect for our forwards who can play on the perimeter and drive. The big guys can go outside and shoot or rotate in depending on how they are played by the defense. Creates off the ball movement.
Support the program , we all need to get behind Eran, and re personnel matters ,there are things that went on that none of us, the public will be privy to any personnel files . Some people dont understand that, if employers did that , they would be throwing that person under the bus that would ruin his or her possible chances of landing another job. We support the men’s program and will back the new coach , Go Bows Go Warriors !
I think the largest number of players leaving would be 2 of the main core. Fleming is one and the other might be Negus. I am just wondering how is grades are?