Hoops Night: UH vs. Cal Poly
It’s another night of Big West basketball when Cal Poly and Hawaii meet in the Stan Sheriff Center.
The Mustangs are 5-17 overall and 1-8 in the Big West. The ‘Bows are 14-9 and 5-4.
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Keep an eye on:
> Cal Poly guard Donovan Fields. He’s only 5-10, but he’s extremely quick and he can score (16.0 points per game).
> UH’s Jack Purchase, who needs a 3-pointer to tie Zane Johnson’s career record.
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Quick chat with Cal Poly coach Joe Callero:
> On the Mustangs’ rep for few turnovers: “We’ve typically been one of the top 20, 25 teams (in fewest turnovers). The last year or two, our numbers dipped a little bit as far as trying to take care of the basketball each possession and not have careless turnovers. Our preseason was not so good in that. We’ve done a better job in conference play (9.8 per game) in taking care of the ball and giving ourselves a chance to win games.”
> On this season: “We have an inconsistent offensive game without a steady post presence. We rely on perimeter shooting. … We’re capable of exploding offensively, but we have to hang our hat on good shots, good ball control and defensive rebounding.
> On team balance: “Seven, eight new guys, four, five freshmen. … We have enough veterans to be stable (but) it’s not like we’re a bunch of veterans top to bottom. I’ve always said your best teams are when you have eight or nine guys who can walk into a bar and not be impressed by it. I always like an older, tough team. They play much better in February and March when everybody else is tired. Older guys have kind of been through it.”
> On Poly’s trademark match-up zone: “We ran it a lot in preseason and a couple of conference games. … (A problem is) when you end up with a little guard matched up against somebody’s bigger player. We choose when to use it now … what teams, what games, what lineups. But, yeah, done that for years.”
> On the Hawaii trip: “One of the first things I tell our guys (after arriving) is to go get your swimsuit and get down to Waikiki Beach and get into the water. Get it out of your system.”
> On karaoke as team bonding: “We make all our freshmen do it. The first time you come to Hawaii, we try to find a place to make you sing. … Every five years, I’ll get out there and and (sing) ‘Born To Run’ or something.”
> On the Boss: “I’ve followed (Bruce) Springsteen for 30 years. I’ve probably seem him (perform in concert) every other year. Ten or 15 times, for sure.”
> On game day: “It’s all business. Rest, stay inside, drink your water, shoot around, and get your game face on.”
GO WARRIORS !!!
Sad day for the Saints alums and current students.
Exciting 2nd half of basketball. Awesome to see Buggs hit a 3 after struggling in conference with his long range shooting, and great to see Leland hit a couple 3s. Hopefully this game gets those two going. Plus Carper was solid off the bench again. Great win, and hoping for a home sweep Saturday!
Bruce Springsteen is in the article. I am on topic. Ten best Springsteen songs: 1) I’m On Fire 2) Badlands 3) Reason to Believe 4) Born to Run 5) Growing Up 6) The River 7) Tenth Avenue Freee-Out 8) Thunder Road 9) Girls in Their Summer Clothes 10) Darkness on the Edge of Town
Best Album: Nebraska. The album was so uncommercial, when Springsteen turned in “Born in the U.S.A.”, the label asked Bruce to write a single. That single was “Dancing in the Dark”. It’s an outlier. So many synths. Listen closely to the synths. There is a sarcasm to it. It’s the closest Springsteen came to new wave music.
Best couplets: “Badlands, you gotta live it every day/Let the broken hearts stand/As the price you’ve got to play/We’ll keep pushin’ ’til it’s understood/And these badlands start treating us good”
Ironically, it’s the title track from “Nebraska” that actually references Terrence Malick’s “Badlands”.
And here is how I tie Bruce Springsteen to something Hawaii-related.
When The Citadel baseball team played Hawaii, I don’t think the PA guy had any clue that “Born in the USA” was an anti-Vietnam song. Played it three nights in a row. “Got in a little hometown jam/So they put a rifle in my hand/Sent me off to a foreign land/To go off and kill the yellow man”
The music video was directed by John Sayles. He made a film about unions(“Matewan”), illegals(“Lone Star”) and the Spanish-American War in the Philipines(“Amigo”). When the Honolulu Weekly film critic was helping out with “Moonglow”, he consulted with Sayles on the script.
I like Joe Callero. I would like to know what his ten favorite Bruce Springsteen songs are.
Philistines don’t like “The Boss”.
Is Owen Hullard redshirting?
I really hate losing players before they use up their eligibility.
Dawson Carper had a great night; his second.
Hawaii will be reasonably solid at center next season.
I don’t think the play-by-play guy understands how men’s college basketball works, in regard to Hawaii. I thought I heard him say, “Hawaii is trying to hang on to their post-season chances.” This game does not mean anything. It’s all about the tournament. The women’s side is a different story. They’re playing for a single bye, or a double bye.
5. It can’t be a regular red shirt, since he already played in 8 games. Maybe a medical one ? but he warms up before the games.
someone in my office mentioned that Hullard was redshirting due to an injury.
7 If so, why does he warm up before the games?
Zane Johnson was on Artie’s show , said coaching is not for him. He’s in New York working for Pinterest.
The BasketBows have 30 games, Hulland has played in 8. I read that a medical redshirt can play no more than 30% of the games to qualify, in his case, 9. But I can’t find this in the handbook and am too lazy to look further.
9. If injury ,shouldn’t he be not warming up , in case someone questions his status ?
Its amazing. In the Big West Conference there have been eight different tournament champions in those eight years. Irvine has been the most consistently “dominant” team in that time span yet only one NCAA tournament appearance so they have their own “hump” to get over. 2014 Cal Poly won the tournament with a 6-10 record as a seventh seed. Fullerton won last year with a 10-6 record as a fourth seed. Generally though the first or second seed wins the tournament (5 of last 7).
Irvine is the “class” of this Conference. They have figured out something that Hawaii and Ganot/Matlin have to yet grasp. They (UH and Irvine) are close though. I think the main (so so important) hump that UH has to cross is to make Stan Sheriff Center a more dominant home court advantage. Ganot can win on the road (better than Wallace I think) but they need to be more consistent at home. Matlin needs to figure out how to create an atmosphere here. I think it starts with a locally produced player as a contributor on the roster. I think that is the “hump”. Easy to cross if you have “trust”. Ganot will do it eventually. I really believe it. You can see it.
10 it’s supposed to be based on participation.
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