Following the past Saturday’s setback, the Hawaii basketball team has been in attack mode in preparation for tonight’s game against Cal State Bakersfield in Bankoh Arena at Stan Sheriff Center.
In the road loss to UC Santa Barbara. the Rainbow Warriors were out-rebounded for the fourth consecutive game, started off in a 7-0 hole, and allowed missed shots to dissolve into tentative play.
“Exposed as a team, exposed in some areas,” head coach Eran Ganot said. “That’s life. What do you do with it? I feel we’ll attack it well.”
The ’Bows emphasized rebounding in recent practices.
“We’ve lost four straight on the boards,” Ganot said. “I don’t know the last time we’ve done that. We’ve always been a real good rebounding program, sometimes elite. But exposed. Let’s attack it and address it because there are some really good rebounding teams in our league and good rebounding teams coming in here.”
The ’Bows still average a plus-7.5 rebounding advantage overall, but that margin is only plus-3.0 in seven Big West games. The ’Bows also have slipped from the top 10 to 57th nationally in defensive rebound percentage (72.9%).
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“Probably falling away from the habits,” post Harry Rouhliadeff reasoned. “We’ve always been a great rebounding team just because of those habits. We just need to get back to it. Once we get a good rebounding game under our belt, we’ll be fine.”
Ganot also wants the ’Bows to continue to draw shooting fouls. The ’Bows are 56th in the NCAA with 24.4 free-throw attempts per game. Center Isaac “Big Fish” Johnson is the nation’s 31st most accurate free-throw shooter (89.7%).
“We have consistently shown we’ll bounce back and attack those (shortcomings) rather than say, ‘Yeah, it’s this or that.’” Ganot said. “We’ll own it, address it, attack it and make us better. We have to keep doing that.”
Challenges have been a season-long theme for Cal State Bakersfield.
Last September, it was revealed Kyle Conder was no longer the athletic director; assistant coach Kevin Mays was arrested and charged with several felonies, and Rod Barnes resigned after 14 years as CSUB head coach. Mike Scott, Barnes’ top assistant, was named acting head coach.
“It was challenging because of the swiftness that it happened,” Scott said. “In terms of what we taught them to do and what we’ve done, we changed some things from what Coach (Barnes) was doing to try to fit to our team.”
Scott initially implemented a quick-tempo style that involved “a little better spacing.” But injures forced Scott to make further alterations. Dailin Smith, who leads the Roadrunners with 14.9-point scoring average, missed the final two games in December because of an injury. Tom Mark, a 6-7 forward, missed five games. This month, guard CJ Hardy suffered a broken foot and will be sidelined between four and six weeks. Wing Jaden Alexander, who averaged 15.4 points the past eight games (including 35 against UC Davis), hurt his foot on Saturday and is unlikely to be available tonight.
“It’s kind of been like that throughout the season,” Scott said. “Right now we’re down CJ Hardy and Jaden Alexander. Both have been playing really well for us. It’s kind of been one of those years for us injury-wise.”
But Scott has drawn from several coaching mentors and his own vision to utilize a roster that emphasizes athleticism, physicality, rim protecting and hunting for rebounds.
“It’s Bakersfield’s brand of basketball,” UH defensive coordinator Rob Jones said. “They’re always physical. They’re always going to make you work. They turn you over and try to run in transition. They’re confident in taking their shots. They know the other four guys are going to rebound it.”
The Roadrunners are connecting on 41.8% of their shots, including 29.7% from behind the arc. But they have rebounded 36.2% of their misses.
“We haven’t shot the ball great all year long,” Scott said. “What’s helped us out is when we miss some shots, we try to go get some back (on rebounds) to keep us in the game.”
Ronald Jessamy, a 6-8 transfer from Tennessee State, has grabbed 33% of his rebounds off the offensive glass. Jessamy averages 2.0 blocks per game. Pierre Geneste, a 6-11 post who previously played at Fresno State and Louisiana Tech, averages 0.36 rebounds a minute.
After sitting in the transfer portal for more than a year, Smith, who recovered from a leg injury suffered at Alabama State, has emerged as the Roadrunners’ leader.
“Unbelievable kid,” Scott said of Smith. “He’s been really good for our program. He’s one of those guys who always does the right thing. He’s always cheering on guys, even when he’s not playing. He’s definitely one of the kids you want to have in your program every year.”
RAINBOW WARRIORS BASKETBALL
At Bankoh Arena at Stan Sheriff Center
CAL STATE BAKERSFIELD (8-12, 2-5 BIG WEST) AT HAWAII (13-4, 5-2 BW)
>> When: 7:05 p.m. today
>> TV: Spectrum Sports
>> Radio: 1420-AM/92.7-FM