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Username Post: Pearl Harbor Invitational        (Topic#19574)
1LotteryPick1969 
Postdoc
Posts: 2261
1LotteryPick1969
Age: 73
Loc: Sandy, Utah
Reg: 11-21-04
12-06-16 09:19 PM - Post#215008    
    In response to 1LotteryPick1969

The big guy on Cal really stopping our inside game.

 
1LotteryPick1969 
Postdoc
Posts: 2261
1LotteryPick1969
Age: 73
Loc: Sandy, Utah
Reg: 11-21-04
12-06-16 10:01 PM - Post#215012    
    In response to 1LotteryPick1969

No one stepping up at the end.

Not sure I agree with the offense/defense substitutions of Gladson and Miller. Getting stuck with Miller on the offensive end means Cal has 5 guys to guard 4.

 
1LotteryPick1969 
Postdoc
Posts: 2261
1LotteryPick1969
Age: 73
Loc: Sandy, Utah
Reg: 11-21-04
12-06-16 10:14 PM - Post#215018    
    In response to 1LotteryPick1969

Our missed free throws and Rabb's defense.....

 
umbrellaman 
Masters Student
Posts: 469
umbrellaman
Reg: 11-21-04
12-06-16 10:14 PM - Post#215019    
    In response to 1LotteryPick1969

Tigers seem to have a lot of good players and no great ones.

 
bradley 
PhD Student
Posts: 1842

Age: 74
Reg: 01-15-16
12-06-16 10:22 PM - Post#215022    
    In response to 1LotteryPick1969

Tied scored 4 1/2 minutes to go very similar to BYU, Lehigh and VCU --- remarkable and they lose by 9 to 11 points as they need to foul after they go down by 5 to 6 points.

They can play very competitively against very good basketball teams but cannot close. Same old tale for good Ivy League teams against strong non-conference opponents year-end year-out. Will this brutal schedule help them in the Ivies -- you would think so but time will tell.

Cannady starting for Bell. Need Brase back as well. Will come down to two game tournament in March at the Palestra.

 
sparman 
PhD Student
Posts: 1339
sparman
Reg: 12-08-04
12-06-16 10:22 PM - Post#215023    
    In response to umbrellaman

Tigers seem to have a lot of players who cannot shoot consistently,

 
umbrellaman 
Masters Student
Posts: 469
umbrellaman
Reg: 11-21-04
12-06-16 10:36 PM - Post#215025    
    In response to sparman

That works too. Lots of decent shooters, but no great ones. Cannady seems like he needs to take the leap for this team to get the title.

 
gokinsmen 
Postdoc
Posts: 3634

Reg: 02-06-10
Pearl Harbor Invitational
12-07-16 12:26 AM - Post#215032    
    In response to umbrellaman

I realize this non-conf schedule is tough, but at some point, they have to win at least ONE of these tough games. So many players seem to have regressed from last year. Amir Bell has totally vanished.

What's going on? Does it have anything to do with Brian Earl's departure?

 
Mike Porter 
Postdoc
Posts: 3615
Mike Porter
Loc: Los Angeles, CA
Reg: 11-21-04
Pearl Harbor Invitational
12-07-16 01:19 AM - Post#215035    
    In response to gokinsmen

A Princeton team with 3?!? assists in a game? Can't see how our guys win with 3 assists...

 
SRP 
Postdoc
Posts: 4894

Reg: 02-04-06
12-07-16 03:22 AM - Post#215036    
    In response to Mike Porter

That was a strange game to watch--the outdoor light coming in like from a clerestory window and the shiny floor make it easy to see why shooting was so tough for both teams.

On the whole, Princeton's defense was very good, especially defensive rebounding. They left four or five shooters open in the first half, all of whom missed, but still contested everything else and made life difficult for the Bears. Miller getting his fourth foul in the second half really hurt the defense, I thought, because Gladson really couldn't stop their big guys consistently. Cal was horrible at the FT line, partly because a lot of the fouls were inflicted on poor foul shooters and because Raab's guide hand was practically useless.

Offensively, PU was bothered by Cal's tough perimeter D and conscientious care on backdoor cuts, but the biggest problem was that Cal had tremendous shot-blocking at the rim and our drivers never seem to have mastered the art of challenging shot blockers. This has been a problem against quality opposition for the Tigers so far this season (Mika, Cox, etc. taking away lots of drives in previous games). Somebody needs to have a teardrop or a high-off-the-backboard layup or learn how to get his body into the shot blocker. In this game, the Tigers often resorted to mid-range shots they usually eschew, and made a decent number of them, but if they're going to do that as a regular diet then the offense is going to have to accommodate it better.

It also seemed that the spacing of the team was often too constricted vertically; I'm not saying that they need to go back to the old five-above-the-FT-line sets (although that wouldn't be terrible as a possession starter sometimes), but they were often too close in to create openings for isolations or backdoor cuts. Hence, hardly any assists. And the Cal shot-blockers were able to get to the play because they weren't pulled away from the rim.

Finally, the team needs to just be better at hitting open threes. 35-38% would have meant victory in probably all of the losses this year (I haven't checked, so I may be wrong about the figure). Guys are struggling out there.

 
1LotteryPick1969 
Postdoc
Posts: 2261
1LotteryPick1969
Age: 73
Loc: Sandy, Utah
Reg: 11-21-04
Re: Pearl Harbor Invitational
12-07-16 07:27 AM - Post#215041    
    In response to gokinsmen

  • gokinsmen Said:
I realize this non-conf schedule is tough, but at some point, they have to win at least ONE of these tough games. So many players seem to have regressed from last year. Amir Bell has totally vanished.

What's going on? Does it have anything to do with Brian Earl's departure?



I was expecting to wake up to read another scathing indictment of MH's coaching. In fact, I have begun to wonder if there is something in his philosophy that limits the ability of one guy to step up at the end of the game.

But in the end, this game was lost due to superior defense on their part. Their coach said in the post game interview they defend "chest to chest and shoulder to shoulder".

Cannady in particular could not get free. Weisz and Caruso cannot shoot the three if closely guarded; they do not elevate. Bell and Cook can elevate and shoot, but not with great accuracy.

While Gladson is not as good defensively as Miller, at least he is a shooting threat and stretches the defense.

As umbrellaman notes, many good players but no great one who can draw the double team or break down the defense on the dribble.

I think Bell has the skills to be great, but is forced into a more passive role by the structure of the offense.



 
Go Green 
PhD Student
Posts: 1124

Age: 52
Reg: 04-22-10
12-07-16 07:53 AM - Post#215042    
    In response to SRP

  • SRP Said:
That was a strange game to watch--the outdoor light coming in like from a clerestory window and the shiny floor make it easy to see why shooting was so tough for both teams.




I had never heard of Bloch Arena until last night. Looks like a really neat place to visit. One can imagine the history there. Hawaii's version of The Palestra.

 
bradley 
PhD Student
Posts: 1842

Age: 74
Reg: 01-15-16
Re: Pearl Harbor Invitational
12-07-16 10:25 AM - Post#215051    
    In response to Mike Porter

Cal simply would not let back door passes. Tigers were well scouted and Mullins may have provided some very good information to stop Princeton offense. It was interesting to watch Mullins play and see significant difference in athleticism between Mullins and the other Cal players. He no longer starts for Cal.

The Tigers have seen some players that have some special skills -- Mika, Emery, Kempton, Lewis, Cox, Moore and Raab. They are becoming a much better defensive team but offense remains a struggle after ridiculously good stats last year with basically the same players.

They play very well for the first 35 minutes with ups and downs but the last 5 minutes have been tough. Let's see if they have a let down against two good but not great teams on the road --- Hawaii and Liberty. Liberty lost by 5 points to VCU at home. St. Joe's and Monmouth are right around the corner as well.



 
cc66 
Postdoc
Posts: 2201

Reg: 10-09-09
12-07-16 01:50 PM - Post#215061    
    In response to bradley

Mullins may not start for Cal, but with 11 pts. in 19 minutes, he did have, at 114, the highest ORAT of anyone on the Cal team

 
SomeGuy 
Professor
Posts: 6391

Reg: 11-22-04
12-07-16 02:00 PM - Post#215062    
    In response to cc66

Also, I think Mullins was on bereavement leave this week, so there was some question as to whether or not he would play in the game. So coming off the bench and playing fewer minutes may have had to do with that, and nothing about his role generally.

 
bradley 
PhD Student
Posts: 1842

Age: 74
Reg: 01-15-16
12-07-16 03:40 PM - Post#215075    
    In response to cc66

True although Mullins had 4 free throws with less than one minute to go as Tigers had to foul. During the first and second half, Cannady was able to get by him a number of times. Most of the other Bear defenders were chest to chest with Princeton players throughout the game based on their quickness and physicality.

He is a fine player and had a wonderful season last year at Columbia. Over the past several years, most Ivy League transfers have their stats go down when they transfer to strong Division I programs, i.e. Miller, Mitola, Rafael Maia, Hicks, etc. Miller probably had the most success at UConn partially due to his athleticism.

 
SRP 
Postdoc
Posts: 4894

Reg: 02-04-06
12-07-16 07:40 PM - Post#215098    
    In response to bradley

Mullins could be effective offensively, and he had some pretty drives against the Tigers, but he was not as good a defender as his teammates.

One thing I did like in this game was that Princeton did not appear to get out-toughed or pushed around horizontally. Until late in the game they had the Bears sealed off their defensive backboard and they were pretty effective doubling down on post touches.

 
bradley 
PhD Student
Posts: 1842

Age: 74
Reg: 01-15-16
12-07-16 11:36 PM - Post#215137    
    In response to SRP

Tigers continue to play very tough defense with 20 pt lead against a lesser opponent than Cal. They also look that they are having fun.

Bill Rafferty commented that they are a very solid team and will only get better. Let's see about that. Cook really is stepping up after his first clunker of the season last night. He is the Tigers best all around player.

 
SRP 
Postdoc
Posts: 4894

Reg: 02-04-06
12-08-16 12:54 AM - Post#215143    
    In response to bradley

Caught the last 11:33 of the game. Looked very comfortable for the Tigers. Maybe I can find a replay online.

 
gokinsmen 
Postdoc
Posts: 3634

Reg: 02-06-10
Pearl Harbor Invitational
12-08-16 01:10 AM - Post#215144    
    In response to SRP

Hawaii lost its Top 7 scorers from last year's tourney team. By contrast, we returned everyone of consequence from a 22-7 NIT squad. This should have been a 20pt romp.

Something remains very wrong with the team. This season already has a Joe Scott feel to it. What the heck is going on with Mitch and Co.? I remember when ESPN had Princeton projected as a #9 seed before the season began. That's a bad joke now.

I'm not entirely sure we'll even make it to the Ivy Tourney since it's only for the Top 4. If I were a betting man, I'd be scared to put money on it.



 
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