There are concerns in the Big Brother household.
Following Saturday’s 82-75 victory over University of Hawaii Hilo, the UH basketball team’s emphasis was on another inconsistent defensive effort.
UH coach Eran Ganot was cautious in the self-critique, acknowledging the Vulcans’ energy and schemes led to many of the Rainbow Warriors’ lapses.
But Ganot pointedly noted: “It’s the worst we’ve been defensively. Not even close. Even when we’ve been undermanned for certain situations, we’ve guarded and we’ve fought and we’ve scrapped. Right now, we have a mind-set to just out-score guys, and it’s not going to work. It’s not a long-term solution. It’s not realistic. And that’s probably the most disappointing thing.”
The Vulcans hit 64 percent of their shots in the second half despite entering the game without two injured players and losing their top scorer, 6-5 wing James Griffin, to an ankle injury 6 minutes, 8 seconds after the opening tip-off. The Vulcans pilfered the ‘Bows’ playbook of driving the lane to contract the defense and free shooters on the perimeter.
“You start with the wing, our inability to keep people in front,” Ganot said. “We’ve been a team that’s kind of been over the years and consistently in terms of solid, solid, solid tough shot over a hand or grab it off a board kind of thing.”
In past seasons, the ‘Bows forced turnovers with dependable first-tier defense and active back-side rotations. Ganot said it is “not a good combination where your point of attack and your rotations aren’t where it needs to be.”
Ganot said the ‘Bows will stress fundamentals when they resume practicing on Tuesday. The ‘Bows, who are in finals week, will play Mississippi Valley State on Sunday.
The ‘Bows did receive a boost from guard Eddie Stansberry on Saturday night. After missing three of four shots in the first half, Stansberry connected on five of his first six 3-point attempts after the intermission and finished with a season-high 19 points.
Stansberry said his first-half misses came on open looks. “They were good shots,” Stansberry said. “Coach keeps telling me to take good shots. In the second half, I tried to do the same thing. Second half, they were falling for me. I try to stick with the process and it works out.”
When he was younger, Stansberry was noted for his drives. “And then I realized that in games, you’re going to need a jump shot, a very good jump shot,” Stansberry said. “I worked on that. I got consistent with that.”
With his older brother, Travis, serving as mentor and rebounder, Stansberry developed a dependable outside shot. The UH coaches have worked with Stansberry in drills that are based on the around-the-world shooting game. “I practice on getting shots up from every spot on the court,” Stansberry said. “That way the scenario is like a game situation. I’m not going to just be in one spot in a game.”
Point guard Drew Buggs said Stansberry “can hit from anywhere. … When he’s open, we tell him to shoot the ball. If they guard him, that’s going to open it up for everybody else.”
