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Toke69
389Hawai`i is similar to UC Davis with respect to having a long tenured coach who has taken his team to one NCAA tournament but has otherwise hovered in the middle of the Big West pack year. This is the one school who will continue to be a rival in the MWC after next year. Coach Eran Ganot lost all of his starters, but to graduation not to the transfer portal. (He did lose monster center Mor Seck to Fresno State.) Maybe this is the reason why Hawai`i has been erratic this season, uncharacteristically losing two conference games at home while beating both UCR and Fullerton on the road.
What has helped is that four key returners have stepped up to contribute, not so oddly, all of them being international students. Four good newcomers give Hawai`i a lot of depth which they are using 9 players in their rotation. A key player is Gytis Nemeiksa a 6’8” forward from Lithuania who averages over 50% from the floor and 36.6% from the arc plus 7.3 rpg. Tanner Christensen is another big addition at 6’10”. Those two will cause major problems for the height challenged Ags. The rotation of four guards, Ryan Rapp, Tom Beattie, Marcus Greene and Kody Williams can wear other teams down. Christensen is often posted high where they run a screen and roll off him. We’ll have to see which Hawai`i team shows up this week, but they usually play well against UCD. In the series history, the Ags hold an 8-5 edge at home with a four game winning streak at Davis since 2021. Game streamed live on ESPN+. -
DrMike
830I wonder if we’ll see some zone tomorrow to help with the height and take away some of the pack and roll? Really hurts having only one big guy. It seems clear Les doesn’t trust Mani on the defensive end. Maybe we’ll get more Chappell even though he’s not a real low post type. This is where we miss 15 solid minutes from Borra.
Warriors are 1.5 point favorites tonight. -
BlueGoldAg
1.3kFrom The Big West Banter by Gauchodan:
The Rainbow Warriors (12-6, 4-3) went 2-0 on their last trip to the mainland, defeating UC Riverside and Cal State Fullerton. This trip looks a little tougher, with a game with UC Davis up near Sacramento followed by a Saturday night clash at UC Irvine in Orange County. Hawai’i went 1-1 at home last week, getting routed by CSUN but turning things around with a win over CSU Bakersfield. The ‘Bows are shooting 47.6% on the season, tops in the Big West. That includes a league-best 49.7% in Big West games.
The Aggies (11-8, 5-3) had a successful trip to the Central Coast last week, winning at both Cal Poly and UC Santa Barbara. TY Johnson has averaged 29.0 points over the last three games to raise his conference-leading scoring average to 21.2 points. Johnson is 3rd in the country in free throws and free throw attempts (8.5 per game). UC Davis is 12th in the nation in forcing turnovers at 16.1 per game.
We'll need to really bring the defensive intensity to the game tonight and make it very tough for Hawaii to shoot 50%. -
Toke69
389The Honolulu newspaper has been making a big deal of this game, focusing on the move of both schools to the MWC. I think they might be trying to fire up a rivalry. Two front of the sports page articles about the game. Today they wrote about a conversation with Coach Les that focused on the MWC move and the high retention rate of the Aggies. The rest of the story focused on TY. Quote from Jim Les: "We want him to be aggressive. He's got an attack mindset. That leads to shots ad it also leads into creating opportunities for others." Finally, the article pointed out that the Aggies rebound 32.3% of their missed shots. I don't know how that stat stacks up against the league average, but it was noteworthy so it must be pretty good. Go Ags! Don't do what the Warriors have done lately.
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BlueGoldAg
1.3kI think we already have a pretty nice rivalry with Hawaii. It seems like both teams play very hard against each other and we've had some games that have had their "testy" moments in the past especially on the island. The Bows have a good following of loyal, rowdy fans and I remember one game where the game had to be stopped in the final couple of minutes when the fans started throwing stuff onto the court. After the game ended, Les just waved to the Hawaii coach and quickly herded his team into the locker room. I can't remember who won that one though...
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Toke69
389I was there and I think that was one of the two games the Aggies won. Ever since then, it's been a bit dicey to go to the games wearing my blue and gold.
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BlueGoldAg
1.3kFirst time we’ve seen Marsalis Roberson play. Looks like he’s finally been medically cleared to play after he tore his ACL.
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BlueGoldAg
1.3kTough defensive battle so far with very few fouls. The Bows average 50% shooting and they’re at 29% so far.
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Toke69
389Aggies win 68-66 but it was even closer than the score given how easily Hawai`i could have tied the game at the end. TY didn't score as much as the UCSB game, but I have never seen a better clutch performance. A gutsy performance overall by not only Pablo Tamba , but Nico Rokak who had 9 boards and 2 blocks before he fouled out.
I had to take note that TY passed Mark Olson as the fifth leading scorer in UC Davis history, because I knew Mark over his first three years as an Aggie star, played a few pickup games with him. I still remember his first game as a freshman when he made a couple of spectacular plays and Bob Hamilton literally hugged him on the court. -
madcityscott
7I thought the Ags were toast after Rocak fouled out because I assumed Hawaii would keep feeding it inside to number 32. For some reason they didn’t (and even subbed him out for a couple of minutes.) -
DrMike
830that was surprising. I had the same sinking feeling when he got the ‘T’ (did that ball ever come down?)
Clutch play down the stretch but some not so great FT shooting else it wouldn’t have come down to their harrowing sequence at the end.
I thought the refs called way too many fouls in the second half on both sides.
Decent crowd of 1500 - for some reason, nobody shows up until game time! -
DrMike
830Felt like we should have won that one more comfortably. First half, they were 3-13 from the Arc and all three were buzzer beaters (2 launched from downtown, one off the backboard). The fouls and their FT shooting kept them in it. Also, their dominance on the offensive boards. We really need someone to step up and help Rocek down low. Mani seems lost in there, and Chappell doesn’t quite have the size. Of all the pieces we lost last season, Adebayo may be the toughest one to fill.
Cooper I believe hurt his thigh late in the first half di that limited him. Maybe we’ll see more from Robeson down the stretch. -
BlueGoldAg
1.3kTerrific defense by the Aggies who held Hawaii to 35.8% FG shooting for the game. Hawaii came into the game shooting 48.7% which is the best in the conference. The Ags held the Bows to 23 points in the first half which was a season low for them.
I can understand Rocak's frustration when he got T'ed up for slamming the basketball to the floor after getting whistled for his 4th foul. The officiating was very uneven. They were calling a whole lot of fouls in the second half around the perimeter while allowing extremely physical contact and wrestling for position between Niko and Hawaii's bigs in the paint.
I hate it when they allow that much contact in the paint prior to a shot and then call Rocak for a foul if there was any contact at all even when he had his arms straight up. How the heck is Niko supposed to be able to defend big players without getting called for a foul when they are allowed to slam into him repeatedly and then lean in initiating the contact while shooting?
This was the Ags 5th straight win in a row over Hawaii. -
Toke69
389I think you meant that it was the Ags fifth straight win over Hawai`i in Davis and I suspect that as close as it was last night, UCD will have a hard time winning out here. What has been especially great about the Aggie defense lately is the way they make the other team use a lot of clock getting the ball into the front court and forcing a lot of late desperation shots. That strategy was never more evident than last night.
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BlueGoldAg
1.3kYes, it was the 5th straight win at Davis. I edited my post. Thanks.
I love watching the Aggie defense and the 1-2-2 zone defense that they use a lot just make the opponent use some clock getting the ball across half court is really effective. I think we forced two 10 second violations and we double teamed the ball a couple of times which forced TO's by the Bows.
When the Aggie defense is locked in it's fun to watch. Les and his assistants do such a great job of scouting our opponents and they come up with a solid defensive plan that focuses on the strengths and weaknesses of each individual player of our opponents. Our players know the tendencies of our opponents and often force them away from their strengths. That's great defense and, along with our press, it takes a lot of energy and stamina to keep up that level defensive pressure. Les does a good job of rotating players in and out so that they can get a much needed blow.
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