Hornets lose 87-92 to UCSB in a competitive game. Hornets had a hot start until UCSB settled in and nearly ran the Hornets off the court. I thought this would get pretty ugly but the Hornets stormed back to make it a 2 point game at the half. The Gauchos built up a cushion in the 2nd half and the Hornet could never string together a run to overcome the deficit. The door was open for the Hornets to pull an upset late but some late buckets didn't fall.
Overall a very impressive performance by the Hornets. Too many bad turnovers and missed freebies throughout the game and some empty possessions in the closing minutes ultimately cost the Hornets a shot at a win. Mikey Williams (30 pts, 5 ast) is proving to be the real deal as Cherry (20 pts, 7 reb) continued to be a force in the post and Prophet (17 pts, 11 reb) got in stride when needed. Lavrenov (8 pts, 3 reb) showed his versatility from range with the meaningful time he saw on the floor.
The concern I have is that the defense can be down right atrocious. Rotations off the screens were too slow and there were lots of wide open perimeter shots given up when the defense collapsed to the paint. Also when Cherry got into foul trouble and was taken off the court, the offense became discombobulated and Cherry had to be brought back in. I was also disappointed that the Hornets didn't pound it inside more when the UCSB bigs got into foul trouble. That said, this team has some hoopers that should result in some wins. Exciting times for Hornet hoops.
Overall a very impressive performance by the Hornets. Too many bad turnovers and missed freebies throughout the game and some empty possessions in the closing minutes ultimately cost the Hornets a shot at a win. Mikey Williams (30 pts, 5 ast) is proving to be the real deal as Cherry (20 pts, 7 reb) continued to be a force in the post and Prophet (17 pts, 11 reb) got in stride when needed. Lavrenov (8 pts, 3 reb) showed his versatility from range with the meaningful time he saw on the floor.
The concern I have is that the defense can be down right atrocious. Rotations off the screens were too slow and there were lots of wide open perimeter shots given up when the defense collapsed to the paint. Also when Cherry got into foul trouble and was taken off the court, the offense became discombobulated and Cherry had to be brought back in. I was also disappointed that the Hornets didn't pound it inside more when the UCSB bigs got into foul trouble. That said, this team has some hoopers that should result in some wins. Exciting times for Hornet hoops.
