M: vs. Central Arkansas

[SDHornet]

The big story here is UCA is coached by former King Corliss Williamson. UCA lost big in their opener at Stanford 91-52.

Hornetsports preview:
http://www.hornetsports.com/sports/mbball/release.asp?release_id=9992

SSS preview:
http://sacstatesports.com/2011/11/13/mens-basketball-today-central-arkansas-vs-sacramento-state/

UCA’s leading scorer is guard Rutledge with 16.0 ppg. G/F Miles is their next leading scorer with 14.0 ppg and 6.0 rpg. Everyone else had 4 points or less. Hard to gage the stats given that they played a tough Stanford team a couple days ago. Hopefully Katz’ defensive strategy is to put Jackson on Rutledge and try to minimize his impact somehow.

I'm hoping the Hornets look better on the offensive side today. Carbajal probably won't play due to his injured knee.

 

[SDHornet]

Hornets hold a 40-23 lead at the half. :yikes: Probably one of the best halves of basketball I have seen under the Katz era. The long range shots were dropping early and the Hornets broke the full court press, attacked the basket and got points. Defensively they have struggled a little bit against UCA’s size but the Hornets have been holding their own. Great ball movement and passing on offense, good rotation by the defense. An all around good effort and good execution by all the players thus far. Garrity looks solid running this offense.

I hope they can keep this up for another half.

75-54 Hornet victory as they ran UCA out of The Nest in the second half. Katz took the pedal completely off the gas in the last 10 minutes and went into the volleyball set (passing it back and forth along the half court line) and the game lost its entertainment value and the scoring went away. Nonetheless still a great game and the Hornets had a pretty solid transition game on both offense and defense. I would love to see this team continue to play at the higher tempo that we saw today.

:clap:

 

[Green Laser]

Great game 2-0 for first time since 2001-02 season! Looks like we picked up some young talent!

 

[GoState]

Great win by the hornets!! Katz seems to have done a great job recruiting (Garrity). Pretty excited for this season, think some great games will be seen. Rome wasn't built in a day....

 

[SDHornet]

Great win by the hornets!! Katz seems to have done a great job recruiting (Garrity). Pretty excited for this season, think some great games will be seen. Rome wasn't built in a day....

Welcome GoState. Hopefully the Hornets continue to play this well.

Hornetsports recap:
http://www.hornetsports.com/sports/mbball/release.asp?release_id=9997

Box Score:
http://www.hornetsports.com/assets/sports/mbball/SACUCA.HTM

SSS recap:
http://sacstatesports.com/2011/11/13/hornets-2-0-for-first-time-in-11-years/

About the only negative was a poor showing from the charity stripe (5/12, 41.7%). Other than that the Hornets did excellent in pretty much everything. The Hornets shot lights out from the floor (32/56, 57.1%), turnovers and fouls were down (9 & 13), great team play on both sides of the ball (21 assists). I hope they can keep this up, but they have a tall order ahead as their next game is at Washington State.

 

[OldHornet]

Much better showing from the Hornets in game two!

Things that I liked:

1. Garrity - It's only been two games but it looks like Katz may finally have a legitimate point guard. Garrity was able to consistently beat his man and create shots for his teamates - something he didn't do enough of in game 1. I like his confident attitude to attack the basket, a very positive sign for a freshman.

2. Full court offense - Sac did a very nice job of attacking the press and making UCA pay for the press. The guards did a really nice job of keeping their spacing and didn't force things that lead to turnovers. They were patient and were able to create easy shots.

3. Dickson - He looked like a solid D1 player, athletic and aggressive. Nice job after a sub par performance in game one.

4. Schedule - Let's face it, it's nice to be 2-0. The biggest reason this team is on the winning side is because Katz and Wanless scheduled cream puffs (they really needed to).

Things I'm concerned about:

1. Half court offense - I still don't like what Katz is doing with the half court offense. They seem to hold the ball too long and there is just not enough movement. I want to see the ball move more and especially in side then back out.

2. Veteto - Let me first say he did some things I really liked - scored 16 points. But I don't like that he only got three rebounds, with that body he must be a double double guy. There is no reason someone 6'8" that plays 18+ minutes should only get 3 boards.

3. All big guys - I'm not going to just single out Veteto, McCarver and Rakocevic only had 3 rebounds combined. If Sac wants to be competitive this year their big guys must be a presence on the boards.

As I stated earlier we have benefited from a very weak schedule so we won't know what we have for a team until we play some teams similar to BSC. But I'm happy to be 2-0.

 

[SDHornet]

Good observations OH, and I agree with everything you pointed out. I thought the Hornets looked more comfortable in the up tempo style then they did in the Katz half court stuff. I would like to see them take that approach more.

I also agree with what you said about the big guys. McCarver is probably the most athletic but it doesn’t appear he will get a whole lot of PT this season unless someone goes down. Rak is probably the least athletic of the big men. He also looks hesitant. More PT last season could have gone a long way with him.

Still a nice confidence boost to start the season. I hope they can keep it up.

 

[GoState]

Great win by the hornets!! Katz seems to have done a great job recruiting (Garrity). Pretty excited for this season, think some great games will be seen. Rome wasn't built in a day....

Welcome GoState. Hopefully the Hornets continue to play this well.

Hornetsports recap:
http://www.hornetsports.com/sports/mbball/release.asp?release_id=9997

Box Score:
http://www.hornetsports.com/assets/sports/mbball/SACUCA.HTM

SSS recap:
http://sacstatesports.com/2011/11/13/hornets-2-0-for-first-time-in-11-years/

About the only negative was a poor showing from the charity stripe (5/12, 41.7%). Other than that the Hornets did excellent in pretty much everything. The Hornets shot lights out from the floor (32/56, 57.1%), turnovers and fouls were down (9 & 13), great team play on both sides of the ball (21 assists). I hope they can keep this up, but they have a tall order ahead as their next game is at Washington State.

Thanks for the welcome! I actually started an account on here a few years ago, but i have since forgotten my password and had to start over. Someone mentioned somewhere (in this thread or another) that the game slowed down in the second half with the volleyball set. It was also said that it was "boring" and Jenkins has a more in your face style and the game was entertaining...I'd rather have a less dramatic and more solid win. If that means hornets slow down the pace, practice press breaks and their half court offense instead of amping up the tempo and risk losing control and rick more turnovers, then I support that. A win is a win is a win for me and for the school as well.

 

[SDHornet]

Not sure about your other quotes but I called it the volleyball set up top. I have no problem running the clock when holding a lead as big as the 20+ point margin the Hornets had during this game. However I don’t understand why the Hornets can’t run the clock in their half court sets. Hell, pass the ball around the perimeter and maybe dump the ball into the post in the last few seconds of the shot clock. By going to the volleyball set, the Hornets are conceding the possession and are not at least attempting an honest scoring effort. I wouldn’t mind the volleyball set in the last 2 minutes or so when the game is well in hand, but it was in play for the last 10 minutes.

 

[OldHornet]

Not sure about your other quotes but I called it the volleyball set up top. I have no problem running the clock when holding a lead as big as the 20+ point margin the Hornets had during this game. However I don’t understand why the Hornets can’t run the clock in their half court sets. Hell, pass the ball around the perimeter and maybe dump the ball into the post in the last few seconds of the shot clock. By going to the volleyball set, the Hornets are conceding the possession and are not at least attempting an honest scoring effort. I wouldn’t mind the volleyball set in the last 2 minutes or so when the game is well in hand, but it was in play for the last 10 minutes.

I agree with you SD, I didn't think Katz used the best plan at that point in the game. I would have kept the foot on the gas until the 5 minute mark then, rather than volleyball I would have put in my subs to get them playing time. Why not give more minutes to help accelerate the development of Rakocevic, Groom, Owayed and Demalleville?

Game time minutes are very precious, they shouldn't be wasted so early in the season.

 

[GoState]

I mean maybe, I see both sides of the fence. Stepping on the gas could have been a good thing, putting in subs could have been a good thing, but also slowing down the pace and giving the players who will being playing the most and also playing TOGETHER the most, need to have practice taking time and also speeding up...learning how to better play with each other. In reality, we won the game and I think in every game, fans and spectators will be able to find areas that we could work on, as with any team. I am just glad to have 2 wins in a row (big csus men's basketball accomplishment), and I think I see a lot of potential in this group once we find our rhythm and our strengths.

 

[EarleHornet]

Not sure about your other quotes but I called it the volleyball set up top. I have no problem running the clock when holding a lead as big as the 20+ point margin the Hornets had during this game. However I don’t understand why the Hornets can’t run the clock in their half court sets. Hell, pass the ball around the perimeter and maybe dump the ball into the post in the last few seconds of the shot clock. By going to the volleyball set, the Hornets are conceding the possession and are not at least attempting an honest scoring effort. I wouldn’t mind the volleyball set in the last 2 minutes or so when the game is well in hand, but it was in play for the last 10 minutes.

The "volleyball set" is not conceding a possession. It is running offense just in a higher area of the half-court. With the 3 ball handlers out top they can work the clock, but at the same time if they drive past their defender it creates a 3 on 2 for the Hornets. As some of you saw yesterday, Garrity penetrated a few times for a potential lay up, got fouled or dished to one of the big guys crashing from the baseline. The guards definitely have the go ahead to penetrate and create if they beat their man using the dribble. It creates a situation similar to a fastbreak with the guard handling the ball in a 3 on 2 situation. Katz has used this for years, successfully, and isn't going to switch now.

It does appear that the Hornets are stalling and some might consider it "boring", but I don't mind seeing Garrity penetrate and dish to Jackson, Dickson, Veteto or McCarver for a nice dunk/layup.

 

[GoState]

Not sure about your other quotes but I called it the volleyball set up top. I have no problem running the clock when holding a lead as big as the 20+ point margin the Hornets had during this game. However I don’t understand why the Hornets can’t run the clock in their half court sets. Hell, pass the ball around the perimeter and maybe dump the ball into the post in the last few seconds of the shot clock. By going to the volleyball set, the Hornets are conceding the possession and are not at least attempting an honest scoring effort. I wouldn’t mind the volleyball set in the last 2 minutes or so when the game is well in hand, but it was in play for the last 10 minutes.

The "volleyball set" is not conceding a possession. It is running offense just in a higher area of the half-court. With the 3 ball handlers out top they can work the clock, but at the same time if they drive past their defender it creates a 3 on 2 for the Hornets. As some of you saw yesterday, Garrity penetrated a few times for a potential lay up, got fouled or dished to one of the big guys crashing from the baseline. The guards definitely have the go ahead to penetrate and create if they beat their man using the dribble. It creates a situation similar to a fastbreak with the guard handling the ball in a 3 on 2 situation. Katz has used this for years, successfully, and isn't going to switch now.

It does appear that the Hornets are stalling and some might consider it "boring", but I don't mind seeing Garrity penetrate and dish to Jackson, Dickson, Veteto or McCarver for a nice dunk/layup.

well said! :clap: