Saturday was fun, wasn’t it? I love the energy in the gyms during a KIF basketball game, but it was a great change of pace to have a real college game take place inside one of Kauai’s high school gyms.
Saturday was fun, wasn’t it? I love the energy in the gyms during a KIF basketball game, but it was a great change of pace to have a real college game take place inside one of Kauai’s high school gyms.
This game followed a script that has become customary for college hoops, with the underdog jumping out to a quick start, while the favorite tries to weather the storm and eventually grind back in the game. Chaminade’s early barrage of three-pointers built a lead as large as 15 points, but Hawaii hit some shots and used its size to knot things up by halftime, before pulling ahead and ultimately claiming a 94-84 victory.
Senior forward Christian Standhardinger did what he’s become accustomed to doing, which is scoring points any way he can. What was a slow start for Standhardinger turned into a night when he matched his career high of 31 points. He’s now eclipsed at least 20 points in five of the team’s first nine games as the ‘Bows are off to a 7-2 start. It wasn’t the most beautiful 31 you’ll ever see, but he outworked the Silverswords on the interior and got to the foul line 22 times, converting 16 of those attempts.
That was a theme of the night. The constant whistles became very influential in the outcome and in stunting the game’s flow. While Chaminade was building that early lead, it was piling up fouls that eventually put UH into the bonus situation for the majority of the first half and allowed them to get some easy points to stay within striking distance. Hawaii took 45 free throws in the game and Chaminade took 31 of its own as a total of 59 fouls were called. In the 40-minute game, that’s 1.5 fouls a minute. I want the refs to keep everyone safe and not let a physical game get out of hand, but in a rare game like that in front of a small, excited crowd, I would have preferred they let the teams play a little bit more and be able to put on more of a show.
The most electric highlight of the night came in the first half when UH pulled down a rebound and got out in transition. Point guard Keith Shamburger headed down the middle of the court, spotted Quincy Smith in his left periphery and put up a soft lob. I had a good view of the action coming towards me and when Shamburger first threw the pass, I thought to myself, “No way.” There was a Chaminade defender between Smith and the rim and the pass appeared to be too wide left for him to be able to catch and still get to the hoop.
I was wrong. Smith rose up and continued his trajectory past the defender to throw down a two-hand jam that got the gym buzzing. UH was down eight before that bucket and it was one of the sparks that helped get the game tied up by halftime, along with a pair of back-to-back three-pointers by Garrett Nevels and Brandon Spearman. That was the only made hoop on a tough shooting night for Spearman, who averages 10.3 points a game and had averaged 14.0 over his previous three, but the senior struggled to find his shot in the Raider Dome.
Overall, my main takeaways from the night were that Standhardinger is a scorer, but not a shooter. There’s a big difference. He has a decent enough shot, but he’s more adept at finding angles around the rim, creating contact and getting to the free throw line. Some players are probably the fourth or fifth-best shooter on their own team, but manage to put the ball in the hoop more than anyone else.
Forward Isaac Fotu had a great game and head coach Gib Arnold used him perfectly, given the foul trouble he was in for much of the night. He’s clearly the team’s best player and always seems to be in control. Fotu was about as efficient as it gets, scoring 18 points on 7 for 7 shooting and blocking three shots in 27 minutes of action. Center Davis Rozitis also had a number of “ooh” moments with four big blocked shots in just 16 minutes.
As a team, UH did struggle with a few things. They appeared a little out of sorts when Chaminade went to its 2-3 zone defense. They also tried to apply some full-court pressure, but the Silverswords broke it easily just about every time. Arnold typically had his big men, Standhardinger or Rozitis, at the top of the full-court press, which was a little strange to me. They also gave up too many open threes in the early going and weren’t running Chaminade shooters off the line, when they had the size advantage to make that a priority. But they continued their good start to the season and got the win.
It was a fun night with a great atmosphere and I was glad that everyone, from the players to the fans, really seemed to take it all in and enjoy the novelty of a college game on Kauai.
