vs UC-Irvine 10-10 (5-4)
Heh. The
Fish Knight's first game back? Against the Anteaters who ankle-shanked him in the first place. Back to Man because no one frightens inside scoring-wise.
UCI starts off hot but then they fall off, while
Rabbithead drills back-to-back three pointers at the end of the half - including as time expired - to put us 34-25. He's got 15,
Angel Moore has 10, and we're literally riding just those two to paying them back for hurting
Marlin Chevalier. Also key: we've forced 7 Anteater turnovers while giving up just 2.
We extend our lead to double digits and promptly go in the ice bath. I'm screaming in rage when they tie it up, then go ahead with two seconds left. Not this horse manure for the second straight game! Timeout called,
Bonin inbounds it to
Rickie Burns... and the walk-on freshman calmly drills the 3 pointer. Horn sounds and the crowd goes absolutely insane. 53-52. We've swept UCI.
Great battle at SG for much of the game as
Gunther Hasenkopf scores 18 with a steal and
Gary Spies has 17 with a steal of his own.
Rabbithead gets PotG.
Angel Moore can't hit a bucket in the second half, so finishes with 10 points and a steal before he fouls out. We shot just 56.5% from the charity stripe, so nearly blew this one thoroughly and completely.
vs Cal State-Fullerton 6-15 (5-5)
The bloom is officially off the rose on the Titans, who were 5-1 in Big West play to start. They're on a five game losing streak (OOC loss to
Idaho State started the chain), but I'm taking nothing for granted.
Only a 3 point buzzerbeater by
Rabbithead prevents us from a double-digit deficit at the half: 29-36.
They're shooting 76.2%. Absolutely ridiculous.
And we continue to fight, but it's not looking good. Until suddenly, we're within 2 points. 25 seconds left.
Richard Bonin and
Rickie Burns has fouled out. We play for the last shot.
Angel Moore can't find an opening, so he gets it to
Rolland Yount, who hits the baseline jumper to tie it up and send it to the first OT game of my career!
Our first overtime possession,
Hasenkopf passes to
Moore on the outside. Angelic 3! And the
Fish Knight follows up a possession later by sinking the tip-in after a
Yount miss. That makes it 59-54 and we never lose the lead the entire rest of the way.
I'm just going to show the box score on this one. It's our most productive performance on the season, even if not the most efficient:
Code:
Cal State Fullerton (6-16, 5-6):
Player Pos Min Fgm-a Ftm-a Off Reb Ast PF Pts
Henry Alfaro C 28 2-2 2-3 0 5 0 5 6
Dexter Coon PF 33 4-8 2-6 2 7 1 5 10
Joe Newman SF 41 7-18 3-4 1 8 4 3 18
Stanton Perez SG 36 3-11 0-0 1 3 2 2 6
Lawrence Heady PG 34 2-2 4-9 1 4 3 2 8
Darell Roberts PG 17 1-1 0-1 0 1 3 2 2
Tony Garrard PF 21 4-5 0-0 1 4 0 1 8
Scott Lavallee SG 6 0-0 0-0 0 0 0 0 0
Richard Sparks C 7 0-0 0-0 0 1 0 1 0
Turnovers: 15 (H.Alfaro 2, D.Coon 5, J.Newman 3,
S.Perez 3, L.Heady 2)
Blocked Shots: 4 (H.Alfaro 1, D.Coon 1, S.Perez 1,
R.Sparks 1)
Steals: 6 (D.Coon 1, J.Newman 1, S.Perez 1, L.Heady 3)
3P FGs: 1-7 (D.Coon 0-1, J.Newman 1-2, S.Perez 0-3,
T.Garrard 0-1)
Cal State Northridge (12-10, 7-4):
Player Pos Min Fgm-a Ftm-a Off Reb Ast PF Pts
Marlin Chevalier C 40 6-10 2-2 3 5 0 2 14
Richard Bonin PF 34 1-4 2-6 2 11 0 5 4
Gunther Hasenkopf SG 41 4-9 3-4 1 2 5 4 14
Angel Moore SG 29 5-12 4-4 1 4 2 4 18
Rickie Burns PG 40 2-5 4-6 1 6 1 0 10
Aldo Tucker SF 20 0-2 2-2 0 2 1 3 2
Bryan Cruz PG 1 0-1 0-0 0 1 0 0 0
Frank Ullrich SG 3 0-1 0-0 0 0 0 0 0
Rolland Younts PF 13 1-2 1-2 0 1 0 1 3
Gary Waldo C 2 1-2 0-0 0 0 0 0 2
Turnovers: 16 (M.Chevalier 2, R.Bonin 3, G.Hasenkopf 3,
A.Moore 5, R.Burns 3)
Blocked Shots: 0
Steals: 5 (R.Bonin 1, G.Hasenkopf 2, R.Burns 1,
R.Younts 1)
3P FGs: 9-17 (G.Hasenkopf 3-5, A.Moore 4-8, R.Burns 2-4)
Four of five starters in double-digit figures. Amazing.
Rabbithead wins his second straight Player of the Game award.
@ UC Santa Barbara 19-2 (10-1)
Let's be honest. There's no scenario in which we beat the Gauchos, let alone on their home court. We'll switch to the zone to keep our proficiency from dropping off too much, since this is a guaranteed loss.
We make it a hell of a game. Only down by 2 at the half and at one point in the mid-second we were only down by 1 point. But then their talent took over. 58-81 L.
Rabbithead gets shut out in the second half and just misses a double-double with 11 points, 9 rebounds, a steal.
Angel Moore beasts for 18 points and
Aldo Tucker scores 14 in 15 minutes.
Fish Knight gets in on it too with 11 rebounds, a block, and 2 steals.
@ UC Riverside 15-7 (9-3)
We stunned the Highlanders at our place, but something tells me we won't have a repeat. They're still ticked about that. But at least we get our
Jesus Dragon/
Fish Knight battle (it won't end well for us I'm sure). In fact, I literally move Chevalier down to PF so this can happen for part of the game.
I look like a damn genius when
Fish Knight draws first blood and we're actually up for most of the first half, until the AI does AI things and reverts back. We drop behind by 5 at the break. Consequently, our 33% shooting dooms us and we're never really in it, falling 45-55. Great game by
Fish Knight for 11 points, 7 rebounds.
Angel Moore does chucker things for 13 points.
Jesus Dragon drops 23 points, a block, and a steal on us for Player of the Game.
We're now back down to 12-12 (7-6). And honestly, a middle of the pack Big West team is the best I could have hoped for this season, I think.
vs UC Davis 12-11 (6-6)
We knocked off the Aggies at their place, so they're spoiling for revenge. Our best shooting game of the season was responsible for that road win, and I wouldn't be surprised if
Ernie Keesee and Co. curbstomped us in this one.
And yet, the Aggies waste their trips to the charity stripe (40% FT), giving us a 30-24 halftime margin.
Quentin Norris, who had something like a 14 point, 10 rebound double-double last game after we shut the wings down, already has 10 boards in the first half. It's been that kind of typical Big West slogfest (non-Gauchos games). Most surprising halftime stat:
Angel Moore with 0 points. Think that's the first time that's happened this season.
Stop me if you've heard this one before. We lead most of the game, then fucking blow it in the last god damned fucking two minutes.
There's absolutely NO DAMN WAY WE SHOULD HAVE LOST THIS GAME. Absolutely none. Zip. Zero. I'm even more pissed about this than the Pacific loss. We outplayed them and goksdfjsdkfjsldfjslkdfjsljkfdjsdalkfjsadlksdlfjasldfa 56-61 BULL.SHIT.
So, I've long had this theory that when you have the AI run everything, it tends to doom you to around .500 and you can't win a championship. It will find some way of screwing with you.
vs Cal Poly 10-14 (7-6)
Mustangs are in a slump of their own, with
four injured players, including
Ward Parker. Don't worry, we'll wave our red capes and let you through.
Tied 22-all at half, but we're shooting 50%, Cal Poly 28%. They'll win by 20 before this is over.
And yet, they don't.
Richard Bonin,
Angel Moore, and
Rabbithead all score 14 efficiently, with
Hasenkopf PotG with 6 rebounds, 4 assists, and a steal besides (Bonin banged 2 blocks).
Rickie Burns added 11 with 2 steals. Sure, the 59-46 win is heavily asterisked and we shut down
David Montes (1 of 10) so
Marc Crowder (15 points, 1 steal) and
Chris Perry (11 points and a steal) had to try and do it themselves... but... a win is a win is a win (Thanks. I referenced Gertrude Stein, whose writing I find obnoxious).
Our RP is back in orange for the first time since that disastrous loss to Norfolk State (185). And of course...
@ Pacific 7-19 (4-11)
I really, really want this win. Like you don't even know how badly I want to declaw *and* defang these guys after that 50-52 home upset. Not only would we get satisfying revenge, we would guarantee a .500 Big West record, which would thrill our AD, who only wanted us to avoid last place (and probably create pressure to repeat that .500 next year, but that's something to worry about later).
And of course I forgot to set the zone, so we're down by 9 and the half, 25-34. We make the switch, probably too little too late.
It ultimately doesn't matter. They blow us off the court as they can't miss, and we can't hit. Tigers are up by as much as 20 before we ultimately lose by the same 9 point margin.
Oh and the Fish Knight is hurt yet again. Out 17 Days. PotG is
Rickie Williams (who?) who scores 20 points with a steal in 23 minutes,
Toby Shiver chills us for 13 and 8, and
Isiah Hyder scores 11 off the bench.
We went 3 of 22 from behind the arc. Yeah. 15 points for
Richard Bonin and
Rabbithead gets 13 and 3 steals.
Aldo Tucker adds 11 points, 4 rebounds off the bench.
Embarrassing. Getting swept by Pacific of all teams.
Let's try
Gary Garner at CE this time, since
Richard Bonin got repeatedly beat down last go-round.
On the bright side, we fill out our recruiting class:
Code:
#11 SF Florentin Dupretz
--------------------------------------------------------------------------------
Height: 6-9
Weight: 219
High School:
Hometown: Les Sables-d'Olonne, France
GPA: 2.55
Test Score: 930
Rating: ***
Attributes:
--------------------------------------------------------------------------------
Type INS JPS FTS 3PS HND PAS ORB DRB PSD PRD STL BLK QKN STR JMP STA
--------------------------------------------------------------------------------
Current: 23 37 68 51 37 19 43 28 4 42 24 53 54 56 53 29
Potential: C D B A C C A C D C B C
Season Stats:
--------------------------------------------------------------------------------
PTS OREB REB AST TOS A/T STL BLK PFS
--------------------------------------------------------------------------------
22.3 4.2 11.4 1.4 2.1 0.68 2.5 2.0 1.5
Shooting Averages:
--------------------------------------------------------------------------------
FGM FGA FG% FTM FTA FT% 3PM 3PA 3P%
--------------------------------------------------------------------------------
9.5 17.1 .553 2.8 4.7 .591 0.7 2.5 .260
Recruiting Notes:
--------------------------------------------------------------------------------
Qualified: Yes
Committed to Cal State Northridge
Rankings: Foreign #18 Overall, Foreign #3 SF
High School Awards: None
Top 5 Schools: *Cal State Northridge, Kansas State, Fresno State, Ohio State,
Arizona State
Intriguing player. Looks like a catch and shoot guy like
Rabbithead but I'm fascinated by his all-around stats production. Rebounding and shotblocking look really solid for a 3, though the lack of post defense will keep him out of the PF slot. I really, really like his alleged defensive disruptor upside, and he's rated Red/Green in the Color Chart.
If this is close to accurate, I could see him pushing
Rabbithead to the bench. In any case, between our German, our Canadian, now our Frenchman, and
Aldo Tucker, we've got some really good wing depth compared to what we started with. I probably should have gotten another big because the
Fish Knight is brittle AF apparently, but Dupretz was clearly the best player still available.
@ Long Beach State 7-20 (2-14)
One minute you're the toast of the town. The next, you're mired in last place, looking up at everyone else. It's been a tough season for
Damian Coffman. Maybe it's starting four freshmen. Maybe he caught lighting in a bottle Year 1. IDK. What I do know is that the Beach is way better than this on paper. Like, ridiculously so.
Rabbithead nails a 3 pointer at the buzzer to keep it to single digits, 20-27, but we're playing flat and uninspired. Like we've mentally checked out and are just so ready to move on to next season. Whereas the Beach are battling to bounce out of the basement.
We don't get any closer than 5 and repeat the 54-63 scoreline.
Isidoro Lopez wins Player of the Game with 16 points, 5 rebounds, and 3 steals, but it should have gone to
Dominique Larsen's 23 points, a block, and 3 steals.
Sherwood Ransom banks in 13 boards.
Angel Moore (22 points, 3 steals),
Gunther Hasenkopf (16 points, 6 rebounds, and 2 steals), and
Aldo Tucker (9 points, 4 rebounds off the bench) do everything they can to try and keep us in this, but it just wasn't even remotely close to enough.
@ Hawaii 4-24 (2-15)
Well, our hopes for a .500 conference record come down to this. Flying out to the Islands to take down the new bottom-feeder in the Rainbow Warriors. Steal god
David Chen is healthy again, we're on the road, and we just haven't been playing great down this stretch of the season. And no
Fish Knight...
Rainbow Warriors come out fired up and they're blowing us off the court... but a bad team is a bad team and we rally back to stun them by taking a half-time lead 32-30 when
Angel Moore completes the And 1 play with 3 seconds left. Hopefully that breaks the back of their morale.
Nope. They score on a tip-in with 13 seconds left, and
Angel Moore has a chance to be the hero, but he's never been clutch. And so he doesn't prove to be here.
Gary Garner can't get the rebound fast enough to get the tying shot off.
What a waste of
Rabbithead's PotG-earning 20 points, 5 rebounds, and 5 steals, which bettered
Dietrich Hirschmann's 18 points and a block, and
David Chen's 13 points and 2 steals.
Henri Maton has 10 boards and a steal, and some guy named
Bernie Cummins - a CE of course - scores 13 points off the bench.
I don't care that
Angel Moore scored 14 with a steal, or that
Gary Garner had 10 boards and a block. Moore disappointed me.
Hasenkopf and the
Fish King have shown clutch ability. Angel is a damn choker.
Still, we finish precisely in the middle (5th) and that's good enough to go to the conference tournament that sees the Top 8 teams play.
Cal Poly (Big West Conference Tournament)
I don't care that
Fish Knight isn't 100%. He's playing. The Mustangs have
Ward Parker and
Thomas Bonney back, but are still missing a couple reserves. I expect them to stomp all over us.
Angel Moore scores 11 of our first 15 points as we lead for most of the half, then look at risk of losing it until
Richard Bonin hits the J at the buzzer to put us up 33-31. We've seen this movie before, though.
Yep.
We manage just 2 points in 10 minutes
Since it's the last game of the season...
Code:
Cal Poly 72, Cal State Northridge 45
--------------------------------------------------------------------------------
Cal State Northridge (13-17, 8-10):
Player Pos Min Fgm-a Ftm-a Off Reb Ast PF Pts
Marlin Chevalier C 24 0-3 0-0 2 3 0 3 0
Richard Bonin PF 27 4-8 0-0 0 3 1 5 8
Gunther Hasenkopf SG 23 1-7 0-0 2 2 3 4 3
Angel Moore SG 30 5-8 2-2 0 2 2 1 15
Rickie Burns PG 32 2-7 2-2 1 4 0 1 6
Aldo Tucker SF 24 4-10 0-0 0 5 1 3 11
Bryan Cruz PG 6 0-1 0-0 0 0 0 1 0
Frank Ullrich SG 6 0-2 0-0 0 0 1 2 0
Rolland Younts PF 12 0-1 0-0 0 0 0 3 0
Henry Menard SF 1 0-0 0-0 0 0 0 1 0
Gary Waldo C 11 0-0 0-0 0 4 0 1 0
Gary Garner PF 6 1-1 0-0 1 1 0 0 2
Emerson Kane C 1 0-0 0-0 0 0 0 0 0
Turnovers: 19 (M.Chevalier 3, R.Bonin 3, G.Hasenkopf 4,
A.Moore 4, R.Burns 1, B.Cruz 3, G.Garner 1)
Blocked Shots: 0
Steals: 5 (M.Chevalier 1, G.Hasenkopf 1, A.Moore 2,
R.Burns 1)
3P FGs: 7-21 (G.Hasenkopf 1-5, A.Moore 3-5, R.Burns
0-3, A.Tucker 3-7, F.Ullrich 0-1)
Cal Poly (14-16, 10-8):
Player Pos Min Fgm-a Ftm-a Off Reb Ast PF Pts
Chris Perry C 26 9-13 9-12 5 7 2 1 27
Thomas Bonney PF 32 1-2 0-0 1 5 2 1 2
Mark Crowder SF 28 4-8 4-6 0 5 3 1 12
David Montes SG 32 3-10 0-0 0 3 0 1 7
Ward Parker PG 29 1-5 0-0 1 3 1 2 3
Sheldon Hake SF 18 3-5 9-10 1 4 1 0 15
Tyron McMillan PF 16 0-1 0-0 0 3 0 2 0
Weston Paiz C 7 0-0 0-0 0 2 0 0 0
Elijah Martell PG 7 2-2 1-2 0 1 0 0 6
Zdenek Soukup SF 5 0-0 0-0 0 0 0 0 0
David Harr C 1 0-0 0-0 0 0 0 0 0
Turnovers: 12 (C.Perry 2, T.Bonney 2, M.Crowder 2,
D.Montes 1, W.Parker 1, S.Hake 2, T.McMillan 1,
Z.Soukup 1)
Blocked Shots: 6 (T.Bonney 2, S.Hake 1, T.McMillan 3)
Steals: 8 (C.Perry 2, T.Bonney 1, M.Crowder 2, D.Montes
1, W.Parker 1, S.Hake 1)
3P FGs: 3-13 (M.Crowder 0-3, D.Montes 1-4, W.Parker
1-4, T.McMillan 0-1, E.Martell 1-1)
Player of Game: C Chris Perry (CLPLY)
What a stinker of a way to end the year. We finish the season with four straight losses.
Season review and all that next time.