ROCHESTER HILLS, Mich. — Oakland was back on the court at the O’Rena last night, as the Golden Grizzlies hosted the Jaguars of IU Indy in a conference matchup featuring two squads looking for momentum as the Horizon League schedule ramps up.
It didn’t take long for the home team to seize control of the dance, but it wasn’t without enduring some meaningful growing pains and learning a few important tidbits about the developing core of OU going forward.
The first standout of the evening was seeing Jack Hoth in the starting lineup for the Grizzlies. Hoth’s first outing of the season – and his first ever in the Black & Gold, came just last weekend in a 15-point road win over Northern Kentucky. Both he and his brother Chang (who has yet to make his debut at Oakland) came to OU via Western Oklahoma State, where they proved to be two of the best shooting guards in JUCO their first two seasons.
All that said, it shouldn’t come as any great surprise that it may take Jack (and his brother) some time and live game reps to acclimate to Oakland’s style of play. His 6’2, sub-160 lb frame provides a lot of the same benefits the Grizzlies get from budding sophomore Jaylen Jones, but finding the ability to be a facilitator in this very perimeter & paint friendly offense, as well as providing plus value defensively against opposing offenses on the break, might prove challenging for Hoth in the short term. Luckily, Oakland has the presence of 6’7, 230 lb guard/forward Isaiah Jones to contribute in areas that don’t come naturally to the rest of the backfield.
Despite a so-so shooting night (3-7 FG, 7 pts in 30 minutes), Jones led the Grizzlies in both assists (6) and steals (4). Hoth would go 1-7 from the field for 3 pts in 24 minutes with no assists and a steal. But there was another young prospect for OU who showed he’s making strides as a potential counter-punch for the team at point guard: Dearborn native and true freshman Nassim Mashhour.
Mashhour, who graduated from Dearborn High School last year, is a 6’4, 185 lb guard who shows flashes of being able to do a little bit of everything you’d want from the position. And on Wednesday night, we saw him flourish in a slightly expanded role due to the absence of Malcolm Christie and limited minutes from Cooper Craggs (along with a relatively cold outing for Jaylen Jones).
To go with his season-high 8 points on 17 minutes of playing time (also a high), Mashhour did two things really well. The first seems instinctual to who he is as a player – he loves to pressure opposing guards in the backfield and disrupt passing lanes. But in the matchup against IU Indy, he seemed as keen as any Oakland player on what the biggest assignment on offense was: getting the ball to 23 (Mukeba) & 12 (Buru) down low.
After the game, OU head coach Greg Kampe offered his assessment of Mashhour and the future core of this team in the coming years.
“The only problem he’s got is pressure. In our first fifteen games – in the league we played Youngstown & Cleveland State, and then we played all those Power 5s that, for the most part, are high pressure. He’s gotta learn how to handle it and control the ball, and it’s hard to when you’re a freshman and you get thrown out against 23 year olds doing that kind of stuff. This team didn’t pressure. He did a great job. He can shoot, man. It’s an awkward, funny-looking shot, but it goes in. And he’s got great confidence in his ability. He’s just gotta get better at his handles.”
Kampe added, “I see his future here. I think with him and Jack, and Chang comes back, and Warren Marshall as he gets back from his injury. We’ve got a lot of length and smart kids – we might be able to press out of that zone. Right now we’re not a pressing team, but I can see the future because Nassim is really smart and could really lead us in that press.”
On a night where a familiar script was playing out for this year’s OU squad (shooting under 35% from 3-point range), the Grizzlies needed to lean into their size and veteran presence at center to control this game and walk away with a win – and they did just that. The duo of Allen Mukeba and Buri Naivalura allowed Oakland to play with an advantage on both sides of the court, with each going 7-8 from the field and Mukeba tacking on another 6-8 from the free throw line.
Despite never trailing for the final 36 minutes of game time and a lead that reached a 21-point margin midway through the second half, Oakland allowed the Jaguars to pull within ten points in the closing moments of the evening on their way to securing the 72-59 win. At the postgame presser, Coach Kampe addressed the need for his players to lean into what’s working on a matchup-to-matchup basis.
“The thing that got us in a little bit of trouble tonight is we forgot these two guys (motioning to Mukeba and Buru) were on the floor for a little bit. We got a big lead and then – I think it was six or seven consecutive threes we took. They were good shots, and I want us to take those shots – but we missed them. That’s been our Achilles heel all year.”
Kampe added, “Every game’s an entity in itself and we’ve got to understand what we need to do to win. And tonight, it was to throw it to these two guys and get the hell out of their way.”
Final: Oakland 72, IU Indy 59
