UPDATED: Cal Poly spoils Senior Night for Warriors
It was everything you would want on a Senior Night … except for the final outcome.
The Hawai’i basketball team suffered a frustrating 64-61 loss to Cal Poly in the final home game of the regular season. Sparked by a spirited “White-Out” crowd, the Warriors staged a furious rally late in the game and had two chances to tie the game in the closing seconds, but came up short both times.
“Those two missed shots weren’t the reason why we lost,” head coach Gib Arnold said. “It was a 40-minute game, and I thought the guys did a phenomenal job coming back … it just didn’t happen tonight.”
The near-capacity crowd of 9,662 at the Stan Sheriff Center stood in stunned silence after freshman Brandon Jawato’s running 3-point attempt was way off – and after the final horn sounded. It was the largest attendance at the Sheriff Center since the last home sellout in March 2004.
“It was a draining game, a tough game,” Arnold said. “The fans really helped us get that energy. It didn’t get us over the hump, but give the fans credit, they helped us.”
Hawai’i dropped to 17-12 overall and tumbled to fifth place in the Big West Conference at 10-7 after its second loss to the Mustangs this season. Cal Poly improved to 15-12 overall, and leap-frogged the Warriors into a tie for third place at 10-6.
Freshman forward Isaac Fotu led the Warriors with 17 points, and he also grabbed nine rebounds. Senior center Vander Joaquim added 15 points and 10 rebounds for his team-leading 11th double-double of the season, and senior wing Hauns Brereton scored 13.
Senior point guard Jace Tavita scored six points and passed for seven assists. He also directed a Warrior offense that committed a season-low three turnovers – the fewest turnovers by a Hawai’i team since the Stan Sheriff Center opened in 1994.
“We didn’t turn it over tonight … we were playing good basketball,” Arnold said. “We weren’t hitting shots. Especially early, we weren’t hitting many shots and just couldn’t get that one extra break that we needed – a bounce our way or something to get us over the hump. But we kept trying.”
The Warriors trailed by 13 points, 61-48, with less than five minutes remaining in the game, but Tavita sparked the late rally that made it an exciting finish. He hit two 3-pointers during a 10-0 surge that cut the Cal Poly lead to 61-58 with 2:28 left.
Cal Poly’s Reese Morgan drained a wide-open 3-pointer with 2:03 remaining to put the Mustangs up by six, but Jawato responded with a 3 of his own to make it 64-61 with 55 seconds left.
After a blocked shot by Joaquim with less than 20 seconds remaining, Tavita passed the ball on the wing to Brereton, but his deep 3-point attempt bounced off the front of the rim. Since it was Senior Night, Tavita said he thought Brereton’s shot was going in.
“When I passed it to him, I said ‘thank you,’ but then it went in and out,” Tavita said. “Basketball is that way sometimes.”
Cal Poly had a chance to secure the win in the closing seconds, but missed two free throws to keep the score at 64-61. After the second missed free throw, Fotu grabbed the rebound and passed it to Tavita, who then passed it to Jawato. In an attempt to find an opening, Jawato dribbled around the perimeter of the 3-point arc, but Cal Poly switched defenders on him, and he could not get off a clean look in time.
“We have a lot of heart and we just keep battling,” Tavita said. “We put ourselves in position to tie the game. Sometimes that’s just how it goes.”
The Mustangs led by as many as seven points (21-14) midway through the first half, but the Warriors managed to tie the score at 25. Cal Poly eventually took a 27-25 lead at intermission.
The Warriors took a momentary 36-35 lead early in the second half, but the Mustangs responded with a 3-pointer on the ensuing possession to take the lead for good.
“They came out with different defenses and that kind of messed us up just a little bit,” Joaquim said.
The Warriors shot 40.4 percent from the field, while the Mustangs shot 49 percent. The Warriors entered the game as one of the top rebounding teams in the conference, but the Mustangs won the battle of the boards, 30-28.
Chris Eversley, a 6-foot-7 junior forward, scored a game-high 25 points on 11-of-18 shooting to lead Cal Poly.
The loss put a damper on the post-game Senior Night ceremony, although thousands of the fans remained in the arena to cheer the honoring of Brereton, Tavita and Joaquim.
“I’m not happy about the game, but I’m happy in general,” Joaquim said. “It’s special. I feel blessed to be here.”
The regular season is not over for the Warriors, as they will play their conference finale on the road game at Cal State Northridge on Thursday. Hawaii could finish anywhere from a tie for second place to sixth place in the final standings, based on the outcomes of various games next week.
The final standings will determine the seedings and pairings for the eight-team Big West Conference Tournament, which is scheduled for March 14-16 at Anaheim, Calif.
(Game photos courtesy Charles Simmons)
BOX SCORE
This year’s Warrior Basketball team has a lot of talent. But against Cal Poly, they did not look right. I don’t know what it is. Whether its the coaching, the players I’m not going to be a arm chair coach and make accusations. I’ve been watching UH basketball since 1963 and Its not my area to criticize. But for sure, they don’t have a good shooting guard and a good, consistent point guard. Jace has his moments. Jefferson ia a above average defender but a mediocre shooter. Last years exit of 4 players told Gib he needed quality guards. The big men are doing their job. Isaac Fotu is the best freshman forward to ever play for the Warriors. Its going to be hard to replace Vander. I still think Tony Maroney was a bit better. Now the rest of the games is on the road and if they played like they did last night, the seasons over. He doesn’t have a experienced center for next season. Davis Rozitis is tall but skinny as a bean pole. Opposition centers will have a field day pushing him around. None of his redshirts look like a Shaquil O’Neal replica. No potent looking point guard or shooting guard on the team. Yes, Shamburger and Valdes will be aboard next season but they don’t look like the Chris Gaines or Reggie Carter types. I hope Gib will pull a rabbit out of the hat and come up with the second coming of Kobe Bryant and Karl Malone. Can’t wait for next season to begin. I love the UH Warriors!!!
Number One — The Good
Thank You, Seniors Jace, Hauns & Vander!
Seniors AND Among The Most Improved on the Team
Jace, This Year and Vander over his UH Career
IF the Rest of the Team can follow similar or better Career and Season Arcs of Improvement
It Would bode very well for The Near & Long Future…
The Bad … We ARE Closer to #6 than #3
(although that ‘Looks Like’ as little as four points or even less in This Parity-filled BW)
WE ARE Closer to a Four Game Losing Streak (Gutted/Lucked Out Thursday Night?)
Than a Four Game Winning Streak
The UGLY — IF We CANNOT Beat a UC-Davis or Cal Poly in the BW Tourney (Or CSUNorthridge on road next week)
They may not Win even Two (or One) in the Tourney
Cal Poly looked like the better team (for TWO Nights) AND even UCSB could have knocked us off on our own court…
AND YET, so much of This Season is One or Two Made Baskets OR Stops away from That Much More Success
The Good News IS The Opportunity Still Exists (For ALL BW Teams) in Anaheim
and for Gearing Up & Practicing What It WILL Take @ Northridge, Like a Really Good Warm-Up or Practice Run
And it All Continues to Climb or Fall and Turn on the Road Next Week
AND The Week After …
These Guys CAN Make it Glorious…
The Kind of Improvement JACE Displayed Just This Week
The Kind of Better Game CHRISTIAN Can Play (Again) Starting Right Now
OR FOTU, OR … Almost ANY One of these good, lion-hearted young players
One or Two More Makes or Stops, Each Game
The Line is SO Thin Right Now between Success and Something Less
I’ll Count Myself among those that were Looking for Enough Growth & Improvement that We Would Be Ten Points or More on The Higher Side of Success Versus that Thin Line …
AND They Still CAN Play at that Higher Level
INSTEAD, Right Now we’re Right At the Line…
WATCH What Happens
Either Way the Future IS Bright
Because of the Improvement we’ve witnessed in these Seniors
(Thank YOU for ALL that hard work!)
And the Near Future Really Bears Watching
As i looked at that Terrific Crowd Tonight i wondered WHO are these people?
Where have they been?
What do they think they’re about to see?
What brought them here?
The Seniors and the great young men they are is part of the answer…
The Rest of The Answer May Be on The Road…
Another gut-wrenching lost. Easy to say after the game but, I thought with 7.8 seconds left a time out was gonna be called and a play set up with one of the senior guys shooting the 3 pointer. Either way, I like this team and I’m hoping for a nice stretch fun for them. Good turn out last night. Kudos to Jamie Smith. Awesome job!
Go Warriors!
The answer is in bench points . . . . 20 – 5 = not enough supporting cast play and contributions! Where was Christian, watching the game for 28 minutes and only 5 points? At this point in the season you gotta be able to go deeper in your bench and have somebody come in and give hustle points or make a few baskets. 4 more points off the bench = Hawai’i wins!
Oh well, now the best they can do is . . . . 18 – 12 going into the tourney. Don’t expect much if you don’t beat CSUN!
BTW: LA Tech lit-up the WAC and is ranked #25 with a 2nd year head coach!
#25 Louisiana Tech 88, San Jose State 61
http://www.wacsports.com/ViewArticle.dbml?DB_OEM_ID=10100&ATCLID=206582160
Dallan, eagle, Palolo Warrior,Ratbird, :
I really enjoy your comments, and observations, spot on! Agree with other posts, i.e. eagle, if UH cannot beat Davis or Poly here, and have trouble with UCSB at home, even though they had Alan Williams, could be trouble in BWC. And Dallan, great points, however I like your extra insights and updates in MBB. Agree with eagle and Dallan, this Northridge game, for UH to secure victory, go to 18-12, a one game on the road momentum builder is HUGE. Pretty much a Cal Northridge victory for UH is Key , to help them get things addressed and have any kind of shot at winning the BWC. And eagle, the eternal optimists we are, and you are right the crowd was great last night, if UH hosts a CIT of NIT home game, the crowd will be huge guaranteed!
So UH, still possible, 4-maybe 9 more games in season(a NCAA, NIT or CIT championship run, or win a couple of games in those tournaments, so , for we UH hard core and faithful yet realistic fans, UH’s current edition of hard working, not overly athletic, or super talented BB team still has a potential run of Basketball games ahead, of course, keep winning, keep on playing deep into March Madness, in BWC tourney, lose first game, NCAA run done. Then hope for CIT invite, get 20, or 21 wins, make BWC tourney championship game, chance for Ben Jay to do his thing, and contact NIT people(who have , I think a 32 team field), Ben probably updates NIT and CIT on how UH is doing, a bubble team if anything. Say, is ain’t over till it’s over.
So , up to UH, and agree with comments on Christian, as one caller to Gary Dickman’s post game radio show mentioned, , when Christian is at the SF or SG or 3 spot, he struggles on offense, when he is at the 4, no one in BWC can really stop him, he is a mismatch. Maybe Gib goes to starting five for Northridge of Jace, Jawato, Hauns at the 3, Christian at the 4 and Vander .
With Jefferson, Davis, Fotu(fantastic freshman, should be all frosh team somewhere in NCAA MBB)Clair and Ozren, even Michael Harper helping give relief to starters.
I kind of agree, with loss of Spearman, which is huge, Jawato, would have to take that role defensively, just smart and energized defender, and not just a 3 ball launcher, though he almost helped UH come back in closing seconds, rather a guy who would drive the paint, get 2 pts or basket and one. Jawato, you have to be BBIQ smart energy player, would help UH MBB team run into BWC play.
So, once again UH fans, I think the win at Northridge is KEY in helping UH to get things fixed, and win by committee, get Mo, momentum for run in BWC tournament,. Hey, we will probably all be watching that crazy, online feed from Bigwest.tv on Thursday, March 7 at 530pm HST.
Go Warriors, have to beat Northridge, and doesn’t matter what seed you are , have to have all five starters, and 3 off the bench contributing on boads, have to, just have to dominate, and Defend paint to 3 line, shoot well and continue that fantastic care of the ball, only 3 turnovers, however, if UH shot close to 49, 48 percent from the field, with all those close shots, UH probably won against Poly by 6 to 8 points.
Go UH Warriors, bring it, do the best, effort and smarts, and get the final BWC road game against Northridge for Momentum, and fans, UH it is what it is, the type of athletes, still as a TEAM, and great rebounding and Defense they can win a championship, get NCAA invite, or get 19, 20 wins and go to another post season tourney no question!
Go Warriors!
In retrospect: This edition of UH MBB team, they have tremendous heart, leadership, unity, and are true friends and Coach and staff and fans love them. They do the best with their given talents. If the 3 seniors did not get together to have team solidify and go on that 5 game winning streak , and this current winning 7 out of last 10, UH would be like last year, a team losing 5 or 6 or 7 of last games, going into BWC , and one and done. This team, the young guys, are different, the HIGH CHARACTER student athletes.
Kudos props to Gib, Benjy, Brandon, Fish, Chris, and TEAM: Vander, Jace, Hauns, Christian, Isaac, Davis, Garrett, Ozren, Michael, Manroop, Brandon J. and Brandon S., and the 4 outstanding RS’s who practice very hard as scout to help team improve, without Airon Valdes, Caleb( a lot of upside!)Dressler banging Fotu, and Vander every day), Dyrbe, Michael Harper, and Keith Shamburger and others working scout team and preparing UH active roster guys prepare, UH would probably be at 10-19 at this point or worse, and have a losing record in BWC. Credit to team, great personalities, no defections, no melodramas, ego maniacs and in fighting. Great Job Gib!
Hope for UH to get this Momentum building final 18th regular season win against Northridge, UH has to win the boards , shoot inside out, and dominate. Play like how they did against UCSB on the road a few weeks ago, when Christian went off for 31 pts and 16 rebounds, UH has a shot for NCAA invite. When all 8 teams meet in Anaheim for tournament, any of the 8 can win it. UH has to start fresh, be healed , rested, complete class assignments, GPA up , have a good contingent up there, there will be with Band, Dancers, cheerleaders, and ex Hawaii residents from West Coast and local fans who can make trip to city of the Magic Kingdom. Hope Hawaii, plays, like a Beast, I think and hope they will.
Shout out, once again to the 1 through 12, great young guys, all! Just have to rebound and shoot better, dominate the glass on O and D, you guys can win the BWC tourney, the chance to dance! So fans, UH season is not over till the final buzzer of a last game, either a huge championship or loss in a first round somewhere!
Roller coaster season, thrills and chills, yet UH and Gib , put out a great product, and Jamie Smith as great as he is and will be next season, great job Jamie, Jamie credits, one Mr Gib Arnold and staff for promoting UH MBB and getting nearly 10,000 fans to purchase tickets for senior night. Awesome, and future, looks bright for next few weeks if Hawaii can get on a 3 or 4 game winning streak, and for next year, where UH with another additional back up PG, walkon or maybe open scholie due to a early graduate, will be awesome!
Go Warriors!
As expected, Cal-Poly is a very good team. If Standhardinger scored his average, UH probably win this game. 4 players, Vander, Isaac,Jace, and Brereton played 35-37 minutes which is a bit much, in my opinion. Poly shot the ball better and Eversley is tough to guard because he is so smart, so quick, and so deadly. Just watching him on the floor you get the feeling that he knows he’s better than everybody else on the floor. We had no answer for him.
Yeah the loss hurts. But like in boxing, styles make fights and Cal Poly and UC Davis have a style that’s a terrible matchup for UH. UH’s biggest weakness all year has been defending the 3 point line and Cal Poly and UC Davis are both good passing teams with several solid shooters. Some of it is inexperience, Fotu got caught leaving his man open a few times during the defensive help rotations. Some of it is lack of quickness, no Spearman hurts a lot. Tavita, Hauns & Standhardinger are tall, but not quick. Cal Poly is a disciplined offensive team, they are deliberate and will keep running their offense until someone is open. This makes the defense work extremely hard and when a team like UH lacks quickness, it’s very difficult to defend the entire shot clock on every possession.
Believe it or not, losing doesn’t change much as far the Big West tournament goes. the standings are still completely jumbled up from 2 thru 6. Pacific has the toughest schedule remaining and might drop. UC Davis and Irvine still have two tough games to finish. Cal Poly actually has the easiest final week and I think they sneak into the #2 spot. I think UH beats Northridge and ends up the #4 behind The Beach, Cal Poly, and Pacific. That’s perfect because then I think they end up playing Irvine in the 1st round which is a toss up game. If they win they would presumably play Long Beach if the top seeds hold. As bad of matchups UC Davis and Cal Poly are for UH, The Beach is a team that UH plays well against.
That being said, the Big West tourney is wide open, because all of the Big West teams struggled on the road and thiswill be a neutral court. It all depends on the matchups. I can see 3 different teams that can win the tournament.
1. UH has a shot if they don’t play Cal Poly or UC Davis,
2. The Beach are the favorites but struggle vs UH and Cal Poly
3. Cal Poly has a shot because they are peaking now and will probably enter the BWC with a 5 game win streak. Eversly is a very solid player and if Royer stays hot, but hard to maintain hot shooting for 3 straight days.
Looking at the rest, I just don’t think Pacific is good enough to win 3 straight away from home. Fullerton and Santa Barbara are probably one and dones. If UC Davis plays UH all three rounds they’d win, but they don’t play well vs the other top BW teams and haven’t proven they can win 3 in a row vs non-bottom feeders or away games. Same goes for Irvine
quicker, faster and more athletic are BW teams
UH doesn’t do a lot of switching on the man to man defense. A lot of times, the screens cuts off the defensive man and the cutter gets an open shot for a 3. Wide open too. We saw Hauns lose his man a couple of times. Fotu coundn’t close fast enough to contest Eversley’s shots a couple of times. Eversley roams the entire floor and he can go inside and outside at will. The guy has some unbelievable moves and step hops. The guy exudes so much confidence in himself. I really believe he is an NBA caliber type player and I wouldn’t be surprised to see him being the Big West player of the year. It’s between him and James Ennis from Lon Beach State. The other guys are pretty much spot up shooters and not so much score on the dribble drive. Maybe the trick on Eversley is to play a box and 1. The same for Hawkins against UC-Davis. Play a zone with 4 guys and man to man against the top scorer. Try to deny the ball first and then try him to make a pass instead of shooting. But Eversley is a tough cover. The guy is 6’7″ and lightning quick. Hawkins is smaller 6’3″. I also notice that because Poly and Davis shoots a lot of 3s, their misses are long rebounds and they get a lot of loose balls. We have to block out better and be quicker to the ball instead of looking at the shots. Just some thoughts. It was a tough loss, but at the same time Arnold and the team needs to analyze the situation and make the necessaary corrections. I also think he needs to use a deeper bench to keep everybody fresh and going 110% hard every second on the court. Use Ozi, Manroop, and Harper in spots even if it’s limited minutes. Who knows, somebody might get hot! Personally, I believe in keeping players fresh and go hard. Coach should know who’s having an off game and not playing well. Use your personnel. You see them in practice every day, practicing hard. Good luck in Northridge and in the tournament. It’s win or go home time?
Former UH Athlete: As always, great objective analysis!
I don’t know if you recall, maybe way back in the day, the Trevor Ruffin led 1994 WAC tourney championship team. That team started off terrible. Had a roller coaster, up an down season, despite having a streaky deep, deep 3 ball threat, and eventual free agent NBA player in Ruffin. A big center, Tony Maroney, 7’1″ 295 or upwards, slow of feet and hops, but good long arms to grab rebounds and alter or block shots, a 6’5″ power forward, who really was a 2 guard, the late John Molle Jr. , 3 ball shooter, streaky, tough as nails, Phil Handy 6’5″ version of Hauns, who is now director of player development for NBA’s LA Lakers, 6’1″ Kalia McGee, the brother, local boy, very good facilitator, leftie, could shoot 3 ball, yet hesitant(sound familiar?), and 6’0″ Jarrin Akana, Hawaii HS player of the year, who transferred to UH Manoa. Brother of coach Brandyn Akana.
That team went into WAC tournament, not as a favorite. BYU playing the WAC tourney in Salt Lake City, huge favorite, UH in championship game against Big Bad Blue, Coach Reid, and the Reid brothers, two guards. BYU was up by 12 or 14 points with about 10 minutes to play, Jarrin got hot from 3, then Trevor, then John Molle, Handy did his Hauns thing, Kalia steadied the point, UH caught up then eventually beat BYU by 6 or 7 points, or more, I forget, almost 20 yrs ago! And coach, Riley Wallace , a emotional coach, really loved team, and wanted best out of what he had(sound familiar?) I know, 20 years is a generation ago, however, UH at that time got good 3 ball shooting at proper time, Handy, Molle, Kalia, Trevor, and the Post Defender Maroney, got hot at the right time, and won the tourney and went dancing, facing Syracuse in the first round of NCAA’s!
That team, wasn’t the quickest, or smartest, yet the got hot at right time, won 3 in a row at WAC tournament and won the whole thing. Former UHA, you are correct, today, nearly 20 years later, Hawaii if they play well, and the matchups are right, they can win the BWC tournament and go NCAA dancing.
Man, I am looking forward to the Northridge game. Even, though, Hawaii cannot end up 1 or 2 seed, UH, has a chance to secure an 18 win season with potential to win 20, that hasn’t happened in many years, since Riley Wallace was here,and UH had Michael Kuebler , a great, great 3 ball shooter. Maybe 2004 or 2005?
Warriors, clean slate, just go out and get this last BWC regular season Win on road against Northridge, it will help your confidence, and Gib and staff can do the best with what they got, as did Riley nearly 20 years ago in old WAC and enter NCAA March Madness. Either way, if UH makes it to championship game, they would be approaching a 20 + win season, and props to Gib and fantastic, sensational, terrific Twelve!
A healthy and hot Cal Poly team and a UH team missing its best perimeter defender was a recipe for disaster, and the Warriors still nearly pulled one out. It was nice to see the arena 90 percent full and nearly all decked out in white, including a boisterous student section.
Tough losing Spearman for the stretch run, not just for the energy and athleticism he brings, but also what it does to Gib’s rotation. He had settled in on a solid eight or nine; last night the starters got extended minutes though I wonder why Jawato didn’t get a little more PT.
Eversley is a tough matchup. I think Christian’s offensive output slipped because he was tasked – at times – with shadowing Eversley, as he did two nights earlier when he took on the late assignment of containing Boswell, who hit 4 of his first 5 shots from 3-point range. What you can’t see on TV is how hard the defense has to work against a patient team, especially one that passes well and has confidence (and the green light) to take a 3. As an example, Johnson came in shooting 21 percent from 3-point range (5-for-23), and he goes 2-for-2!
I thought all three seniors played well last night, and Hauns’ late 3 barely missed. I think nearly everyone in the arena stood up the second he lit it go as if they were going to will the ball to drop in. The team played hard, and that’s all you can ask. As Gib said, they never got that one break they needed during the course of the game, although Poly was ripe for the picking at the end, missing two critical free-throw attempts.
I was glad to see Fotu more assertive on offense: 7 of 13; he could get that every night if he weren’t so unselfish. As a freshman, I think he felt the need to defer to the upperclassmen, but I’m sure his teammates knew from Day 1 that he was special. And with Spearman likely out the rest of the way, I hope Fotu continues to look for his shot more.
While last night’s loss hurt because of lost momentum and what it would have meant as far as seeding. The BW Tournament is a virtual pick ‘em as Former UH Athlete says. Look at yesterday’s results: three games decided by three points and one by two (when doormat Riverside nearly beat No. 2 Pacific). I could see UH going one-and-done; I can also see it winning the whole thing. Yes, the Big West ain’t the Big Ten, but the parity sure makes it fun.
Aloha,
The refs ruined senior night. Cal-poly was getting away with murder! Two guys sandwiching the guy going for the basket. Arm and body contact and no call, all night. Same like Thursday but we won anyway on Thursday.
Bring back Highpockets!!
nuff said.
kden, puhi
I still think we have a shot. Low turnovers and Tavita’s improved play will keep us in the game. But Brereton needs to put up more shots. He needs to find a way to get open or shoot in a smaller space. He’s the go to guy from the outside. He needs to let it fly in the tournament. Our defense is not great but adequate. We got all the pieces of the puzzle put together. Seniors are playing well and need to rise to the occasion. It’s now or never. If everyone brings their A game we got a shot.
No sugar coating here, we can’t defend the three all darn season, play a darn box and one on the hot shooter. Off to Northridge, come back with a victory, no less is acceptable, think it and do it Warriors!
Just my opinion. Vander Joaquim has had a nice career at UH, but I don’t consider him to be the best center in UH history. Based on my re-collection here are the top UH playersby position. Others will disagree. Go ahead and chime in:
First Team
—————
PG Tom Henderson
SG Carl English
SF Jimmy Baker
PF Bob Nash
C Melton Werts
Second Team
——————–
PG Anthony Carter
SG Pedrag Savovic
SF Phil Lott
PF Reggie Cross
C Haim Shimonovich
Third Team
——————-
PG Jerome Freeman
SG Tony Webster, Trevor Ruffin
SF Ray Reed
PF Julian Sensley
C Vander Joaquim
Fourth Team
——————–
PG Mike Campbell
SG Dwight Holiday, Michael Kuebler
SF Phil Martin
PF Al Davis
C Tony Maroney
Honorable Mention: Al Davis, Chris Gaines, Gavin Smith, Vincent Smalls, Reggie Carter, Tommy Barker, Lucky Smith
Derek: Nice list and recall!
Mel Werts was a beast! a PF/C. He had a free agent tryout with the NY Nets during the fall camp of 1976, he almost made the roster, however , a certain, Julius Erving got signed, and they waived Melton. At 6’9″ and 230 pounds, the guy had hops, great shot blocker, fierce rebounder, and great in bounds play, they throw a lob to him about free throw line, Melton makes a little 12 foot jumper, rising about 34 inches off the ground, that play was virtually unstoppable! Melton, came in as freshman in fall of 1972, first year freshman could compete right away in NCAA hoops. Averaged about 13 points 10 rebounds, 2 blocked shots, and shot over 50% from the field. Melton played 4 years as a starter, that is why he is up there for rebounds, blocked shots, field goal percentage, points scored etc. Nice hook shot, a mini sky hook, Mel could jump pretty high.
However, Melton, didn’t have the softest hands. Henderson would make great passes to Werts right under basket or a slow fast break, and Melton would lose it, turnover. Also, Melton had a penchant for dribbling the ball in traffic, a lot of big men did that back in the day. He would turn it over. He was just over a 50% free throw shooter too.Great hops and shot blocking ability and intimidation, however Melton would block the shot into the 3rd row, good showman, however, better if he blocked shot and kept it inbounds, and gave to team mate to start the break. Vander does that, block shot, then keep in play.
So in Comparison to Vander, Vander in 3 years is approaching top 5, 6 , 7 in points, rebounds, field goal percentage, and is now, an excellent FT shooter, about 75% or better. Vander has pretty good hands to catch passes and finish, he goes up with ball pretty quickly and does not bring ball down too much. Vander, his weakness, we all know, he gets doubled , and panics, doesn’t recognize double down, and gets tied up, jump ball, or turnover, if he plays anywhere pro, euro, asia, or NBA, he has to spot the double and get ball out, repost, and get ball again and have single coverage then score.
He is a terrific scorer against a single defender, or smaller guys. I personally would say, Vander huge upside, versus Melton Werts, though, we are talking about nearly 40 years ago, difference in athletes and skillset. Vander, a tremendous learning curve in 3 years of NCAA DI ball, he has potential to play pro, somewhere for years to come, maybe as a PF.
Melton Werts out of Philadephia, a HS phenom, however later claimed he was a NY native. Great Big back during the Henderson, Artie Wilson, Rod Aldridge days.
I liked Tommy Barker, reason, 6’10 1/2″ 230, guy could rebound, block shots, and had a great 12 to 18 foot jumper which was money. Kind of a soft player, did not like to bang down low, more a perimeter Big. He was a HS All American and JC All American. later drafted by the Atlanta Hawks, and even was their starting center as a rookie, along with Tom Henderson as the PG of that team in 1976-77.
Bob Nash, well, first big time Big to come out of east coast. HS phenom, and JC All American, and first round pick of the Detroit Pistons in 1972. His record in the Rainbow classic of 30 rebounds! Might never be broken, still remember that game, sold out Honolulu International Center Arena(8000+) what is now the Blaisdell Arena, Bob was scooping up every ball coming off the defensive end, along with offensive put backs, incredible. Bob played for several years in NBA, as journey man, and in Europe, as well as ABA.
Sheesh Derek, good memories, UH MBB had NBA draftees, Fred Smith, Tom Newell, Bob Nash, Aaron Strayhorn, Pops Dickerson, Reggie Cross, Reggie Carter, Tommy Barker, Jimmie Baker, Victor Tiny Kelly, I think George Lett, and Henry Hollingsworth, who transferred out after the NCAA thing. And NBA free agents who actually made it to the league, Savo, AC, Trevor Ruffin, ..so UH had a bunch that made it to NBA for at least a short stint, a lot player pro overseas, and made a good living, as well as AC Carter, who, gave back to UH, and is set for life, having qualified for NBA pension and longest time in NBA, I think 13 seasons! Small school in the middle of Pacific, had some great ball players!
My top Bigs: Bob Nash, Tommy Barker, Melton Werts, Jimmie Baker, and Vander Joaquim, who still has a lot of upside, once he recognizes the double teams and kicks out to shooters or cutters to the rim. Too bad, NBA scouts, recognize that weakness too. so Vander, if you read this post, for the millionth time, when you are double downed, or even triple, watch it coming, every team does it to you in college, react fast, then your stock will go up immensley in eyes of pro GM’s. Have to bring it every nite, and get stronger. Love how you really became a very good FT shooter! In euro or NBA, unless Vander you are scoring 25 to 30 pts a game, doubt if they will double you, they will use a good post player to play man on you, or Zone. So maybe in the pros, you will be free to score one on one more!
Derek, I can’t remember every team and player from the past 46 years, however there have been some good ones. Tom Henderson, and Bob Nash, first round NBA picks, maybe one day Gib will have a few as well!
Vander , you are in great company, step up your game, get a good personal trainer, hit the weights and increase the BB IQ, your pro career can be a good long one. !!
Derek, respectfully gotta disagree on a couple: Relegating the leading scorer in UH history (Chris Gaines) to Honorable Mention, and omitting the second-leadng scorer and a top rebounder (John Penebacker)? Anyway, just my opinion.
No Alika Smith anywhere? He’s the best local born player in the programs history hands down. And he and A.C. led UH to back to back 20 win seasons in their junior and senior seasons.
Puhi… The level of officiating has been atrocious in the Big West. The refs have made bad calls in UH’s favor, but UH has been on the wrong end far more times than not.
I see the Gib Arnold naysayers our out in force on twitter, and want changes. Gib took over a dumpster fire when he was hired and has returned the program back to pre-Nash levels in terms of record and attendance. Gib had to replace 12 departing playings (16 players on 2009-10 roster) with a shortened recruiting timetable. Outside of Hiram, Amis and Zane, there was nobody on the roster when Gib took over. It’s impossible to expect his first 2 years of recruiting classes would be a long term solution.
Because there were so many spots to fill, GIb was forced to take chances on risky players (Wiseman, Stokes, Miles, J. Thomas), total development projects (Vander and Rozitis), and fill the last roster spots with non-D1 talent (Barnes, Orstowski, etc).
As the risky guys flamed out (Stokes, Wiseman, Miles, Thomas), it opened the door for this years recruits. The immediate consequence to losing those guys was losing their experience, which hurts this year as inexperience led to roster shuffling and freshmen mistakes, but the long term net gain far outweighs the departure of 4 bad apples for chemistry.
2013-14 projected starters at this point appear to be: Shamburger, Spearman, Jawato, Standhardinger, Fotu.
That’s a lot more firepower than this year’s lineup. Rozitis and Dressler add size/depth. Not to mention Valdes should be active and enter Michael Thomas (who will be fighting for starting job at some point). From all accounts, Shamburger is an upgrade over Tavita. Spearman and Standhardinger will both be back as the leaders. Fotu and Jawato both will be better players next year.
THe departing seniors will be missed, but I believe UH has as good, if not better, talent replacing them. Losing Vander will hurt, but I don’t think its a huge loss as it will open more space for Fotu. Fro-tu will pick up Vander’s numbers plus he is much better at making quick decisions with the ball. Losing Brereton isn’t a big loss either. He’s played better as of late but he’s not a good defender and part of UH’s 3pt defense woes. Valdes and/or Thomas are huge upgrades in terms of athleticism and defense. As mentioned before, Shamburger is projected to be an upgrade over Tavita, but losing a PG is never great.
Don’t forget, UH was projected finish in the middle of the Big West. So by all accounts, they are right at their expectations. I though they would be top half, but with the way the standings have played out, 2 through 6 are very close, it’s not a freak out scenario if UH drops to #6.
Looking forward to the Big West Tourney. It’s wide open, It all depends on the match ups. After watching many of the Big West games, seeding will not be overly important this year because all the Big West teams have struggled to win away from home court. There won’t be any clear cut favorites outside of Long Beach vs Santa Barbara in the 1st round.
Former UH Athlete:
A lot of truism to your comments about BWC officials, not the greatest, consistently inconsistent! One thing, they let the Bigs bang away, then UH’s Bigs will be battling for the boards or putbacks, getting hacked and pushed, and the BWC officials let it go , no foul on opponents. Maybe, The BWC officials are not used to a WAC physical, Bigs oriented, game. More the guard, wing, athletic, 3 ball launching and well coached disciplined teams. A Cali BWC thing. However, UH still has to grab every Defensive rebound, and especially the long rebounds off of missed 3 point shots, and foul shots. Hawaii Bigs have to dominate the glass, take care of the ball, 3 in last game? Unreal, that is the way to do it. Plus, UH has to shoot better from down low , mid range, runouts and 3 line. UH get 6 or 7 defensive stops in a row, and turn the stops into 12-14 points, UH can win 3 games in a row. UH has to defend, and shoot well.
BWC Tournament at the Honda Center in Anaheim will be exciting, I think all of us here on this forum agree, UH can win it. Right matchups, or UH has to POUND IT, just super physical , and go deeper using bench , up to 10 , 11 guys if need be, so UH can spread out the fouls and keep the finishers, the 6 or 7 who finish the last 5 minutes, have fresh legs and body to secure a close win!
I don’t tweet, except follow some, tweets and courtsense articles from BM. For so called fans, getting on Gib’s case, it doesn’t make sense, However, a close loss to some teams that UH could have beaten, probably causes frustration. As for the Exodus guys who left program, and media, even TV commentators, ESPN analysts, and other so caller UH MBB faithful who trash Gib, to Gib’s credit, he got it…don’t recruit or accept preferred walkons who carry baggage, mentally, egotistic athletes, guys who think they are better than team , or envision themselves as NBA material, or super DI players, when they are not. Gib brought in good young student athletes, and the team, even at 17-12, are unified. I witnessed, the underclassmen, truly being heart broken, when the 3 seniors, just came up short of getting their final Senior nite win at SSC. This team, they are Ohana, familiy. good people. Credit to Gib, his loving wife, and 5 great children. Gib is heading MBB program in right direction, so is Beeman. with the gals.
I hope Gib , staff and Team go on a 3 or 4 game winning streak, get to the championship game of the BWC tournament, and silence the critics, winning 17 so far , with a possiblity to get 18, 19 or 20 plus wins, hasn’t been done in several years with MBB program. Gib if you recall, was working for UH, recruiting, a scramble and gamble first few months when hired with NO CONTRACT., even had to wait for his first paycheck! How many of us, in the outside world, working for employer, would work for no money, nothing set in writing. Of course, we would work for a salary guaranteed!
So , to the Gib doubters, Gib has won 52 games so far in just shy of 3 seasons, and he hopefully can win several more this season, I think that is a good thing!. Gib using his own funds, to promote UH MBB, without help of UH marketing, with help of video coordinator Jamie Smith(excellent Jamie!) speaks volumes, Gib loves Hawaii, UH , the MBB team and especially the fans and students of course. So in my eyes, Gib this season ain’t over, you could be dancing, or in a possible 2 other post season tournaments(would not count out NIT, if Hawaii can get 20 or 21 wins, by Championship game of BWC tournament).
Good job Gib, true Hawaii HS product, and loves the islands! Go Gib, hope team gives their 100% and gets another 3 or 4 wins plus this season!!
I’m fairly impressed by the coaching in the Big West. They’ve done a great job schematically against Hawaii. They are just as good or even better collectively than last year’s WAC.
In general, I agree that Coach Gib has done a great job rebuilding the basketball program. However, I do recall La Tech hiring a brand new young coach (Michael White) in 2011 (one season after Coach Gib). He took over a last placed La Tech team that loss 20 games under Coach Rupp. He then proceeded to win 18 games in his first year and made it to the finals of the WAC tourney without their top returnee Olu Ashaolu (went to Oregon) and leading scorer DeAndre Brown. He recruited Raheem Applyby, who will likely be the WAC POY this year. They are currently 26-3 in Coach White’s second season with a 23 beatdown on Utah State last week. He is a 33 year old HC that spent seven years @ Ole Miss (who beat us in the DHC) under Andy Kennedy.
I like Coach Gib for the most part, but he will need for the team to finish strong. 3 more wins is crucial for an automatic contract extension. If he fails to meet the requirements, next year’s fall recruiting could suffer (with 4 scholarships to give — Christian’s, Spearman’s, Davis’s, and Garrett’s).
Yeah Derek, those were great players. I remember the days when the HIC was packed and if you were late you had to park across the street. I think the best player to play for Hawaii was Tom Henderson. He was a court general. Just his presence on the court made everybody play better. The most exciting person to play at the HIC…….Pistol Pete. He scored lots of points, but then he shot a lot.
Call what you want, but one good coach can make all the difference in one year. Some examples, the new Boise St. coach. He’s good. He’s was the asst. to the St. Mary’s coach. The new coach at Illinois has turned the program around. He came from Ohio where he took his team to the NCAA last year. And this coach at La Tech is obviously good. That young head coach at Memphis has his team at 26-3. The coach that took over Rick Majerus at St. Louis has them leading the Atlantic 10. Shaka Smart at VCU is terrific. He’s young. And Brad Stevens at Butler is lights out. I don’t know if Gib Arnold is the answer, but maybe we need to be a little more patient. I think he got some solid recruits last year. Fotu is very good, Shamburger is a good player, Standhardinger is a good player, Jawato is getting better. Spearman is solid. I’m high on Manroop and Ozren and Valdes. I hope Dressler will be good. I think Thomas is athletic. Not sure about Javanovic. Harper and Enos are walk-ons and need to get better to see minutes. Now it’s a matter of coaching them and he has to look at his assistant coaches too because it all comes down to him because he’s the head man. I’m not sold on coach Taylor, coach Akana, and coach Fisher yet. Maybe I’m wrong. Who knows. To be honest, I think in some of the games in the Big West and also in some of the non conference games, Arnold was outcoached. I tell you what, I expect a lot better results next year. Arnold has to get better, his coaches has to get better, and the players have to get better. That’s the expectations. I really expected at least a 20 win season and go to a tournament this year. It is still within reach but barely.
As far as the officiating, they said the refs also call Pac 12 games and will be calling NCAA tournament games too. If so, I can understand how they call the games. In the Pac 12 they let the players go at it and let them bang around. No harm no foul. Just watch the Pac 12 games and you can see for yourself. So, they don’t call some fouls that you think should be called. Just play to the whistle, that’s all. Our players need to adjust and be smart.
Derek, good lists of all time Rainbow Warriors.
I got to argue that Savovic is better than Carl English though. That’s my two cents.
Would live to see Haim and Vander battle 1-on-1. Toss up in my book for 2nd best center.
I think Mark Campbell is a little under rated. Campbell never lit up the stat box, but he had great command of the offense and was a good defender as well. Campbell was the last quality PG UH has had, and not surprisingly, that was the last time UH was a conference title threat.
ok, I guess that’s four cents… nah make that a nickel (I hate pennies).
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Regarding comparing Gib to Mike White of La Tech, both are improving coaches and both are master recruiters. Geographically, La Tech is much easier to recruit vs Hawaii for obvious reasons. Louisiana is right next to Texas, where there are a ton of talented players, more than enough for Mike White to tap into. Easy for parents to make the drive to watch their sons play. Hawaii will never have that luxury. Also, White had more roster continuity than what gib had to deal with. White inherited four regular starters from Rupp’s last squad. Both Gib and White are getting better athletes on their rosters. This season, Vander wasn’t 100% healthy until well into BW play, Brereton slumped horribly, and now Spearman is out for the year. White’s squad has avoided injuries this year. The top 9 players with the most minutes have only missed ONE game collectively. Thats an amazing stat. So it’s easy to say White’s been dealt a better hand.
La Tech is a solid team but their 26-3 record is very deceiving. Only one game vs a RPI top 50 opponent (So Miss). UH has played UNLV, Illinois, Ole Miss, & Miami. That’s why La Tech’s RPI is only 48 and a projected 13 seed in the NCAA. Non-conference power ranking of 98, and a strength of schedule of 205 (2nd weakest in WAC).
The WAC is historically bad this year (Utah St & NMSU are having off years) and the bottom half of the WAC is laughable. Its like the Rainbow Classic lineup all season. Thats not La Techs fault. In the end White’s done a great job and he’s recruited some nice athletes and play great defense. They dominate inferior teams like good teams do. They are just not tested.
Saying White is clearly better than Gib is premature. If Gib was at La Tech and White at UH and inheriting the same circumstances, I’d say both teams would be pretty close to where they are now.
For the life of me I can’t find Mike White’s salary or contact terms anywhere. Anyone got a clue?
FUHA, you are understating the job a non-Hawaii coach has done as usual. The WAC is the #13th RPI rated conference (the same as last year). La Tech has 18 straight wins to date with four RPI top 100 wins in that span (USU 2x, Dever, and NMSU). USU is down, but they have been battling injuries this year. Prestin Medlin and Kysiean Reed only have played 16 games, but they still have a few good JC guys and a very good center transfer from Oklahoma State.
Michael White only inherited Brandon Gibson (9ppg) and Kenyon McNeail (8ppg) of note from Rupp’s tenure. In White’s first year, his leading scorers were his own recruits freshman Raheem Appleby (13ppg) and a senior transfer he brought in from Ole Miss Trevor Gaskins (12ppg). Neither of which were highly rated recruits that some teams of the Big West have. Regarding Hawaii, everyone knows that Hawaii is not fertile for D1 basketball talent. Gib has done a great job in the recruiting area with this consideration in mind. I have no complaints about that.
I know I’m nit-picking but forgot to mention La Tech has only played one game vs a major conference (@Texas A&M) and was beaten soundly. In front of a 40% capacity crowd, where home court advantage was a minimum, La Tech had an early 5-0 lead but lost lead 1min 30sec later and never regained the lead and were down as much as 19 until garbage time closed to 12 point loss.
Texas A&M is currently 10th place in the SEC which is having another down year (8th in Conference RPI).
So take La Tech’s lofty 26-3 record with a grain of salt.
Agree that UH is right where it was expected to be … in the middle of the Big West. People forget that the team returned only 1.5 starters (Vander and Hauns), three players were coming off redshirt years (Stanhardinger, Jace and Jawato), two had played sparingly (Rozitis and Jefferson), one transferred from JC (Spearman), one had to sit out (Shamburger) and the rest were true freshmen (Fotu, Clair, Oz, Harper, Dressler, Enos and Valdes).
As FUHA pointed out, the loss of the Forgotten Four (Shaq, Thomas, Wiseman, Miles) hurt the team in terms of experience, but certainly did wonders for team chemistry.
That being said, Hawaii still is capable of making a deep run in the BW Tournament (guess that could be said for just about any team). One question: The BW regular-season champion earns an automatic berth to the NIT. Let’s say Long Beach stays on top, and also wins the BW Tournament, does the conference still retain the NIT berth, and, if so, how will BW decide whom to send to the NIT? Hope the BW commissioner, who was here over the weekend, remembers the 9,000 on hand for Saturday’s game.
Yet, their Texas A&M game was their first game of the season. Hardly a reflection of the job Michael White has done this year. I see La Tech’s performance comparable to USU’s performance a couple years ago. La Tech was ranked #25 in the coaches poll last week (but dropped although winning two games handily due to high major teams having a great week). Apparently coaches around the country had taken notice to vote them in the polls.
For the record, I have mentioned it twice on this thread that I like Coach Gib. I think he has done a great job rebuilding the Hawaii program and is doing well recruiting. I just believe that we could be doing much better at the present in the conference that we’re in. As a diehard Hawaii fan, I still am hopeful that Gib can right the ship and make a run the Big West tourney. Afterall, he did a commendable job last year getting to the semi-finals after a rough stretch to end the year.
Derek:
Yes, going back in the day, agree with Palolo Warrior, seen Tom Henderson play in person. He was highly touted guard out of NYC. An All American at San Jacinto JC, was an Olympian on that infamous 1972 USA team that lost to the USSR on controversial ending play. I could not believe that he would come to Hawaii! After the Fabulous Five year ended in March of 1972 against Weber St. in an opening round game of NCAA’s, local fans knew Tom was coming to Hawaii, great expectations. We watched delayed portions of USA BB games with Tom running the point. I think that team had Doug Collins too.
Anyways, I am getting really nostalgic now! Tom Henderson, was several levels above anyone on the UH team, he was not a vocal leader, his game spoke for itself. His many moves, strength 6’3″ 195, very strong, great court vision,high BB IQ, a pass first guard on the break, or running the offense anywhere in halfcourt, you knew he was an All American, able to shoot with either hand, steals, blocked breakaway layups by other teams on runouts, made 30 foot passes to wings running on the break,excellent free throw shooter , in the 80 per cent range, about 7 assists a game, maybe 2 steals, had a solid 18 foot bank shot from left or right, a floater, could create own shot, go to the hole against 7 footers and score,, finger roll layins, since no dunking was allowed , if only the guys he were playing with could handle, or be ready for his passes, UH would have scored maybe 6 or 8 more points a game. Tom made average, to good players, better, and he loved Hawaii!
AC Carter, like Tom , made UH better as soon as he stepped on the court, the court vision, speed, strength, team player, leader. great player too. His story coming out, getting GED, going to JC then UH, and having a very long career in the NBA, makes him my second all time player from UH as a guard. Imagine having AC and Tom as guards with UH.
Well, that is where Gib comes in, look for the next Tom Henderson or AC Carter! In time, he probably will. You know who is tearing it up, working the first team guys over:? Keith Shamburger with the scout team. Love Keith’s attitude, he is working super , hard, will have a good summer, and he with Spearman, Jawato, Jefferson, and whomever else Gib might bring in as a PG(?)just guessing, will match the BWC guards next year for sure!
He played very well,and was named to several All American teams as a senior, as well as being part of the all tournament team in the old Aloha Classic for College seniors at the H.I.C.(Blaisdell).
Yes, Palolo Warrior, Tom Henderson to this day, is probably the most talented and touted guard to ever play for Hawaii.In only two years, he did a lot. Imagine if he had played from sophomore year!
White is unquestionably an excellent recruiter. Unforetunately for La Tech, even with a 26-3 record, they may still have to win the WAC tourney to get into the dance. Usually when you see this good of W-L record, they’re a shoe in for an at large, but looking at their résumé… it might the least impressive 26 win team ever. There is precedence for a team with La Tech’s record and ranking not making the tournament… The 2003-4 Utah St team went 25-4 (17-1) in Big West but lost in the BW tourney… Which ironically lost to Hawaii (I was in attendance!).
According to ESPN, La Tech is 1-0 vs Top 50 RPI; is 4-2 vs 51-100 RPI; SoS = 251; non conference SoS = 241
The 4-2 vs 51-100 RPI is ok, but the problem for La Tech is that none of those teams are projected to make the tournament. So Miss, their highest quality win, is no longer projected to make the NCAA field as of today’s Bracketology. That means La Tech potentially could have zero games/wins vs tournament teams.
2-4 vs Top 50 is greater than 4-2 vs 51-100RPI in the eyes of the committee, because they want to see you play other tournament bound teams.
La Tech was really hurt, in terms of RPI and overall statue, by Utah St and NMSU both having bad years. La Tech still has to travel to Las Cruces so no easy win there. The good news for La Tech is that they are heavy favorites to win the WAC tourney in Vegas, so if they take care of business, they won’t have to sweat the selection Sunday.
Unfortunately for La Tech, they will have an uphill battle getting into the dance without winning their conference tourney. They are a bubble team without enough quality wins in the top 50. However, they’ll be close to a 30 win season by the time the year is over and are assured a spot in the NIT. That is a very successful year even if they don’t reach the tourney.
FUHA, I do enjoy reading most of your comments (except for a few comments directed at current players and my disagreement with your assessment on non-Hawaii coaches). I appreciate your contribution to the discussion and many other threads. I guess we just have to agree to disagree on the topic of LA Tech.
DK,
For the record, like what you said. I like both Gib and White. Both have turned their programs in the right direction.
Normally, losing the first game of the year vs a SEC team isn’t the worst thing in the world, but now the season has played out, that loss could be pivotal should La Tech not win their tournament.
Utah St was ranked in the AP top 25 and had a RPI of 43 (better than La Tech’s current RPI) and better SoS when they got snubbed. So La Tech better win out to remove all doubt.
Clyde:
On OC Sports broadcast of Senior nite, BW commissioner was interviewed by Kanoa during halftime. He loved the support and turnout by the UH fans. Kanoa did allude to post season play for BW teams. Commissioner did mention that, besides the team that wins BWC tournament title, probably several BW teams, will be eligible for other post season tournaments, that could include Hawaii. He was positive, loved what Hawaii MBB team brings to the BW, and looked impressed with the 9000 approximate in house turnout. Also, a week or two ago, when Hawaii was in the midst of that 5 game win streak, Ben Jay was interviewed by Kanoa or Dash, Ben said definitely UH was inquiring about UH making bids to host possible other post season tournments, including the NIT. Would be nice for UH to win the whole thing,, the BWC tourney and just go NCAA, of course best case scenario, however and NIT or even a CIT bid with a chance to win 4 or 5 more games towards a championship and possible hosting a couple of opening round games would be great. Without a doubt, if on the right days, and time, the fans would come out in good numbers.Remember the UH vs LBSU NIT game back in the Blaisdell back in 1990 or so, that was a very loud and supportive, packed crowd, chicken skin time, and UH won a great game.
Hawaii, no question the best MBB venue in the BW, and the highest average attendance and tickets sold in the conference, without a doubt, the commissioner , along with Ben Jay, will , if UH gets several more wins, let’s say, UH wins the next 3 and make it to final of BW confernce, an NIT bid would not be out of the question if Hawaii did not win that championship game. NIT is owned by NCAA, and they have a breakdown, of who would be invited. For the West Coast, Hawaii, if they are 20-13 after a possible loss in championship game, I am sure, UH and BW will push for Hawaii to be part of NIT, if not, definitely the CIT, of which Riley Wallace is a big part of selection commitee, and would love to have Hawaii and its fans be a part of a really great mid major post season tournament.
Of course in the past, when the NIT was owned by East Coast entities, Hawaii was still an attractive draw. I remember, the Reggie Cross led team with 17 wins were invited. The Gaines, Houston, Smalls team were invited , they had over 20 wins, of course the AC led teams, with consecutive 21 win seasons. And the Michael Kuebler led team who finished regular season, I think at 19 games. Of course when UH MBB was going down hill for 5 or 6 years, they were not really considered for anything, except a miraculous winning of the old WAC tournament and possible NCCA invite.
Just my opinion, probably someone out there knows the particulars better, I would imagine, if Hawaii does not go to NCAA by winning BWC tourney, they would have to have 20 wins, to be considered, I think that is the magic number for consideration for the 32 team field. The CIT, I think the magic number is 17, of which UH has that amount already, however, we still want them to get that 18th win for momentum and morale boostig, and a charge towards the 20 win mark.!
One more thing Clyde, it is great that we are even metioning possible NCAA invite, NIT or even CIT at this point! Better than if UH had losing record overall and in conference, and had come down to last game against Northridge to even make the BWC tournament, a few years ago, it was like that. Glad that Gib, and team, and fans, are in a position to envision something better this time of March Madness.
I enjoy all of the posts, opinions and comments. A lot of supporters of UH MBB, whomever is the coach. Great site Dayton and staff and the sponsors and The Schmidt Ohana! UH MBB is exciting again! And congrats to coach Beeman, the gal has done a great job in her first year, wish the Wahine the best in post season too!!
Go Warriors(me old school, Go Rainbows or Bows) however, Gooooooo Warrrrriors!
Clyde and others, I should spell check and proof my posts better, sorry, Get energized and excited when talking about this nice run for the MBB team and turnaround with good student athletes and culture of MBB this year. Lot of typos, sorry, at least my employment is not as a journalist! Leave that to Wes and Dayton!