The 1996-97 Rainbows pass. They make their free throws.
They pass.
They play defense (well, at least inside the 3-point line).
They pass.
Hawaii dished off 33 assists last night in a 122-101 exhibition win over Jiangsu Nanjing Club of China at the Special Events Arena. Seven out of the 14 Rainbows scored in double figures; 10 had assists.
As promised, junior guard Anthony "AC" Carter showed he was the Fo' Real Deal, scoring a team-high 18 points.
The transfer from Saddleback Community College continually amazed the 2,992 in the arena, the visiting Fighting Dragons and even his Rainbow teammates with aerial acrobatics and his no-look passes.
Carter's best trick came with 9:02 left in the game, on an inbounds alley-oop from Alika Smith. In any language, the one-hand flying jam was simply spectacular.
"I love that play," said Carter, touted as one of the top 25 players to come out of junior college last year.
So did Smith, who has found a soulmate in Carter.
"That was strictly on eye contact," said Smith, who led Hawaii with eight assists. "I didn't see anybody in the middle. I looked at him, threw it up. He went and got it.
"Just like everybody else, I'm surprised at what he can do.
"I've been waiting two years to have this kind of fun," added Smith. "Notice the smile? We've got a great bunch of guys who like to pass the ball and I think we can expect this kind of play the rest of the year."
Smith was talking about Hawaii's offense, which is definitely ahead of its defense. The Rainbows gave up 13 3-pointers to Jiangsu, seven by Hu Weidong, a 25-year-old forward on the Chinese National Team.
"Obviously, we need to work on our zone (defense) a little better," said Hawaii coach Riley Wallace.
"But it's hard to get the defense working together when you are running guys in and out all the time," Wallace added.
"I liked what I saw out there. We've said from the beginning this is a team that is unselfish and likes to see each other score.
"AC is going to run (fastbreaks) and people have got to learn to go with him. They've got to be alert for his passes."
Micah Kroeger got a nice 21st birthday present from Carter with 7:24 left. Carter's behind-the-back pass found Kroeger wide open in the key, which the junior forward converted into Hawaii's second largest lead of the night at 102-73.
"Hawaii's a pretty good team," said Kennard Robinson, one of two American players on Jiangsu. "They've got some good shooters and I like their backcourt players.
"They've got a lot of players who can play."
Robinson, who played at Massachusetts, finished as the game's high scorer with 29 points. John Spencer, a former NBA player out of Howard, and Weidong each added 27 points.
The Rainbows went on an 18-0 run midway in the first half that gave them a 23-point cushion Jiangsu could not dent. Six of those points came off three of Hawaii's 16 steals.
Weidong and Spencer combined for 11 3-pointers which kept the Fighting Dragons in the game.
Jiangsu went 0-8 on its American tour, including losses to Marquette and Evansville.
The Rainbows shot 63 percent from the floor, but made just 5 of 12 3-pointers.
They were outrebounded, 39-33, with Spencer grabbing 12 and Robinson 10.
Aaron Curry and Seth Sundberg each finished 15 points. Also in double figures were Michael Robinson, Eric Ambrozich and Kroeger, all with 14, and Quentin Gallon with 12.
"We need to pick our defense up another notch," said Carter. "We've got some work to before we play next week."
Hawaii opens its regular season Tuesday against Texas-Pan American.
That's followed by the first of four tournaments, the United Airlines Tipoff Tournament, Nov. 29-Dec. 1, featuring Detroit, Austin Peay and Portland.