Rainbows must
avoid a shootout
Long Island is averaging
By Cindy Luis
100-plus points per game
Star-BulletinEast Coast basketball. One-on-one. Kick it out for the 3. Run down the ball. Run down the opponent. Run up the score.
Long Island University basketball.
Everything that Hawaii basketball is not. And that worries the Rainbows as they take their 4-0 mark into the Zippy's Tournament this weekend at the Special Events Arena. East Coast hustle meeting Hawaiian-style reserve is five time zones and an ocean of difference in basketball philosophy.
The Blackbirds (3-4) will test the Rainbows' patience tomorrow night with a shoot-'em-up offense that averages 106.9 points a game. More importantly, LIU will test Hawaii's discipline on both ends of the court.
"Long Island will want us to run up and down with them," Rainbow senior guard Alika Smith said. "They'll make us want to take that quick shot. They'll want us to do everything the coach (Riley Wallace) doesn't want us to do.
"If we play their game, we're going to lose. If it's in the high 90s or 100s, we're going to lose. What we want is to get them to play our game, at our tempo, our pace."
What Hawaii needs is to keep LIU under 100 points. The Blackbirds have won every game in which they've reached the century mark this season, averaging 130 points in their three victories.
But every time LIU has allowed more than 100 points, it loses. No. 21 Mississippi was the fourth team to accomplish that feat this season, escaping with a 102-99 win last Friday.
"This is an important game for us," Hawaii assistant coach Jackson Wheeler said. "They're a good team and they're capable of beating good teams. They've played the toughest schedule (counting only Division I games) according to the Sagarin ratings. There's no question they haven't shied away from top-of-the-line competition.
"And they've got two very good players in Charles Jones and Richie Parker. Both were big-time recruits."
Both are big-time scorers.
Jones, a 6-foot-3 senior guard, leads the team with 31.8 points and 7.0 assists a game. The leading scorer in Division I last season, Jones broke the CVC Tournament record of 37 points held by Karl Malone with 39 points against Mississippi.
Parker, a 6-5 sophomore swingman, is averaging 21.1 points and a team-high 7.4 rebounds.
Parker pleaded guilty to a felony charge of first-degree sexual assault in a highly-publicized case three years ago, when he was rated among the top 50 high school players in the country as a junior.
"Jones is obviously a big factor for us to be concerned about," Wheeler said. "But Parker does damage in a different way. He's a smaller front-line player and could cause our bigger front-line guys some problems with his driving and slashing abilities."
LIU has two other players averaging in double figures -- senior forward Mike Campbell at 21.1 ppg and sixth-man Isiah Francis, a 6-3 guard averaging 13.1 points and 5.1 assists.
The Blackbirds shattered several NCAA records last month in their 179-62 blowout of Division III Medgar Evers. Jones scored a school-record 53 points and LIU set marks for the largest margin of victory (117 points), field goals (76) and steals (39).
Their pressure man-to-man defense has forced an average of 34 turnovers a game. Hawaii averages 13.3 turnovers a game, with a high of 22 coming against Illinois State.
"The keys are to take care of the ball and limit their scoring," said Smith, Hawaii's leading scorer with a 21.3 average. "Coach wants to keep them down between 60 and 75 points. If we can do that, they'll be very frustrated.
"We've got to play tough defense. Their guards are NBA prospects. You can't take anything away from them. They're going to score. We just hope to contain them for one night."
Depending on when Anthony Carter enters the game, Smith should be matched against point guard Jonathan Frank and then go against Jones. Carter, who reinjured his shoulder Saturday, is expected to play.
"We don't see a lot of their style of ball," Wallace said. "They'll press, stay up-tempo and try to get you out of rhythm and into their game. A lot of people try to play the way Long Island does, but you need talent to do it. And they've got the talent.
"This will be the best test of our discipline we've had this season. We need to play a solid defense on them and keep our offense under control."
LIU's losses have all been on the road: at No. 8 Purdue, at No. 10 Iowa, at No. 28 TCU and against No. 21 Mississippi at the Ball State Classic.
Hawaii has opened the season 4-0 three of the past four years. The last time the Rainbows opened 5-0 was in 1975-76.
Zippy's Tournament
Tomorrow Arkansas State (3-3) vs. Centenary (0-7), 4:30 p.m.; Long Island (3-4) vs. Hawaii (4-0), 7:07 p.m.
1997-98 Rainbow Men’s Basketball Schedule
http://uhathletics.hawaii.edu
