ALIKA Smith called it the "New WAC season." ‘New season’ is must-win
time for RainbowsThe University of Hawaii Rainbows are 3-0 in that "season" of must-win games after the debacle at Texas Christian when they lost by 42 points to the Horned Frogs.
Playing TCU at home must be a living hell. Just ask New Mexico, which lost by 31 points to the same Horned Frogs in what might have been a no-count, crossover game. But the spanking sure bruised the Lobos' ego.
The trouble with Smith's "New WAC Season," though, is that it has two road blocks at San Jose State and Fresno State. The game against the Bulldogs might be a bigger hurdle, but the game against the Spartans is more of a must-win encounter.
Winning both would go a long way in helping the Rainbows achieve their goal of a 20-win season. Then it would only take one victory in the WAC Tournament in Las Vegas to pull it off.
But a defeat to San Jose State could dash their hopes of an NCAA at-large bid, considering they've got Fresno State remaining. Somehow, FSU coach Jerry Tarkanian and the brattiest of Jerry's kids, Chris Herren, just seem to have Hawaii's number.
If the Rainbows lose both games, the only way they can get into the 64-team NCAA field is by winning the whole WAC shooting match. The chances of that happening, though, are about as slim as hitting the Megabucks payoff.
So they've got to take it one game at a time in this new "season" starting with San Jose State. It's a winnable game for the Rainbows, even if they're playing on the road.
THEY showed renewed energy in knocking off Tulsa and Rice last week. The victory against the Golden Hurricane was huge, if nothing else because it left a good feeling all around, being the final home appearance for the Rainbow seniors.
There's nothing like winning on Senior Night. It was made even more special in that the official ceremony renaming the arena the Stan Sheriff Center was held before the game.
Coach Riley Wallace called this year's team something really special.
So no matter the outcome for the rest of the new WAC season and what I like to call the "third season," the WAC Tournament, this year's Rainbows indeed have been truly special.
Who knows when another Alika Smith will come down the local basketball pipe. In terms of his high school and collegiate accomplishments, there hasn't been any local player better than Smith.
The best basketball player out of Hawaii is Red Rocha, better known perhaps as the coach of UH's "Fabulous Five." But the 6-foot-9 Rocha played nine years in the National Basketball Association. At high school in Hilo, Rocha was a gangly kid, too awkward to keep up with the rest of his shorter but speedier teammates. But he matured at Oregon State to make it professionally.
THEN there's Anthony Carter, who also can make it at the next level. Somehow, Wallace has had great success in recruiting guards out of junior college -- Trevor Ruffin, Tes Whitlock and Anthony Harris. May it continue with Carter leaving. But AC's something really special with his uncanny passing.
He'll get his share of turnovers and might go 1-for-9 at times from the field. But Wallace wouldn't want anyone else with the ball when the game is on the line.
Michael Robinson has stepped up his game and Erin Galloway has lived up to his nickname, "Helicopter." They'll have to play really big-time if the Rainbows hope to keep this latest season going.
Actually, though, each year the basketball 'Bows have a third season. You might have forgotten the first one -- the "Rainbow Classic Season" when they defeated the Kansas Jayhawks.