Monday, November 2, 1998
’Bows
out of synch
After yesterday's exhibition loss
By Cindy Luis
to the California West All-Stars,
it's apparent the UH basketball
team has a lot of work to do
Star-BulletinIt was like test-driving a new car and suddenly realizing that the transmission was standard and not automatic.
The ride was not smooth. Switching gears was frustrating. There were stalls -- plenty of them.
Such was last night's exhibition test drive for the Hawaii men's basketball team.
The Rainbows, with just four players remaining from last season's squad, downshifted into neutral at critical times against the California West All-Stars, losing 80-72 at the Stan Sheriff Center.
Things that were taken for granted the past two seasons -- the back-door plays to Micah Kroeger, the in-bounds lob to Eric Ambrozich, the energy from Alika Smith and Anthony Carter -- weren't there. This new group of Rainbows has talent -- as well as a lot of learning to do before they're going to be allowed on the freeway.
"We've got a lot of new faces trying to learn the plays," senior forward Mike Robinson said. "It's like trying to give a baby a book to read. They don't know all the plays and we're throwing them a lot.
"We've only had two weeks of practice. With a little more hustle, a little more effort, we're going to be back on track. I'm going to lead the way."
Robinson tried to lead by example, scoring a team-high 22 points and grabbing 10 rebounds. He could have used a little more help from fellow seniors Erin Galloway (eight points, 11 rebounds) and Casey Cartwright (12 points, nine rebounds).Cartwright had 10 of his points in the first half, including a three-pointer with 5:23 left that gave the Rainbows their first lead since the opening five minutes at 30-29. A 3-pointer by freshman Mike McIntyre gave Hawaii its biggest lead, 38-34, with 2:30 left in the half.
That's when the first major stall occurred. The All-Stars went on a 12-0 run to close the half, led by former Colorado forward Fred Edmonds' seven consecutive points in the final 74 seconds.
As was the case in last year's exhibition opener, the Rainbows rallied in the second half. Down by as many as 12, Hawaii held California West scoreless for five minutes midway through the second half and pulled ahead, 67-66, on two baskets by Mike Robinson and two more by Geremy Robinson.
Unlike last year's successful rally, the Rainbows couldn't hold on. Former Washington center Mark Sanford scored eight of the All-Stars' final 12 points -- six on free throws -- to finish with a game-high 24 points and finish off Hawaii.
"Last year we made a run after they took the lead late and held onto the lead," Hawaii coach Riley Wallace said. "This club doesn't know how to do that yet. They made a good run, but made some bad shot selections at the end and didn't finish it.
"We've got to pick up the intensity, have better floor position and help on defense. We gave up way too many layups. We have a lot of things to work on in the next two weeks."
The Rainbows host California on Nov. 15. The Golden Bears are expected to be ranked when the Associated Press Top 25 poll is announced later this week."We need to work on our defense," new Hawaii point guard Johnny White said. "We need to be pushing the ball more. We need four guys going to the boards. I thought we did a pretty good job of not turning the ball over (14 turnovers), but we've got to go in and play hard.
"We have good chemistry on the team. Everyone knows their roles. We just didn't come together tonight. That two-minute run got us back into the game, but we've got to keep pushing it. If we want to keep a good crowd, we've got to give them a show and start winning."
The announced crowd was 7,796 (tickets issued), the turnstile count 5,007.
"It is a different feeling out there with all the new players," senior forward Cartwright said. "We need to work on our defense, rebounding and handling the pressure. Once they started trapping us (on the half-court press), we didn't know how to handle it."
Wallace said he saw few positives last night. The improvement wish list includes more scoring from Galloway (he took five shots), better rebounding (the Rainbows were outboarded, 50-41, giving up 33 defensive rebounds) and better shot selection (UH was 28-for-70 from the field for 40 percent).
"The potential is there, but we have got to get them to play Rainbow basketball, which is 110 percent," Wallace said. "With all the quickness on the floor, we should have been getting those loose balls and get our running game going.
"This is a good ballclub. But we're going to have to do more teaching. And when you're missing free throws and shots at the end, that's conditioning. That will come."
Box Score
California West All-Stars 80, Hawaii 72
At Stan Sheriff Center
All-Stars
mp fgm fga ftm fta reb pf tp Nathan 31 6 13 2 2 4 1 15 Bostick 16 0 3 1 2 3 0 1 Hill 14 0 3 0 0 3 3 0 Myers 19 1 3 1 4 7 1 3 Sanford 29 6 12 10 14 6 2 24 Vogel 11 1 3 0 0 5 2 2 Crump 6 0 0 1 3 1 1 1 Rollins 28 6 8 0 0 9 1 14 Ellis 22 3 9 1 4 5 3 7 Edmonds 24 6 11 1 1 3 3 13 Team 4 Totals 200 29 65 17 30 50 17 80Rainbows
mp fgm fga ftm fta reb pf tp Galloway 24 2 5 4 6 11 4 8 M. Robinson 37 10 21 2 2 10 4 22 Cartwright 33 5 10 0 2 9 2 12 G. Robinson 25 5 10 1 3 2 3 12 White 33 2 8 0 2 1 3 4 Lee 9 1 4 0 0 0 1 2 Czernin 11 0 1 1 2 2 1 1 McIntyre 9 1 3 0 0 1 1 3 Alexander 18 2 8 4 4 4 0 8 Team 1 Totals 200 28 70 12 21 41 19 72Halftime score--All-Stars 46, Hawaii 38.3-point goals--All-Stars 5-15 (Rollins 2-4, Sanford 2-5, Nathan 1-5, Bostick 0-1), UH 4-11 (Cartwright 2-3, McIntyre 1-3, G. Robinson 1-4, White 0-1).
Assists--All-Stars 12 (Nathan 6), UH 19 (White 4). Turnovers--All-Stars 17 (Nathan 9), UH 14 (Galloway 3, White 3, Alexander 3). Steals--All-Stars 10 (Ellis 4), UH 10 (Alexander 3). Blocked shots--All-Stars 5 (Sanford 3), UH 3 (Galloway 2).
A--7,796 tickets (5,007 turnstile)
Officials: Pat Tanibe, Craig Peterson, Tom Yoshida.
http://uhathletics.hawaii.edu
