Saturday, June 16, 2001

[ NCAA SUMMER BASKETBALL ]

DENNIS ODA / STAR-BULLETIN
Scott Salisbury, right, helped Honolulu Ford beat Brad
Anderson and Electricians Hawaii yesterday, 102-95.

White makes new
friends fast

The former UH guard leads
Honolulu Ford to NCAA
Summer win

---

By Dave Reardon
Star-Bulletin

Johnny White didn't know many of his new teammates before last night.

But it didn't take long for them to become friends. White scored a team-high 32 points and spread the ball around enough to keep everybody happy. The end result was a 102-95 victory for Honolulu Ford over Electricians Hawaii in the season-opener of the 25th annual NCAA Summer League at Roosevelt.

"I just met all the guys today," the former University of Hawaii point guard said. "But the game of basketball is pretty simple at this level if you know the fundamentals. Just keep the floor spread and look for back-doors."

White found 6-foot-8 Scott Salisbury often, and Salisbury found quite a few loose basketballs. The Brigham Young-Hawaii junior added 29 points and 14 rebounds.

His interior defense last night proved it is a myth that nobody plays defense in summer league.

"This is pick-up, but there's still a lot of pride," Salisbury said. "You've got to play defense whether you want to or not."

White said he is trying to improve his defense, that he feels that could be his ticket to playing professionally.

"I know I can run a team," White said. "I just have to get a chance for someone to see me play."

Electricians Hawaii coach Artie Wilson said White could have a play-for-pay future.

"There are lots of leagues he can play in. I don't think defense is his problem. I think he needs to develop the ability to shoot the jumper off the dribble," Wilson said. "He's the one who beat us tonight, with his decision making.

"And their big guy (Salisbury) hurt us inside. After Chris Walz hurt his ankle we were real thin."

Honolulu Ford never trailed after the first minute, despite a game-high 34 points by Alika Smith of Electricians Hawaii.

Smith, the former all-Western Athletic Conference guard at UH, will be an assistant coach at Hawaii-Hilo next season. But despite carrying a few pounds more than during his playing days, Smith showed he could still bury 3-pointers, making six of them.

Mango Moon beat Central Medical Center, 107-100, last night in the second game.

Dunks or kills?: UH associate head basketball coach Bob Nash said earlier reports that 6-foot-10 Joshua Stanhiser will play volleyball at UH were inaccurate, and that Stanhiser will walk on to play basketball.

"He's going to play basketball," Nash said last night. "It was his desire to play basketball all along."