Advertisement - Click to support our sponsors.
Wednesday, March 7, 2001
UH begins quest TULSA, Okla. -- It's four time zones and a solar system removed from Hawaii.
for WAC title
It's do or die time for the
Rainbows, who play TCU
tomorrow in WAC tourneyWAHINE BASKETBALL NOTEBOOK
By Dave Reardon
Star-BulletinLittle color brightens this dreary but friendly enough place in the middle of the continental United States, a city that to an outsider looks like it wants to die but doesn't know how. A few tall modern bank buildings scratch the gray downtown sky, but mostly it's aged brick crying to be redone or knocked down for good.
But sports thrive in Tulsa, almost as much as all-you-can-eat rib buffets.
Football and wrestling (amateur and professional) are among the most popular; the two most famous athletes from here are Steve Largent and Goldberg. And golf is big, too, as the city will host the U.S. Open in three months.
Big sports events aside, most of Tulsa -- especially in leafless early March -- is like an old black-and-white TV with two channels that work.
GAME TIME
What: Western Athletic Conference Men's Tournament
A major exception is the Reynolds Center. The proud home of an Elite Eight team is vast but intimate, vibrant but functional. And this week it plays host to the Western Athletic Conference men's and women's tournaments, which it hopes to do again next year.
OK, this isn't the ACC. But the WAC does have enough color and talent to liven up even this old railyard for a few days. And the competition in the men's tournament could be very good.
Fresno State is clearly the favorite. And Tulsa is playing at home.
But the only locks here are when the University of Hawaii team grasps hands after practice in a drill called The Circle of Trust.
The we're-in-this-together stuff is part of The Couch Trip, the agenda planned by team psychologists Judy Daniels and Michael D'Andrea to help the team win away from home.
It worked last Thursday, as the Rainbows notched their first road victory of the season at San Jose State. It didn't Saturday in the season finale at Texas-El Paso.
While the one road victory added immeasurably to the Rainbows' confidence, two other factors are huge: Everyone, except Tulsa, which is not in Hawaii's bracket, is on the road; and everyone, except UTEP, which is not in Hawaii's bracket, has been beaten at least once by Hawaii this season.
That's why playing the highest-scoring team in the nation tomorrow in Texas Christian doesn't bother the Rainbows.
Hawaii coach Riley Wallace, the old Seminole Junior College head man who actually is at home around here (he knows where all the best buffets are), stops short of coming out and saying the fifth-seeded Rainbows will pull off a come-out-of-nowhere to win the WAC and go to the Big Dance like they did in 1994.
But he's not ruling it out.
How can he, when his team has won four of its last five games, everyone's finally healthy and available, and when Hawaii counts among its triumphs fairly convincing ones over first-round opponent TCU, probable second-round opponent Fresno State and possible finalist Tulsa?
Wallace knows his is just one of four teams that can lay claim to plausible hope should the Bulldogs and Hurricane slip even the slightest.
TCU, UTEP and even Southern Methodist also all have a chance.
"I don't remember it ever being this wide open," Wallace said. "That should make for a great tournament. I think you'll see everybody ready and at their best. Everybody won a lot at home and lost some on the road. The big question is, 'What's going to happen on a neutral court?' "
The Rainbows are calm, but they say they're ready.
"The intensity will be there on Thursday," freshman post Phil Martin said. "We already feel it inside. We might look relaxed, but it's building up, and it will be there."
For two days now, Hawaii has done what it has at various points all season -- prepare to take on withering full-court pressure. Yesterday, the coaches employed the old trick of putting six guys on the scout team to make it tougher.
It didn't seem to bother assist leader "Never Nervous" Nerijus Puida and the others in the playing rotation. Their quiet confidence stems from the fact that they know beating the pressure is the key to beating TCU, and beating pressure is something they've gotten pretty good at.
When Hawaii beat TCU, 102-87, on Feb. 22, the Rainbows had 30 assists and 16 turnovers. When they lost to the Horned Frogs, 103-64 on Jan. 4, they gave it up 22 times with 10 assists.
"We just need to handle the pressure like we did last time," Predrag Savovic said. "And we need to keep them from scoring on second attempts and quick shots."
It will also help Hawaii that TCU steals leader Greedy Daniels has been dismissed from the team.
The attitude seems to be, "Why not?" Anything seems possible in this league, where Fresno State can beat UTEP by 40 and lose to Hawaii by 18 a week later.
"Coach says we have just as much chance to win this as anyone in the WAC. It's just a matter of focusing our energy," Martin said. "And we believe him."
Records: Rice 14-15 overall, 6-11 WAC. Fresno State 24-5, 13-3. RICE VS. NO. 1 FRESNO STATE
Head-to-head: Fresno State 69, Rice 56 (at Houston, Jan. 4), Fresno State 79, Rice 74 (at Fresno, March 1).
Coaches: Willis Wilson (Rice), Jerry Tarkanian (Fresno State).
Top players: Rice All-WAC guard Mike Wilks is second in the conference in scoring at 20.5 and makes 78.5 percent of his free throws for eighth in the WAC. Fresno State WAC player of the year center Melvin Ely is eighth in league scoring with 16.3.
Records: UH 14-13, 8-8. TCU 20-10, 9-7. NO. 5 HAWAII VS. NO. 4 TCU
Head-to-head: TCU 103, Hawaii 64 (at Fort Worth, Jan. 4), Hawaii 102, TCU 87 (at Honolulu, Feb. 22).
Coaches: Riley Wallace (Hawaii), Billy Tubbs (TCU).
Top players: Hawaii All-WAC guard Predrag Savovic was third in the league in scoring at 17.7. TCU guard/forward Ryan Carroll averaged 17.6 points for fourth in the WAC.
Records: SMU 18-11, 8-8. UTEP 21-7, 10-6 NO. 6 SMU VS. NO. 3 UTEP
Head-to-head: UTEP 83, SMU 69 (at El Paso, Jan. 22), SMU 72, UTEP 69 (at Dallas, Feb. 8)
Coaches: Mike Dement (SMU), Jason Rabedeaux (UTEP)
Top players: SMU guard/forward Jeryl Sasser led the WAC in rebounding at 8.4. UTEP All-WAC center Brandon Wolfram led the league in scoring at 23.0.
Records: Tulsa 19-10, 10-6. SJSU 14-13, 6-10. NO. 2 TULSA VS. NO. 7 SAN JOSE STATE
Head-to-head: Tulsa 63, San Jose State 57 (at San Jose, Jan. 11), Tulsa 78, San Jose State 60 (Tulsa, Jan. 25).
Coaches: Buzz Peterson (Tulsa), Steve Barnes (San Jose State).
Top players: Tulsa forward Kevin Johnson was 10th in rebounding (6.8) to lead the balanced Hurricane. San Jose State forward Darnell Williams is seventh in field goal percentage (54.3) and eighth in rebounding (7.2).
UH Athletics
Ka Leo O Hawaii
TULSA, Okla. -- The University of Hawaii held its final full practice yesterday afternoon at a site about 30 minutes outside of Tulsa at a private sports facility. WAHINE BASKETBALL NOTEBOOK
Tourney opener
coming upThe lighting was reminiscent of an older high school gym, but it didn't bother the Wahine. They spent time working on individual offensive moves, had scout team members run the favorite plays of the Golden Hurricane's top scorers one-on-one against a UH defender, then worked as a team against Tulsa's plays with a full scout squad.
Back at the hotel, it was time to go over four tapes featuring Tulsa, two vs. Hawaii and two from more recent games. Western Athletic Conference rules prevent UH from obtaining tapes of Tulsa's two most recent games, a 78-73 loss to Fresno State and a 59-57 loss to Nevada, both here at the Donald W. Reynolds Center, site of the Williams WAC Tournament.
Hawaii will get a 25-minute shoot-around in the Center today just before noon, then return to the hotel for another 45-minute film session.
The Wahine won't return to the Center until about halftime of today's third game between Fresno State and Southern Methodist.
The winner of this game plays the Hawaii-Tulsa winner in the semifinal round.
Hawaii expects to see more pressure from the Golden Hurricane, especially with the loss of 6-foot-3 freshman Becky Heidotten, who is out with a stress fracture.
Tulsa uses a full-court press, something UH worked on breaking in practice yesterday, and intense man-to-man defense in the half court.
Hawaii expects to be able to run its power game. The big question is whether or not the Wahine can hit those two-foot shots and layups, opportunities they get often when they enjoy a height advantage. Tulsa probably will have just one starter taller than six feet.
Farr out
Tulsa was dealt a major blow in its final practice session late yesterday.Leela Farr, the Golden Hurrince's leading scorer at 13.1 points per game, suffered an anterior cruciate ligament tear to her right knee when she landed wrong.
Farr is done for the season.
"I knew it was serious the minute she went down," said Tulsa head coach Kathy McConnell-Miller.
Farr scored 10 and 16 points against the Wahine in the two regular-season games.
The 5-11 junior forward was the leading scorer, averaging 13.1 points a game. She was tied with Carla Morrow, a 6-0 junior forward, with 6.3 rebounds a game.
Morrow can score points in bunches and hits the 3. She also is up and down when it comes to offense. She has scored in double figures the last three games, but had five- and seven-point games prior to that.
Athena Pirpich, a 5-4 senior guard, is Tulsa's career leader from 3-point land, but was defended well by Jana Gabrielova in the two regular-season games between the teams.
Health report
Crystal Lee and Karena Greeny, who nursed sprained right ankles the past two weeks, are just about 100 percent.Neither has swelling and, other than extra taping, should not be bothered at all.
The players who had a bout with the stomach flu over the weekend are OK as well.
The numbers
Hawaii leads the all-time series, 5-1. The two games this year were close, with the Wahine winning, 54-45, here and 63-53 in Honolulu. The Wahine are 3-4 in the WAC tournament and would like to leave here with a winning record.
Al Chase, Star-Bulletin
UH Athletics
Ka Leo O Hawaii
