Thursday, March 15, 2001
Dayton’s DAYTON, Ohio -- On the third day of practice for their first NCAA Tournament game since 1994, the University of Hawaii men's basketball team turned the practice gym at Wright State University into its own little shooting gallery.
shooting gallery
RAINBOW BASKETBALL NOTEBOOK
Dave Reardon
Star-BulletinShooting is important in any game. But it is especially huge as 12th-seeded UH (17-13) prepares for the 2-3 zone defense of fifth-seeded and 17th-ranked Syracuse (24-8) tomorrow at the University of Dayton Arena in the first round of the Midwest Regional.
Mike McIntyre and Carl English both made their first 10 free throws consecutively to end last night's practice, and it wasn't long before each of the Rainbows had completed their 10 in a row.
They were also deadly accurate on shots of all range during halfcourt scrimmaging.
"Today we had it going a little bit better," UH coach Riley Wallace said. "We're shooting the ball better and that's a key."
Wallace said the white background and spacious out-of-bounds area at the practice facility didn't matter.
"If you're a shooter, you're a shooter. It doesn't bother them," Wallace said. "Down in Tulsa (where UH won the WAC Tournament) they used a hard leather ball in the game. Everyone else was complaining. We shot 60 percent with it in one game, and that's the ball they're using here."
Savo's situation
No one is quite sure what will come of the reports earlier this week that junior guard Predrag Savovic played in a professional league in Yugoslavia before playing at the University of Alabama-Birmingham and then transferring to UH.The Rainbows' leading scorer said he received no money to play in the league.
"(UH administrators are) checking things out to make sure everything's OK," Wallace said.
Of the dozens of media inquiries UH has fielded the past three days, few have been about Savovic's playing history, Wallace said.
Wheeler World Tour
Assistant coach Jackson Wheeler arrived in Dayton on Tuesday, after recruiting stops in California, Washington, Utah and Nebraska. He's been on the road even longer than the rest of the UH contingent, which has been on the mainland since Feb. 27."I've been out longer, so no one can gripe," the popular assistant said with a grin.
Wheeler can't speak about specific recruits yet, but he said UH's success in the WAC Tournament has made his job easier.
The Rainbows are looking for point guards and big men to fill four available scholarships next season.
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Ka Leo O Hawaii
