Thursday, January 10, 2002
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Martin becoming Phil Martin is still amazed by it all.
UH’s boy wonder
The Rainbow forward is stunned
at how well everything has worked
out so far for him in HawaiiBy Cindy Luis
cluis@starbulletin.comForty-five games into his Hawaii basketball career, Martin -- whose favorite pastime is sleeping -- feels like he's living a dream. Playing on a winning team in paradise?
"Amazing," says the sophomore forward from Ontario, Canada. "I thought the only time I'd get to Hawaii was on my honeymoon or when I retired.
"At first, I was a little skeptical because I wasn't aware of the University of Hawaii as a basketball school. And now ... things are going amazingly well."
Part of Martin's sense of wonder is over how it's all working out so far. He's playing Division I basketball in America, on a 13-2 team that is knocking on the national rankings door, with a good group of guys, including one of his best friends in sophomore guard Carl English.
"I was excited when the coaches told me Phil was coming here to play," said English, a fellow Canadian. "We've roomed together since we got here (the fall of 1999) and we're best friends. I knew him while we were in high school and I knew he was a good player.
"What he does for me is give me confidence when I'm on the court. If I'm down, he's telling me, 'Come on, Carl, you can do it. He can really pick me up.'"
Martin has given the Rainbows a big boost as well. The 6-foot-8 forward, one of three players to start every game this year, is currently averaging 9.7 point per game.
He said he'd like to be closer to 12-15 points a game, a total he could reach if he started hitting his free throws.
"You have to get into a routine," said Martin, who is 55 percent from the line this year.
He was 0-for-2 from the line, scoring just four points in Saturday's win at Boise State, and also had just three rebounds. But Martin came up with the biggest board of the game when he grabbed Abe Jackson's missed free throw with 1.1 seconds left to preserve the 64-62 victory over the Broncos.
"Coach (Riley Wallace) put me in there for a reason," said Martin, who is averaging 5.5 rebounds, second best on the team. "I want to do well when I'm in there."
His perfectionist tendencies sometimes create another problem. Martin has a nervous stomach, which affects him mostly before big games. It did when Hawaii took on Fresno State last month; he got sick right before tip-off but still had 10 first-half points.
"The coaches give me a bad time about it but there's not much you can do,'' he said. "I get nervous."
Such was the case with his collegiate career. Martin said he was headed for Indiana University of Pennsylvania, a Division II school, because he was not qualified to play at the Division I level.
"I didn't have the grades," he said. "But my last year in high school, I realized I didn't want to settle for a D-II school and worked hard.
"The week before I was supposed to leave for IUP, I got the letter saying I was Division I-eligible. And then I heard from Hawaii."
UH assistant coach Scott Rigot had seen Martin play on a Canadian all-star team prior to his senior year at Cathedral High, but "I knew he was a marginal student," said Rigot. "We got Carl in July, and he said, 'By the way, I have this friend ... '
"To be able to get both of them so late ... it was godsend. We just happened to have those scholarships available. And the thing about the international kids is they really appreciate the scholarship."
Martin is so athletically gifted that he could have chosen from among several sports. He played youth soccer, football and baseball, and lettered in volleyball and basketball in high school.
"I knew that basketball was the way to get a scholarship," he said. "It was a goal I set in high school. My dad played in college and it's what I wanted to do."
Phil Martin Sr. played both football and basketball in college and went on to play for the Hamilton Tiger-Cats in the Canadian Football League. The family still resides in Hamilton, Ontario.
Martin Jr. said he'd also like to play pro ball, only on the court. He played on the Canadian junior national team and said, if asked, he'd like to play on the Olympic team.
It took a while for Martin to focus on basketball. He also did some modeling while in high school, which kept interfering with playing sports.
"The thing about Phil is his best days lie ahead of him," said Rigot. "He's just a sophomore and still in the process of becoming a man. He just doesn't play enough basketball. What he needs to do this summer besides working out is play more games.
"He's just so athletic, the kind of athlete who could be a defensive end in football, play for the volleyball team here. Phil is finesse, his game is speed and he's deceptively strong.
"And he's a good kid. The one thing this team has in common is they're all good kids."
Martin echoes that.
"Considering that we're from all over the world, the team chemistry is going very well," he said. "We have a lot of personalities but all the guys are real close. We're like a big family. Everyone brings something different to the team."
Martin said the adjustment to Hawaii wasn't difficult -- "I like the beach and being warm," he said -- but he still misses his family. He misses his grandmother's cooking, the dishes that could fill the menu of an Italian restaurant.
Martin, who is half Italian, half African-American, is confident the Rainbows can repeat as Western Athletic Conference champions.
"The sky's the limit," he said, using the motto that English has tattooed on his left arm.
When: 7 p.m. today Hawaii vs. Louisiana Tech
Where: Stan Sheriff Center
TV: Live, KFVE-TV
Radio: Live, 1420-AM
Internet: www.uhathletics.hawaii.eduSportslivelisten.html
Tickets:
Lower level $14 Adults (upper) $10 UH students $7 Super Rooter $8 Parking $3
WAC Standings
Conference All Games W L Pct. GB W-L Hawaii 4 0 1.000 -- 13-2 SMU 3 0 1.000 12 8-5 Fresno St. 3 1 .750 1 11-5 La. Tech 2 1 .667 112 8-4 Tulsa 1 1 .500 2 10-3 Nevada 2 2 .500 2 9-5 Boise St. 1 3 .250 3 7-7 UTEP 1 3 .250 3 6-9 Rice 0 2 .000 3 5-7 San Jose 0 4 .000 4 5-11 Tonight's games
Louisiana Tech at Hawaii, 7 p.m.
Boise State at Rice
SMU at San Jose State
UTEP at TulsaSaturday's games
SMU at Hawaii, 7 p.m., Stan Sheriff Center
Boise State at Tulsa
Fresno State at Nevada
Louisiana Tech at San Jose State
UTEP at Rice
Rainbows (13-2, 4-0 WAC) Starting Lineups
Ht. Pts. Reb. Ast. G Predrag Savovic (Sr.) 6-6 19.9 3.9 2.0 G Carl English (So.) 6-5 14.6 4.9 3.3 G Mark Campbell (Jr.) 6-4 4.7 3.0 4.7 F Phil Martin (So.) 6-8 9.7 5.5 1.0 C Haim Shimonovich (So.) 6-10 9.4 7.3 2.3 Aztecs (8-4, 2-1 WAC)
Ht. Pts. Reb. Ast. G Lavell Felton (Jr.) 6-4 6.7 4.2 4.8 G Gerrod Henderson (Sr.) 6-4 14.8 4.3 4.8 G Darrian Brown (Jr.) 6-5 12.6 6.9 0.8 F Zach Johnson (Jr.) 6-10 8.8 7.3 0.5 F Antonio Meeking (Jr.) 6-8 11.3 6.3 0.6 Notes: Louisiana Tech leads the series, 1-0. The only time the teams met was on Dec. 22, 1983, with the Bulldogs winning 76-63. ... Hawaii coach Riley Wallace is in his 15th season (229-200). The Rainbows are off to their best start under Wallace and are four wins shy of tying the school-best mark of 17-2 set in 1972-73. Hawaii has won seven straight, its longest winning streak since the 1989-90 team won 10 in a row. The Rainbows are 4-0, the best WAC start since 1993-94. The 1981-82 team went 5-0. ... Hawaii is coming off a road sweep of UTEP and Boise State, the first time UH has won its first two conference road games. It is only the fifth time the team swept a two-game road trip since joining the WAC in 1979-80. The Rainbows have never had two road sweeps in a season. ... Senior guard Predrag Savovic, with 1,066 career points, needs five points to pass Anthony Carter for No. 8 on the school's all-time scoring list. ... Louisiana Tech is in its inaugural WAC season, having competed in the Sun Belt the past 10 years. ... Coach Keith Richard is in his fourth year at LaTech (65-33) ... The Bulldogs lead the WAC in rebounding margin (+10.8), rebounds (43.1 rpg) and offensive rebounds (14.67 rpg). ... On the Bulldogs roster is sophomore guard Daryl Ford, the son of former LaTech player and NBA great Karl Malone. Ford's twin sister, Cheryl, plays for the Lady Techsters.
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