Thursday, February 21, 2002
Long road to UH
coming to an end
McIntyre, Savovic and Burneika
Savovic makes all-district
play their final Hawaii home
games this weekBy Cindy Luis
cluis@starbulletin.comThey grew up a world apart -- literally.
CRAIG T. KOJIMA / CKOJIMA@STARBULLETIN.COM
Mike McIntyre, Predrag Savovic and Mindaugas Burneika play their last regular-season home games this weekend.
Sophisticated Southern California. War-torn Yugoslavia. Politically emerging Lithuania.
Different languages. Different tastes in food and music. Different reasons for playing basketball for Hawaii.
But the three Rainbow seniors share one common goal: winning.
Guards Mike McIntyre and Predrag Savovic, and forward Mindaugas Burneika are enjoying an enviable senior season, one that Hawaii fans have not seen the likes of in some 30 years. The tri-captains, accounting for 47 percent of Hawaii's scoring and 73 percent of the 3-point goals, have lifted the Rainbows to a 22-4 overall record, 12-2 in Western Athletic Conference play.
Saturday's game against Rice is the official Senior Night for the three, playing their last regular-season home game at the Stan Sheriff Center. But Hawaii will need a big night from its seniors to topple Tulsa and regain the conference lead.
A victory over the Golden Hurricane (23-4, 13-2) would be a huge step in the Rainbows winning their first regular-season championship outright. With fewer than 200 tickets remaining this morning, it's likely this will be Hawaii's first sellout since the 1998 NIT quarterfinal with Fresno State.
"It's gone fast," said McIntyre, only the sixth four-year letterman in coach Riley Wallace's 15 seasons. "I'll think about that last game on Saturday. Right now, the focus is on Tulsa."
Yesterday, for the first time this season, Hawaii held a closed-door practice. Wallace said that there had been too many distractions from fans and friends during the two open sessions this week.
All the media attention has been a welcomed distraction for the 6-foot-3 McIntyre, who suffered through a 6-20 season his freshman year. His sophomore season, the team opened 11-2 only to lose 10 of its last 16 games.
"He's been through the good and the bad," said Rainbow assistant coach Jackson Wheeler. "He's learned a lot from that. He's always accepted his role, always been productive. The bottom line for Mike is he just wants to win."
While the 22-year-old McIntyre has gone from starter to reserve twice during his four years, Savovic, 25, has been a starter from Day 1. The only time the 6-6 guard has been out of the lineup in three years was when he sat out a seven-game NCAA-mandated suspension for alleged pro-league participation.
"It's going to be hard to replace Savo," said Wallace. "He's very intelligent, plays so hard. He works harder than anyone and does everything he can to win."
Savovic transferred after his freshman year at Alabama-Birmingham. That he agreed to play for Hawaii could be considered somewhat of a surprise, considering that Savovic's first meeting with Wallace was when the coach was hospitalized following an angioplasty to clear a clogged artery.
Burneika, 23, arrived as a junior, recommended by fellow Lithuanian Nerijus Puida, who finished his career last season. The two were teammates at Weatherford (Texas) College.
"The thing about Mindaugas, the bigger the game, the better he tends to play," said Wheeler. "He's the leader of this team in a lot of ways."
"I'm going to miss all of them," said sophomore guard Carl English, nicknamed by his teammates as 'Baby Savo.' "I've learned a lot from all of them, especially Savo. I've been guarding him since my freshman redshirt year, and I've picked up a lot of what I call his 'old man' tricks.
"Mindaugas and I struggled on the bench last year and we've been through a lot together. From Mike, I've learned intensity. Hell, yes, they've made me a better player and they're going to be tough to replace."
"They're all very unique, have their own agendas," said Wheeler. "But when they play together, they sacrifice for the better of the whole. You're talking about our Nos. 1, 3 and 4 leading scorers.
"It's going to be hard for the coaches. It seems like they've been around forever. They're all good guys and helped us win in a lot of ways."
The glory of this year may fade, but the friendships will last forever.
"I'll miss their humor the most," said junior guard Lance Takaki. "Savo is always yelling out Yugoslavian swear words. Mindaugas is always clowning around. Mike makes great side comments."
"They're the kind of kids who'll always keep in touch," said Wallace. "We'll miss them. Mindaugas said he wants his own legacy so people will quit comparing this team with the Fab Five or the AC-Alika years.
"This team doesn't have continuous bad days, they're smart and they've learned to win on the road. The three seniors have a lot to do with that. They're good students, they'll all get their degrees and they're all good persons. They've been very good for the program."
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Hawaii guard Predrag Savovic was named yesterday to the five-member Verizon Academic All-District VII team, the second consecutive year the Yugoslavian native has earned the honor. Savovic makes all-district
Star-Bulletin staff
The Rainbows' leading scorer has a 3.25 cumulative grade-point average in international business and finance and now qualifies for academic All-American honors. Also named to the team were Dan Dickau (Gonzaga), Jason Humbert (Eastern Washington), Eric Nielsen (Brigham Young) and Michael Preston (Pacific).
Savovic is also up for All-American playing honors, having been named to the NABC All-District 13 first team earlier this month. On Tuesday, Savovic was invited to the Portsmouth (Va.) Invitational in April. The 50th annual event will feature the top 64 seniors in drills and scrimmages in front of some 300 NBA coaches and scouts.
Savovic was recommended by Marty Blake, NBA Director of Scouting, who saw several of Hawaii's road games this year. Savovic's brother Slobodan, a senior at Ohio State, has also been invited.
