Sidelines
IN the VCR of the mind, those awful images, that flailing hopelessness, that terrible desperation will haunt them forever. Big collapse leads
to loss for the agesIt must have been dreamlike for Hawaii, running in quicksand, seeing the ball slip into the stands, frustration growing, fear rising, time running, nothing working. Nothing working. Nothing at all.
This is the other side to the tournament. Every school's season, all of them so magnificent to get to this point, ends in a humbling loss. Each of these teams, all of them, so triumphant and magical and unbeatable and great, feel ultimate defeat. All but one, one final, last, lucky one.
All of these NCAA losses hurt. But has there been a collapse this complete? Has a team this good ever looked so bad?
Of course. It happens all the time in this tournament. But this time, it wasn't some fantasy bracket buster. This time you cared. This time, it was personal.
It began as the biggest day in the history of Hawaii basketball.
It looked like it ended as one of the worst.
This was not a falling elevator, no free-fall drop. This was taking -- as they said in the movie "I'm Gonna Get You Sucka" -- the stairs. Every bump, Ka-thump! Ka-thump! Ka-thump! 40 floors' worth, throughout that horrific second half, and the fans at home along for the ride surely felt every one.
There was so much hope, and so much reason for it. That is what made this loss hurt all the more. If Hawaii wasn't the better team, then Xavier was no more than even. We saw that in the first half, when defense was the difference, when Savo finished a Dr. J drive, when Carl English completed a no-look, no-pass layup, when Mike McIntyre's shot was true.
But then the halftime horn sounded, and the game was over. We just didn't know it yet. They just didn't know it yet.
No one did. How could you see something like that coming?
It's a mystery how these things happen -- if coaches knew, they never would happen. But it happened. Hawaii melted like butter left out in the summertime.
You can say Xavier played a great second half, and that is true, and you should say it. And sometimes the shots fall and sometimes they don't, and that's true, too, and the percentages finally caught up.
But this was more than cold shooting. This was everything. This was rebounds, defense, passing, composure, attitude, energy, everything. This collapse was complete, and utter, and overwhelming, and everything.
From a team for all time comes a loss for the ages.
And that is the worst part about it, that these guys really were that good, this championship season really was that wonderful. And now this heartbreak really is that real.
All those accomplishments shouldn't be forgotten. History should note this as one of the greatest Rainbow squads.
But that's why this tumble down the steps -- hitting each and every one along the way -- is so sad. This team is better than that, but now they have to live with this. People always say it after these games, that this shouldn't take anything away from their successful season.
How could it not?
Kalani Simpson's column runs Sundays, Tuesdays and Fridays.
He can be reached at ksimpson@starbulletin.com