Hawaii basketball coach Riley Wallace is a steadfast believer in man-to-man defense. But he also knows having a serviceable zone handy is like carrying an umbrella in Manoa -- you might not use it every day, but it's nice to have just in case. Rainbows try
to zone in on SMUHawaii is working on improving
its defense to maintain its home win streakBy Jason Kaneshiro
jkaneshiro@starbulletin.com
"We're working on some zone because the middle's been hurting us with people penetrating the middle of our defense," Wallace said. "We'll try to improve that man defense, but we want to get a zone ready."
When: Tomorrow, 7 p.m. Hawaii vs. SMU
Where: Stan Sheriff Center
TV: KFVE
Radio: 1420-AM
The Rainbows were burned repeatedly on drives down the lane during last week's road swing to UTEP and Boise State. Hawaii got away with a lackluster defensive performance once, escaping from El Paso with a 64-52 win. But the Rainbows weren't as fortunate in Boise, as a controversial tip-in and the Broncos' ability to turn the key area into their personal expressway led to a 65-63 overtime loss.
So with a 1-1 Western Athletic Conference mark and still smarting from the defeat, the Rainbows (8-2 overall) devoted most of this week's practices to half-court defense in preparation for tomorrow's 7 p.m. WAC contest against Southern Methodist (5-6, 0-1) at the Stan Sheriff Center. UH holds the longest win streaks in the league, 19 straight victories at home, and 16 WAC wins in a row.
Although the team did work on a zone scheme in practice, the Rainbows were more concerned with improving their rotation on defense.
"The SMU players are very athletic and very talented as one-on-one players," UH guard Mark Campbell said. "Obviously our weakness has been penetration, so we've been working on help and rotation.
"That's the toughest thing to learn as a team defense, to rotate if somebody gets beat. Not just the first rotation, but the second and third. That's when you know you've come a long way as a team defense. Last year, it took us about half the year to figure it out, and right now we don't have the full rotations on defense yet."
Hawaii hasn't lost consecutive games since dropping road matchups to Nevada and Fresno State in February 2001. To avoid dropping below .500 in the conference the Rainbows will need a scheme to contain SMU senior swingman Quinton Ross, the WAC's leading scorer, and freshman guard Bryan Hopkins.
Ross, a 6-foot-6 senior, was a preseason All-WAC pick and entered this season as the conference's leading returning scorer after averaging 17.4 points in 2001-02. Ross passed Hawaii's Carl English for the WAC's scoring lead with a 23-point performance in an 89-77 loss at Louisiana Tech last Saturday.
Hopkins was ranked among the nation's elite recruits coming out of Lincoln High School in Dallas last year and has made an immediate impact as the Mustangs' second-leading scorer (12.1 ppg).
The 6-footer is coming off a double-double performance against Louisiana Tech, where he finished with 21 points and 11 rebounds.
Tomorrow's game is the first of three over a five-day stretch for the Rainbows, with Louisiana Tech coming into town on Saturday and Fresno State on Monday.
Although they're just two games into the WAC schedule, the Rainbows know they can't afford many more breakdowns like the one at Boise State.
"It was tough," Campbell said. "We had to deal with the loss and have the bad taste in our mouth. We definitely let one slip away. Last year we let one slip away at San Jose State and we can't allow that anymore if we want to win the WAC."
SMU is in the middle of a three-game road trip that started with the loss at Louisiana Tech. The Mustangs are 0-6 on the road this season, including losses at No. 23 Texas Tech and No. 17 Wake Forest.
The Mustangs landed on Oahu a bit shorthanded as well. Guard Justin Isham sprained his right wrist at Louisiana Tech. He made the trip, but is unlikely to play tomorrow. Center Nigel Smith stayed behind in Texas due to a sinus problem that would not allow him to fly.
Hawaii is relatively healthy and is looking for a boost in being back home for three critical conference games.
"(Last week) we were a very tired club on the road," Wallace said. "We're at home and the crowd can pump energy into this team."
UH forward Phil Martin struggled in both of last week's games, putting up eight points against UTEP and four in 23 minutes vs. Boise State. Sophomore Nkeruwem Akpan continues to provide solid play in the post, but Wallace said Martin is not in danger of losing his spot in the starting lineup, which the junior has held for 49 consecutive games.
"Phil's got to be positive and get himself back up there," Wallace said. "Tony comes in and brings a lot of energy and we want to keep that rotation."
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