By Dayton Morinaga
Advertiser Staff Writer
SAN JOSE, Calif. — The Great Mall of the Bay Area has 185 stores, making it the largest outlet mall in all of California.
The Hawai‘i men’s basketball team visited there yesterday, in search of sales on shoes, shirts and road victories.
"We need something," coach Riley Wallace said. "We’ve tried just about everything, and this is our final two chances."
The Rainbows close their regular season with Western Athletic Conference road games at San Jose State tonight, then at Texas-El Paso on Saturday. Hawai‘i is 0-7 away from the Stan Sheriff Center this season, including 0-6 against WAC opponents.
Fitting for an unpredictable conference season, the Rainbows are in an unpredictable situation heading into next week’s WAC Tournament at Tulsa, Okla. Two road wins this week could earn them a seeding as high as No. 2 for the nine-team tournament; two losses could drop them as low as No. 8.
"We know these are important games," Rainbow senior co-captain Troy Ostler said. "Not just to get a good seeding for the tournament, but to prove to ourselves that we can pull one out on the road."
Wallace has altered the team’s usual travel itinerary. For starters, every "team" meal will be just that. On previous trips, Wallace would allow the team to splinter into various groups to eat at various restaurants.
"Some guys don’t like certain kinds of food, or something like that, so we’d say OK, you guys go here, you guys go there," Wallace said. "This time, we’re all eating together whether they like it or not."
What’s more, the team will embark on more activities, like yesterday’s trip to the shopping mall. At night, they will gather in one room to go over scouting reports, and then earlier curfews will be enforced.
Perhaps most important, Wallace brought two psychologists on the trip to help the players get over any mental road blocks that may have developed. Yesterday, the team went through 10 minutes of "positive meditation" before practice.
"Everything is going to be positive," Wallace said. "We’re going to try and get as many good thoughts into their head going into this game as we can."
In any case, tonight will be as good a chance as any for the Rainbows to break through on the road. They already own a home victory over San Jose State (65-64 in overtime last month).
The Spartans are 14-12 overall, but just 6-9 in the WAC, which puts them in seventh place. They average fewer than 1,500 fans per game in The Event Center, all but eliminating the crowd factor.
They will also play the Rainbows without star point guard Mike Garrett, who suffered a season-ending knee injury two weeks ago. He scored 21 in the loss at Hawai‘i.
"They’re still dangerous," Wallace said. "And they always seem to give us a tough game."
Still, Wallace said he couldn’t recall another Rainbow squad during his 14-year tenure that had such a Jekyll-and-Hyde difference between home and the road. Hawai‘i is 13-12 overall this season, with all 13 victories at home. In the WAC, the Rainbows closed their home schedule with seven consecutive victories at the Stan Sheriff Center to climb into a tie for fifth at 7-7.
Only two of Wallace’s previous Rainbow teams went winless on the road, and those teams finished with records of 4-25 (1987-88) and 6-20 (1998-99).
"I’ve had teams that struggled on the road, but not as much (of a difference) as this team," he said. "This team is as exciting and energy-injected at home as any. We just hope to find a way to take some of it on the road this time."
 No Terrell: Reserve guard Ricky Terrell did not make the team’s final road trip. "He didn’t make (the cut)," was all Wallace said.
Twelve players are on this trip, including walk-on Lance Takaki. Terrell, a 6-foot-3 junior, was the team’s starting point guard on opening night in November. He has since fallen down the depth chart, and has not played in Hawai‘i’s last five games.
[back to top] |
