Rainbows get down to business tonight
| • | UH basketball, Wallace to work on new contract |
By Dayton Morinaga
Advertiser Staff Writer
HOUSTON — Want to know how to make one of the largest cities in the United States seem boring?
Join the University of Hawai'i men's basketball team.
The Rainbow Warriors have been in Houston since Sunday, preparing for today's game at Rice. After a shocking loss to last-place San Jose State last Saturday, UH head coach Riley Wallace said this week would be "all business."
He has been true to his word.
Aside from a short trip to a nearby shopping mall yesterday, the 'Bows have been restricted to their daily 2 1/2-hour practice, team meals, and study hall. Free time has basically become pay-per-view time in their hotel rooms.
"I think I've seen every movie on the menu," said senior tri-captain Mindaugas Burneika. "I saw Zoolander twice already, that's how boring it is here."
The 'Bows are hoping to save their excitement for tonight, when they attempt to maintain their role as leaders in the Western Athletic Conference. Hawai'i saw a nine-game winning streak snapped at San Jose, Calif., last week, but is still off to one of its best starts ever at 15-3 overall and 6-1 in the WAC.
The Owls are 6-10 and 1-5. However, Rice is 6-2 at Autry Court, where tonight's game will be played. The 52-year-old gymnasium seats just 5,000, and is usually filled to less than half its capacity. With wooden bleachers and a large curtain serving as a partition behind one of the baskets, it is more high school than NCAA Division I in appearance.
"It's an older facility, but it can be a fun place to play on game day," Rice head coach Willis Wilson said. "We make the most of it."
As UH sophomore forward Phil Martin said after yesterday's practice: "I think we learned our lesson at San Jose. You have to get fired up to play no matter where you're playing or you're gonna get beat."
Hawai'i is a half-game ahead of Tulsa in the standings, and a loss to Rice would probably knock the 'Bows out of first place for the first time all season.
Still, they appear to be the favorites over their injury-plagued hosts. For starters, Rice will be missing two key players, leading scorer Jason McKreith and 6-10 reserve center Ferron Morgan, who both have foot injuries. McKreith, a 6-foot-4 freshman guard, is averaging 14.8 points per game and is also one of the team's best defenders, according to Wilson.
McKreith has already sat out four games, and the Owls are 1-3 without him. In his absence — he could be out for another month — Rice is still searching for a go-to player.
"We just have not shot the ball well lately," Wilson said. "It's something that will have to change because Hawai'i is the kind of team that can score points in a hurry and take the game away early."
Wallace has concerns of his own. In particular, he is worried about new officiating guidelines put in place last week to curb physical play, especially in the post.
During a scrimmage drill yesterday, Wallace halted play nearly every two minutes to call a foul on his 6-10, 250-pound center, Haim Shimonovich. In the loss at San Jose State, Shimonovich scored just two points after fouling out in only 13 minutes.
"We can't win without you, it's that simple," Wallace told Shimonovich. "You need to have your head in the game so you don't commit stupid fouls."
In truth, matching wits with the Owls might be a difficult task for any team. Rice has an undergraduate enrollment of less than 2,800, but that's because it also has one of the strictest entry requirements.
"You have to be a good, solid student to make it at Rice before anything else," Wilson said. "We're not going to bring in kids that can not handle the academic load."
Instead of out-thinking the Owls, Wallace is hoping the 'Bows simply outplay them.
"We've done everything we possibly could do to prepare for this game," Wallace said. "The hardest part is not having the energy you do at home with the crowd and stuff. But that's what makes the road so hard. You have to find ways to create your own energy."
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