'Bows know little about first-round foe Xavier
By Dayton Morinaga
Advertiser Staff Writer
DALLAS — The University of Hawai'i men's basketball team was in search of some X files yesterday.
And this has nothing to do with Mulder and Scully, or alien abductions.
The No. 25-ranked Rainbow Warriors will open play in the first round of the NCAA Tournament against No. 22 Xavier Friday at the American Airlines Center. The 27-5 'Bows are the No. 10 seed in the West Region; the 25-5 Musketeers are seeded seventh.
Having never played Xavier before, the 'Bows had very little details available on the Atlantic-10 champs as of yesterday.
"I think we're better when we know somebody," UH head coach Riley Wallace said. "That's why we need to look at a lot of film and keep working at it the next two days of practice."
The 'Bows held their first practice yesterday since winning the Western Athletic Conference Tournament championship Saturday at Tulsa, Okla. The 2 1/2-hour session at Southern Methodist's Moody Coliseum focused mostly on Hawai'i's own details.
"We have to sharpen up what we have," Wallace said. "As you get further up playing better competition, you have to go further into your offense. We'll have to be ready to do that against Xavier, because they have good athletes."
Wallace compared the Musketeers to "Tulsa with (Fresno's) Melvin Ely." He said Xavier is quick on the perimeter with multiple 3-point threats, much like Tulsa. But unlike Tulsa, Xavier has a second-team All-American in the low-post in 6-foot-9 David West, who leads the team with 18.5 points and 9.8 rebounds per game.
Haim Shimonovich, UH's 6-10 sophomore center, will draw the initial task of defending West.
"I really don't know anything about him or about his team," Shimonovich said. "I don't know if that's good or bad. I just know that he is a good big man and they have a good team, so I have to be ready."
As UH point guard Mark Campbell put it: "They're athletic and they get up and down the court. That's all I know. Basically, I don't know that much."
That being the case, Wallace is most concerned about UH's defense against Xavier. He said Hawai'i's WAC-leading defense that allowed 62.8 points per game was built mostly on familiarity.
"When we kind of know what a team wants to do, that's a comfort zone for us," Wallace said. "We know when and where to help out (on defense) and that's a big key for us."
At the same time, the Musketeers do not know much about Hawai'i, and that could work to the 'Bows' benefit. Hawai'i's flex-motion offense is designed to confuse defenses until an open shot develops. Sometimes, that open shot can come from 22 feet; other times, it can be a backdoor layup.
"We have so many little quirks in our offense, it's hard for teams to prepare for it," sophomore forward Phil Martin said. "In that sense, it's good that we (UH and Xavier) don't know anything about each other. That's probably to our advantage."
Indeed, Wallace said the 'Bows will not put any new plays into their offense this week specifically for Xavier. Like most of the teams in the WAC, the Musketeers play mostly a man-to-man defense.
"They play a little bit of zone, too," Wallace said. "But we'll be ready for both."
In any case, the 'Bows are hoping to win an NCAA Tournament game for the first time in school history. In three previous appearances, Hawai'i is 0-3, including last year's 79-69 first-round loss to Syracuse.
"Last year, we were on a high just to be here," UH sophomore Carl English said. "This year, we're on a mission. We don't want to just be here, we want to win."
