EA Sports West edges Hawai'i
By Dayton Morinaga
Advertiser Staff Writer
Early detection may be the key to continued good health for the University of Hawai'i men's basketball team.
Eugene Tanner • The Honolulu Advertiser
Several preseason problems were discovered by the Rainbow Warriors in a 73-72 exhibition loss to the EA Sports West All-Stars last night at the Stan Sheriff Center.
University of Hawai'i's Carl English, center, is surrounded EA Sports' Jack Hartman (31), Marcus Carr (20) and Brooklyn McLinn (2) as he takes a shot in the second half. English scored a game-high 24 points.
"The only good thing is this is an exhibition game and it doesn't count," UH junior forward Phil Martin said. "Other than that, this is a game we'd all like to forget."
It wasn't so long ago that a one-point loss to a team of former collegiate stars wasn't so bad for UH basketball.
Not any more.
Four starters return from a team that went 27-6 and won the Western Athletic Conference last season. That team ended last season with 12 consecutive victories in the Stan Sheriff Center.
"It was an exhibition game, but any loss is hurtful," UH junior guard Carl English said.
Hawai'i head coach Riley Wallace was especially critical of his team's defense and overall lack of intensity.
"I was concerned even before this game because our intensity is not there," he said. "They're going to have to pick it up and play harder or this is going to happen a lot."
The 'Bows appeared to take control of the game with 3:28 remaining when a dunk by Martin gave them a 63-59 lead.
However, EA Sports responded with a 10-0 run to take a 69-63 lead with 53.7 seconds remaining. Jan Michael-Thomas scored eight of those 10 points, including two 3-pointers.
A 3-pointer by Hawai'i newcomer Michael Kuebler got the 'Bows to within 70-69. After an EA Sports layup made it 72-69, Kuebler missed a rushed 3-point attempt that could have tied it.
Advertiser library photo • Sept. 26, 2002
"I got a good look at it, but it came off wrong," he said.
"The only good thing is this is an exhibition game and it doesn't count," UH junior forward Phil Martin said.
A 3-pointer by English at the buzzer only made the final margin closer.
EA Sports made 12 3-pointers, including five by Michael-Thomas. Perhaps even more damaging to UH, 6-foot-9 forwards Jack Hartman (3-of-5) and Josh Merrill (2-of-4) combined to shoot 5-of-9 from 3-point range.
"Usually, big guys like that don't even shoot 3s, at least not in our conference," Martin said. "It was tough to go out that far and cover them."
Wallace said the key to EA Sports' shooting was its quickness, which Hawai'i could not match.
"They kept running the same plays on us — penetration, kick it (outside) and hit the 3," he said. "Nobody covered one-on-one ... we have work to do on our defense."
From the start, it was clear that the transition from last season to this one would not be smooth. Hawai'i fell behind by as many as nine points in the first half, and trailed 37-32 at halftime.
English and Martin led Hawai'i's second-half charge.
English finished with a game-high 24 points — 18 in the second half — and eight rebounds. Martin added 21 points and eight rebounds.
No other player on the UH roster scored more than seven points.
"We never gave up," English said. "The thing is, our offense was working. We just need to execute it a little more. We had some open backdoor cuts, and we either didn't get it there, or got it there and didn't finish."
EA Sports improved to 3-7 on its November tour against schools in the western United States.
"Our guys played with a lot of what I call nervous energy," coach Dudley Rutherford said. "For some reason, I think it's just coming to Hawai'i ... they were happy."
Michael-Thomas led EA Sports with 19 points, followed by Maurice Spillers (17), Hartman (13) and Merrill (12).
Former UH guard Mike McIntyre joined EA Sports for last night's game only. He had three points (on a 3-pointer) and two assists.
Wallace said the flaws displayed by UH last night are all correctable.
"They have to be because Arkansas-Little Rock is a very good team," he said. "We have our work cut out for us this week."
The regular-season home opener is scheduled for Friday against Arkansas-Little Rock.
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