Posted on: Sunday, March 14, 2004
NIT committee often has an ulterior motive
| • | 'Bows waiting to hear about NIT invitation |
| • | Goo leaves UH women well stocked for future |
By Ferd Lewis
Advertiser Columnist
Sometime later today, possibly this evening, the University of Hawai'i-Manoa men's basketball team will find out if it has been selected for the National Invitation Tournament.
If an invitation and the opportunity to host are forthcoming, great. Alert the band, break out the balloons and fire up the Bowzooka again.
If not, there should be no gnashing of teeth or puddles of tears.
A team that has piled up NBA mileage these past couple months shouldn't have to re-pack its suitcases — indeed, has it even had time to unpack from its first-round Western Athletic Conference Tournament exit? — and head out all over again.
After a presidential campaign-like blur of airplanes, buses and hotels in a road-weary 5-8 finish, the last thing you'd like to see this 19-11 team become now is NIT fodder.
More often than not that's what teams the NIT sends on the road are: set-ups for the schools that organizers want to advance. Think of the NIT not as a tournament but as 48-team puppet show with the folks in New York pulling the strings.
TV pays handsomely for the NCAA Tournament; enough so the selection committee can base its pairings on record, strength of schedule and match teams regardless of boxoffice beauty. The NIT, however, is a for-profit event — mostly its own. It has a nodding acquaintance with things like Ratings Percentage Index (RPI), strength of schedule, etc.
Sure, the NIT likes teams with hefty records and swell RPIs, but what carries the day is marketability. If you can draw a crowd or have the potential to produce compelling TV numbers, there is a place close to the NIT's heart. For some, it will provide favorable matchups, the better to keep the cash register ringing and get the four most marketable teams to Madison Square Garden.
That's just business and UH has seen it both ways. In 1997-'98, when the Rainbows had a touch of Cinderella to them with Anthony Carter, Alika Smith & Co. filling the seats, the NIT provided three home games.
Last year, the NIT marked the Rainbows for fall-guys. Trying to set up a Charlie Spoonhour return to his old Saint Louis haunts, the NIT sent UH to Las Vegas to play Spoonhour's Nevada-Las Vegas team. UH's reward for the upset win was a trip to Minnesota and elimination.
Now, a fade at the finish of this season that had started 14-3 has left the Rainbows on the post-season bubble and at the NIT's mercy. It would be nice to see them have a chance at that 20th win that will have been on hold for two weeks.
But after losses in their last six games away from the Stan Sheriff Center, one of the last things these Rainbows need is somebody handing them another plane ticket.
Reach Ferd Lewis at flewis@honoluluadvertiser.com or 525-8044.
