Posted on: Wednesday, November 24, 2004

'Little Matt' makes big impression

By Ferd Lewis
Advertiser Columnist

On Monday, Matt Gibson had a little problem reading the clock. But you'd have to say his timing got a whole lot better for the University of Hawai'i men's basketball team last night.

Given a seat for being late to practice, Gibson came off the bench — and apparently out of coach Riley Wallace's dog house — shooting to rally the Rainbow Warriors to a 71-58 season-opening victory over Mississippi Valley State.

The one they call "Little Matt" at 6 feet 5 — in deference to 6-9 "Big Matt" Gipson — Gibson stood tallest when the Warriors needed him most: scoring 15 of his team-high 22 points in the final 13 minutes of first-half play.

It was there in a relief role that Gibson, a contender for the part of Michael Kuebler's replacement, lit a Kuebler-like fire under the Warriors. It was a UH team that, to that point, had trouble hitting the broad side of the Stan Sheriff Center to the early groans of the assembled 4,636.

Whether it was opening-night jitters or just trying too hard to warm up to the crowd, until Gibson connected on his second shot, a 3-pointer from the top of the key with 11 minutes, 38 seconds left in the first half, the Warriors had made good on just 4 of 20 field-goal attempts and were fortunate to be trailing just 13-9.

Rebounding and defense kept them in the game until Gibson took it over. Shooting from the wing and running the fast break, Gibson hit 5 of 10 shots, 4 of 7 from 3-point range, and ignited a 22-10 run from which the Warriors never looked back.

Gibson, did, however.

"I blew it by being late and I wanted to make it up to the team," he said. "I looked at the clock wrong or something; I don't know what I did but I was, maybe, five minutes late. Coach (Wallace) said, 'you make a mistake, you pay for it.' And, I did. Coach doesn't treat players differently, he gets on you if you make a mistake like that and I had to learn. I was mad at first, but I knew what I had to do."

Wallace said, "I told him I wasn't sure yet who the starters were gonna be but, 'you just took yourself out of the hunt.' "

So, Bobby Nash got the start and Gibson waited ... and waited on the bench through the first seven minutes.

"Finally, coach told me, 'go in there and give us some energy,' so that's what I tried to do," Gibson said. "I wanted to give us a lift to get us rolling and playing like we know we can. That wasn't the kind of start we wanted."

The super-sub role wasn't the part that was forecast for the junior college transfer, who started the exhibition game against Hawai'i-Hilo Nov. 14.

"But, hey, I'll do whatever it takes if that's what helps us win," Gibson said. "Shooting, defense, you name it ..."

Even, presumably, showing up in the nick of time for a team that figures to count on him a lot this season.

Reach Ferd Lewis at flewis@honoluluadvertiser.com or 525-8044.