ABA in Hawai'i taking long shot

By Dayton Morinaga
Advertiser Staff Writer

Is there room for a minor league basketball franchise in Hawai'i's already-small basketball community?

Those are the biggest questions surrounding last week's announcement that Hawai'i was awarded a team in the American Basketball Association (ABA).

"I don't know the people running it and I don't know how the league is run, so I'm not in a position to judge it," University of Hawai'i men's basketball coach Riley Wallace said. "But I do know that the community has not supported teams like that in the past, so they've got their work cut out for them."

The ABA is not affiliated with the NBA, and most of the players in the league are former NCAA Division I and II players. A few former NBA players are on ABA rosters.

The ownership group operating the Hawai'i franchise is headed by Honolulu's Orrys Williams, who owns a sports marketing company.

Joe Newman, chief executive officer of the ABA, said Hawai'i will be added to the 2005-06 league schedule, which runs from November through March.

"We have had great interest from the great state of Hawai'i and the city of Honolulu for quite some time — but the problem has been transportation," Newman said in a press release. "The wonderful ownership group, headed by Orrys Williams, has overcome that final obstacle."

Newman did not elaborate on how the Hawai'i franchise could "overcome" the travel costs, and Williams declined interview requests from The Advertiser.

The last minor league basketball team in Hawai'i was the Hawai'i Volcanoes of the Continental Basketball Association in 1979-80.

UH associate coach Bob Nash played with the Volcanoes during that season. He said the main reason for the Volcanoes' demise was the travel costs.

"It wasn't cost effective because every road game was 2,500 to 5,000 miles away," Nash said. "We were playing games anywhere from Anchorage, Alaska, to Portland, Maine. All those flights add up.

"If this team gets good (financial) backing — maybe get an airline to cut them some slack — and if they can get the state behind them, they might be able to do it. But it's going to be tough. We thought we had the backing with the Volcanoes and we were struggling before the year was even over."

Other teams in the league are already struggling. The Utah Snowbears withdrew from the ABA playoffs last week because of financial problems. There are also rumors that the Fresno Heatwave may fold before next season.

Other teams, however, appear to be doing OK.

"We know the NBA is the best basketball in the world, but we look at ourselves as an alternative," said Rick Turner, coach of the Bellevue (Wash.) Blackhawks. "When you have good basketball, it usually sells itself, no matter where you are."

Turner admits that the ABA is a "low budget" league. He said his team saved money by fielding a roster of players from, or near, Bellevue.

He was not sure how the addition of a Hawai'i franchise might hurt or help the league.

"As a coach, I'd love to take my team to Hawai'i," he said. "But that's because it's not coming out of my pocket. As an owner, there might be some questions. You might have to look at playing a three-game series ... just to make it a more worthwhile trip."

There is also the issue of hiring players to play for Hawai'i.

Each team has a salary cap of $12,000 for 12 players. That equates to $10,000 per player for a five-month season.

"I wouldn't take that," said Vaidotas Peciukas, who just completed his senior season at UH. "I'm planning on going to Europe and playing. You can make more money than ($10,000)."

Fellow UH senior Jeff Blackett also said he had no interest in the ABA.

"It would make more sense for me to start a career in finance," Blackett said. "I'm not saying there's something wrong with the league, but being married, I'm in a different situation. I want to keep my options open for basketball, but it would have to be something more."

But UH senior Jake Sottos said he will still be completing his degree next year, so he might be interested in playing for the Hawai'i ABA team.

"If it can be worked out with the travel and all that, I'd be interested," he said. "It would be a good thing to have while I'm still in school."

Wallace said he would not advise any of his players to choose the ABA over a college degree.

"What I don't want to see is the kids chasing the game when they could be either finishing their education or getting on with their life and working at a better-paying job," he said.

Hawai'i Pacific head coach J.D. Barnett said he has already talked with one of his seniors, Dante Sykes, about the possibility of playing for the Hawai'i ABA team.

"I know the league is having some difficulties financially, so that would be my caution," Barnett said. "But I don't want to do anything to discourage basketball here."

However, the ABA schedule would clash with the UH football, UH basketball and UH volleyball seasons.

When Nash played with the Volcanoes, only a few hundred fans were attending home games. The roster featured Nash, Dwight Holiday and Al Davis — three members of the famous "Fabulous Five" teams of UH.

"People just weren't interested," Nash said. "It was still all about UH."

Williams has said that he would like to play home games in the Blaisdell Center Arena. HPU plays most of its home games in the Blaisdell, and Barnett said the rental fee is another factor the Hawai'i franchise must consider.

"The cost of doing business here is considerably more than doing business on the Mainland, and the Mainland teams are already struggling," Barnett said. "As a basketball fan, you'd love to see it work. But there are issues out there that need to be addressed."

Nash added: "It's not an opportunity to make a lot of money and it's not a real opportunity to get noticed by an NBA team. But it is an opportunity to play more basketball, and that's all some guys are looking for."

Whether Hawai'i is the place for that remains to be seen.

Reach Dayton Morinaga at dmorinaga@honoluluadvertiser.com or 535-8101.