Qingdao, China » Dozens of fans at Gao Mi Fu Ri Gymnasium rushed the court in celebration … of the losers.
The final buzzer sounded with the Hawaii men’s basketball team on the wrong side of an 81-80 decision to the Chinese Basketball Association’s Qingdao Eagles on Friday night. That didn’t matter to the hoops faithful of the small Northern China city, who’d been won over by the short-handed Rainbow Warriors’ spirited play thousands of miles from home.
"People from Gao Mi are very fanatical about basketball," said Gao Zhongjie, the chief of the city’s sports bureau, through an interpreter. "(UH) has very good cooperation spirit."
The UH players, at first stunned by the postgame outpouring of love, started to go about accommodating the smiling mob of fans that crowded them three-deep on the hardwood. The young and even some of the old politely requested an autograph on their ticket stubs and, more often than not, a photograph to go with it.
Anyone wearing a black jersey was a target, even those who saw little to no playing time. UH coaches weren’t spared from the onslaught.
"Crazy. The guys were saying they’ve never had an experience like that before," head coach Gib Arnold said. "Just shows the globalization of basketball. That was a really neat experience for our guys as well."
The welcome party extended to the whole evening for UH.
The American and Chinese flags hung side by side in the rafters, and both national anthems were played before the game.
At halftime, UH’s delegation of former coach Frank Arnold and booster club president Tom Ishii presented Gao with gifts from Hawaii. Gao in turn presented Arnold with an ornate item at halfcourt.
The Chinese fans chanted loudly in support of the home team, but also were generous in their applause for difficult UH baskets or exciting plays in the open court.
"It’s basically a whole different culture … but everyone’s trying to get autographs and pictures after the game," said junior forward Hauns Brereton, who is fluent in Mandarin Chinese. "I didn’t think it’d be this crazy, but literally everybody from the stands came down and wants a picture. It’s pretty fun."
Game draws better than expected
When UH assistant coach Brandyn Akana set up the first of four exhibition games against CBA teams during the basketball offseason, he had little idea of what to expect for a fan turnout. He tossed out a guess of 500 to 1,000 in the days before the first game.
He got his answer in the form of nearly 4,000 hoopaholics — a crowd comparable to that of a UH game at the Stan Sheriff Center — who turned out to see American players duel some of their own.
"That’s a great example of how China and basketball goes together," Akana said. "They were screaming and watched a great game. … It exceeded (expectations). We thought it was going to be a lot of people watching, but when we came out and that crowd was there, and how involved they were, that did exceed my expectations."
Arnold on Jefferson
While UH prepared for the game against the Eagles, back at Manoa some paperwork was finalized for new UH guard Garrett Jefferson.
Once that happened, coach Arnold was able to comment on what the 6-foot-3 guard from Citrus College (Calif.) brings to the table with three years of eligibility.
"Our best athlete, by far," Arnold said. "Not even close. Great defender, great kid, good student, good family. Huge upside. Just athletic, and I think it just gives us another athlete and fills that void, which we really need … this guy can guard 1 through 3, any of those quick athletes."
Calm before the storm
UH had a day off today and used it to tour several spots around Qingdao, including Mount Laoshan. Then it’s three straight days of games against CBA teams before the Rainbows sightsee in Beijing and head to Osaka for their final contest of the tour.
