Because of the way it ended some may disagree that this was the best team in University of Hawaii basketball history. But when you get over the hurt and look at the big picture, it’s easy to see it undoubtedly is.
It’s impossible to pretty up Sunday’s 73-60 NCAA Tournament second-round loss to Maryland that was largely forgettable except for Mike Thomas’ supreme effort.
The rest of the Rainbows did not play anything near their best basketball. They failed to take advantage of a Maryland team that early on seemed unsure of itself. In the first half the Terps couldn’t have found the basket with a map, GPS, flashlight and a Sherpa guide. And for whatever reason they didn’t seem to realize that points scored by Thomas would be added to their opponents’ total.
Despite all that, Maryland led by a point at halftime.
Point guard Roderick Bobbitt, dogged by foul trouble early, sparked UH after the break, but just briefly.
Maryland woke up and went on a 14-point run that at one point looked like guys slamming at will in a pregame layup line. Diamond Stone’s game began to match his name. The Rainbows didn’t get posterized, because they didn’t get back on defense quickly enough to even be in the picture.
When the carnage finally ended, hope remained for UH because creating havoc via the press was one of its strengths. But the ’Bows couldn’t get anything going.
UH got hit by what coach Eran Ganot likes to call a haymaker, and this time the Rainbows had no counter-punch.
Because it was so ugly, it can be easy to forget this same team had just made history Friday with the program’s first win at the NCAAs.
Yes, Cal was short-handed due to injuries but the Rainbow Warriors did their job that day. They weren’t at their sharpest then either, but what they had was more than good enough to secure the landmark win and erase generations of frustration.
Whenever a team is a double-digit seed — especially from a conference like the Big West that gets next to zero national respect — it must prove it belongs among the top 68. UH did that and more against the Bears.
If your takeaway remains only what you saw last, the ineffectual group that was boat-raced Sunday, take a step back for a better perspective. Go to where you can see the 28-win season; most victories for a UH team, one more than the 2002 team that lost in the first round of the NCAAs.
And don’t ever forget what these guys dealt with. Three coaches in three seasons. NCAA investigation. Some of the best players, like Isaac Fotu, who would’ve been a senior this year, leaving.
The governor, or whoever runs his Twitter account, congratulated them on social media. It’s a no-brainer he should proclaim a day for the Rainbows and Wahine. Heck, throw a parade. Maybe it will help convince some of the juniors to stick around.
The way it’s set up, all but one of the best teams in the country end with a loss. Granted, most not this bad. This is a team that deserves to be remembered not for how it finished, but for all it accomplished — which was impressive and unprecedented.
Whether it can be sustained is another question. I believe in Ganot’s long-term vision, but with next year’s ban on postseason play who knows when UH will be back this way again?
Reach Dave Reardon at dreardon@staradvertiser.com or 529-4783. His blog is at Hawaiiwarriorworld.com/quick-reads.
Correction: A previous version of this story said the team that used to have the most wins for UH basketball was in 1972. It was the 2002 team.
