This team will go as far as the 3-point shot will take it.
Yes, these days you can say that about almost any basketball squad, at any level. And I’ll be a good sport about all of your Captain Obvious comments (actually, I probably won’t even read them).
But for this edition of the University of Hawaii Rainbow Warriors — especially — the trey is the way.
Saturday night in front of a raucous White Out crowd at the Stanley in a game that was on national television, UH came back from the wrong side of an early 12-0 run to blow out Cal State-Fullerton 72-55. The Titans are one of the better teams in the Big West, and they’re now tied for second in the conference with the ’Bows.
It ended a three-game losing streak for Hawaii, including a disappointing homecourt loss to first-place Long Beach State on Thursday.
Hawaii has had many other teams with lots of great long-distance shooters. But, with special apologies to the Savo and Carl English-led crews of the early 2000s, this might be the deepest in deep threats.
You think I’ve got a bad case of recency bias? OK, guilty as charged, for now. We can review it again at the end of the season … which if these guys are hot at the right time, could be who knows when.
Whatever, the bomb was definitely the bomb for the ’Bows against the Titans.
They made eight of 22, for 36 percent, which isn’t that spectacular. But it was WHEN the makes came that made the difference, and from so many different guys.
Consider this:
When the Rainbows were in the doldrums early, back-to-back 3-pointers by Kamaka Hepa and Amoro Lado got them to within two points of the Titans. Then it was a 3-ball by Junior Madut that gave the ’Bows the lead at 21-20. Noel Coleman got in the act with a halftime buzzer-beater to give UH a 30-24 halftime lead.
That’s four guys making crucial shots from beyond the arc for the ’Bows.
There was more to come in the second half, specifically from Coleman, UH’s leading scorer with 24 points.
First, after a seven-point run with ALL of the points from Jerome Desrosiers, Coleman managed to out-do that, with eight points in a row himself.
His routine 3-pointer made it 42-28 with 14:39 left. That brought about what appeared to be a fire-the-team-up technical foul on Fullerton coach Dedrique Taylor, which backfired — big-time.
Coleman hit the two free throws and, immediately following that, a 3-pointer from Steph Curry range.
Fullerton managed nothing during all of this, and the 17-point run put Hawaii up 47-28. As well as the ’Bows were playing — beyond the arc and within it — it effectively left 13 minutes of garbage time.
By no means am I suggesting UH is unbeatable, nor am I serving time as a prisoner of the moment.
I have not forgotten Thursday night’s loss to Long Beach State, when the visitors played a wild, wide-open style that UH failed to deal with.
Coach Dan Monson’s players are experts at the art of organized chaos, and it was easy to see why they entered the game with a nine-game winning streak — one that started only after a loss to these same Rainbow Warriors, back in early January.
As it did on Saturday, UH fell behind early on Thursday. But against the Beach, Hawaii didn’t rally quickly. It took the ’Bows nearly the entire game to get the lead back, and then it was short-lived.
LBSU elevated its play to another level at the end. If the Rainbows had the ability to join them there they failed to do so that night.
The LBSU press bothered UH enough that it turned the ball over 11 times in the first half. A good press hurts a deliberate team like Hawaii that likes to work for the best shot possible with more than just turnovers. When the ’Bows didn’t get into their offensive sets quickly, the time shaved off the shot clock forced them to hurry, and to play the Beach’s game of taking the first open shot, and not having the option of working for a better one with another pass or two.
When it got down to the last few minutes, Hawaii was still in it. But UH never got over the hump, and the Beach showed to be as good at closing out the game as opening it.
On Saturday it never got to that point, because Hawaii’s deep corps of long-range sharpshooters hit enough key shots to come from behind, take the lead and then ice the game.
