IS anyone else getting the feeling that the University of Hawaii men's basketball season is being held together by a Band-Aid? Lots of them? ’Bows already getting
practice dodging disasterOne of the most highly touted Rainbow teams in two decades seems continually to be dribbling toward disaster. Somewhere some guard(ian) angel is playing overtime.
Ten years ago, Micah Kroeger would have been pau with his basketball career after tearing his anterior cruciate ligament. But through the miracle of replacement surgery (doctors used some of Kroeger's hamstring to repair the ACL) and an intense rehab program, the senior swingman is back at 100 percent a month before the season opens.
Senior guard Alika Smith nearly ended up on Dead Man's Curve when his car was broadsided in a hit-and-run accident last August in Kailua. Smith noticed a speeding Jeep crossing the double-yellow line on a curve on Wanaao Road and was able to swerve to avoid a head-on collision.
"We would have been gone if he hit us head-on," said Smith, who was in his car with girlfriend, Kimberly Estrada. "My back still hurts. Every day, I have to spend a lot of time stretching. Kimberly's still sore, too."
Smith's car was totaled. Think what it would have done to Hawaii's season without its shooting guard.
AND now Anthony Carter. Thursday's injury to the senior guard's left shoulder was diagnosed as a sprain, with a recuperation period of anywhere from a few days to a few weeks.
"We didn't know what to think," said Hawaii coach Riley Wallace. "AC doesn't fake things so we assumed he was hurt.
"We're not going to push him. We'll go with how he feels and have him rehabbing at his pace."
Smith, Carter's backcourt partner, said it was a heart-stopping moment when AC hit the court.
"It's a big sigh of relief that it's only a strain," said Smith.
In this game of Rainbow Roulette, there aren't many more bullets left to dodge. Hawaii knows this season could turn on an ankle, a knee or even a no-fault collision such as happened at Thursday's practice.
Hawaii is expected to be picked No. 2 in the WAC's Pacific Division in tomorrow's preseason poll released at media day in Las Vegas. Fresno State, co-Pacific champion with the Rainbows last season, is expected to be No. 1.
It's the same 1-2 punch most of the preseason basketball publications have predicted. But the unexpected knows no deadlines.
STREET & Smith's has Fresno State on top based on returning and projected talent. The magazine article was written before Bulldog coach Jerry Tarkanian suspended three of his players indefinitely, the third just last week.
Forward Terrance Roberson has been suspended until he completes requirements related to the FSU Student Athlete Assistance Program, which handles antisocial behavior, drug and alcohol abuse. Guard Rafer Alston, who led Fresno City College to the semifinals of the California junior college championship last season, was suspended after an altercation with his ex-girlfriend.
And now senior forward Daymond Forney, the Bulldogs' leading rebounder last year. He was placed in the assistance program for an unspecified infraction.
Maybe it's an unrelated side effect but Tarkanian reportedly has gained some 20 pounds during the off-season. His Rick Majerusesque condition led Wahine volleyball broadcaster Jeff Ruffolo to comment, "Maybe Tarkanian has started eating those towels."
After what has been happening to his team -- and what could have happened -- it's no wonder Wallace's nervous cough is already in WAC season form.
Cindy Luis is a Star-Bulletin sportswriter.
Her column appears weekly.