November 11, 2005 in Sports

Maui ‘best’ tourney this side of March

• Print
• Email
• Share

It is being called the best field of college basketball teams assembled, outside of the NCAA Tournament, by some of the best coaches of the best teams in the country.

This year’s EA Sports Maui Invitational, says Arizona’s Lute Olson, is “loaded.”

“This, in my opinion, is the best preseason matchups in a tournament situation that I’ve ever seen,” Olson said Thursday during a media conference call involving the eight coaches, including Gonzaga’s Mark Few, who will fly their teams to Lahaina next weekend to compete in the Maui Invitational beginning Nov. 21. “And that includes the NIT preseason, or any other you want to mention.”

It’s hard to argue with Olson’s assessment, considering six of the seven teams invited to this year’s tournament – Arizona, Michigan State, Maryland, Kansas, Arkansas and Connecticut – have won national championships.

The seventh, Olson was quick to point out, is Gonzaga, which has been to seven consecutive NCAA Tournaments and is ranked in the Top 10 in nearly every preseason magazine poll.

The only team not on the national radar is the host team, Chaminade, which will take on fourth-ranked Michigan State in the tournament opener. Eighth-ranked Gonzaga plays 24th-ranked Maryland in the second game, followed by matchups between No. 10 Arizona and Kansas, and No. 3 Connecticut and Arkansas.

“I think it’s the greatest tournament going, outside of the NCAA Tournament,” said Few, whose Bulldogs went 1-2 in the 2002 Maui Invitational, beating Utah in the opening round before losing to Indiana and Kentucky. “It’s a great way to kind of get a barometer on where your team is at, and where it needs to be relative to the national caliber of play you’re going to see over there.”

But the fact remains, only one team will make it through the Maui Invitational without a loss. And some of the coaches involved are worried that may put the teams that don’t at a disadvantage in the early Associated Press and coaches polls, as opposed to teams with soft early-season schedules.

According to UConn coach Jim Calhoun, it could have an effect four months later when the NCAA selection committee puts together its 65-team field.

“You don’t want to leave there with a 0-3, 1-2 (record),” Calhoun said, explaining that such a finish could affect a team’s NCAA seed. “These are games that are going to be highlighted by the committee.”

“I just hope when everybody votes in the polls that first week after Thanksgiving that those teams that have won three games by 30 points don’t get more credit than the teams that are 1-2, say, coming out of Maui having played three great games,” said Maryland’s Gary Williams. “But we all know how that goes – 3-0 looks a little better than 1-2.”

Few hopes the Maui teams will be rewarded, come NCAA Tournament time, for opting to play against the best in the early season.

“You kind of have to tip your hat to all the coaches that have brought their teams over here,” he said. “In this day and age, there’s a lot of guys playing some relatively soft schedules and buying games and staying at home.

“And yet, you have all these nationally ranked teams that are showing up, basically, in kind of a high school-sized gym (the 2,400-seat Lahaina Civic Center) over there, and they’re going to battle it out. I think it’s great. I wish everybody would do that, but that’s probably not being very realistic.”

Olson, like the other coaches involved in this year Maui Invitational, sided with Few.

“I’ve always been of the opinion that you learn from playing the best competition you can play, and you’re going to be a better team in February by playing tough teams.

“I’ve said many times, I’d rather lose by one or two (points) than win by 40, because you don’t learn anything from a 40-point win, or your guys probably think they’re a lot better than they are. I want us to be tested.”

No comments on this story so far. Add yours!