Columnist Ron Kantowski: Forget about No. 66 for these Rebels

Thursday, March 20, 2003 | 10:01 a.m.

Ron Kantowski is a Las Vegas Sun sports writer. Reach him at ron @ lasvegassun.com or(702) 259-4088.

Now that Al McGuire is no longer with us, is there any compelling reason why the NIT should continue?

The legendary Marquette coach loved the National Invitation Tournament, probably because he grew up in the shadow of Madison Square Garden, its longtime home, watching it. McGuire was so fond of the NIT that in 1970, he declined an invitation to the NCAA tournament to take his young Marquette team to the NIT.

The Warriors, as Marquette was called in those politically incorrect days, won it. And it wasn't long afterward that the NCAA committee passed a rule prohibiting teams from turning down the NCAA for the NIT.

These days, that rule has become obsolete. Nobody in their right mind would turn down the NCAA for the NIT, which has shrunk in stature if not in size.

But there's nothing stopping teams from declining an NIT bid. If the Rebels were thinking a little more clearly, that's what they should have done instead of agreeing to play Hawaii at the Thomas & Mack Center on Wednesday night.

About all they did was show up when they were told to, and stand off to the side while the Warriors shot uncontested layups and 3-point baskets en route to an 85-68 victory.

And so the Rebels won't become the 66th best team in the country. As if that means something.

Next year's media guide will show that the 2003 season ended Wednesday night. In reality, it ended with 5.7 seconds to go Saturday night, when Colorado State's Brian Greene tossed that 12-foot dagger into the basket and through the Rebels' hearts in the Mountain West Conference championship game.

Maybe if you're Valparaiso or Boston U. or some school with a hyphen, ampersand or compass direction in your name, you can consider the NIT a reward for a job well done. But to anybody who was as close to having its Big Dance card punched as the Rebels were Saturday night, it usually turns into a not-so-lovely parting gift.

The Rebels were so uninspired Wednesday night that they didn't deserve the home version of the game.

Perhaps in deference to the visitors, the Rebels played defense like they were wearing grass skirts. Hawaii made 21 of 30 field-goal attempts in the first half. Michael Kubler, a 6-foot-5 swingman who usually plays second ukelele to Warriors sharpshooter Carl English, hit 8 of 9 shots from the field, many of which originated in the vicinity of Diamondhead.

I guess the Rebels felt they didn't have to guard anybody that far from the basket. But it wasn't as if they tightened up when Hawaii started dumping the ball inside. You could have paddled an outrigger canoe through the 3-second lane before UNLV's weakside defense arrived. It's a good thing this game wasn't played on the Islands. McGarrett and the Five-0 gumshoes would have arrested the Rebels for impersonating a college basketball team.

Of course, the Rebels beforehand said all the rhetorical things about extending their season, playing hard, getting to New York and earning a ring. They acted as if they were excited. Or at least interested.

Maybe had they been matched with North Carolina, there might have been a reason to get jazzed about the NIT.

But a lopsided loss to Hawaii served only to turn a sour taste that had been lingering in the Rebels' mouths to downright bitterness.