the  next two games pit the Bows against former WAC rivals BYU and New Mexico. BYU is very good, predicted to win its conference. New Mexico is still struggling to get back where it was when Hawaii used to visit the 'Pit". It is not the same team on the road. BYU is 2-0 with easy victories over Bradley and Idaho State at home. Tomorrow's game will BYU's first road test. New Mexico is also 2-0 with a victory on the road against New Mexico State. They will play three home games against weak opponents before coming here next Friday.

The WAC is 11-7 so far in the early going. Not much to be learned from the first week of the season.

The Bows will have to play a perfect game to beat BYU. It is the toughest non WAC game they will play. After New Mexico, its onto the only non WAC road game at Irvine, then home until the second week in January.

A shout out to my undergraduate

alma mater Syracuse, who tonight demolished Cal in NY. Cal had been the preseason pick to win the PAC-10.

I will be taking a two break from the blog while i am out of the Country. I will return to join Bobby again as the color analyst for the Dec 6 game against Lamar. My bold predictions for the next three games. A loss against BYU, a win against New Mexico, and a tie against Irvine.

Hope we see some students tomorrow and next friday. they add so much to the loyal season fan base, and make the arena a truely great place to play and watch basketball, but my guess we will be back to the less than 50 students who regularly attended games the past few years. Maybe BYU will bring some of their students from the North Shore.

normally, we will post these blogs every other day or so, but with no game until friday and a game last night and this morning, it seems the right time to blog.

After beating two over-matched opponents, the Bows ran into a very competitive Northern Colorado squad last night. I thou gt it would be the first real test for this year's team, and it was. After playing evenly for the first 30 minutes, Northern Colorado went on a 17-0 and seemed to be in control until the Rainbows fought back in the final 3 minutes to pull within a bucket, but it was too little, too late.

Once again, lack of depth, particularly inside, hurt, along with the three quick fouls on Thompson which kept him out for most of the first half and on and off the bench in the second. New guards williams and lay showed potential, with Lay making several threes down the stretch and doing a solid job at the point. Williams, who started on fire, allowed his emotions to get the best of him later in the game, and took some poor shots. He needs to learn to work within the system. But it is clear that the steady hand of Hiram will be required to keep this team competitive.

The bigs struggled again, but did show some improvement on the offensive glass with several put-back baskets. Campbell again played only a few minutes, but Balocka, until he injured his ankle, Mayen, and Flemings had solid games, although Rod has not shown an ability so far to create spacing when he is doubled down low nor much shot creativity

Northern Colorado is picked to finish in the middle of their conference, usually a one bid conference, so as well as they looked here, lets not get too crazy about how good they are. They were a team that the Bows had to beat to stay on track for the magic 18 wins as the schedule gets substantially tougher the next two weeks with BYU, picked to win the Mountain West, and New Mexico, a middle of the Mountain West conference team, at home, and a road game at Irvine ( winnable, but  remember on the road), before returning home for three relatively easy games going into the Diamond Head Classic.

one final thought. The atmosphere in the arena last night was electric with many of the season ticket holders staying home and the lower bowl filled with students who got in free. An idea. Why not let the students into all the remaining games for free. They can sit upstairs where hardly anyone sits anyway, and they add so much to the game. You know the team would love that student support.

well, the basketball bows are 2-0 for the first time in the Nash era. Both games were eerily similiar . big early second half leads lost and then a strong push down the stretch to win. These were the type of games this team lost the last two years with ill-advised shot selection and turnover. Not likely we will see that much this year with three strong guards.

The good. Sunday we saw some strong outside shooting by Williams and Lay. Still somewhat inconsistent as on Friday couldnt make a three, and didnt make one in the second half last night. Good man defense friday night and solid perimeter defense last night. Fairly consistent free throw shooting. Do you believe last night Hawaii shot over 20 free throws and McNeese never went to the line. I doubt you will see another 0 for 0 from the line this year in any game, anywhere. And you have to be heartened by the way the team didnt let the games get away after losing big leads.

the bad. Poor interior defense last night. almost no help defense inside. And if you need any proof on how much this time will miss Bill Amis, who i believe will not be back this year, last night proved the point. The team played much of the two games with three guards, and lots of minutes for the starting 5(6).  Over the course of the season, those minutes will begin to have an effect. One could see the toll the minutes took the last two games in the second half.

the two opponents the Bows beat they should have beaten. Neither team is very good. tonight, however, is a different story. Northern Colorado spanked both of these two teams, and looks more talented and balanced than either. We will know alot more about the Bows at 1 am tonight.

By the way, Rod Flemings is the WAC player of the week. Well deserved. You can see he is still not back at full strength, but he must love having guards who can get him the ball.

finally a mistake in my last blog. Of course, Bobby and I are doing the games on radio at ESPN 1420, not that other station.

Its time for year three of the Bob Nash era. After two years of under 500 records, the staff has now had two full recruiting years to try to obtain a winning record. In fact, media reports are that the team has to win 18 games and go to some post season tournament for Nash to keep his job.

The schedule should help. Although the WAC looks stronger and more balanced than last year, the 21 home games and a weak nonconference schedule make 18 wins doable, but it wont be easy.

The season starts with several injury and suspension issues. Bill Amis, perhaps the most important Rainbow Warrior because of his steady play and strong inside skills, may be gone for the season. He is definitely out for several weeks. Douglas Kurtz, the 7 footer from Brazil, has been ordered to sit out the first 6 games by the NCAA for playing in a few " professional" games, in his native country. We have yet to see Rod Flemings or Dwain Williams because of injury, but both are back at full strength and will play tonight

My guess is that the starting lineup for game 1 will be Thompson and Williams at the 1 and 2, Flemings and Balocka at the 3 and 4, and Campbell at Center. Its a solid lineup, but some serious questions remain.

We will be blogging on UH , the WAC, and the national scene three times a week. Hope you will participate. You know, both from my former radio show and this blog two years ago, that we call it as we see it. I am back as the color analyst on AM 1500 and hope you will tune in to hear Bobby and me. If you are at the game, bring those headsets.