Gib Arnold calls it "beautiful" and says, "That’s the kind of problem I want to have."
The University of Hawaii basketball coach has been on both sides of court stormings, back when he was an assistant at USC. Big win at home, big loss on the road. Fans rush the court.
"Of course it’s no fun when you’re on the wrong end, but that’s part of college sports," Arnold said. "Yes, there’s a safety issue, and you want to avoid altercations.
"But I’d never want to take something like that away from the students."
A rushing of the court is unlikely tonight at the Stan Sheriff Center, even though it is senior night, and even though the Rainbow Warriors’ opponent, Cal Poly, beat UH by 29 points Jan. 24 in San Luis Obispo.
But you never know.
"The fact that there’s a little mystery in it is great," Arnold said.
Court rushes are nothing without spontaneity and at least some chaos, and those are the reasons many are now calling for abolishment.
It’s become such a commonplace occurrence this season that the specialness is gone (except, of course, to the students who get to do something they normally don’t — run onto the floor and celebrate an upset win with the team).
And Duke coach Mike Krzyzewski has had enough, after he and his third-ranked Blue Devils had to endure yet another court rush after a road loss Thursday, this time at Virginia.
KRZYZEWSKI HAS big-time clout, so now that he has voiced safety concerns look for the ACC to start fining schools that storm courts, as the SEC already does. But if credible reports are true that the 66-year-old Hall of Fame coach traded F-bombs with Virginia students while leaving the court … well shame on him for being baited to that level.
It also doesn’t help that in his postgame press conference he said (sarcastically, I’m pretty sure) that "burning benches" is a good way to celebrate a big win.
"Security concerns are real and I get that, but Coach K really came off as a sore loser more than anything," said my friend, John Hollis (full disclosure: John is a Virginia graduate). "If anything, he should be content to take the fans’ storming of the court after a Duke loss as a testament to his program’s lofty status. He’s bigger than the way he came off in Charlottesville."
After watching video of the Cavaliers fans’ celebration from several different angles, my take is Krzyzewski overreacted regarding the degree of potential physical danger for the Duke contingent. A wall of security guards got between the crowd and the Blue Devils quickly. There was no physical contact, and Duke claimed none.
Verbal epithets? As ugly as they might be, that’s part of the deal when you’re on the road. Maybe they’re not as clever as the famed Blue Devils student section, but you know what they say about payback.
Someday UH basketball — especially with its burgeoning student section — might get the kind of problem Arnold wants after a big win. If it does, hopefully security does as good a job as it did at Virginia’s John Paul Jones Arena on Thursday.
Reach Dave Reardon at dreardon@staradvertiser.com or 529-4783 or on Twitter as @dave_reardon.
