A hat tip to the on-court Matt Gibson

Love him or hate him and the latter seems to be the choice of the majority of opposing fans, Matt Gibson is a competitor who gives his all on the court. He's certainly stumbled a few times what with some suspensions but the bottomline is we would like having Gibson on our team.

Emotions help ignite UH's fiery point guard
Dayton Morinaga
Honolulu Advertiser

"You can teach fundamentals, like how to dribble and how to shoot," Matt Gibson says. "You can't teach how to have heart, how to play with energy. I've always felt like that's how you can make up for mistakes or missed shots."

This Is The Way I Live

Matt Gibson does everything at full throttle.

Like a speed demon, he is equal parts exciting and dangerous as the point guard for the University of Hawai'i men's basketball team.

It is why he is one of the most beloved and bewildering Rainbow Warriors of all time.

"The first day I met him, I knew he was unique," teammate Alex Veit said. "He's like his own category."

Gibson, a 6-foot-5 senior, is in the stretch run of his collegiate career. The 'Bows will close the regular season with road games at Louisiana Tech tomorrow and then at New Mexico State on Saturday.

The Western Athletic Conference Tournament is scheduled for March 11 to 15 at Las Cruces, N.M.

Hawai'i, which is 11-16 overall and 7-7 in the WAC, will be the No. 5 seed for the tournament, regardless of what happens this week.

"As a senior, as the point guard, I feel like a lot of the responsibility for how we do is in my hands," Gibson said. "The fact that we're not No. 1 in the WAC right now, I place a lot of the blame on myself. But this season's not over. We make a run here at the end, and all those losses will be forgotten."

This Is The Way I Live

The words are part of a tattoo on Gibson's left arm. The rest of the tattoo features a young man sitting on a bench, his face buried in his hands, a basketball at his feet.

"I don't like tattoos, and every time he gets one, I let him know I don't like it," said his father, Lon Gibson. "But that one bothered me more than the others. It just looked so sad."

Gibson had the tattoo done prior to this season.

"It represents the times of me persevering through my struggles," he said. "It reminds me that life isn't always easy or fair, but all I have to do is open my eyes and basketball will always be there."

Just like the tattoo, Gibson can be an enigma...

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