Looking for right combos
Ready or not, the new-look Hawaii basketball team will make its first public appearance under new head coach Gib Arnold on Saturday.
The Warriors will host Chaminade in an exhibition game at 7 p.m. at the Stan Sheriff Center.
The final result and statistics will not count, but Arnold said the performances of each of his players will count in his mind.
“We’re not really looking at the score as much as just how we play and how we react to what they throw at us,” Arnold said. “I’m going to try to look at different lineups and different situations and see how we play. We’re going to use it as what it is, an exhibition game. Not really worried about the final score or anything like that, but what combinations work best for us.”
The Warriors may have only 10 players available for the exhibition game, and four of them are true freshman. The 10 healthy/eligible players are: seniors Bill Amis, Douglas Kurtz and Hiram Thompson, junior Zane Johnson, sophomores Vander Joaquim and Joston Thomas, and freshmen Bo Barnes, Jordan Coleman, Bobby Miles and Trevor Wiseman.
Two players – Pii Minns and Davis Rozitis – are redshirting this season due to transfer rules, so they will not suit up. Two others are injured: Anthony Salter (foot) and Dominick Brumfield (knee).
“Of course we want more time, but we have to get ready for our season and it’s good that we get an exhibition to help prepare us for the real games,” Amis said.
Chaminade is a NCAA Division II program located about a mile away from the Stan Sheriff Center. Many of the Silverswords played pick-up games with the Warriors during the offseason.
“We’re treating it like a real game, and I’m sure Chaminade is, too,” Amis said. “I talked to a few of (the Chaminade players). They’re taking it pretty seriously. They want to beat us, I know that.”
Hawaii defeated Chaminade, 70-61, last season. Only two current Warriors – Kurtz and Thompson – participated in that game.
