Back to school
It’s clear that the Hawaii basketball team still has a lot to learn.
So it was probably fitting that the Warriors returned to classes on Monday morning — the opening day of the spring semester for all University of Hawaii students – before practicing in the afternoon.
“It’s a little difficult just because we had such a long (winter) break, all you were doing was playing basketball,” freshman guard Bo Barnes said. “You have to go back to class now and you’re going to have to buckle down on things, so hopefully I can get back in a rhythm.”
Barnes is known for his long-range shooting on the court, and he apparently has long-range plans in school as well. He is taking 19 credits this semester (most student-athletes take between 12 and 15 credits).
After the first two days of classes, the Warriors will already have “road work” to take care of from their professors. They leave Tuesday night for a five-day road trip, and will have to keep up with their classes from afar.
“You just have to let them know ahead of time,” sophomore Dominick Brumfield said. “As long as you get back and do what you gotta do in the classroom, they’re not going to have a problem with you traveling with the team. All my teachers been pretty cool about that.”
For the newest Warrior , it was an especially busy day. Jace Tavita, who joined the team last week after transferring from Utah, walked around the UH campus for the first time on Monday. He even got a little lost due to all the construction projects on the campus.
“On the map, they didn’t include all the construction that was going on, so I was going around,” he said. “But it was cool, I found all my classes.”
Bo Barnes is very smart. I remember reading about him. Wouldn’t it be cool if Barnes would be able to go on an academic scholarship and then free up another scholarship to bring in a stud player.
We may be slightly slower than the other teams, but we are bigger, and that is our advantage. We had several inside scores in a row, when Amis, Kurtz and Joquim were in together, and perhaps we need to pound it inside more. If there is a double team, some one is open outside.
Zane is a great shooter, but he needs screens to free him up, and we need our bigs to set screens up high for Zane and Bo also. Zane could be scoring twice as many points a game.
J. Thomas, is the most athletic, and potentially most exciting player on the team. I don’t think he has had his breakout game yet, but watch out when he does.
Finally let every player on the team play some real time. That is the path to player harmony, and having everyone ready when you need them.