Warriors wary of exhibition opponent
Ready or not, the Hawai’i basketball team will play its one and only exhibition game on Friday night. The Warriors will host NCAA Division II Hawai’i Pacific at the Stan Sheriff Center at 7 p.m.
“I wish we had about another month of practice,” head coach Gib Arnold said. “We got enough to play a game and we got enough play hard so we’re going to roll that ball out and see how the guys respond.”
The final result and statistics will not count toward the Warriors’ official record, but it still matters.
“My freshman year at Utah, we lost to a D-II team in our exhibition,” senior point guard Jace Tavita said. “So I know these teams come in full of energy … they’re really going to come after us.”
Arnold said he his coaching staff have purposely coached the Warriors at a slower pace than in recent years. There will be 13 players available against HPU, and only three of them saw game action in the Sheriff Center last season: senior guard/forward Hauns Brereton, junior guard Garrett Jefferson, and junior forward Davis Rozitis.
Senior center Vander Joaquim – the leading scorer and rebounder from last season – will not play due to a knee injury.
“The whole idea of an exhibition game is to go in there and do the best you got with what you’ve got in, even if it is limited,” Arnold said. “We’re going to look at some different lineups and some different things, for sure.”
Of the13 players available for Friday, seven are freshmen. One of them, forward Isaac Fotu, said: “Coach has gone over the plays a lot these past weeks and we’ve been doing a lot of reps, so I think I’m ready for … everything.”
For what it’s worth, the “first group” for most of the practice drills this week featured Tavita at point guard, Brereton and Brandon Spearman on the wings, and Christian Standhardinger and Davis Rozitis in the post.
The Sea Warriors have already played an exhibition game, and nearly pulled off a road upset of another NCAA-I program. Santa Clara needed a second-half rally to hold off HPU, 64-63, on Tuesday in California.
“They’ve got a couple of Division I transfers, some older guys – their team is actually quite a bit older than ours,” Arnold said. “Sounds like they’re very good. Having not seen them and just seeing their stat sheet, I was very impressed.”
Malte Ziegenhagen, a 6-foot-4 guard/forward from Germany, led HPU with 17 points and 10 rebounds. He made five of the team’s 13 3-pointers. Leif Rodney, a 6-8 forward, added 12 points and 10 rebounds, and 5-11 guard Kevin Attila added 14 points.
Hawai’i vs. Hawai’i Pacific
When: Friday, Nov. 2; 7:00 p.m.
Where: Stan Sheriff Center (10,300) – Honolulu, Hawai’i
Television: None
Radio: None.
Internet: Live stats available on HawaiiAthletics.com
Ticket Prices: All seats general admission. $7 (Adult), $5 (Senior Citizen), $3 (youth, 4-18). UH Manoa Students free. Parking $6.
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To view photos by WarriorInsider.com photographer Brandon Flores of each player in game uniform, please visit our Facebook page at www.facebook.com/warriorinsider
All of the players on the 2012-13 Hawaii roster were introduced on this site a month or so ago. Here’s another quick look at each player in game uniform (note that freshman Aaron Valdes still has not been cleared by the NCAA so he does not appear in the video):
hey, TEAM:
yes, you are an extension of the Coach.
play hard both “D & O” but, watch out for the charges-
no more season-ending bruised-rib injury; move out and let them fall.
good luck all season long!
Too bad only one exhibition game. Would have been nice if they could have scheduled Chaminade or BYU-H for a 2nd exhibition game.
With all the new faces, they need every chance to get ready vs Illinois and @ UNLV in 4 weeks.
the way Gib’s put it, this sounds like a rebuilding year. Only one returning starter and one part time starter, not excuses but it is what it is. And it’s taking time to get all his o & d schemes incorporated into the game.
Coach Wallace was around for a score so you knew more or less what was coming unto the floor. Now, I’m hoping for the best outcome, probably Coach letting the players do what they can with not much set plays in hand.
only exhibition anyways, hope Gib/Staff/Team comes out on top
Wow! Shall be nickname “Isaac Fotu” the Wild Thing or the Missing Link!!!!!! What a doooo! And Manroop Clair is so clean. He announced himself as Manroop Singh Clair. I like to give him the moniker of “Manny”. When he starts to drop those 3 pt. bombs people in the stands can serenade him with the sounds of “Man-ny!” “Man-ny!” Love it!
How about Isaac “Fro-tu”?
Two bigs out perfect time for the rest to show their stuff. Sometimes can be a blessing in disguise. Freshmen learning curve will jump after these first few games. We’ll see what they’re made of quick with live ammo. Of course only DII but it’s first game so gotta expect a little sloppy play on both sides. But nobody likes to lose either. Should be fun.
imho889600: Isaac “Fro-tu.” That cracked me up. “Fro-tu” has immense potential from what he showed in the summer league. I don’t think he was in the best of shape, and seemed to take plays off now and then, but when he went hard … wow, impressive. I thought his post moves were … shall I say… way ahead of where Vander was in his first UH season.Isaac has quick feet, and big and soft hands … caught everything thrown to him … even while going full speed on the break. Can he play as well facing the basket? I don’t know because he rarely shot from the outside. He’s going to be fun to watch as he gets bigger, stronger and more polished.Looking forward to Dayton’s coverage of tonight’s exhibition.
Go The Warriors, let get it done tonight. We will be following the live stats on line from Down Under, NZ and Aussie. The SSC will be ROCKING!!!! BRING IT ON….
UH led 36-32 at the half.It’s now UH 64-58 with 3:33 to play. Stanhardinger has 17 points, 14 rebounds; Brereton has 15 points.
1:50 to play, UH ahead 66-60. Brereton has fouled out.
1:48 to play, UH ahead 66-62.
1:27 to play; Gib subs out Tavita for Clair. at 1:19, Clair hits two free throws but HPU scores at 1:09. It’s 68-64.
Spearman hits 1 of 2 FTs at 1:00 to put UH up 69-64.
Clair hits 1 of 2 FTs w/51 seconds left to make it 70-64. Fotu blocks a shot at 0:33, then gathers rebound. Still 70-64.
Spearman hits two FTs with 27 seconds left, but HPU hits a 3 to make it 72-67 with 18 seconds to play. HPU calls time.
Stanhardinger hits 3 of 4 FTs over the final 13 seconds. UH beats HPU, 75-67.
Some quick stats: Stanhardinger 20 points, Brereton 15, Spearman 11, Fotu 10, Jawato 10. Standhardinger 15 rebounds, Rozitis and Fotu 7 rebounds apiece. Stanhardinger played minutes, Hauns 32 and Fotu 31. Eleven played. Enos, Harper not in box score.
Warriors shot 44 percent from the field (25 of 57), but only 17 percent (2 of 12) from 3-point range. Outside shooting was a concern; looks like it still might be.
Free-throw shooting not too good either — 23 of 39. Turnovers 14; not bad.
i’m sure Dayton will have much more, including video tomorrow morning, if not later tonight.