Warriors looking to play big on Moloka’i
Coaches like to say that every drill and exercise during the preseason will help at some point during the season. In the case of the Hawai’i basketball team, that will be tested this weekend.
The Warriors will make a short flight to the island of Moloka’i on Friday evening, and will play their NCAA Division II neighbor, Chaminade, on Saturday night at Moloka’i High School Gym – also known as “The Barn.”
The Warriors took a weekend trip to Moloka’i back in October, and got to practice – and sleep – in The Barn.
“It does help,” said assistant coach Brandyn Akana, who was born and raised on Moloka’i and helped coordinate the trips to the Friendly Island. “We had couple practices there – we actually stayed in the gym, so the guys feel really comfortable in the gym itself.”
The Warriors will also get another chance to practice in The Barn on Friday night, and again for a game-day shoot around on Saturday afternoon. In contrast, the Silverswords will arrive on Molokai on Saturday afternoon and see The Barn for the first time a few hours before tip-off.
“It’s going to be a little different because we’re actually the visitors for this game,” Akana said. “Chaminade is the home team, but they don’t get in until game day.”
The Silverswords will have to play a home game against Cedarville (Ohio), a NCAA-II team, on Friday night before they can focus on the game on Moloka’i.
In any case, the Warriors will be looking to end a two-game losing streak. They are 4-3 overall, and coming off their worst performance of the season in a 63-56 home loss to Pepperdine a week ago.
“I think one-on-one defense, squaring them up and keeping them out of the paint – that’s going to be big for us,” Akana said.
Chaminade is 3-5 entering the game against Cedarville. However, the Silverswords proved how dangerous they can be when they upset Texas on the opening day of the Maui Invitational last month.
Chaminade has dropped four straight games since that victory over Texas, although two of those losses were against national powers Illinois and North Carolina. What’s more, two key players – De’Andre Haskins and Kevin Hu – have sat out the last two games due to injury.
Haskins, a 6-foot-4 senior guard, is Chaminade’s top player. He leads the team with 21.2 points and 6.8 rebounds per game. He led the prestigious Maui Invitational field in scoring with 73 points in three games, including 32 in the win over Texas.
Several of the Warriors are familiar with Haskins, having played with or against him in the Hawaii summer league.
“He’s good at one-on-one, creating his own shot,” said forward Isaac Fotu, who played on the same summer league team as Haskins.
The Warriors will have a distinct size advantage in the post, as Chaminade does not have any players taller than 6-7. Only two of those players – 6-7 forwards Rhys Murphy and Tyree Harrison – have been playing significant minutes. The Silverswords often use four guards and one post player.
In contrast, four of Hawaii’s top five scorers are 6-6 or taller – 6-8 Christian Standhardinger (16.6 points, 7.4 rebounds), 6-10 Vander Joaquim (14.3 points, 7.6 rebounds), 6-6 Hauns Brereton (10.9 points, 6-3 rebounds) and 6-8 Fotu (7.9 points, 7.1 rebounds). Also, 6-2 guard Brandon Spearman is contributing 11.7 points per game.
“We start much bigger players,” Akana said. “We may not be as fast, but that’s something we’ve been working on.”
GAME INFORMATION
When: Saturday, Dec. 15, 7:30 p.m. HT
Where: Moloka’i High School Gym/“The Barn” (2,000) – Ho’olehua, Moloka’i
Television: None.
Streaming Video: None.
Radio: ESPN 1420 AM will carry the game live. Neighbor islands can listen live on KNUI on Maui, KHLO in Hilo, KKON in Kona, and KTOH on Kaua’i.
Audio Webcast: Live audio streaming on espn1420am.com
Live Stats: Live in-game stats are available at HawaiiAthletics.com
Ticket Information: $8 (at the door); $5 (presale); $2 (students and sr. citizen). Call 808-567-6959 for more information.
Nice preview.
Chaminade’s coach had previously coached at West Liberty (a DII power), which led the nation in DII scoring eight of the last nine years. It should be an interesting game from a tempo standpoint. However, Chaminade plays a game this Friday night, so they might be a little weary going into Molokai the following day.
It’s also interesting that De’Andre Haskins was at Citrus with Garrett for a year. Haskins is coming of an MCL sprain. I wonder how he’ll perform with two games in two days.
UH just has to win, any way they do it, big , small or medium..get on a roll for DH Classic..
Team, shoot well from Field and FT line, should be good, hopefully packed BARN.
The Friendly Island we salute you!
Go RainbowWarriors!!
and thanks again Dayton, up to the minute real time MBB new..in the real world sad stuff out there.
Mahalo for a bit of sports..best wishes to those that suffered..
What’s with the schedule this year…
10 days off before the UNLV game, then 7 days until the Pepperdine game, then 7 days until Saturday’s game vs Chaminade, then 7 more days until the Diamond Head Classic.
Prior to the Dec 22 DHC opener, UH will have only played 3 games in the past 30 days. This doesn’t help UH with their flow and consistency. It was probably a factor in their play vs Pepperdine.
Agree… Donʻt like the 7-10 day breaks …. BUT Pre-Season was Four Weeks and with a Super-Young Team, RE: 8 Freshmen AND even the Juniors and Seniors had not played for up to 1-1/2 years and Not With Coach Gib, so i donʻt think anyone had developed much of a rhythm, Not Vander, Not Hauns, etc….
HANDLE, Better Man-Handle Chaminade (Coach has been working onTough-ness)…
(then)
Probably for Next Game versus MIAMI…today First Half Versus 9-0!! Charlotte, Miami forced 9 First-Half Turnovers And NINE BLOCKS… whupping Charlotte by 15 at the moment…
…and The Tough-ness of Most of the DHC Field…
One More “Challenging Tune-Up”(WIN!… and
Ready OR NOT!?
Time for Major Mid-Season (DHC & BW) STEP-UP!!!
FTR: Miami 77 – Charlotte 46 (WAS 9-0) Final
Miami’s blowout of previously unbeaten Charlotte was Miami’s first game in 13 days, so obviously the Hurricanes didn’t get “rusty” or lose flow and/or rhythm during their long layoff.
I never thought 7 days, 10 days, or 2 weeks between playing games, whatever, should be an excuse or reason for not being ready to play. If you’re a good team you will be ready to play hard giving great effort and will likely have a good chance to win. If you’re not a good team you will make a lot of mistakes and not be as organized or cohesive as a good team does. It would be pretty obvious to see. The very good coaches already have the team ready to play. They prepare the team well to get better through repeated repetition in practice and they work on all types of situatiions durig the games. In short, they are very thorough. Also notice that the good coaches have very good talent. Gee, an epiphany!!!! We have a very young team, 7 games into the season.
We should be blending in better with every game going forward. The key word is “we should.”.
Obviously, Miami is a very good team and will be a hand full in our opening game on the 22nd. The layoff didn’t hurt them and in fact, because of that, the team was itching to play and was fired up.
There are no excuses if Hawaii loses to Chaminade. If you get beat, you get beat, period. It’s all about execution, and making shots. We failed in the last game so we lost. Simple as that.
Derek:
What you state is true. Good coaches, good players, execute, with enough games and time..whatever the schedule..win and progress…agreed. I know, and you know, Gib does not have McDonald’s All Americans or One
and Dones, nor is Gib a 10 to 15 yr experienced coach.I do believe that Gib did a great job in focus of recruiting: HIGH CHARACTER…good young student athletes, albeit, some of the frosh are from far away, and they do get home sick. however, Gib and the fanbase, on this site, as well as the boosters and SSC arena fans, show the
young guys a lot of Aloha. The staff are very caring, working with each and every one of the players..i.e., that surprise for Isaac, his Dad, sister and little brother coming over to visit,..that was very emotional..For me, and probably the team, the chemistry, the attitude , the make up of this MBB Ohana will translate into a winning team,
sure, you and I would like the team to be 7-0 and ranked No. 24 in the nation at this point, however, even the most optimistic fan as well as the coaches could see that wasn’t likely..Gib knew a weakness was guard play,as time went on, Shooting from Field and FT shooting, with 9 new guys in UH MBB system, minus the three RS’s
and 4 returning lettermen, a lot to learn about speed of game , physicality, keeping up with school , adjusting as a young freshman thousands of miles from home, and the cultural difference. I think Gib and the solid, sixteen young guys are doing well. Think Aaron Valdes, waited very long, to get cleared. he stuck it out, Red Shirt this year, and he and Michael Thomas will bring a lot of athleticism…and Keith Shamburger will bring a very quick and good floor general , a PG..
This year’s team, if they experience a good run through BWC and do well in BWC, expect them to have a nice post season run. Don’t forget, Vander is not 100% at this point, he heals up to even 90% and can be a defensive force, blocking shots and altereing, besides D and O rebounding, and Hauns stepping up, as well as Christian, Jace , and Spearman, Jefferson, the upperclassmen taking the lead, guys that have not played together very much, only 7 games, makes a huge difference..Those guys have pride, along with super frosh Isaac Fotu, hopefully Clair will get his BBIQ and strength by BWC play, as well as Ozi hitting his shots, and Davis, having an impact game, subbing for a foul plagued Fotu, Standhardinger or Vander..the team will be alright..
Hey, Tonganator: Aloha brother, your son Isaac is a very nice young man, fierce competitor, always willing to learn , great team player, he will be very, very good BWC time. and Aussie Mum, Michael Harper bringing it every day on scout team…I believe there will be a time, when he comes in to a game, gets a key steal, assist and a couple of deep 3 point shot, that will help UH win a big game on the road..And Ozi Mum, Ozi, studious young man, will settle in, go to his spots, relax and hit 2 or 3 three pointers in a row to bust open a close ball game, and help UH win a showdown with Northridge or another contender..
Yes, Derek, that is what I see, and perhaps many others, sure the game is simple, actually, before the final buzzer, score one more point than the other team, right? equals= WIN…you have enough of those, team will have success, ..I will not chide Gib and staff or any player who is busting his tail off on the court in games or
practice, and doing well in class, 30 yrs ago, I couldn’t , very ,very hard thing to do..Yet for these special sixteen, I sing nothing but praise, nobody is in a police lineup, or worse..These are good kids with a young head coach, who cares about them, has good assistants , who really work hard with the guys, knowing full well weak areas
and strengths..love the fact that , this year’s team, rebound, outlet and fill the lanes, for layups, flushes, mid range pull up jumpers, or 3 ball spot up..For that effort and especially HIGH CHARACTER..I say Mahalo to all the guys and their families…they will have success, might take a little time, however they will get there..
Thankful these guys can play on Molokai tomorrow nite against Chaminade, sadly, over 20 Americans on the East Coast of the USA, will not be able to do anything…and our thoughts and prayers are with them! It puts this, is Gib good or bad, enough game time, should be progressing, no excuse, simple game, into perspective don’t you think..we are just simple humans, and times are tough…
You must be a loyal fan, good family man and friend..have a good rest of 2012, and look forward, to , if it be willed a great 2013!!
That’s great there’s a game tonight but that fact that there’s no type of video broadcast/stream really just kills it. I have to wait a whole week just to watch the guys play, then come to find out I can only listen to audio streaming or watch the stats online. Tell me again why this game had to happen on Molokai?? And after tonight, no games for another week. Plus we’ve lost the last two games. What is this, football season?