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Warriors start preparing for Pepperdine

The Hawai’i basketball team certainly is not dwelling on its road loss at UNLV last weekend. The Warriors have been keeping busy this week, both on and off the court.

On the court, they have a full week to prepare for Saturday’s home game against Pepperdine.

“We just have to improve on our weaknesses,” junior forward Christian Standhardinger said. “Trying our best to get that loss out of our mind and focus on our next game and move on.”

In particular, the Warriors have been working on shooting – free throws, 3-pointers, and mid-range – and team defense. They will have to be efficient against a Pepperdine team that is allowing just 63.0 points per game, and limiting opponents to a .384 field goal percentage.

“They got a decent team, that’s what we know,” Standhardinger said.

It will help the Warriors to be at home, where they are 4-1 this season, with the only loss by one point.

“Its definitely good to be back here at the Stan Sheriff,” senior point guard Jace Tavita said. “To have our hometown crowd come out and support us is going to be good. The energy is going to be good for us.”

In addition to practicing every day this week, the Warriors have also been trying to catch up on school work. There are only two weeks remaining in the current semester, so term papers and final exams are fast approaching.

“I have an eight-page paper to write today because I put it on hold,” Standhardinger said. “I will get it done and after that we have a good little break where we can just focus on basketball.”

Tavita added: “You just have to use your time wisely – get your school work done, get your rest, your treatment. There’s not going to be a lot of free time, but it’s just part of it.”

One concern this week is the status of senior center Vander Joaquim, whose practice time has been limited due to a sore knee. He injured his right knee in the preseason, but has played in every game this season. He is expected to play on Saturday.

Pepperdine is 5-3, and will bring a little bit of momentum with them to Hawai’i, as they are coming off a 62-40 rout of UC Riverside on Wednesday.

Here is a highlight video of that game, courtesy www.pepperdinesports.com.

3 Comments

  1. I watched Pepperdine a couple times this year, and they’re an undersized but gritty team. Pepperdine’s point guard, in particular, has good handles and is strong and stocky. Although undersized in their starting unit, their guards and forwards will attack the offensive glass hard. They’ll start with a three guard, two power forward lineup.

    Pepperdine primarily ran a 2-3 zone on defense against Riverside (at least the parts of the game that I saw) and a lot of slash and dump/kick action on offense. They’ll also run the opposition through screens and hand-offs around the perimeter.

    Note: Pepperdine’s play-by-play guy said that the Waves will surprise people in the WCC this year. He also mentioned Hawaii three times in the telecast last night and briefly stated that Coach Gib had formerly coached there.

  2. Christian , Jace and the MBB team: Just keep working , get better each game, each practice, each class(especially grades!), Stay together, work as a team…

    The wins will come: Christian and Jace, hit it on the head, work on areas that need improvement, personnel, I would not be surprised if we see different ones playing more minutes at 1,2, 3,4 and 5..

    Go Rainbow Warriors..Your attitude, is really great..stay unified..

    Fans want to see you guys do well, go for it!!

    Mahalo Dayton for great up to the minute, real time coverage!! Thank you from the Global Warrior MBB fan community!!

  3. Well, one thing for sure Pepperdine is not a run and shoot team. They don’t look like a tall team either. But, UH needs to bring their A game this weekend. You never when a team is gonna get hot.
    GO WARRIORS!!!

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