Savovic will start for 'Bows Friday
By Dayton Morinaga
Advertiser Staff Writer
The leading scorer on the University of Hawai'i men's basketball team is changing positions.
And that's a good thing.
Carl English will move from shooting guard to small forward this week to make room in the starting lineup for senior Predrag Savovic.
"The way our offense works, every position is capable of scoring," UH head coach Riley Wallace said. "With both Carl and Savo on the floor, our whole offense should be better."
Savovic will make his season debut Friday when the 'Bows play host to San Diego State. He sat out the first seven games of this season as an NCAA-issued penalty for his past participation with professionals in Yugoslavia.
Savovic, a 6-foot-6 senior, led Hawai'i in scoring last season with 17.6 points per game, and was a first-team All-Western Athletic Conference selection.
With Savovic out, English led the team in scoring in six of the seven games this season. He currently ranks second among WAC players with 17.7 points per game.
"It doesn't matter to me as long as I'm on the floor," said English, a 6-5 sophomore. "(Savovic) will be the go-to guy more so than me, but that should take a lot of pressure off me. I think I might get a lot more open shots with him out there."
The 'Bows have averaged just 60.2 points per game in their last four games, but Wallace believes that will increase with Savovic in the lineup.
"We've gone into some bad stretches already this year," Wallace said. "But that's not going to happen with Savo out there."
As English put it: "We both like to run, so with both of us out there, we should get more fast-break points."
The other three starting positions will remain the same — Mark Campbell at point guard, Phil Martin at power forward and Haim Shimonovich at center.
The odd man out is senior forward Mindaugas Burneika, although he will be one of three players who will get significant minutes off the bench. The other two are guard Mike McIntyre, who returned to practice yesterday after sitting out UH's last game with a bruised thigh, and forward Luc-Arthur Vebobe.
"That gives us a good rotation of eight guys," Wallace said. "The one guy who's going to be important is Mark (Campbell) because he has to make good decisions as far as distributing the ball."
The timing of Savovic's return couldn't be better, as San Diego State should provide Hawai'i's toughest test so far this season. The Aztecs are 5-3, including a 15-point victory over Fresno State last week.
At 6-1, the 'Bows have the best early-season record among WAC teams. However, Hawai'i is ranked No. 156 in the latest Ratings Percentage Index (RPI).
"We have to beat some teams that count," Wallace said. "That's why this game is important. Even if we were undefeated, there would be some questions about us because of our schedule."
As a conference, the WAC is ranked No. 17 in the RPI, behind even the Ivy League. Fresno State is the WAC's top-rated team at No. 64.
