By Ferd Lewis
Advertiser Columnist

For two years, Haim Shimonovich's nickname on the University of Hawai'i basketball team has been "Big Daddy" for reasons more pegged to his towering 6-foot, 10-inch frame than anything else.

But this is the season the Rainbow Warriors have come to call their junior Israeli center "big" for another reason.

This year, in a season in which they have chosen "gadol," a word from his native Hebrew language meaning "big" to underline the point, they are counting on Shimonovich to indeed be a big force on their team.

Sort of like last night for instance.

In the season opener, Shimonovich delivered a powerful statement with a career-high 18 points, eight rebounds and three assists in but 25 minutes of play to start the Rainbow Warriors on their way to an 81-65 victory over Arkansas-Little Rock in the opener of the Hawaiian Airlines Tip-Off Tournament.

On a night when Carl English started slowly (five first-half points) and Phil Martin was back on the bench before he knew it with two personals in the first 2 minutes, 3 seconds, Shimonovich stood, well, tall, in the Stan Sheriff Center.

Fifteen of his points came in the first 17 minutes, a juncture at which he also led the Rainbows in assists with three.

So unstoppable was he in the middle that the Trojans sent him to the free-throw line 11 times in the first half and 13 times for the night.

After losing 47 percent of their scoring from last year with the departures of Predrag Savovic, Mike McIntyre and Mindaugas Burneika, the Rainbows knew they would have to look elsewhere for their scoring. They have chosen to look inside for a significant piece of it.

And for the first time in his stay at UH, Shimonovich, who averaged 7.1 points a game last season, looks to be comfortable with the expanded role.

Indeed, last night it was a less mechanical, much more confident, more natural Shimonovich who answered the call and hoisted the Rainbows on his shoulders.

"Before, I was anxious about what was going to happen," Shimonovich said. "This year I don't think about failure; I just go out and do what I have to. I want to contribute more. I want to have the ball and take shots."

Said English: "The way he has worked and improved himself, we know when we get the ball into him he's going to do something with it."

UH coach Riley Wallace said, "We know we can't afford to expect to get our points from one or two guys this year. They'll have to come by committee and Haim will have to be a big part of it."

For openers, there was no doubt that he will be.