Posted on: Saturday, December 4, 2004

'Bows hope to be road ready

Advertiser Staff

The University of Hawai'i men's basketball team will have to do a lot of adjusting today.

For starters, the Rainbow Warriors will have to adjust to a different environment for the first time this season. The 'Bows will play at Saint Louis in the Savvis Center today.

To properly prepare for the game, UH head coach Riley Wallace had the team depart Tuesday night. The 'Bows have been in St. Louis since Wednesday afternoon.

"It's not just so we can go sightseeing and be tourists," Wallace said. "I wanted to come up early so we can get used to the time change and the different schedule and all that."

Today's game is scheduled to start at 1:10 p.m., which is 9:10 a.m. here.

Because of that early start, the 'Bows have been practicing from noon to around 2 p.m. each of the last two days.

"We're waking up earlier than we usually do and practicing earlier than we usually do because that's what we'll have to do on game day," Wallace said. "We probably had our worst practice of the year (on Thursday), so it was good that we had an extra day because we looked much better (yesterday)."

The 'Bows are off to a 3-0 start this season, but they will have to adjust to a slow-paced Saint Louis team that is 1-3 and averaging just 56 points per game.

"It's a combination of two things," Wallace said. "They're very patient on offense and then they play solid defense."

As usual, Hawai'i will have a distinct size advantage. The 'Bows will start 6-foot-5 Matt Gibson and 6-6 Bobby Nash at guards, 6-8 Jeff Blackett and 6-9 Julian Sensley at forwards, and 7-foot Chris Botez at center.

The Billikens will counter with 5-9 Dwayne Polk and 6-2 Reggie Bryant at guards, 6-6 Vas'Shun Newborne and 6-9 Izik Ohanon at forwards, and 6-8 Tom Frericks at center.

"It doesn't matter," Sensley said. "Whether you're guarding a small guy or a big guy, you still have to stop them. That's the bottom line."

Wallace is particularly concerned about Polk, a true freshman point guard.

"His quickness could cause us a lot of problems," Wallace said.

Gibson will probably start out defending Polk, but Wallace said 5-10 Kris Groce and 6-3 Deonte Tatum will likely have to play relief roles.

Saint Louis annually ranks among the national leaders in team defense. This year, the Billikens are allowing 55.8 points per game.

"The one thing we have been doing well is playing defense," Saint Louis head coach Brad Soderberg said.

The Billikens are noted for a "clog-the-middle" scheme that relies on double-teams in the low-post.

"They don't give up any easy shots," Wallace said. "If you somehow get the ball down low, you have to either kick it back out to somebody who's open or put up a shot right away."

It will be the second consecutive "defensive" game for the 'Bows. On Monday, Hawai'i defeated Southern Illinois, 66-64.

"I think as a team we prefer to play an up-and-down game," Sensley said. "But if we have to adjust to a team that wants to slow it down, that's fine, too. We showed we can do that against Southern Illinois."