UH goes back to basics at practice
By Dayton Morinaga
Advertiser Staff Writer
The University of Hawai'i men's basketball team went back to being basketball players yesterday, and it didn't take long to figure out that the fun and games of Midnight Ohana were long gone.
"I'm going to be hard on every guy until we become a team," Hawai'i head coach Riley Wallace said. "There's so many new faces, so many new things to learn. We're not even close yet."
After being introduced in superhero costumes shortly after midnight on Saturday, the Rainbow Warriors went through grueling practices Saturday afternoon and yesterday. Most of the work — for now — is dealing with fundamentals.
"It's the same thing we do every year, but we have more to learn this year because we have so many new guys," Wallace said. "It'll be a week or two before we can even start doing other things. We need to get all the rules in place now for both our offense and defense."
Complicating matters, the 'Bows do not have a returning point guard to run the flex-motion offense.
Junior college recruits Kris Groce and Deonte Tatum are the leading candidates to battle for the starting point guard role.
Tatum is a 6-foot-3, 165-pound junior from Indian Hills Community College (Iowa); Groce is a 5-10, 140-pound sophomore from Columbia Basin College (Wash.).
"I wouldn't say it's overwhelming," Groce said. "But it is going to take a while.
"Being a point guard, you have to get to know the tendencies of every player and you have to get to know the offense like the back of your hand. That's why it's important to take all this stuff in and learn it now."
Tatum and Groce struggled at times during yesterday's practice.
"It'll come," Tatum said. "It's important to stay focused and stay patient with yourself. I know the coaches are going to yell at me a lot right now."
Tatum may have the early edge because Groce missed several weeks of conditioning. He was diagnosed with an irregular heartbeat in August, and was not cleared to participate in any physical activity until a few weeks ago.
"Everything's fine," Groce said. "I'm having fun now."
Three other scholarship recruits practiced for the first time as Hawai'i players this weekend — 6-5 guard Matt Gibson, 6-9 forward Matt Gipson, and 7-foot center Chris Botez.
Six players are back from last season, although 6-9 forward Julian Sensley is the only returning starter.
"It's hard to get 11 or 12 guys together on the same page when some know what to do and some don't," Wallace said. "That's why these early practices are so important."
Wallace conducting private practices
Wallace said all his practices will be closed to the public this season. Not even family members of the players are being admitted to watch.
"We have a lot of work to do and we don't need the distractions," Wallace said.
Five players trying to join as walk-ons
In addition to the five new scholarship recruits, there are five new walk-ons: 6-3 Seth Caine, 6-0 Kenny Kelly, 5-11 Brandon Matano, 6-3 Nicholas Milan and 6-6 Ryan Schmidt.
Milan is a Kaimuki High graduate; Matano attended University High before moving to New Jersey.
Wallace said he is not sure how many of the walk-ons he will keep on the final roster.
Garland Gantt, the only walk-on to make the team last season, is no longer enrolled at UH.
Reach Dayton Morinaga at dmorinaga@honoluluadvertiser.com or 535-8101.
