A team of referees officiated practice for the University of Hawaii men's basketball team yesterday at the Stan Sheriff Center.

The Rainbow Warriors probably could have used a team of doctors instead.

Hawaii head coach Bob Nash wanted to conduct an intrasquad scrimmage, but a shortage of healthy players scrapped that idea.

"I felt like we didn't have quite enough bodies to go a full 5-on-5," Nash said. "But I still wanted to have the referees here to clean up some of the fouls and give our guys at least a taste of what it's like."

The 'Bows went through several half-court drills with the referees calling fouls and other violations.

"It was a normal practice, just that the guys had to be on their toes a little more with the referees calling things," Nash said.

The 'Bows have 16 players (including redshirts) on their roster this season. At various times during yesterday's practice, eight players were on the sidelines due to injury.

"It's hard to make it through practice with just a few guys," senior forward Roderick Flemings said. "You just have to make it work how ever you can."

Flemings, the top returning player from last season, was actually one of the wounded. He is still recovering from an abdominal injury, and was only able to practice in selected drills.

"Doctor told me to sit out until Monday, but I just got in there and wanted to see how it was going," he said. "It felt a lot better."

Flemings is not the only key player with an injury right now.

Dwain Williams — the leading contender to start at shooting guard —jammed a finger on his left (non-shooting) hand during yesterday's practice.

"That's part of the game," Williams said. "Every team out there knows there's injuries. You just fight through it and toughen up and get back out there."

Others on the sidelines yesterday at various times were Douglas Kurtz, Jeremy Lay, Adhar Mayen, Leroy Lutu Jr. and Ji Xiang.

Kurtz, the team's new 7-footer, has not completed a full practice yet this season due to a knee injury. However, he has been able to jog, and could return to a full practice this week.

Also, Zane Johnson — a transfer from Arizona who is redshirting this season — is recovering from knee surgery. His appears to be the only long-term injury (he is not expected to practice for at least three months).

"This time of year, it's not unusual to have these kinds of bumps and bruises," Nash said. "It means guys are competing hard. The good thing is we expect to get a lot of these guys back in there soon."

The "first unit" of Hiram Thompson and Williams at guards, Flemings and Bill Amis at forwards, and Petras Balocka at center was able to work together for a brief period yesterday.

"Once we get everybody in there healthy, we'll be fine," Williams said. "You can see the potential is there, it's just a little harder when guys are going in and out with all these injuries."

Nash noted that the injury bug is slowing the overall development of the team.

"We still have guys not where they're supposed to be, but a lot of that is because we're shifting guys around to different positions to make up for the guys who are out," he said.

For example, Thompson (a point guard) and Amis (a power forward) have had to fill in at small forward for projected starter Flemings and back-up Mayen.

"Today it was pretty slim," Amis said. "But that's how it is everywhere. Lot of guys have injuries at the beginning of the year. Hopefully it won't carry over and we get everybody healthy once the season starts."

The exhibition season starts on Friday, when the 'Bows host Hawaii-Hilo in the Sheriff Center. Hawaii will also host Brigham Young-Hawaii in an exhibition game on Nov. 5.

"With all the bumps and bruises we have, it's hard to find that cohesiveness," Nash said. "But the guys who are in there are working hard. At this point, we're just trying to keep guys healthy and learn as best as we can."