UH men’s basketball newcomers will have a big role

This season’s University of Hawaii basketball team will feature a new paint job.

For the first time in a long time, the Rainbow Warriors will use an old-school, back-to-the-basket center in the paint. Mate Colina and Dawson Carper — each 7 feet — will provide an option that has diminished in the 3-point era. Another 7-foot newcomer, Owen Hulland, is proving to be more of a stretch player.

“It definitely makes us more dynamic,” guard Drew Buggs said. “We already have a lot of guards who can turn in. But now that we have back-to-the-basket centers, it’s nice. We’re allowed to play inside-out, and play off them more than in the past.”

Colina, who joined the ’Bows in January and redshirted during the spring semester, appears to have a head start in the four-out offense. Colina honed his skills playing for Australia’s Centre of Excellence program in Canberra. Through the training center, Colina was able to connect with Andrew Bogut, a fellow Australian who was the No. 1 overall pick in the 2005 NBA Draft. Bogut now plays professionally in Australia for the Sydney Kings.

Colina said Bogut has offered tips on positioning, adjusting to the NCAA’s stricter contact limitations, and the technique of the hook shot.

“I’ve been practicing that,” Colina said of the hook, also a disappearing art.

“The bottom line,” coach Eran Ganot said, “is you want to have a presence inside and make sure we don’t give up easy baskets around the paint. If those guys continue to improve, we could be potentially a presence around the paint.”

But what makes Colina unique from past generations’ centers is his coast-to-coast speed and ball-screen versatility. In offseason testing, Colina ran a mile in 5 minutes, 9 seconds.

“He can really run the floor,” Ganot said.

Colina credits genetics. He said his grandfather was an elite runner in Croatia.

“He sort of helped me,” said Colina, who also built endurance playing forward in youth leagues. “There was a lot of running.”

But for all the super-sizing in the low post, Colina and Carper are valued when they slide to the edges.

“With ball screens being so dominant right now, you need to have some bigs to set good screens and roll — and roll hard,” Ganot said, noting Colina “creates action for us when he’s involved in them.”

Point guard Brocke Stepteau said when Colina and Carper “set screens, the other team feels it. It makes it easier for the guard to get downhill.”

And when the center gains position in the low post, Stepteau said, “it makes the defense have to double down. And it makes your outside shots easier.”

With Colina or Carper, according to Ganot, “we can throw it in to him on the block. We can seal with him. He finds ways to set ball screens and roll. That always creates action. If you have shooting, and point guards who can make plays, and a post who can roll, now you have possibilities.”

The ’Bows will make their Honolulu debut Friday with the Green-White Scrimmage in the Stan Sheriff Center. Doors open at 5 p.m. Tipoff is at 6 p.m. There is no admission fee.