Former coach Arnold scouts team of current coach Arnold

One Arnold watched placidly, patiently. The other paced furiously and ripped into his players about a sequence of lackluster defense.

While the fiery mood of first-year Hawaii basketball coach Gib Arnold was plain to see, it was difficult to get a read on his father, Frank Arnold, who sat expressionless a few feet away.

Frank Arnold coached the Rainbow Warriors for two seasons, from 1985 to '87. The three-time Western Athletic Conference champion coach at BYU struggled in his UH tenure, going 11-45. But he's back in Honolulu for the first time in a decade to spend time with his son and five grandchildren, and observed the Rainbows' practices the last two days.

Point guard Hiram Thompson, who first met the former UH coach on the team's road trip to Boise State last season, was impressed with his knowledge of the game.

Thompson couldn't envision Frank Arnold figuratively foaming at the mouth like his son during practices.

"I don't know how he was, but it seems like they're a little different in that way," Thompson with a grin.

Senior forward Bill Amis sensed something else with the team's special guest.

"He seems pretty old-school. I'm sure back in the day, he seems like he'd probably be pretty intense, too, like his son," Amis said.

A split decision doesn't cut it. Time to go to the source.

"I think he's more intense than I was, at times," said Frank Arnold, who lives just outside Boise, Idaho. "I think he shows great passion, and the kids are picking up on that. I think that's a great thing."

Though he struggled at UH, Arnold is a respected basketball mind who assisted legendary UCLA coach John Wooden during three NCAA championship runs. He conceded that he "wasn't the right fit" in Manoa, but thinks his energetic son is.

Gib Arnold asked his father to scout the Rainbows as if he were preparing to play them.

"I love their passion, I love their effort. They play with great intensity, I think," Frank Arnold said. "When the defense is soft, they got some great shooters. But I think the defense is ahead of the offense right now. Makes it hard on the offense. They're going to be a nice ballclub. ... They have potential."

The 20-year Riley Wallace era at UH began when Arnold resigned after his second year. Longtime assistant Bob Nash succeeded Wallace, but was fired after three seasons.