The main point is winning

One of Newton’s laws of motion states that for every action, there is an equal and opposite reaction.

As positive as senior Miah Ostrowski’s re-emergence as a starting point guard was for the Hawaii men’s basketball team in a 74-61 win over UC Davis on Sunday, there was the inevitable negative: freshman Shaquille Stokes found himself on the bench for much of the game.

But the man dubbed 2011 New York City Player of the Year by some publications was unbowed after coming off the bench for the first time in seven games for the 3-4 Rainbow Warriors.

A few days later, his reaction was quiet and measured, but to his credit, positive.

"I’m fine," Stokes said. "The team played great. I was there to cheer my team on. I don’t have no negative feelings. Team effort, team win, a good team win. Miah came in and contributed. We played a good team game. That was it."

UH coach Gib Arnold doesn’t usually state who his starters are in advance. Whether Ostrowski gets the nod Friday against Hawaii-Hilo in Kona is unknown, but the senior’s performance against the Aggies would seem to justify it.

Ostrowski, in his first hoops game of the season coming off of UH football, made the most of his surprise start and 24 minutes, dishing eight assists against three turnovers. Stokes played 13 minutes off the bench, going 0-for-2 with two assists. Sophomore Bobby Miles actually played the most of the three, notching nine points and three assists with 27 minutes logged, including the final stretch.

Stokes saw heavy playing time in exhibitions on the team’s trip to China in August — where he excelled as a scorer — and the first six games, making Sunday’s limited role quite the departure.

While showing flashes of pure scoring ability, Stokes has had struggles adapting to the Division I game coming out of storied Lincoln High School in Brooklyn.

He’s shooting 30 percent for the season, with 25 assists against 19 turnovers. But that includes a 10-assist, one-turnover game against Pacific.

"I’ve said it from the day he arrived, that Shaq is going to be an outstanding player," Arnold said. "I don’t expect him to put this team on his shoulders this year. He is a freshman, he’s going to grow as a freshman. We’re going to live with him. He’s the point guard of the future. And he’s going to continue to grow and get better and better."

Arnold noted that each of the three guards brings something different: Stokes an offensive mind-set, Ostrowski a pass-first mentality and Miles the best on-ball defense. To that end, all possible combinations of two-point backcourts played at some time during the UC Davis game, a trend that will probably continue.

Most of the ‘Bows depart for Hawaii island today. A handful more will arrive in the hours before Friday’s 6 p.m. tipoff because of final exams.

Stokes is still the team’s second-leading scorer at 10.1 points a game, and second in 3-pointers with 11, behind senior Zane Johnson. Johnson observed the freshman’s energy was high in practices coming off the Davis game.

"He’s young, he’s so young," Johnson said. "I didn’t play at all my freshman year (at Arizona). I’ve told him that before; it’s a learning experience. You look at, three-fourths of the freshmen in the country don’t even play.

"Don’t hang your head about anything. You’ve got three years left after this one. I think that he just needs to watch Miah and just pick up little things from everyone. Add more things to his game so he can become a great player."

Stokes seems to realize that his biggest growth will come as a playmaker, based on feedback from his coaches and teammates.

"I gotta keep playing my role (as a distributor)," he said. "I’ll get that over time. I’m not down or nothing right now. I’m from New York. I just want to win."