Another prominent member of the Hawaii men’s basketball team’s frontcourt will miss extended time this preseason.
With junior forward Christian Standhardinger expected to miss an estimated two weeks with a staph infection on his right elbow, others — like freshman Ozren Pavlovic — are being asked to fill the void.
Standhardinger, with his right arm wrapped, joined senior center Vander Joaquim on the practice sidelines on Monday. Joaquim is estimated out another two weeks while he rehabs his torn right MCL. Both are doubtful for the Nov. 2 exhibition vs. Hawaii Pacific and questionable for the Nov. 9 regular-season opener vs. Maryland-Eastern Shore.
"I just saw something on my elbow, and it was little, and then it got infected and (swelled) up really big," said Standhardinger, a Nebraska transfer. "Today I went to the hospital and they examined it. Then they cut it off … it hurts like hell, but I’m trying to be back a little earlier than two weeks. We’ll see how it works."
UH coach Gib Arnold devoted Monday’s practice — the first fully open to media this season — to implementation of a hybrid 2-3 zone defense (it looked at times like a 2-2-1) and an anti-zone offense. The Rainbow Warriors had previously operated exclusively in man-to-man.
Arnold said he expects teams to play heavy doses of zone against UH’s bigger lineups this season.
The 6-foot-8 Pavlovic, of Croatia, saw the bulk of Monday’s time at power forward, where Standhardinger, of Germany, projects to start. Now the competitive German will have to pay attention from the sidelines while new schemes are put in.
"That’s too bad, because those guys are going to play a lot for us and a lot together," Arnold said. "And not having them gives other guys opportunities to step up. But we sure would like to be at full strength. Especially at this time of the year when you’re teaching and putting in all the stuff."
The rest of Monday’s first group was senior Jace Tavita at point guard, senior Hauns Brereton on the wing, freshman Isaac Fotu at forward and either junior center Davis Rozitis or junior guard Brandon Spearman, depending on whether the lineup was big or small.
Practice was capped off with a fullcourt 5-on-5 session. While strong play from Fotu is becoming routine this preseason, Pavlovic, too, played beyond his level of college experience (none) — at least on offense. He showed versatility from both the 3-point line and slashing to the basket.
That didn’t stop Arnold from getting after the freshman about his rotations on D.
"Mostly defense," Pavlovic said with a smile, then a pause. "Always defense.
"Coach is yelling at me a lot, but … he definitely wants to make me better," he said. "I need to accept that and learn from his words."
When UH gets healthy, Joaquim, Standhardinger and either Fotu or Rozitis could all see the court at once. That makes learning the zone doubly important, since Arnold said he intends to keep Joaquim around the basket on defense.
"Two of those guys who would play those zones are out," Arnold said. "Now they can watch, and you can learn from the sidelines, but it’s never quite the same.
"But we gotta move on. Those are the cards we’ve been dealt and we’ll move on and they’ll pick it up. We’ll probably be a little behind when they get in. But we’re OK. Other guys will be that much better."
