Team chemistry is already considered a strong suit with this season’s edition of the Hawaii men’s basketball team. After this weekend, UH coach Gib Arnold hopes the Rainbow Warriors’ bond will be unbreakable.
The Rainbow Warriors will take a team bonding retreat to Molokai from Friday until Sunday, during which their activities will include camping by a bonfire, going fishing and getting in two practices at Molokai High School’s gym.
"We just really want to build a sense of team chemistry and the idea that everything we do, we do for each other," Arnold said.
Last season’s bonding activity was a simulated boot camp at Kaneohe Marine Corps Base Hawaii a few weeks before the season’s start.
"We’ve done different things in the past. It’s a situation that’s a taste of Hawaii," Arnold said. "I think we’re the only team in America that can do something like this. We’re going to create our own advantages and take advantage of where we live."
The third-year coach said the trip has been cleared with the Big West and NCAA, and that a booster stepped up to pay for the trip expenses. A hotel will not be necessary; they’ll sleep at the Farmers’ gym "The Barn" on Friday night, practice there again Saturday morning, then venture out camping with local guides through that night.
It promises to be a new experience for just about the whole team, a mishmash of international and mainland players. The one local boy on the roster, Kamehameha graduate Dyrbe Enos, has never been to the Friendly Isle.
Arnold said the players will turn in their cell phones so they can focus on each other and share family stories. Whatever the team catches during its fishing session, it will eat.
"I’m looking forward to grabbing some crabs and boiling them," said junior guard Brandon Spearman. "Just pretty much living that ‘Cast Away’ life."
Spearman, of Chicago, has never gone camping before.
"It’s going to be interesting, coming from a city," he said. "It’s going to be different."
Getting a feel for "The Barn" could also be an advantage. UH will play Chaminade there on Dec. 15.
"It will be a really good bonding experience, even though we all have really good chemistry," freshman forward Isaac Fotu said. "This will be really good for us."
On Sunday, the team will return and prepare for its Nov. 2 exhibition vs. Hawaii Pacific.
