Smith, Valdes start earning their stripes

By making the most of their playing time at the Green & White Scrimmage on Saturday, two Rainbow Warriors might have earned further summons to the court.

Sophomore point guard Quincy Smith and redshirt freshman wing Aaron Valdes acquitted themselves well in two separate 20-minute halves of intrasquad play. As something of a bonus, Valdes won the halftime dunk contest as a jury of his peers on the bench — and about 1,000 fans in the Stan Sheriff Center stands — cheered him on.

Smith logged 15 points and three assists against two turnovers in 29 combined minutes, while Valdes had eight rebounds in 23 minutes of total action, and shot 4-for-6 for nine points in the second period.

They were welcomed complementary efforts from two players new to fans. Returning forwards Christian Standhardinger and Isaac Fotu did the most damage in the scoring column.

"I thought Aaron Valdes was really good," UH coach Gib Arnold said. "I thought he rebounded well and played hard. He was the one guy that I would say stood out and did a nice job.

"Quincy, actually, is another guy who had a real good game," Arnold added. "Real good floor game. Was pleased with those two new guys."

Smith, a sophomore transfer from City College of San Francisco, has played behind projected starter Keith Shamburger. But Smith more than held his own this time in going head-to-head against the San Jose State transfer, who struggled with turnovers in the first half. Shamburger bounced back with six assists and no turnovers in the second half, though most of the team’s best guards were stacked on one team for that period, including Smith.

Smith, a Bay Area native, was appreciative of the fan turnout.

"For it to not really be advertised, it was good, a lot of people here," Smith said. "They really welcomed us and stayed after, met a lot of new people. They seemed really excited to meet us. During the game, I heard a lot of cheering."

Smith has occasionally gotten an earful from the UH coaches in practices as he’s transitioned from JUCO-style ball to Division I. On Saturday, he put those lessons to good use, including when he caught the other team’s defense napping on a fullcourt pass for a layup. He was on the winning team in both halves.

"I think I did pretty good, Smith said. "I worked on a lot of things, ballhandling-wise and trying to run the team. Tried to execute a lot of sets and things, whether it be the press, zone, man."

Valdes, a late qualifier out of La Jolla Prep (Calif.) last season who ended up redshirting, recovered from a scoreless first 20 minutes to shine in the "USA vs. The World" second half.

"It felt good. I think the first game I was still a little timid out there," Valdes said. "But once the second game came, I got more comfortable, and I think playing with Keith and some of the other guys is a lot easier, too. It was good fun, it was good for us."

Midway through Tuesday’s practice, Arnold told Valdes to swap his black jersey inside out and wear the green of a rotation player.

In the scrimmage, the 6-foot-5 Valdes elevated high for a few of his boards and was aggressive on the offensive glass.

"That’s what I base my game around a lot, just rebounding," the Whittier, Calif., native said. "I know it’s going to help the team in the long run. I know we’re playing a lot of teams with good rebounders, (UC) Irvine and New Mexico (State). We’ll have to really rebound against them."

The Big West Conference will announce its preseason rankings for its nine teams as well as a preseason all-conference team Thursday.

UH plays an exhibition against Brigham Young-Hawaii on Halloween. Its regular-season opener is Nov. 8 vs. Tennessee State.