Full health has been an abstract concept all preseason for the Hawaii basketball team, but the Rainbow Warriors might finally be on the verge of grasping it.
Two key players who missed Thursday’s exhibition vs. Hawaii Pacific University — swingman Negus Webster-Chan and point guard Quincy Smith— should be available for Friday’s 2014-15 regular-season opener vs. Arkansas-Pine Bluff in the Outrigger Resorts Rainbow Classic.
Essentially only seven ‘Bows played in the 62-55 tune-up win over HPU. Webster-Chan (bruised rib) and Smith (bruised back) were held out as a precaution, acting head coach Benjy Taylor said.
Both players practiced on Saturday, albeit in a series of drills without much contact. The next team session on Monday is expected to be some light shooting.
"I think we will be (ready)," Taylor said of his team’s health for the opener. "That’s why I have to be smart this week. You know, I gotta be really, really smart how I plan practices, how we go about it. We’re not going to win Friday’s game in practice. We gotta get to Friday’s game.
"That’s my charge as a coach, is make sure we’re healthy, mentally and physically," he added.
UH will need the extra bodies. Starting with the opener vs. UAPB, the Rainbow Warriors must endure an incredibly compact first leg of the nonconference schedule — eight games in a 13-day span.
That starts with the four-team, round-robin-style Rainbow Classic requiring teams to play three games in four days.
Webster-Chan’s UH debut has been long awaited, and public expectation on him might have reached another level with the departure of all-conference forward Isaac Fotu last weekend. The all-around scorer from Scarborough, Ontario, Canada, redshirted last season at UH as a transfer from Missouri and is in the running for the starting small forward job, though Taylor wouldn’t say if he would start over Aaron Valdes this weekend.
Sore ribs have dogged Webster-Chan for the past few weeks (he took a hard elbow to his ribcage, then some repeated contact), but he felt confident he’d be close to 100 percent by next weekend.
"I’m really excited to get out there with the team since I didn’t in the exhibition game," said the sophomore. "The offense will be a lot better than the exhibition game (38.9 percent shooting, 18 turnovers). Our defense will be better than the exhibition game ’cause we got guys like me and Quincy coming back. So I’m really just looking forward to it."
Smith was competing for the starting point guard job when he landed hard on his back going for a layup during a scrimmage about three weeks ago. It flared up, an issue that hampered him much of last season, and he only tentatively retook the court around the time of former coach Gib Arnold’s firing on Oct. 28. Junior college transfer Roderick Bobbitt seized the starting job while he was out.
But the junior and team captain from the Bay Area had a sunny outlook about it.
"I think the two weeks that I was hurt, it was a good thing for me," Smith said. "I got to see the guys, you know, from a different perspective. I got to watch tendencies and what guys do well. And I just think I got a better feel for the team, so when I come back and run point, I know where the guys like the ball. I know where guys like to shoot. I just think I’ll be more comfortable in there with the guys. I think we’ll be ready for (Friday), definitely."
Junior guard Brandon Jawato is in post-concussion recovery and took the court Saturday for the first time in a few weeks, but he isn’t expected to play in the opener. Sophomore forward Stefan Jankovic will miss the first 10 games of the season while he redshirts the fall semester.
