Tall Order

LAST of three parts

Size is all relative for the Hawaii men’s basketball team.

Relatively scarce.

In practices over the past two weeks, the Rainbow Warriors will sometimes break up by position. Guards and wings on one side of the Stan Sheriff Center, big men on the other halfcourt.

The balance of power tips heavily away from the power forwards and centers, who number four — on a good, injury free day — out of 14 on the roster. Some of those playing "big" are just masquerading as such.

The departures of star forward Isaac Fotu and freshman banger Sammis Reyes amid preseason program turmoil meant a front line of already questionable depth got even thinner.

UH must replace the efforts of all-conference players Fotu and Christian Standhardinger — a combined 33 points and 14.5 rebounds per game — as well as experienced 7-footer Davis Rozitis.

It must be done with players whose roles were minimal or nonexistent last season. Sophomores Mike Thomas and Stefan Jovanovic open the season as the starting power forward and center, respectively, while 6-foot-5 small forward Aaron Valdes will often have to play up a position — or two — while the team waits for 6-foot-11 forward Stefan Jankovic to become eligible in mid-December.

That’s the new reality for the ‘Bows under acting head coach Benjy Taylor heading into Friday’s 2014-15 season opener against Arkansas-Pine Bluff in the Outrigger Resorts Rainbow Classic.

But Taylor doesn’t want his new bigs to try to be Fotu and Standhardinger.

"I’m looking for them to be themselves," Taylor said. "We’re a talented group, we’re a fun group, we’re going to hit the floor, we’re going to get 50-50 balls. Those bigs are going to wrestle and rebound and be a presence on the defensive end."

Taylor favors a starting lineup with a traditional center (the 6-11 Jovanovic being the only one on the roster) and UH will probably go that route on most nights. But that formation will likely shift a matter of minutes into the game, either due to regular rest substitutions for Jovanovic or foul concerns.

"We’ll play five guards sometimes," Taylor said. "We’re gonna get after you, and they’ll have trouble guarding us, whether it be zone or man. … We have to do that until Stefan Jankovic becomes eligible."

Jankovic, a role player at Mizzou who enrolled at Manoa in January, is pegged to miss the first 10 games of the season while he completes his second redshirt semester. Once available, Jankovic, a stretch 4 with guard skills and deep shooting range, should be useful pulling opposing bigs away from the paint.

In the meantime, Thomas, Valdes and Jovanovic will have plenty of minutes and opportunities to prove themselves.

The 6-7 Thomas was lightly used as a true freshman out of El Camino Real High in California, in no small part because he was tentative in his appearances on the court last season. But his physicality and demeanor changed over the offseason. He bulked up from 205 to 220 through weight training, helping him rebound and finish well around the basket. He had 15 points on 7-for-10 shooting to go with eight rebounds in UH’s 62-55 exhibition win over Hawaii Pacific University last week.

"I think everyone saw glimpses the other night," Taylor said. "He’s a confident kid, he’ll do whatever he needs for us to be successful. Mike’s best basketball is ahead of him. He’s just getting started, just tapping into his potential."

Thomas saw the sudden departure of the ineligible Fotu as an opportunity, but he’d already been preparing for an expanded role.

"I went after it this summer, I think," Thomas said. "Never being content, I think. There’s always somebody outworking you, all around the clock anywhere in the world right now. So you gotta keep going."

UH’s bigs might not be as aggressive seeking out blocked shots early this season because of the risk of foul trouble, and what that trouble means to UH’s rotation. But should Thomas and Jovanovic have to take a seat, the next man up is Valdes.

Valdes, a third-year junior, is a two-time team slam dunk champion who can out-leap just about anyone, and he’ll have to against the much larger foes he’ll be covering. Valdes won ex-coach Gib Arnold’s preseason "King of the Beach" competition a month prior to Arnold’s firing on Oct. 28. Taylor called him the "MVP of the preseason" after he put up a double-double against HPU.

"I certainly think he can average a double-double this year, I really do," Taylor said. "In terms of him being a back-to-the-basket big in the low post, I don’t necessarily foresee that. But he can be an effective low-post scorer on putbacks … I think he’ll be pretty good 15 feet and in."

Thomas and Valdes can both hit 3-pointers, but it is not a top preference in their skill-sets.

Jovanovic will mostly be depended on defensively, though his teammates and coaches constantly exhort him to show more aggressiveness on offense during practices. The Serbian can hit mid-range jumpers and is accurate on hook shots from close range.

Taylor is looking for Jovanovic to grab about eight rebounds, block a few shots and shoot in the neighborhood of 3-for-5 on any given night.

"Stefan can score the basketball. He just hasn’t learned to be a little smarter and a little more efficient," Taylor said. "We’ll be able to keep him fresh. I have to do a better job of that. Shoot, I love Stefan. He’s gonna be a good player for us this year. I’m excited for him."