Rainbows playing loose as Taylor keeps it simple

Things have been pretty busy with the completion of football season and the University of Hawaii basketball team was out of town for a while. So I got my first live look at Benjy Ball on Tuesday.

The Rainbow Warriors are playing focused and loose, and that’s why they’re 7-2 and that’s how they dispatched Delaware State 75-60 in a game they controlled from the start.

If they’re worried about the NCAA investigation and what might come in the way of sanctions, they’re certainly not showing it.

Coach Benjy Taylor deserves a lot of credit for that.

“It’s my job to keep this group focused,” Taylor said. “We can’t control (the NCAA); no news is good news. We’re going to play before the (findings) letter comes out, and after the letter comes out we’re going to play.”

UH is expected to learn its fate sometime this month. But the team is taking it day-by-day.

“We’re locked in,” Taylor said. “It might be a media circus for a while. But we’ve got a tough-minded group. What we’re going to do is get better every game. Whatever’s in that letter won’t stop us from being prepared for BYU, Chaminade or the Diamond Head Classic.”

The Rainbow Warriors don’t fear the unknown and the uncontrollable, even though they’re finally home after a road trip to Florida and the euphoria of the upset over Pitt on Maui has worn off. The facts are that this team has won five of its last six, against all kinds of competition.

“We’re just a family out there,” said Aaron Valdes, who led UH with 19 points. “Being there for each other. It shows on the court, distributing the ball.”

The Hornets didn’t look like much in this game, but they were certainly dangerous … they knocked off Wake Forest.

Hawaii did the right thing by taking away Delaware State’s perimeter game, and the UH team defense — quickly becoming a trademark — had as much to do with the visitors’ missing their first 13 from 3-point range as did plain old cold shooting.

“(It was) the emphasis,” Taylor said.

There was a lot of talk of Garrett Nevels being in a shooting slump headed into this one, but the senior captain picked his spots and scored 15, including 2-for-3 from long range.

“Maybe I shot my way out of it tonight,” he said.

Valdes is living up to his potential, with fundamentals and hustle to go with raw talent and an exciting above-the-rim style.

“Aaron Valdes has quietly turned into a very good basketball player,” Taylor said. “He used to be a runner, athlete … now he’s getting an understanding of when he can attack.”

Negus Webster-Chan, a talented wing player who started slowly this season, showed signs of getting on track against the Hornets with 11 points.

Mostly, Taylor has tried to keep things simple and not force-feed too much. “Try to do a few things well,” he said. ” … like Novocaine, give it time and it’ll work.”

Despite everything going on around the program, this team is playing looser than last year.

“A lot looser,” Valdes said with a smile.

Loose. And focused.

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@:Reach Dave Reardon at dreardon@staradvertiser.com or 529-4783. His blog is at hawaiiwarriorworld.com/quick-reads.