Going into the Big West basketball opener Wednesday, it was noted here how Hawaii’s depth and versatility was a team strength.

That assertion needs a little tweaking now.

This team needs Garrett Nevels. It needs him on the court, not on the bench with a cast on his hand because of ligament surgery. That was made crystal clear to anyone who might have doubted it when the UH fell at home in overtime to Cal Poly.

Hawaii is fairly deep and plays hard, but the youthful Rainbow Warriors are like a bunch of rambunctious puppies. They’re a lot of fun, but they’re also chaotic and more than capable of creating a big mess and testing your patience.

That is especially true when Nevels doesn’t play. He’s the Rainbows’ stabilizing force, their captain and lone senior.

He’s the team’s second-leading scorer at 11.4 points-per-game, the only guy other than Aaron Valdes (15.2) in double-figures.

Nevels’ role is similar to that of Brandon Spearman’s last year; he’s not necessarily the team’s most talented player, but he’s a tough guy and an experienced leader. Even when Nevels’ shot wasn’t going down early in the season he helped UH in so many ways. He has been shooting better lately, and probably would have made Hawaii’s horrendous first-half of 24 percent shooting at least somewhat better.

The Rainbows came out with no energy to start the game Wednesday. And at various times throughout, they threw some lousy, lazy passes — the kind I’ve never recalled seeing from Nevels. They also left the Mustangs ace shooter, Reese Morgan, open too much. And although Morgan shot poorly early in the game, UH eventually paid for leaving him open.

Hawaii was also out rebounded significantly, and Nevels is tough on the glass despite being just 6-2; he’s third in rebounding with 4.7 per game.

"We need him big-time," coach Benjy Taylor said. "But we’d rather have him down the stretch."

That’s true in most sports, especially basketball; if you must have injuries it’s better to have them early in the season.

Losing Big West regular-season games is generally not catastrophic. Peaking for the conference tournament is all-important, and Nevels’ absence now might help UH in the long-run because other players have to step up to replace what he brings.

But that didn’t happen on Wednesday for the most part. Hawaii did battle back from a 14-2 opening deficit, but it should have never put itself in that position, especially at home.

And there is that, too … losing at home. Many of the bandwagon fans who came to see this team that was 12-4 and had knocked off three teams from big boy conferences won’t be back to watch a team that looked like it wasn’t ready to play — at least not until it racks up some wins in the conference.

Getting some Ws in league is important for Taylor’s future, too. An awkward dance continues with Taylor still acting coach more than two months and 12 wins after Gib Arnold’s firing.

Winning will be easier to accomplish when the Rainbows get their veteran leader back. Taylor said he doubts that he can play Saturday against Cal State-Northridge.

Until Nevels returns, UH will continue to experience growing pains. The positive is that if the lessons are learned well it will be to the Rainbows’ advantage in March.

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