If you arranged a dozen head shots of Hawaii point guard Roderick Bobbitt side-by-side with a different mood listed under each — happy, sad, angry, excited — they would look strikingly similar. Identical, even.
UH’s playmaker at both ends of the court has one setting: wired to win.
“It’s pretty stoic. He has a unique disposition,” UH coach Eran Ganot said.
RAINBOWS BASKETBALL
Thursday, 7 p.m., at Stan Sheriff Center
» Who: UC Riverside (13-15, 4-8 Big West) at Hawaii (22-3, 11-1)
» TV: OC Sports
» Radio: KKEA, 1420-AM
» Series: UH leads 7-2
UH CAREER STEALS
1. Tom Henderson (1972-73, ’73-74) 160
2. Roderick Bobbitt (2014-15, ’15-16) 156
3. Alika Smith (1994-95, ’95-96, ’96-97, ’97-98) 152
4. Troy Bowe (1988-89, ’89-90, ’90-91) 146
5. Tony Webster (1980-81, ’82-83) 143
For opposing guards, it’s the Impassive Gaze of Doom. They know it’s coming, and wither under it all the same.
In the senior’s two seasons in Manoa, the junior college transfer is on the cusp of surpassing Tom Henderson for the UH career steals mark of 160, needing just five more to have the record to himself. With his Big West-best average of 2.3 per game, there’s a good chance he’ll swipe it in the final homestand of the season this week — UC Riverside on Thursday and Cal State Northridge on Saturday at the Stan Sheriff Center.
Thanks in large part to Bobbitt’s steady presence, first-place UH (22-3, 11-1 Big West) has won six straight games and can clinch a share of the conference regular-season title at home.
“Just sticking together, that’s the main thing,” Bobbitt said. “Fighting through adversity, which we’ve been doing all season. That’s made us a better team and made us come together, and we’ve got some big W’s on the road this year.”
Bobbitt (13 points per game) has three 30-point games to his name this season while leading the BWC in assists at 5.5. On any given night, his workload is also among the largest at 34.4 minutes.
“I think that’s what’s impressive about his 30-point games — he’s looking for us while he’s doing that, too,” wing Aaron Valdes said.
Wherever he goes, Bobbitt just finds a way to win. At Castro Valley High School, the Oakland, Calif., native was a two-time league MVP. His last team at Indian Hills (Iowa) Community College went 34-3 and made the national final.
He was recruited to Manoa by a head coach he never got to play for and has proven himself indispensable under two more. Because of his all-around impact, he’s considered a strong contender to take conference player of the year. UH’s only such recipient to date was Anthony Carter in the 1997-98 WAC.
He led the nation in total steals last year — an even 100, a UH single-season record — and is now tied for 11th in steals per game.
There was some wonder in the preseason if Bobbitt could replicate last year’s success in that respect under the more structured defensive scheme of first-year coach Ganot.
“Just sticking to the right times to go for steals, and things of that sort,” Bobbitt said. “I don’t think I really switched, I just think we’re more disciplined and don’t gamble as much. But I still look for the same steals that I did last year.”
His fingerprints on a game are far from limited to the times when he’s credited with an official steal, or when he showcases his improved 3-point stroke (38.9 percent, up from 25.2 percent last season). In the first of two meetings against UC Irvine on Feb. 11, Bobbitt enjoyed one of the finest all-around games of his career: 23 points, seven assists, six rebounds and zero turnovers. He hit six of 10 3-point attempts to lead the 74-52 rout of the Anteaters.
There was one play just before halftime, however, that didn’t show up in the box score. Bobbitt almost blindly deflected an Irvine pass out of bounds while scrambling back in transition, leaving the Anteaters almost no time to get a shot up to trim their 17-point halftime deficit.
“Irvine had a 2-on-1 and Rod somehow got his hand on it,” Ganot said. “They should’ve (scored). It was his ridiculous hands and anticipation skills. I mean, I don’t know how he gets there sometimes, to be honest.”
Instincts are a big part of it. The other part? His toughness is indisputable.
Bobbitt had to shake off a broken bone going into both of his UH seasons. First, the severely broken left arm he suffered in the 2014 junior college playoffs with Indian Hills (Iowa) Community College. Then, he suffered a broken jaw in an off-court incident in the summer of 2015.
In the context of UH’s present adversity, like coaching changes and NCAA sanctions, Bobbitt has occasionally referenced tough times in his childhood growing up in Oakland.
“I would say all of Oakland’s rough,” Bobbitt said. “East Oakland, West Oakland, North Oakland, every part of Oakland’s pretty rough.”
He credited support from his family for getting him through it.
“My parents always made sure I was doing the right thing,” Bobbitt said. “There’s a lot of people that weren’t able to get out that had chances, better chances than I did. I just tried to make the most of my chance that I had.”
Around the Bay Area, he was a known commodity coming out of Castro in 2011, but had to go the JUCO route.
“You always knew about his competitive spirit,” Ganot said. “He was vastly underrated as a facilitator, as a passer, as a leader. One of the base things he gives our team … is his belief. His confidence at all times, especially at critical times.”
At UH, Valdes has most often been the recipient of Bobbitt’s playmaking instincts, throwing down several highlight-reel lobs in recent games, including an oop from out of bounds in Saturday’s 75-71 win at Irvine that was the No. 3 top play that night on “SportsCenter.”
Bobbitt may not have cracked a smile on the play, but the Rainbows have cracked the Bobbitt code.
“I think that’s just his personality, being serious, and that’s what makes it funny,” Valdes said. “He’s a good person, he’s a fun guy to hang around with when you get to know him. You just gotta break him out of that shell, I think.”
Bobbitt’s parents and several Oakland friends will be at Saturday’s senior night. He’ll be one of four players honored, along with Quincy Smith, Sai Tummala and Dyrbe Enos.
To the UH fans, he said: “Just thanks for all the support and I expect everyone to be in the Stan Sheriff these last two games. We’ll put on a show.”