The cast might be smaller than anticipated when the Hawaii basketball team competes in Saturday’s Green & White Scrimmage in the Stan Sheriff Center.

Tip-off is set for 1 p.m.

“We’ve had one of our tougher falls because we’ve had four, five guys out,” head coach Eran Ganot said.

This week, forwards Owen Hulland, Bernardo da Silva, Garrett Cason and guards Kameron Ng and Ahmed Ali have been held out of practices because of ailments. During half-court drills, assistant coach John Montgomery often has distributed passes from the point.

“We’re in a moment dealing with a lot of adversity,” Ganot said. “It’s probably the most I’ve dealt with in a long time. Guys are stepping up and playing different positions. We have to keep going. Our job is to get better. If we’re down in numbers, we have to get better. We have to keep finding ways to improve.”

Justin Hemsley and Samuta Avea are playing wing and forward. Drew Buggs is playing point, off guard and the wing. Zigmars Raimo is playing center and forward. Freshman Justin Webster is playing off guard and wing.

“We can’t use it as an excuse,” Raimo said of the number of available practice players. “We have limited practices until the first game. We’re a little bit behind schedule. But I love the guys working their ass off — coaches, players. Even though we have no subs, we’re not using it as an excuse.”

Several players have expanded their games. Raimo, Buggs and Hemsley have worked on their outside shooting. Hemsley, who redshirted in 2017-18 and played in 15 games as a reserve last season, is expected to have an expanded role this year.

“Patience is a good virtue to have if it teaches you to observe and learn rather than think about what’s not happening in your life,” Hemsley said. “It was tough at first to be patient, because as an athlete and a competitor, you want to play. Looking back on it, I’m blessed I was able to have that experience because it helped me grow a lot.”

Hemsley continues to work on his free throws, a determination fostered during a California state tournament in 2016.

“After losing a chance to go to the state finals off of free throws, that’s when I switched it in my head I’ve got to start making free throws,” Hemsley said. “I lost a game my junior year. It ended our season. I got to the free-throw line. We were down one. I had two free throws, and I missed both, and we lost.”

After that, he adopted a routine that involved visualization. “It doesn’t matter the situation of the game,” Hemsley said. “It doesn’t matter what the fans are saying. It doesn’t matter how much time is on the clock. Every free throw has to be taken the same way.”

Last year, he was focused at the line, even though all 11 free throws were taken in the final 4 minutes of one-sided games. This past summer, he shot 200 free throws every day, setting the goal at 190 made.