Hawaii basketball team working through early adversity

Hawaii basketball coach Eran Ganot’s assessment of Saturday’s Green and White preseason scrimmage: necessary.

About 400 fans entered the Stan Sheriff Center’s open doors for their first look at the 2019-20 team four weeks out from the Nov. 8 official opener against Florida A&M. For every highlight they saw — like Samuta Avea’s one-handed cram over Zigmars Raimo on a fast break — there were a few miscues.

UH had just enough healthy players to go fullcourt 5-on-5 in 25 minutes of game action spread across three periods.

The good news on for the Rainbow Warriors, on both the health and execution fronts, is that there’s still four full weeks before the opener.

>> Click here to see photos of the annual Green and White Scrimmage.

“It’s clear we’ve had a lot of adversity,” Ganot said in referring to five players being sidelined, “but our goals remain the same. And I don’t want us to lower the bar. I still think we can do that with the group we have. It’s opportunities for guys to step up, which competitors should be gravitating towards.

“But we have so much (to do). It was really sloppy. A key month for us, for sure.”

Mainstays Jack Purchase, Brocke Stepteau and Sheriff Drammeh are gone from last year’s 18-13 (9-7 Big West) team, paving the way for returnees to assume greater roles and newcomers to make inroads.

Veteran point guard Drew Buggs, who totaled 10 assists and two turnovers playing with a different combination of teammates in each period, hoped the afternoon’s more uneven moments — like bobbled balls and missed chip shots — would serve as a lesson to the team’s youngsters.

“It was an eye-opener, I think, to help them realize that we’re not where we need to be right now,” said the fourth-year junior, a freshly minted team captain along with the senior forward Raimo. “That’s something that we’ve been trying to communicate each and every day, and I think being out here in a live situation like that really kind of opens some of the guys’ eyes that we have a lot of work to do.”

Avea, the team’s most athletic player, had some explosive moments inside and went 3-for-7 on 3-pointers. He led all players with 22 points.

“Really just feeling a lot more comfortable in my third year … knowing my spots pretty well,” Avea said. “(Looking to) improve all of my strengths but also really focus on what I’m not doing so well.”

Sophomore center Dawson Carper scored 17 on 8-for-10 shooting, but two players expected to have larger scoring roles this season, Raimo (11.5 points per game in 2018-19) and senior shooting guard Eddie Stansberry (11.3), were mostly quiet. Raimo scored 10 and Stansberry six.

A possible starting lineup took the floor for the final five-minute period, with Buggs and Stansberry in the backcourt, Avea at small forward, Raimo at power forward and Carper at center.

That group outscored the apparent second unit of Jessiya Villa, Justin Webster, Justin Hemsley, Zoar Nedd and Mate Colina 12-8.

Assistant coaches Chris Gerlufsen and John Montgomery coached the two squads while Ganot roamed between them.

Players went into the stands to greet and thank fans afterward.

Out with various conditions and injuries were senior transfer Ahmed Ali from Washington State, sophomore big man Owen Hulland, freshman forward Bernardo da Silva, freshman walk-on guard Kameron Ng and freshman walk-on wing Garrett Cason.