Hula-ing with Hawaii

Coach Bob Nash is now in his second year, with a full recruiting season under his belt and he has made the most of it. The Rainbow Warriors nabbed one of the best junior college players in the country, along with a couple of other solid recruits, so the real test will be meshing all the newcomers as a unit.

FLOWN THE COOP

Matt Gibson
Bob Nash
Riley Luettgerodt
Jared Dillinger
P.J. Owsley
Stephen Verwers
Alex Veit

Six players who started most of the games for Hawaii last season have moved on so there will definitely be growing pains for Bob Nash's squad this coming season. The toughness of Matt Gibson will be the hardest element to replace but the cohesion Hawaii displayed in 2007-2008 is also a critical component necessary to replicate if The Warriors want to be an upper division resident in the WAC.


RETURNEES

Kareem Nitoto G 6-2 185 sophomore -- Nitoto definitely got his feet wet last season and enjoyed a few moments in the spotlight but he'll need to upgrade both his shooting prowess and his assist-to-turnover ratio.

Conrad Fitzgerald G/F 6-5 210 redshirt freshman -- An unknown at this point.

Ji Xiang F 6-10 240 freshman -- A knee injury in the pre-season curtailed him from playing in 2007-2008 so he redshirted. His rep is as an outside shooter.

Paul Campbell F 6-10 215 junior -- He averaged just above five minutes of court time a game last season and looks to be more of a careet backup.

Adhar Mayen F 6-8 195 junior -- Possessing excellent athletic ability, Mayen has a good shot of making the jump into the starting lineup with continued improvement.

Bill Amis F 6-9 220 junior -- One of the best and biggest surprises of last season, Amis started 20 games -- more out of necessity after Stpehen Verwers was injured and lost for the season -- and produced. He'll either be at center or power forward from the get-go for Hawaii this go-around.


NEWCOMERS

Roderick Flemings 6-7 215 guard/forward Texas junior college -- It supposedly came down to Hawaii and Kentucky and the aloha spirit won out. Flemings has some summer classes to finish but is being counted upon to be the centerpiece of Hawaii's offense in 2008-2009. He averaged 20.7 points, 11.8 rebounds, and 3.4 assists per game. The questions surrounding him are how long a period of time to adjust to D-1, if any, will he need and can he makes the other players around him more effective?

Petras Balocka 6-8 250 center Florida junior college -- Labeled a solid rebounder, we see Balocka either being the starting center this coming season for Hawaii or the backup to Amis. A frontcourt of Balocka, Amis and Flemings should be a competitive one. Balocka played at East Tennessee State as a freshman.

Lasha Parghalava 6-2 205 guard Florida junior college -- His best asset is his long-range shooting ability but he has also drawn praise for his defensive effort. It wouldn't surprise us if he actually starts at shooting guard or is at least the first backcourter off the bench. He was set to sign with South Florida back in the early November but there was a snafu (he's from Lithuania) and the signing period ran out before he could get his mother to sign and return his paperwork.

Adam Jespersen 6-7 210 forward Canada high school -- He'll need time coming from the Canadian preps ranks but has interesting potential.

Hiram Thompson 6-3 180 guard CA high school -- This former Sacramento-area prep guard is returning from a two-year church mission. He played his freshman season at Hawaii and displayed adequate ballhandling and shooting but his hiatus cannot have helped his skill development.

Brandon Adams 6-6 210 forward CA junior college -- He'll redshirt this season


HAWAII BY POSITION

Center

Bill Amis -- He's the best shotblocker on the team, very mobile for his height and exhibits a solid sense of knowing when and where to shoot. It appears the best placement for someone with the skills set he exhibits would be at power forward where he can maximize aiding his center teammate with 'help' defense and have more areas on the floor from which to maneuver offensively. He's best on the boards at the offensive end so teaming him up with a solid defensive boarder would be best.

Paul Campbell -- We see Campbell as a backup guy helping out when foul trouble arises.

Petras Balocka -- The only candidate with the strength and bulk to truly play in the paint, Hawaii needs this junior college transfer to make a quick adjustment.

Strong Forward

Ji Xiang -- Reports indicate he's more proficient and comfortable facing the basket offensively, with a shooting range from the elbow to three-point territory. His injury may have been a blessing in disguise because he still needs to add strength along with getting used to the speed and pace of D-1 basketball.

Amis and Balocka are the keys here -- Hawaii needs strong seasons from both in order to have much of a power game inside.

Wing/ShootingGuard

Roderick Flemings -- We're assuming his academics are in order but we also have the sense that Flemings could be a 'one-and-done' player if he has a reasonable degree of success this coming season. But who really knows at this point. Regardless, he will be putting up the most shots on the team and the Rainbow Warriors need 20+ consistent points a night from him in order to both be competitive and to draw defensive attention away from his teammates.

Lasha Parghalava -- Armed with a rep as a shooting backcourter, this transfer could be the key to keeping defenses honest and preventing any packing into the paint.

Adhar Mayen -- Mayen had some bright spots last season and now needs to demonstrate greater consistency. He played the four spot in his lone junior college season but lacks the strength and bulk right now to do so for Hawaii. But that may be the direction to go unless he can improve his shooting percentage and range.

Adam Jespersen -- Call him Player X as we have no sense of his skills set or promise. He played power forward in high school but apparently has solid ballhandling skills.

Conrad Fitzgerald -- He's another excellent athlete who is still bringing his basketball skills up to par.

Point

Kareem Nitoto -- He needs to shoot better both overall and from three-point range.

Hiram Thompson -- There has to be some degree of rust on Thompson's game and there won't be a long period of time to both get back into chape or develop his dormant skills set since he'll return in August from his mission. It will be a nice surprise if he can help right away.

SUMMARY

Bob Nash may disagree but Hawaii looks a year or so away from being truly competitive in the WAC. We envision the Rainbow Warriors needing better point guard play than they will receive from the current roster. Plus, any sort of long term or season-ending frontcourt injury will deplete an already thin set of power players.