It was fitting that the 2019-20 Hawaii men’s basketball team got in its first practice of the season on a brand-new floor.
There was a new theme in the lineup, a new assistant coach, and six new players on the roster to go with the sparkling court in the Stan Sheriff Center in the first full practice of the 2019-20 preseason on Saturday.
Fifth-year coach Eran Ganot is going with a “go big or go home” theme to begin the preseason as he prepares to shift away from a three-guard lineup into a more traditional one with a 7-foot center and a larger player on the wing to go with his bigger-than-average point guard Drew Buggs.
“There are some scenarios where this is a very big team,” Ganot said.
Forward Zigmars Raimo is shifting to power forward from an undersized center, where he played for most of last season as the Rainbow Warriors went 18-13 (9-7 Big West). Three-point shooting was one of Raimo’s biggest emphases of the offseason as he looks to build off his team-high 11.5 points per game from last season. You can read more on that in Sunday’s print edition of the Star-Advertiser.
“It was fine, it wasn’t perfect. I was expecting that, basically. We have a lot of new guys,” said Raimo, one of three seniors on the roster. “You could see they were kind of nervous. But as newcomers, as freshmen, those guys are talented. You could see that on the court. We need to keep going. We need to remember that little things matter.”
New assistant coach Chris Gerlufsen, who arrived from the University of San Diego a few weeks ago to fill the void left by Adam Jacobsen’s departure, made himself heard as he helped put the Rainbow Warriors through their paces in various drills during Saturday’s three-hour session.
Officials were brought in for the last 45 minutes or so.
For the offensive-minded Gerlufsen, it felt like a standard first practice — except he’s just had to learn the skill-sets of the full roster, plus get to know the rest of the staff.
“Obviously it’s been kind of a whirlwind for me. Everything with the job happened in 10 days,” Gerlufsen said. “So before I knew it I was on a plane out here. It’s been great though. The staff’s been great. Coach Ganot’s been great. The players have been phenomenal. Super impressed with them as kids, and how they’ve gone about their business since I’ve gotten here.
“As you know it’s about establishing relationships and building trust with guys. I’ve been very impressed. I’m excited about the challenge ahead, but I think we have a chance to be pretty good.”
Hawaii assistant coach Chris Gerlufsen instructed players during the first day of full practice. / Photo by Jamm Aquino
It was a little jarring not to have Jack Purchase, Brocke Stepteau and Sheriff Drammeh around; those mainstays had been a part of the program for the last four years. Five years, in Stepteau’s case.
Even Leland Green and Brandon Thomas had become familiar faces over the last three and two years, respectively.
The newcomers — senior Ahmed Ali and freshmen Bernardo da Silva, Justin Webster, Jessiya Villa, Kameron Ng and Garrett Cason — were trust fully in the mix Saturday. Only Ng, the reigning Star-Advertiser player of the year out of Saint Francis School, was not able to fully participate as he finishes recovering from an offseason ailment.
Ali was a late-offseason addition who became available in the transfer portal several weeks after Washington State hired Kyle Smith as its new head coach.
Like Gerlufsen, Ali has taken a crash course learning the attributes and tendencies of those around him over the last few weeks.
“The defensive schemes were a lot different, the way we hedge the ball screens, the way we rotate on defense,” said Ali, who averaged 7.3 points and 2.9 assists last year with the Cougars. “A lot of comes with being competitive. So if you play with a type of hunger, that will cover up for the defensive schemes.”
UH opens the season Nov. 8 against Florida A&M in the Outrigger Rainbow Classic.