’Bows take final
‘dress rehearsal’

Include Riley Wallace among those curious to see what the Hawaii basketball team will look like when the Rainbow Warriors take the floor for today's exhibition game against UH-Hilo at the Stan Sheriff Center.

UH-Hilo vs. UH-Manoa When: Today, 4:05 p.m. Where: Stan Sheriff Center TV: None Radio: Live, KKEA 1420-AM Internet: HawaiiAthletics.com Tickets: $15 (lower level, single seats only); $11 (upper level, adult); $5 (upper level, students); $3 (upper level, UH students); $5 (Super Rooter/Manoa Maniacs). Parking: $3 Promotion: Pregame reception for Manoa Maniacs. Free pizza and soda

After four weeks of practice, the UH coach hasn't settled on a starting five and doesn't know quite what to expect from his squad this afternoon. But that, after all, is what exhibition games are for.

"I just want to make sure they all get in there and play hard," Wallace said. "They'll make mistakes, but you have to allow for that because we still have some time. This is our last dress rehearsal."

Today's exhibition will be the Rainbows' only test under game conditions before their season opener vs. Mississippi Valley State on Nov. 23.

The result of the game won't be reflected in the win-loss column for either team, but with bragging rights within the UH system on the line it still carries significance for the players.

"It doesn't count in the records, but it does count for us," UH forward Jeff Blackett said.

The Rainbows return one starter -- junior forward Julian Sensley -- from last year's 21-12 team. Beyond that Wallace said who takes the floor to begin the game will be decided just before the 4:05 p.m. tipoff.

"It'll just be a feel I have at game time," Wallace said.

"It's going to turn on some lights for us," he added. "We'll see where our intensity is, we'll see where our rebounding is and our defense. Offensively, we'll struggle a little early I think, but they seem to work hard at it."

With five new faces on the roster, the Rainbows have spent much of the last month getting acquainted with each other as well as the offensive and defensive schemes. While the 'Bows may be a stronger shooting team overall than last year, getting everybody on the same page has been a challenge throughout their preseason practices.

"You see it sometimes in practice when it just clicks," Blackett said. "We need to be where 99 percent of the time it's clicking like that, right now it's probably 50 percent. We're well on our way, we just have to keep working on it."

The new faces in Manoa will also affect UH-Hilo coach Jeff Law's preparation for the game. Law was an assistant under Wallace for eight years and is familiar with the Rainbows' sets, but not with their personnel.

Jake Sottos and Bobby Nash return in the back court after playing sparingly last season and will share time with newcomers Matt Gibson, Deonte Tatum and Kris Groce.

Along with Sensley and Blackett, the 'Bows' top returning scorers, Matthew Gipson and Vaidotas Peciukas have been working at the forward spots. Chris Botez and Milos Zivanovic are competing for time at center.

"We're not going in there with scouting reports, because there really aren't any," Law said. "Everybody's brand new. You don't know how either (Gipson or Gibson) will react to things or Botez."

UH-Hilo comes to Honolulu via Kauai, where the Vulcans conducted clinics in the community yesterday. The Vulcans went 16-9 last season, but will be without one of their top returnees.

Law said forward Joe Travis is scheduled to have knee surgery in January and probably won't be available this season. The 6-foot-7 senior averaged 14.4 points last season and was slated to start at power forward.

With Travis out, Osadonor Esene takes over at the "four" spot and Terrance Troupe (6.6 points, 4.6 rebounds per game last year) starts at small forward. Law said the Vulcans will also need point guard Alex Cabagnot (9.6 points, 4.6 assists) to increase his scoring this season.

"We've had a couple of injuries and been working through some things, so the team is a little bit different than I may have thought it was going to be three months ago," Law said. "Now we're not as deep, but I still think we're talented."

Although they face some uncertainty entering the game, the Rainbows are sure of at least one thing -- they'll face a motivated UH-Hilo squad eager to take a shot at big brother from Manoa.

UH played Brigham Young-Hawaii in an exhibition game last year and escaped with a 63-56 win.

"They're good teams, no doubt about that," Blackett said of the Division II competition in the state. "We know they're going to come in here hard, but we're going to come at them just as hard."