RAINBOW BASKETBALL NOTEBOOK

UH offense is well
ahead of last year’s

With the exhibition opener only six days away, there are signs that this season's Rainbow men's basketball team is well ahead of last year's.

"The offense is more advanced," said head coach Riley Wallace.

Wallace has already taught the new team, which has only four returning players, five of his six offensive schemes.

But he said yesterday it's not how much the Rainbows have learned but how well they've been able to use it.

"We're ahead in terms of them knowing what to do once they've learned," said Wallace.

"Last year, they learned the offenses but they didn't know how to get stuff out of them. Now we have guys like 'Savo' (sophomore Predrag Savovic) and Johnny (White) back for a second year and that makes it easier."

Savovic was with the team last season but had to sit out the schedule to become eligible.

"They feed off each other," said Wallace. "It's like Alika and A.C. When one put a move on in one game, you saw the other one do it in the next game. They were learning from each other. When 'Savo' gets praise for doing something, the other guys are more apt to do it now. It's kind of contagious."

Wallace said that if the conference season opened tomorrow, he would feel comfortable using nine or 10 of the current roster players in his offenses.

"Todd (Fields) is behind but he's picked up pretty quick," said Wallace.

Fields, the team's 7-foot junior, missed a week attending the funeral of his stepfather in Texas and taking care of family matters.

"Bernard McIntosh (a 6-8 junior), Troy Ostler (a 6-9 junior) and Marquette Alexander (a 6-8 senior), for sure, have all got it on a rotation and we want to get Todd in that rotation," said Wallace.

Hawaii will play the Northwest All-Stars at 4:30 p.m. Sunday at the Stan Sheriff Center.

In Saturday's intrasquad scrimmage inside Gym II, the second since Midnight Ohana, Fields showed definite progress.

It was the first scrimmage for the big Texan, whose legs have given him trouble in practice.

But he stepped out more aggressively, pulling down eight rebounds and scoring seven points.

Alexander, his opponent in the low post, said he was glad to find Fields feeling stronger.

But Saturday belonged to senior point guard Johnny White and junior forward Bernard McIntosh, who rallied their White team from a 41-23 halftime deficit to an 85-78 victory. They combined for 39 points in the second half.

(Four minutes were added to regulation time in the scrimmage.)

White, who destroyed the Green team's zone with his relentless drives to the hoop, finished with 30 points, while McIntosh had 21 due to slickly executed inside work.

"He's (White) always had his game but I think he feels more comfortable in what we're doing than he did a year ago, plus he's got better guys with him," said Wallace.

White has been answering Wallace's concern that he score more this season. In the two scrimmages, White has shot 17 for 21 from the floor.

"McIntosh has his head in the game now and he's playing hard," said Wallace.

McIntosh is 15-for-30 from the floor in the scrimmages. But he's not one-dimensional. He also had nine rebounds and two blocks on Saturday.

Alexander did what he was supposed to do in the low post. Using his agility and strength, the team captain scored 14 points. He had 21 the week before.

Wallace continued to express confidence in sophomore shooting guard Predrag Savovic, who scored 16 points Saturday after scoring 20 in the first scrimmage. He said Savovic has shown creativity with and without the ball.

"Savovic moves really well without the ball," he said. "Separating from his man to get open, he's the best there is. He really has a smell for what the guy with the ball is thinking and he knows when he needs to be open."

Wallace loves the fact the 6-6 Serbian is unpredictable on offense, and that he'll do anything to score.

He has only one problem with him.

"He gets too hyper and overdoes things when he gets all that emotion going inside of him," said Wallace. "He throws it too hard, runs too fast, shoots too quick, but after the game settles in, he's OK."

Sophomore guard Mike McIntyre, who got to run the green team offense, had 19 points Saturday. He has made eight of 23 3-point attempts in two scrimmages, including 4-for-7 in the first half of the last one.

"He's been the hottest shooter in practice lately," said Wallace.

McIntyre (averaging 15.5 points) looms as a potential backup point guard due to freshman Carl English's ankle problems. Wallace said English will need surgery eventually to repair ligament damage.

Wallace still has not revealed his starting lineup for Sunday, but it's looking like Alexander at center, Ostler at the "4," Puida at the "3," Savovic at shooting guard and White at point guard.

Other possibilities are McIntosh, McIntyre and 6-7 junior forward Lane O'Connor.

Puida has taken relatively few shots in the scrimages (5-for-9 from the

field). But Wallace has been delighted with his unselfish play. He has averaged 4.5 assists and 5.5 steals.

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By Pat Bigold, Star-Bulletin