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RAINBOW BASKETBALL NOTEBOOK

’Bows hope to
prevent mistakes

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By Dave Reardon
Star-Bulletin

With a week between games, the University of Hawaii men's basketball team has gone back to worrying about itself rather than who it is going to play next.

Since UH (7-8, 1-3 WAC) doesn't host San Jose State (8-7, 0-4) until Saturday, the Rainbows haven't simulated the Spartans yet, but instead, have worked on execution.

On Monday, UH mostly shot around. Yesterday, the Rainbows had an early season-style practice, in which they emphasized their zone offense and post defense, and worked on endurance.

There was also extra-layup work after practice -- several hundred for some players who had trouble making them during practice.

As the Rainbows begin to prep for the Spartans, a major coaching emphasis will be execution.

San Jose State likes to dictate a slow-tempo, Wisconsin style. The Spartans haven't enjoyed anything near the success of the Badgers, but they also haven't lost by more than 10 points against Southern Methodist, Texas Christian, Tulsa and Texas-El Paso -- four of the WAC's better teams.

San Jose State leads the conference in yielding only 60.9 points per game.

"Some people say it's ugly, some say it's purist. All I know is they're going to be in every ballgame," Hawaii coach Riley Wallace said.

"They're going to play solid defense and take away the transition. They don't give you many fastbreaks. They prefer a game in the 50s."

Darnell Williams, a 6-foot-7 senior forward, has been San Jose State's best player of late. He averages 11.8 points and a team-high 8.0 rebounds per game. He was team-high with 23 and 20 points against Tulsa and UTEP.

The Spartans lost those games by a combined 10 points.

"On the positive side, we're very close to getting it done," San Jose State coach Steve Barnes said. "We're four, six and seven points away from being a good team."

Numbers game

UH's 68-65 victory over Tulsa last Saturday was good for the Rainbows' Rating Percentage Index; the Hurricanes' tough schedule helped.

In most RPI listings, Hawaii is ranked in the mid-80s, with a strength of schedule rating in the low-30s.

What this all means is if UH can win most of its remaining home conference games and steal a few on the road, it probably won't be held back from at least NIT consideration because of a weak schedule.

Stats and stuff

Different guys do different things best for the Rainbows: freshman post Phil Martin continues to lead the WAC in field goal percentage, at 64.9. He's made 50 shots in 77 attempts. ... Junior guard Predrag Savovic leads Hawaii in scoring at 16.9. ... Senior post Troy Ostler leads the team in rebounding at 6.6. ... Senior forward Nerijus Puida is the top assist man at 4.5. ... With four steals Saturday against Tulsa, freshman guard Jeep Hilton jumped into the team lead with 1.2 a game. ... Junior forward Mindaugas Burneika is the most accurate 3-point shooter at 50 percent (14-of-28).

Tip-ins

Fresno State guard Demetrius Porter was named WAC Player of the Week. Porter, moving to the shooting guard spot after playing the point last season, scored 46 points and had six assists in victories over TCU and SMU. Hawaii's Savovic was among the nominees. ... Tulsa center DeAngelo McDaniel has been "dismissed from the Golden Hurricane basketball team" by coach Buzz Peterson, according to a release from the school. McDaniel played in five games this season, averaging 1.6 points and 1.0 rebounds. No reason was stated for McDaniel's dismissal. ... Hawaii is 7-0 when leading at halftime this season. ... Savovic is 18th on the CBS Sportsline's list of the top 20 foreign performers in Division I.