ASSOCIATED PRESS
Wing April Atuaia is the only senior returning for the Rainbow Wahine this season.
UH faces tough tests
The Rainbow Wahine are a
young and inexperienced squad
"Rainbow Wahine Reloaded" is the theme of the Hawaii women's basketball team 2003-04 media guide.
Another theme could easily be Young, as in very young. Rainbow Wahine coach Vince Goo, entering his 17th season, says this is the youngest squad he has had at UH.
There are seven returnees from a year ago, including starters Jade Abele and April Atuaia. Atuaia is the only senior. The other upperclassmen are Abele and Milia Macfarlane, both juniors.
The sophomore returnees are Trisha Nishimoto, Amy Sanders, Callie Spooner and Brittney Aiwohi. Sanders saw action in all 30 games last year, but the other three played just 131, 105 and 25 minutes, respectively.
Seven freshman recruits complete the roster. They are Janevia Taylor from San Bernardino (Riverside, Calif.) High School; Dalia Solia from Kaimuki; Bryony Crouch from Melbourne, Australia; Pam Tambini from Piedmont Hills (San Jose, Calif.) H.S.; Amber Lee from McKinley; Brittany Grice from Redondo Union (Redondo Beach, Calif.) H.S.; and Alofa Toiaivao from Brighton (Sandy, Utah) H.S.
Goo has gone against convention and has grouped his players into three positions -- point guard, wing and post.
The point guards are Macfarlane, Nishimoto and Taylor. The wings are Atuaia, Abele, Sanders, Aiwohi, Solia, Crouch and Tambini. The post players are Spooner, Lee, Grice and Toiaivao.
"With just three positions, it will give us a little more quickness and our perimeter shooting will be the biggest positive to come out of this," Goo said.
"We will play more pressure defense and crash the boards with everyone except one safety. That would be whoever is in the best position on the floor. The best way to stop an opponent from getting a fast break is to shoot and score. If we miss, we want the rebound and want to put the ball back in the bucket."
With the first full-squad practice Saturday, Goo says every position is wide open.
"We may just platoon five at a time, but that will be determined over the next few weeks," Goo said.
"The newcomers have a good attitude and are coachable. They have adjusted academically and, as far as basketball is concerned, we'll see how far they have progressed once we have the full team practicing together."
Goo hopes his upperclassmen provide the leadership necessary for a young team to survive and grow. The 2003-04 campaign will be a bigger challenge because the experience is not there.
"We're going to get into five-person things right away, then break down into whole drills so the players all have an understanding of why we are doing things a certain way. Then we put the parts together," Goo said. "When you have a more experienced group, you can start with the parts and put it together from there."
Notes: Goo starts the season with a 326-146 career record and a winning percentage of .691, which places him in the top 40 among active NCAA Division I women's coaches. ... Penny Jones, a freshman forward who saw action in 14 games a year ago, did not return, citing homesickness.
