[ RAINBOW BASKETBALL ]
RICHARD WALKER / RWALKER@STARBULLETIN.COM
Senior center Haim Shimonovich has been an energizer for the Hawaii men's basketball team this season.
A leader by
exampleHaim Shimonovich has
impacted the ’Bows
in many ways
Haim Shimonovich can influence a basketball game in ways that have nothing to do with his size or skills.
At 6-foot-10 and 275 pounds, the Hawaii center has been an intimidating defensive figure in the post for four seasons now. On the offensive end, he is an adept passer for a big man and has shown off a soft jumper over the years.
But in his senior season, it's become clear that his value extends beyond points and rebounds. Because when Shimonovich has his motor revved up, the energy tends to spread to the rest of the Rainbow Warriors.
Louisiana Tech at Hawaii
When: Today, 7 p.m.Where: Stan Sheriff Center
TV: Live, KFVE-TV
Radio: Live, 1420-AM
Internet: uhathletics.hawaii.edu
Tickets: Lower Level, $15 (single seats only); Upper Level (adult) $11; Upper Level (student, UH) $5; Super Rooter $8. First 100 UH students with a valid ID through the turnstiles, Free. Military personnel with ID (including a spouse and up to two dependents), Free. Parking: $3.
"He's our energizer," UH coach Riley Wallace said.
"Every basketball player wants to have a good big man. ... When he really plays hard he becomes a big-time center and they jump on his back and go with him."
Shimonovich is the Western Athletic Conference's active leader in blocked shots with 135 and is just the third Hawaii player to post 500 points, 500 rebounds and 100 blocks in his career.
In his four years in Manoa, Hawaii is 18-4 when Shimonovich scores in double figures and 16-1 when he grabs more than 10 rebounds.
"When you have Haim out there working I think everybody looks at it like, 'We can't let him down,' " sophomore forward Julian Sensley said. "He's a captain, so we just try to follow."
Shimonovich is closing in on the end of an eventful four-year career at UH. After tonight's game against Louisiana Tech, he will have just three more regular-season games in the Stan Sheriff Center.
Shimonovich joined the UH program in 2000, but sat out the first 22 games of his freshman season for playing in a professional league back home in Israel.
Once he was declared eligible he proved instrumental in the Rainbows' back-to-back trips to the NCAA Tournament his freshman and sophomore seasons and to the National Invitation Tournament last year.
The Rainbows' run this season could result in Shimonovich and fellow senior and co-captain Phil Martin becoming the first UH players to make four appearances in the postseason.
Hawaii enters tonight's game in first place in the Western Athletic Conference with nine regular season games left and the Rainbows (16-4, 8-2 WAC) know they'll be wearing the target as they head toward the conference tournament.
"Everyone knows that this is the season right now," Shimonovich said. "These nine games are going to be the hardest games, home and away. Nothing's going to be easy, everybody's going to try to come and steal one here."
The soft-spoken Shimonovich started slowly this season as he missed a sizable chunk of preseason practice with a sore Achilles', a remnant of a sprained ankle that forced him to miss three games late last season.
He didn't start UH's first four games while he worked his way back into shape, but still posted 36 points and 26 rebounds in three games at the EA Sports Maui Invitational.
Shimonovich averaged 11 points and close to nine rebounds in UH's last three games at the Sheriff Center and shot 71 percent (15-for-21) from the field.
"The past few weeks he's playing his best basketball, where he comes to practice and he's energized," Wallace said.
"He's a laid-back kind of guy and that's the way he plays ... but recently he's had the energy. They talked to him and said, 'You've got to play for us to be good,' and I think he wants to help us win so he's picked it up."
Fellow senior Paul Jesinskis has spent the last three seasons banging against Shimonovich every day in practice and can attest to his improvement.
"He's real skilled," Jesinskis said. "He might use up his dribble, but then he'll be able to create with passing or pump fakes and he can shoot it pretty well from outside. His passing has gotten better. He's great at anticipating where a guy's going to be on the cuts."
While Shimonovich may not be a tremendous leaper or a particularly mobile player, he makes up for it with court savvy.
"Haim is a real smart player; he's not just a big oaf out there taking up space," Sensley said. "He may not be the quickest guy, but his knowledge of the game kind of takes over for that. He knows a lot of shortcuts to the game."
Said Jesinskis: "I think he understands the game really well and when he does talk, even though he doesn't talk often, people listen and respect his opinion."
Shimonovich is scheduled to graduate with a degree in math in December, but is also looking to continue his basketball career in Europe or Israel once his college days are over.
And after four years in Manoa, he'll leave better equipped to handle whatever he'll face next on and off the floor.
"I've matured a lot," Shimonovich said. "Being here, being away from home and parents, you have to deal with a lot of different things and expectations. You kind of build an armor. Things can happen, but it doesn't affect me as much as it used to before. Whether I'm having a bad game or something going not the way I want it to, now I'm more immune to that."
Probable starters
Notes: Former Hawaii guard Anthony Carter will be recognized during the game. ... Kuebler has made at least one 3-pointer in 16 consecutive games. ... Millsap leads the nation in rebounding and has had at least eight in every game this season. He leads the WAC with 14 double-doubles. ... LaTech is coming off its worst home loss since joining the WAC, a 79-64 defeat against Nevada on Saturday. ... Hawaii is looking for its first season sweep of the Bulldogs. It would be first time in the seven-game series that a team won back-to-back meetings. UH beat LaTech 67-60 on Jan. 17.
LOUISIANA TECH (11-10, 5-6) Ht. Pts. Reb. Ast. G Corey Dean (Jr.) 6-3 11.3 4.1 2.4 G Donell Allick (Jr.) 6-3 11.8 3.7 3.4 G JueMichael Young (Jr.) 6-2 9.0 3.8 1.6 F Paul Millsap (Fr.) 6-7 15.4 12.8 0.8 F Wayne Powell (Jr.) 6-8 10.1 6.3 0.5 Hawaii (16-4, 8-2) Ht. Pts. Reb. Ast. G Logan Lee (So.) 6-1 4.4 1.6 4.0 G Michael Kuebler (Sr.) 6-4 19.0 3.6 1.8 F Julian Sensley (So.) 6-9 11.6 7.6 3.5 F Phil Martin (Sr.) 6-8 11.5 5.1 1.0 C Haim Shimonovich (Sr.) 6-11 7.3 6.8 2.0
WAC standings
Today's games
Conference AllGames W L Pct. W L Pct. Hawaii 8 2 .800 16 4 .800 UTEP 8 3 .727 17 4 .810 Nevada 8 4 .667 14 7 .667 Rice 7 4 .636 15 7 .682 Fresno St. 7 4 .636 11 9 .550 Boise St. 6 5 .545 14 7 .667 Louisiana Tech 5 6 .455 11 10 .524 SMU 3 8 .273 9 12 .429 Tulsa 3 9 .250 7 14 .333 San Jose St. 0 10 .000 5 15 .250
UTEP at Fresno State, 5 p.m.
SMU at San Jose State, 5 p.m.
Boise State at Nevada, 5:05 p.m.
Louisiana Tech at Hawaii, 7:05 p.m.
Saturday's games
Tulsa at Rice, 9:05 a.m.
Louisiana Tech at San Jose State, noon
Boise State at Fresno State, 5 p.m.
UTEP at Nevada, 5:05 p.m.
SMU at Hawaii, 7:05 p.m.
