Down, but not out.

At least, that's what the Hawaii men's basketball team strived to be over the two days before it left for Reno, Nev., today.

A neutral observer would've had difficulty matching the Rainbow Warriors' spirits in practice with their Western Athletic Conference record. The Rainbows (9-8, 1-4 WAC) displayed high energy in preparing for their contests at Nevada's Lawlor Events Center on Thursday and at home against Utah State on Saturday.

After faltering against another zone defense—this time at home to San Jose State last week—the Rainbows spent their time Sunday and yesterday redoubling their efforts to penetrate their opponents' favored scheme against them.

Hawaii coach Bob Nash ramped up his activity in practice again by actually participating in 5-on-5 drills alongside his players against the zone.

Nash noticed that after UH lost to Colorado State in the first round of the Rainbow Classic, teams have usually opened up against Hawaii in a man-to-man system. And once UH proved it could score against that style, opponents swapped to a zone for most or all of the game. It's been a major factor in the Rainbows losing four of five games to open WAC play.

“;It's just been a trend ever since (CSU),”; Nash said. “;Until we change that trend, I don't see it changing. If you guard us man-to-man, I think we can score against anybody. But if you think you're going to try to slow us down, teams have gone to a zone, so we're addressing those issues with our guys.”;

Their timing in practice did seem to be better in delivering post entry passes for cuts to the basket or kick-outs for open jumpers in the flex-motion system.

But offensive success in practice isn't new. The key will be if the Rainbows can execute it in game situations—something they didn't do against the SJSU Spartans despite knowing what was coming.

Point guard Kareem Nitoto thinks they have turned a corner in that regard.

“;We've all been sitting down, talking with each other,”; Nitoto said. “;We basically looked at it like, 'We gotta play for us. We can't play looking over our shoulders. We can't play not to make mistakes. We just have to go out and play together, as hard as we can.' That's what we've been doing lately in practice and it's showing it'll be a good idea. Nobody's playing with any fear out there.”;

Hawaii's ability (or lack thereof) to consistently hit outside shots to bust zones is a problem Nash is well aware of. But he believes that it will happen as the team gains proficiency in dissecting the defense from inside out.

“;On the perimeter, we gotta rhythm up and be ready to shoot the basketball,”; Nash said. “;People say we don't have good shooters, I tend to disagree. If we take our shots, the shots we work on every single day, we are a good shooting team. But if we stay out beyond the 3-point line and hoist shots and wait for them to go in, it doesn't work that way.”;

Guard Lasha Parghalava has made the most 3-pointers on the team at 22, but is shooting them at a 27.8 percent clip. Forwards Roderick Flemings (13-for-41, 31.7 percent) and Adhar Mayen (13-for-39, 33.3 percent) have been UH's most accurate bombers.