Hawaii Rainbow Warriors
Big West (27-5, 13-3)
Hawaii won their first Big West regular season title, although they did have to share it with UC Irvine. Hawaii has been to the CIT a couple times recently, but this is the best team the islands have seen since the early 2000’s when the Warriors were regulars in the NCAA Tournament and NIT.
Big Wins: 12/23 Northern Iowa (68-52), 2/4 at UCSB (76-64), 2/20 at UC Irvine (75-71)
Bad Losses: 11/28 at Texas Tech (74-82), 1/31 Long Beach State (64-78), 2/25 UC Riverside (71-77)
Coach: Eran Ganot
Why They Can Surprise:
Hawaii sparks their offense with their defense. Roderick Bobbitt and Quincy Smith combine to average 3.9 steals per game and the team as a whole forces about 15 turnovers per game. That is why Hawaii shoots pretty well from the floor since Bobbitt, Smith and Aaron Valdes will get some easy buckets. But the team also shoots well because of 6-11 Stefan Jankovic. He shoots 55.7 percent from the floor and leads the team with 15.7 points per game. Jankovic can stretch the defense a little bit with his outside shooting too, although he is far less efficient the further he moves away from the basket. Jankovic is also the team’s best rebounder and the main reason Hawaii is the best rebounding team in the Big West. Stefan Jovanovic, not to be confused with Jankovic, is a great backup to Jankovic and is always tough on the glass and defensively.
Why They Can Disappoint:
This is a team that has proven they can compete on the glass with anybody in the country. This is a team that dominated Northern Iowa on the glass in an early season win and weas right there with Oklahoma, Auburn and Texas Tech. The difference between wins and losses in those games was turnovers. Against Auburn, Hawaii committed just 11 turnovers, while forcing 16, and cruised to victory. Against Texas Tech Hawaii lost the turnover battle and lost the game. Against Oklahoma, they were able to stay very, very close to one of the best teams in the country because they committed just ten turnovers. This is a team that averages more than 13 turnovers per game, so if they want to be able to beat a more talented team in the postseason, they must continue to force turnovers as they have all season, but also keep their turnover number down. If that happens, this is a Hawaii team that can give some big teams a big scare.
Probable Starters:
Roderick Bobbitt, Senior, Guard, 13.3 ppg, 5.5 apg, 4.2 rpg, 2.2 spg
Quincy Smith, Senior, Guard, 7.7 ppg, 2.5 apg, 1.7 spg
Aaron Valdes, Junior, Guard, 14.6 ppg, 2.5 apg, 5.5 rpg
Mike Thomas, Junior, Forward, 7.6 ppg, 5.4 rpg
Stefan Jankovic, Junior, Forward, 15.7 ppg, 6.6 rpg, 1.2 bpg
Key Roleplayers:
Sheriff Drammeh, Freshman, Guard, 1.7 ppg
Stefan Jovanovic, Junior, Center, 5.0 ppg, 4.1 rpg
Isaac Fleming, Sophomore, Guard, 9.5 ppg, 2.3 apg
Sai Tummala, Senior, Guard, 6.5 ppg
By the Numbers:
Scoring Offense: 77.8 (64th in nation, 1st in conference)
Scoring Defense: 67.2 (66, 4)
Field-Goal Percentage: 46.0 (75, 2)
Field-Goal Defense: 40.1 (35, 3)
Three-Point Field Goals Per Game: 7.1 (156, 5)
Three-Point Field-Goal Percentage: 32.3 (280, 8)
Free-Throw Percentage: 68.2 (231, 6)
Rebound Margin: 4.4 (56, 1)
Assists Per Game: 15.8 (42, 1)
Turnovers Per Game: 13.3 (230, 7)
Recent Postseason Appearances:
2013 CIT First Round loss to Air Force
2011 CIT First Round win over Portland
2011 CIT Second Round loss to San Francisco
2004 NIT First Round win over Utah
2004 NIT Second Round win over Nebraska
2004 NIT Quarterfinal loss to Michigan
2003 NIT First Round win over UNLV
2003 NIT Second Round loss to Minnesota
2002 NCAA Round of 64 loss to Xavier
2001 NCAA Round of 64 loss to Syracuse
*all team stats through 3/6
