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Stepteau steps up to earn more playing time

BRUCE ASATO / BASATO@STARADVERTISER.COM

Hawaii’s Brocke Stepteau drives to the hoop on UH Hilo’s Randan Berinobis in the first half of the UH-Hilo vs UH Manoa basketball game at Stan Sheriff Center Tuesday.

As Hawaii basketball’s season-opening homestand rolls on, the Rainbow Warriors continue to roll through various lineups in search of their optimum form.

The starting five has remained the same through five games for the 3-2 ’Bows. But there’s been plenty of tinkering behind the scenes, as evidenced by the triple-point-guard lineup, among other fresh combos, that appeared in a 31-point win over Hawaii Hilo on Tuesday.

UH BASKETBALL

Troy (2-3) at Hawaii (3-2)

Today, 8 p.m., at Stan Sheriff Center

TV: OC Sports

Radio: KKEA, 1420-AM

Series: First meeting

Today’s 8 p.m. tilt against Troy of the Sun Belt Conference is the sixth of seven straight ’Bows games at the Stan Sheriff Center before they venture all the way to Bloch Arena for the Pearl Harbor Invitational.

“I think we’re still going to try a lot of different combinations,” UH coach Eran Ganot said on the phone amid team Thanksgiving festivities. “We have in almost all five games. We’re still looking at combinations that work.”

They may have stumbled upon something effective in the 5-foot-9 form of walk-on Brocke Stepteau, who put up career highs of 11 points and seven assists — while committing just one turnover — off the bench against Hilo.

There’s a good chance Stepteau will take the offensive reins from Sheriff Drammeh at some point today, which would shift the driving Drammeh to the wing.

“Bottom line, (Stepteau has) put himself as a factor,” Ganot said. “He’s done it the right way in practice. His comfort is growing. The next step for him is to consistently bring it.”

True freshman shooting guard Leland Green has struggled so far with his shot and foul trouble while starting. Ganot did not say if a change is being considered in the first five, but shared that the tandem of Stepteau and Drammeh will appear more.

UH has yet to lose consecutive games under the second-year coach; with the 86-55 rout of Hilo, the Rainbow Warriors are 7-0 coming off a loss.

The Trojans (2-3) of Alabama have come a long way to attempt to end a three-game losing streak. They are 0-3 on the road, and have never before played a Big West Conference team. The city of Troy is to the southeast of Montgomery, the state capital.

Troy showed the capacity to put up points in bunches in its season-opening 135-76 win over non-Division I Toccoa Falls. Seven players scored in double figures in that win. But since starting their D-I slate, the Trojans and their active bench — 10 people see regular minutes — have scored only 63.8 points per game.

“Our bench has been good this year, but we had some turnovers that really hurt what we were trying to do,” Troy coach Phil Cunningham lamented on the team’s website.

Swingman Jordon Varnado leads the Trojans with 14.4 points per game, but they have another Person of interest. Wesley Person — the son of the former NBA player of the same name and nephew of Chuck Person — adds 13.8 a contest. Point guard Kevin Baker is the top 3-point threat, making three per game.

Person hit a 3 in every game last season and, until going 0-for-2 against Eastern Illinois in Troy’s second game of 2016-17, had an NCAA-best streak of 61 games with a long-range bucket. The Sun Belt second-teamer had five of Troy’s six 3s in a 79-67 loss at San Francisco (3-0) on Wednesday night. It was a close game most of the way.

“We’ve seen some good shooters in here and he’s as good as we’ve seen or will see,” said Ganot, who also lauded the Trojans’ size and strength epitomized by the 6-foot-8 Varnado.

Varnado is the younger brother of NCAA career blocks record-holder (564) Jarvis Varnado of Mississippi State.

UH continues to be led on multiple fronts by senior wing Noah Allen (19.0 ppg, 7.0 rpg, 3.4 apg).

UH TIPOFF

TROY AT HAWAII

Series: First Meeting

WHEN: 8 p.m. today • WHERE: Stan Sheriff Center

TROY TROJANS (2-3)

Projected starting lineup:

Pos. No. Player Ht. Wt. Cl.
G 0 Kevin Baker 6-2 180 Jr.
G 3 Wesley Person 6-3 190 Jr.
G/F 25 DeVon Walker 6-6 203 Sr.
F 23 Jordon Varnado 6-6 215 So.
F 30 Alex Hicks 6-8 215 So.

WHEN TROY HAS THE BALL

All-name teamer Varnado is an inside-outside threat with bruising strength, surrounded by capable shooters. Person and Baker in particular have made teams pay from long range. Person was last season’s top returnee. Ten players see regular minutes for the Trojans.

HAWAII RAINBOW WARRIORS (3-2)

Projected starting lineup:

Pos. No. Player Ht. Wt. Cl.
PG 23 Sheriff Drammeh 6-3 160 So.
SG 0 Leland Green 6-2 175 Fr.
SF 32 Noah Allen 6-7 215 Sr.
PF 12 Jack Purchase 6-8 200 So.
PF 21 Gibson Johnson 6-8 220 Jr.

WHEN HAWAII HAS THE BALL

Brocke Stepteau’s rise as a capable ball-handler could shift Drammeh increasingly to the wing. Regardless of where he is on the floor, Drammeh is adept at getting to the line on his drives. He is 24-for-29 on free throws (82.8 percent) and has attempted more than double than his closest teammate, Johnson.

TV: OC Sports * Radio: KKEA, 1420-AM

7 responses to “Stepteau steps up to earn more playing time”

  1. Pacificsports says:

    What a foolish article trying to hype a team that’s clearly only playing at home and against teams, except one, with losing records. Trying to hype Troy which was LAST PLACE in its conference last year is more PR that a sports article. Of course Drammeh can’t play point, everyone knows that. No point true point guard, no true center, no real opponent. Arkansa Pine Bluff is another cupcake team finishing second to last. This non-conference schedule is a big joke.

    • oxtail01 says:

      Give the coaches and the players some credit. They’ve already shown to be better than what most of us projected them to be. Allen has proven to be a tremendous addition, already showing skills that exceed what Janks was capable of. Get over your love affair with the conman, Fib.

  2. Galatians52223 says:

    Hawaii will win more games if they listen to Hallums – Noah Allen needs to start the offense with the ball in his hands.

  3. lowtone123 says:

    With Leland Green struggling it is a no brainer moving Drammeh to the two and putting Stepteau at point the offense moves more like it should with Brocke at point.

    • oxtail01 says:

      Only people with no brains takes such a leap of faith off of performance in one game against a pathetically weak team. Why is it so difficult to wait for validation over several games before jumping to conclusions?

  4. kk808 says:

    The article lists Varnado of Troy as 6-6 and 6-8…which is it?

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