Dongguan, China » New players, new rules, entirely new locale.

All things considered, it wasn’t a bad showing for the Hawaii men’s basketball team in an 80-70 loss to Team Australia in a practice game to kick off the Warriors to Asia tour on Monday night.

The Rainbow Warriors relied heavily on six of their nine active players, though all saw action. Team Brazil didn’t show up for UH’s second scheduled game this morning. Team Brazil, like Australia, is competing in the upcoming World University Games in China. UH had wanted to use these two games to get a feel for international play and give its players a low-stakes scenario to hone their skills.

A hard-to-reach practice facility shrouded by trees in the middle of bustling Dongguan suited those needs just fine. The Warriors wound up scrimmaging themselves, much to the delight of the young fans in attendance. It was a chance to go over the good and bad things Hawaii encountered in its loss to Australia on Monday.

The Rainbow Warriors controlled much of the first three quarters against Australia, but were undone by some reckless fouls — three were on 3-point attempts — and late turnovers. The Aussies’ size and execution in the endgame won out.

"That was the first time we ever played with a 24-second clock, so that was new for us, which is good," UH coach Gib Arnold said after the Australia game. "That’s why we have this scrimmage game. It’s the first time we played together and first time we went up and down against a defense."

UH had 10 days of full practices leading up to the trip, but was limited in those sessions because it was working with 10 players to begin with and a few suffered ankle sprains.

That included sharpshooter Zane Johnson, who watched the exhibitions as he rehabbed behind the team bench.

Among those who had impressive moments were newcomers Shaquille Stokes and Hauns Brereton. Stokes had all of his 17 points in the first half against Australia, but tired late. Brereton, who is listed at 6-foot-7 but is really closer to 6-5, showed some grit in battling for rebounds and blocking a couple of shots against taller players in the post.

UH kicked off the trip with a starting lineup of Stokes, Bobby Miles, Joston Thomas, Brereton and Davis Rozitis at center.

Forward Trevor Wiseman saw solid minutes off the bench, while guards Brandon Jawato and Pi‘i Minns and forward Tyler Brown were used sparingly.

"We’re playing without Vander (Joaquim), we’re playing without Zane, and it was good to see guys who haven’t played a whole lot play," Arnold said. "This game is only a loss if we don’t get better from this game."

The plucky Stokes agreed. He had a sweet off-the-glass alley-oop to Thomas on a fast break and broke the ankles of an Australian defender before stepping back for a jump shot.

"Individually I feel I showed things I could do well," Stokes said. "Still have to work on a lot of things, I’m still a freshman, but I feel I’ll learn. Overall as a team, we still gotta get better. Not individually, but as a team."

Fisher reunites with Australians

Monday night’s game was a reunion of sorts for Hawaii director of basketball operations Scott Fisher.

Fisher is a renowned player and coach in Australia basketball and was familiar with the Aussie staff that led the country’s World University Games team.

There were plenty of friendly slaps on the back before and after Australia defeated Hawaii at a practice facility in Dongguan.

The practice game, which hurdled plenty of logistical challenges, was in place largely because of Fisher’s contacts Down Under.

"It’s really coincidental. Adam Capehorn, their assistant coach, he played for me," Fisher said. "And Mick Downer, their head coach, his wife was our team receptionist for two years. It’s going back years, I’ve had relationships with these guys for quite some time, so it was kinda cool."

"He’s a massive profile in Australia basketball," Downer said of Fisher. "He’s someone I’ve looked up to."

Fisher analyzed Team Australia as sound in execution and effort — he noted they earned 43 free-throw attempts — to make up for a lack of top-flight ability.

Next stop: Shanghai

After Team Brazil didn’t show, UH departed for the nearby city of Shenzhen via bus. After a half day there, UH will fly to Shanghai (where no games are scheduled) and stay there for a day and a half in a relationship-building stop of the goodwill tour.

The Rainbow Warriors’ next game is Thursday against the first Chinese Basketball Association pro team on the schedule, Shandong in the city of Weifang.