Dana Takahara-Dias tossed out a rhetorical question on the first day of full practices for the 2011-12 Hawaii women’s basketball team.

“What is defense? We don’t know what defense is,” the third-year coach said with a laugh.

Takahara-Dias was (apparently) joking, but it’s true that the preseason focus of the Rainbow Wahine has been their overhauled motion offense that’s been new to everybody except assistant coach Gavin Petersen, who brought it over from Idaho in the offseason, and sophomore transfer Kanisha Bello, a former Vandals guard.

With so many fresh faces on the roster —there are eight newcomers among the 15 Wahine — Takahara-Dias figured it was an ideal time for an overhaul on the heels of an 11-19 season.

“If we were to play a game tomorrow, we would look solid on offense but wouldn’t know what to do on defense,” the coach said. “That’s the priority we made trying to teach this new concept. And I think the players have bought in. It’s a work in progress, but I still believe with this new offensive team, it will really play to our strengths because we’re so guard-oriented.”

UH can be thankful that the NCAA was generous in allotting practice preparation time for women’s hoops this season. UH doesn’t play an exhibition until Oct. 29, against Hawaii Pacific, and doesn’t play an official game until Nov. 11 against Hawaii-Hilo.

The Wahine lost five seniors from last season, including all of their point guards. The returning cornerstones are sophomore forward Kamilah Jackson (11.9 points, 11.9 rebounds per game) and sophomore wing Shawna Kuehu (9.4 ppg, 5.1 rpg), both of whom made the Western Athletic Conference All-Freshmen team last season.

“I’ve heard that we’re halfway,” Kuehu said of the team’s offensive progress in workouts to this point. “It isn’t complete yet, because there’s so many options you can do off of it.”

More than in the structured system of the past two seasons, players must read and react to what their teammates are doing in the flow of the offense. And post players such as Jackson will be asked to motion around the perimeter, even take 3-pointers.

“Has it been hard to learn? Yes. … You’re kind of reading off of everybody,” Kuehu said. “I think what makes it more difficult isn’t necessarily understanding the offense but getting to really know and understand your players and what they’re trying to do.”

UH will be almost completely new at guard and has only a few post players to call upon. Up to three starting spots could be up for grabs.

“I feel like I have a good chance to get ahold of the offense, as it’s new for everybody,” said 5-foot-3 point guard Alissa Campanero, a freshman out of San Diego. “It’s very similar (to high school), and the transition game, I’m very comfortable with that. It’s really helped me get more of an edge.”

Jasmine Ray, a 5-foot-6 sophomore out of San Bernardino Valley College, is the other player competing for the point guard spot vacated by Keisha Kanekoa.

“I think the competition will be fierce,” Takahara-Dias said.