The Hawaii basketball team should know itself pretty well by the time it begins its just-released 2013-14 schedule.
Even without a Midnight Madness or Twilight Ohana event planned this year, the Rainbow Warriors will put in some serious work in the preseason. New NCAA rules allow men’s hoops teams to practice 42 days out from their first official game, an extension of about two weeks.
Gib Arnold’s team will have its first official practice Sept. 27 and have 30 sessions spread out from then until the Nov. 8 opener against Tennessee State in the Outrigger Hotels Rainbow Classic.
UH released the remainder of its schedule on Tuesday, featuring 19 home dates and 10 opponents that qualified for the postseason last year. All but five nonconference foes — Hawaii Hilo, Chaminade, Norfolk State, Nebraska-Omaha and New Orleans — were previously reported.
It’s the lead-in to the season that is markedly different this time around.
"I’m definitely in favor. I’m a big believer that players do get better only by practicing," Arnold said. "I’m a believer that guys can come in and change their games, they can improve. The guys who weren’t heavily recruited can leave and play at the highest level of the NBA with hard work. But that’s only going to be done in the gym, and as coaches that’s where I love to be. So the fact that we can get in there earlier with these guys thrills me."
Another significant change: Instead of its usual tip-off Ohana festivities, the Rainbow Warriors will have a 40-minute Green & White Scrimmage on Oct. 19. There might be a dunk contest at halftime, the coach said, but no celebrity game.
"Some (schools) are going to choose to use that differently. So (Midnight Madness) is kind of no longer as relevant as it used to be," Arnold said. "A lot of teams aren’t doing it anymore. … We still want to do something for the fans once we’ve gotten a few weeks in on practice. So we’re going to do something, just a little different. It’s going to be more about basketball."
Once they get to their nonconference season, the Rainbow Warriors encounter a mixed bag of name opponents and unknowns. The best crop again comes in the Hawaiian Airlines Diamond Head Classic on Dec. 22, 23 and 25 — four of those teams made the 2012 NCAA Tournament — but the Rainbow Classic has its most respectable group since it went to the four-team round robin format in 2009. Tennessee State, Western Michigan and New Mexico State all made the postseason last year. UH plays the NMSU Aggies in the annual late-night, ESPN-televised College Hoops Tip-Off Marathon game at midnight on Nov. 12 to cap the Rainbow Classic.
The degree of difficulty at the outset of UH’s second year of Big West play will be high. The Rainbow Warriors play four of their first five on the mainland, including opening Jan. 9 at Cal Poly, a team that’s had UH’s number.
"You know, I don’t make the schedule. I would never choose to start four of the five (on the road) but eventually that’s going to all work itself out," Arnold said. "They’re going to come back. … We’re the only team that’s doing that in the Big West. Everyone else has more of a traditional one or two to start with on the road. But it’s the straw we drew, and we’re going to go on those road games and continue to try to improve on the road."
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2013-14 RAINBOW WARRIOR MEN’S BASKETBALL SCHEDULE
OCTOBER
19 — Green & White Scrimmage
NOVEMBER
Outrigger Hotels Rainbow Classic
8 — Tennessee State
9 — Western Michigan
12 — New Mexico St. (midnight game)
16 — vs. Missouri at Kansas City
21 — Hawaii Hilo
27 — New Orleans
29 — Montana
DECEMBER
7 — at Northern Arizona
14 — vs. Chaminade at Lihue, Kauai
Hawaiian Airlines Diamond Head Classic (Akron, Boise State, George Mason, Hawaii, Iowa State, Oregon State, Saint Mary’s, South Carolina)
22 — Boise State
23 — South Carolina or Saint Mary’s
25 — TBA
30 — Norfolk State
JANUARY
3 — Nebraska-Omaha
9 — at Cal Poly*
11 — at CS Northridge*
18 — UC Riverside*
23 — at UC Davis*
25 — at UC Irvine*
30 — Long Beach State*
FEBRUARY
1 — CS Northridge*
6 — UC Santa Barbara*
8 — Cal Poly*
13 — at UC Riverside*
15 — at Cal State Fullerton*
20 — UC Irvine*
22 — UC Davis*
27 — at Long Beach State*
MARCH
6 — at UC Santa Barbara*
8 — Cal State Fullerton*
Big West tournament
13-15 at Anaheim, Calif.
* — Big West game
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