At roughly the midpoint of preseason practices, the Hawaii basketball team showed its work.

The Rainbow Warriors looked a little ragged in the early moments of Saturday afternoon’s Green and White intrasquad scrimmage under new basketball coach Eran Ganot, but they seemed to grow in confidence operating their new motion offense in front of an audience over the course of three 10-minute periods.

Baskets were sparse early but came frequently near the end — capped off with a tomahawk jam by forward Aaron Valdes — which of course meant UH players were giving up points as easily as they scored them.

"You’re playing yourself. We won and lost today," Ganot said with a smile.

A few hundred fans turned out for the free-admission event at the Stan Sheriff Center. Most stayed to applaud the team and first-year coaching staff afterward. The team, in turn, applauded the crowd.

"It felt pretty good," said senior Roderick Bobbitt, the starting point guard of last season’s 22-13 team. "We haven’t played in front of fans in the Stan Sheriff since Santa Barbara (last) senior night, so it was good to get people in here and watch us play."

There’s still a long way to go until a Nov. 5 exhibition against Chaminade and the Nov. 13 regular-season opener against Montana State, both in terms of days and what UH has to sort out with its rotation.

UH tried out different combinations of players over the three periods, split up between Ganot’s assistant coaches as the head coach roamed between the two squads. Nine of the 15 players on the roster scored. Junior forward Stefan Jankovic led the way with 20 total points, mixing up some runners and baby hook shots with a 3-point shot opponents had to respect.

Ganot’s preferred four-out, one-in offense requires the right spacing, screening and cutting and the threat of perimeter shots from multiple spots around the 3-point arc.

"We still have a lot to learn, but I think the stuff he’s taught us so far we’ve picked up on and we’re running pretty well," Jankovic said.

Bobbitt had 16 points and a highlight lob to Valdes for a dunk in transition, while second-year guard Isaac Fleming scored all of his 14 in the final period. Valdes scored 12.

Arizona State transfer Sai Tummala, a graduate student with one season of eligibility, was the only newcomer to score. He had nine points.

Ganot said even though the ball wasn’t going through the net early — the Green squad beat the White 12-9 in the first 10-minute period — he was pleased with the shot selection, until some impatience in the second game. By the end, he was mostly happy again, after the Green won 27-21 in the last period.

"It’s a constant work in progress," Ganot said. "It’ll be that way during the season. I thought there were some good things out there, some positives, and some things we need to work on. And that’s what this is for.

"We do have to be more inside-out and take better shots, and that’s what we’re going to (go over) Monday when we watch some film."

Bobbitt conceded he and his teammates haven’t totally found their comfort zone yet with the new offense. Since April, they’ve tried to transition from last year’s looser style under interim coach Benjy Taylor.

"Just brushing up on some of the plays," the point guard said. "Sometimes we get a little stagnant out there. Sometimes we don’t know where we’re supposed to go (and) we’re just running around. Just (need to get) more plays in in practice and focusing in on certain situations."

Bobbitt showed off an improved 3-point shot, an area of weakness last season for the national steals leader. He stepped confidently into some long attempts and went 3-for-4 from distance.

"We got up a lot of shots in practice," Bobbitt said. "A lot, a lot of shots. You know, it’s just repetition, and just being ready to shoot."

UH played man-to-man on both ends during the first two periods then switched to a zone for the third.

"This wasn’t a full game, but it was close to it," Jankovic said. "So it was good to mix it up and run zone a little bit."