Brandon Thomas anticipated the offensive player’s movement, slid his feet into position and took the contact right in the chest for a textbook charge call.
The offender? His older brother, Mike.
“That’s not usually a part of my arsenal, but it’s something I’m gonna start doing more often,” the younger Thomas said, then paused and smiled. “On him, though, it was a little more satisfying.”
That was one of a handful of highlights of Hawaii basketball’s Green and White intrasquad scrimmage held on Sunday afternoon. About 500 fans took advantage of the free admission to see the 2017-18 Rainbow Warriors in action for the first time at the Stan Sheriff Center.
UH, which plays its regular-season opener Nov. 10 against Arkansas-Pine Bluff, played officiated periods of 12, 10, and eight minutes. Redshirt freshman point guard Drew Buggs capped off the afternoon with a deep 3-pointer to beat the buzzer and hand the Green squad a 21-18 win in the final period, answering a trey by junior guard Sheriff Drammeh.
It wasn’t always that pretty, but third-year coach Eran Ganot anticipated that.
“I feel good overall in terms of the progression. We needed this,” Ganot said. “There are going to be some highs and lows, at times we’re doing well defensively and then we’re doing well offensively. There’s some clear things that stick out under the naked eye: the (missed) bunnies around the rim, maybe a little bit 3-point happy, the balance early between the 3s and the 2s. A couple bad shots in there. But overall pleased with the effort. Guys played hard.”
Drammeh was the leading scorer across the total 30 minutes of play with 17 points on 6-for-11 shooting. He was pressed into service as a point guard because of a foot injury to junior Brocke Stepteau, who was held out of action. Buggs, coming off an injury redshirt year and some nagging ailments this preseason, closed strong to finish with 11 points, five assists and three turnovers.
While the team is heavy on returnees, first-year UH guards Thomas and Jaaron Stallworth and freshman forwards Samuta Avea and Justin Hemsley had some of the day’s best moments.
Brandon Thomas, a sophomore out of Riverside College, showed off his 3-point stroke (3-for-4) for 12 points with four assists and no turnovers. He was the only one to go 3-0 for the day as players were shuffled among periods.
“It’s easy to play with anybody, really,” he said. “We’re all just running up and down the court playing basketball. It feels fun.”
Avea broke away for a dunk among his 14 points with six rebounds. The athletic wing even connected on two of his five 3-point attempts, not an advertised part of his skill-set. He was impressed with the turnout of fans, which included a North Shore cheering section.
“Just getting more comfortable, more reps,” said the Kahuku High product. “Through time it’s starting to slow down for me and I’m able to play more of my game now that I’m more comfortable and know the offense better.”
Mike Thomas, UH’s fifth-year senior captain who is projected to have a big year at power forward, missed some chippies and shot 1-for-9 in his first public competition since playing Maryland in the 2016 NCAA Tournament.
“There’s no worry whatsoever with Mike Thomas,” Ganot said. “Other than I could see him pressing a little bit, (which) compounded the problem. Some of the things we did today are fixable. … He needed to play through it a little bit. He probably had four or five that he’d like back.”
He got a measure of redemption with a dunk in the final minutes.
Up next for UH is the tip-off banquet fundraiser event Wednesday at the Sheriff. Seating is sold out.
