Filipovich out; Bows ramp up 5-on-5 work

Several Rainbow Warriors have been in and out of the lineup through the first week-plus of full Hawaii practices. Monday’s session in Gym 2 was no exception.

Guard Niko Filipovich had his left foot in a protective boot and was sidelined — a bit of a surprise considering he was active in the team’s previous practice Friday.

“I think it was a little bit of fatigue and a couple injuries all over, and I was just compensating on one leg and actually twisted my foot during weight room,” Filipovich said. “It’s nothing serious, should be back on the floor pretty soon.”

Previously, Roderick Bobbitt, Isaac Fleming, Dyrbe Enos, Zach Buscher and Brocke Stepteau have alternately missed one day of practice, mostly due to illness. But besides Filipovich, everybody was active Monday.

That was a good thing, because it was clear the team ramped up the 5-on-5 portion of practice to end the day. The squads were mixed so that there was no clear-cut first team or second team.

Filipovich vowed to be back in two days. That will be right around the time head coach Eran Ganot has to fly to Dallas for the big NCAA hearing. It sounds like UH might take two days off from practice around that trip, then get back at it on the weekend.

Though there is no date set for the Green and White scrimmage yet, Ganot said the general idea is to ramp up the 5-on-5 work (even in the halfcourt) steadily through the G&W scrimmage, the exhibition vs. Chaminade on Nov. 5 and the season opener vs. Montana State on Nov. 13.

He reminded his team Monday, especially the freshmen, that “there’s a lot of new” for everybody on the team.

“We’re going to do a little bit more film this week, for one,” Ganot said. “We’re just starting to get our guys to see themselves, and we gotta do a good job cutting up some things for them. … There are some big dates coming up, and those things come up quick. But it’s not being in a hurry. We’ve got to clean up what we’ve put in before we keep moving forward. I think all coaches probably think they’re behind. You gotta put stuff in. But that’s the danger; you want to make sure you’re still tidying up what you have put in.”

He was pleased that his team still wanted to play at the end of Monday’s practice. Clearly, consecutive days of rest (and just three practice days last week) had the team rested.

“That’s what you want,” Ganot said. “You want good players, great players, great teams, they want to play forever. And today was a good sign in that regard.”