Still dreaming big but patient enough to think small, GE Coleman saw “baby-step” progression in his first two seasons as UH-Hilo men’s basketball coach. ADVERTISING Still dreaming big but patient enough to think small, GE Coleman saw “baby-step” progression in
Still dreaming big but patient enough to think small, GE Coleman saw “baby-step” progression in his first two seasons as UH-Hilo men’s basketball coach.
To take the next step, the Vulcans have two large shoes to fill, but that wasn’t on Coleman’s mind as preseason practice winded down.
The first step this season is getting healthy.
“I have no clue where we’re at,” he said on the eve of his team’s season-opener. “This has been a fun group to coach. I wish we could keep them all on the floor.”
Leading returning big man Darius Johnson-Wilson is among the injured, and Coleman said he was highly doubtful for Saturday’s 2 p.m. game against Division I Montana State at the Outrigger Resorts Rainbow Classic in Honolulu.
The Vulcans already had a hole in the middle before the injury.
The 2014-15 Vuls improved their win total by five from the previous season to get to 12-14, beating two top 25 teams for the first time since 1998. Likely ticketed for a upper-division finish in the Pacific West Conference, there were no doubt a few league coaches who breathed a sigh of relief when Tre Johnson opted to skip his senior season to sign a pro contract in Austria.
“Tre at times took away a lot of our mistakes,” Coleman said.
Senior point guard Van Lockett, the team’s leading returning scorer, could go on and on about the impact Johnson made at both ends of the court, but, he said, “You have to play the hand your dealt.”
As he gushed about his new teammates, it’s clear he likes his hand.
Parker Farris, a 6-foot-4 junior transfer, is here to shoot first and can play shooting guard or small forward.
“He’s the best shooter I’ve ever played with and been able to share the court with,” Lockett said.
Jordan Russell, a senior transfer, is a combo guard like Lockett.
“He can shoot of the dribble, take you off the dribble, one of the fastest guys I’ve seen with the ball,” Lockett said.
Another guard and senior transfer is 6-1 Chris Holmes.
“He can just play, you can’t put him into a category,” Lockett said.
He could rattle off more names and accolades, but he stops, his point made.
Lockett came to Hilo in part to play with Johnson-Wilson and his “crazy basketball IQ,” and they along with sophomore Randan Berinobis form the returning nucleus.
Johnson-Wilson averaged 10.1 points per game and 5.2 rebounds last season, and once he gets healthy – Coleman thought he could miss as many as four weeks – his coach wants him shoot first and pass second.
“He is probably the best passing big man that I’ve ever coached,” Coleman said. “What we want to see more from him this year is being more of a scorer, being aggressive.
“He’s always going to be able to pass. If he can score early and be aggressive it’s going to open up our offense that much more.”
While Coleman’s recruiting efforts focused mainly on perimeter-oriented players, Nate Walker is a 6-6 senior who can play power forward along with Johnson-Walker.
Coleman says no player has come further in his program than Berinobis, a Hilo High graduate who played in 25 games last season. The 6-3 sophomore offers an additional presence and will try to build off a season in which he averaged 3.0 points and 2.5 rebounds a game.
“A pleasure to coach,” Coleman said.
Coleman said freshman Tolby Saito, a high-scoring guard and the reigning BIIF Division II Player of the Year at Pahoa, had his best week of practice leading up to the opener. Sophomore Maikai Gahan, a Waiakea grad, will compete for playing time off the bench.
The local trio aside, it’s no coincidence that most of the players Coleman recruits have played previously in the Pacific Northwest, Coleman’s old stomping ground.
Players such as Lockett, Russell and true freshman guard Patrick Ball are tailor-made to play in Coleman’s uptempo system. This season the NCAA upped the ante for teams wishing to play a faster style, cutting the shot clock to 30 seconds and asking referees to be more stringent in calling hand-checking and bumping.
“This year, we’re going to have a little more consistent scoring all the way around, and I think that is going to allow us to get up and down better,” Lockett said.
Coleman balances a win-now mentality with a balanced, realistic approach, but Lockett doesn’t have that luxury.
“Coach, he always has high expectations,” Lockett said. “My expectations have to be above his.”
The senior came off the bench early last season but ended up starting 17 games, averaging 11.4 points and 2.8 assists.
He calls this season his “last stand.”
“We have to learn how to finish the game together, that’s what its about. We have to have chemistry to finish the games,” he said. “I expect us to be able to go. With this group, it’s safe to say we can all play. It’s going to be a fun year.”
