Alika Smith made a quiet return to coaching at the Stan Sheriff Center yesterday.

Just the way his father would have done it.

Alika's father, Pete Smith, died last Tuesday at Castle Medical Center. He was struggling with his health since undergoing surgery for colon cancer in 2003.

Pete Smith was a long-time successful coach of the Kalaheo High boys program.

After a week of mourning, Alika returned to his duties as assistant coach for the University of Hawai'i men's basketball team yesterday.

"I had to come back (to practice)," Alika said. "I was thinking about him way too much, which is not a bad thing. But I needed a change of scenery, and what better place than in the sport my father taught me."

Alika said the Smith family took the week off "taking care of things that need to be taken care of during times like this."

Kea Smith, Alika's younger brother, also returned to his duties yesterday as manager for the Rainbow Warriors.

Alika said the family has received numerous calls and e-mails from players who learned under Pete Smith.

"People I hardly know are calling me, talking to me about my father," Alika said. "It's a good feeling knowing he touched so many people's lives."

A memorial service for Pete Smith is scheduled for Sunday at the Kalaheo High gym from 11 a.m. to 3 p.m.

"We're expecting a lot of people," Alika said. "He helped a lot of kids — including a lot of kids who don't even play sports. It's beyond basketball."

'BOWS STILL STRUGGLING

Hawai'i head coach Riley Wallace has expressed his frustration in practices this week because he said the team has been slow to learn the schemes, both on offense and defense.

"Some of the new guys are still not understanding, and our on-the-ball defense is not very good," Wallace said.

He said the 'Bows committed 26 turnovers during a recent 40-minute private scrimmage.

He said "penalties" will now be put in place for bad passes during practices. In other words, players will probably have to run extra sprints for careless turnovers.

"We're pushing it because we start early this year," Wallace said. "We're on the road November 10th."

The 'Bows will play an exhibition game against Hawai'i-Hilo on Nov. 4 at the Stan Sheriff Center. The first official game is Nov. 10 at UNLV.

NOTES

Former Hawai'i standout Anthony Carter was waived by the Denver Nuggets yesterday. He was in the Nuggets' training camp as a free agent. Carter got limited action in four preseason games, averaging 4.0 points and 1.8 assists per game. Last season — his seventh in the NBA — he was a reserve with the Minnesota Timberwolves.

Individual game tickets for the upcoming men's and women's basketball seasons are available at the Stan Sheriff Center box office, UH-Manoa Campus Center, Ward Centre Rainbowtique and Windward Community College's OCET office. Tickets can also be purchased online at hawaiiathletics.com or by calling 944-2697.

Reach Dayton Morinaga at dmorinaga@honoluluadvertiser.com.