The University of Hawai'i men's basketball team wants to start defending its home court successfully again by playing better defense.

The Rainbow Warriors are 3-8, and have lost four consecutive home games, due in large part to defensive lapses.

"We're having way too many breakdowns defensively," Hawai'i head coach Bob Nash said. "We're allowing too many open drives to the basket."

The 'Bows hope to have it corrected by tomorrow, when they host Centenary at 5:05 p.m. at the Stan Sheriff Center.

The defensive deficiencies have been especially frustrating for the returnees from last season's team.

Last season, the 'Bows limited opponents to a .398 field goal percentage. It was the first time that a Hawai'i team held opponents below 40 percent for a season.

This season, opponents have a .458 field goal percentage.

"That's the most frustrating thing," senior Jared Dillinger said. "We know we can run our offense, but we just haven't been able to find that defense we had last year."

It hurts that the 'Bows no longer have center Ahmet Gueye and guard Matt Lojeski. Gueye was one of the best shot blockers in UH history; Lojeski was the team's best perimeter defender, and was often assigned to the opposing team's best guard.

"Having those two guys in there allowed us to do a lot of different things," Nash said. "We could gamble a little more. We don't have guys like that now, but that doesn't mean we can't be just as good defensively as a team."

In particular, Nash said he would prefer this season's 'Bows to "lock down" and not rely so much on steals and blocked shots.

"We just have to be patient," he said. "When we try to get a steal, we get out of position. We can't take too many chances like that this year. We have to be more responsible and make stops — force bad shots."

Senior guard Riley Luettgerodt said the 'Bows are using the same man-to-man defensive scheme as last season, but are still adjusting to it this season.

"It's more about playing defense as a team this year," he said. "We really need to help each other, and sometimes we don't do that. It's fixable. It just takes a lot of repetition."

'BOWS DISCUSS SEASON

The team met for more than one hour yesterday to discuss the early-season losses.

"It was like a round-the-dinner-table discussion," Nash said. "Some things came out that we needed to hear."

In essence, it appears the 'Bows agreed to share the blame in losses and the glory in victories.

"We all want to win and get this thing corrected," Luettgerodt said. "So it was good to hear from everybody. It was an open forum, and I think it really helped the team."

Dillinger added: "No one was pointing the finger, blaming others. We realize that collectively, as a team, we have problems that we need to solve."

RESERVES READY TO GO

With only 10 players on the active roster, Nash said he will rely on all 10 the rest of this season.

"We're 11 games into the season. We've played on the road, at home," Nash said. "We've been through all the scenarios. There are no rookies anymore. We have to be ready for anything."

Reach Dayton Morinaga at dmorinaga@honoluluadvertiser.com.

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