Before the University of Hawai'i men's basketball team returns to the road — or the win column — it will return to basics.

The Rainbow Warriors went through an apparently grueling three-hour practice yesterday. The only witnesses were the players and coaches.

Hawai'i head coach Bob Nash conducted the practice behind closed doors at the Stan Sheriff Center.

"There was a lot of screaming and yelling; going back to our basics," Nash said. "We didn't want to embarrass any of the guys in front of the press or the public, so that was one reason why we did a closed practice. But we also wanted to impress upon everybody how important these next two games are."

The 'Bows are 9-10 overall and on a five-game losing streak. They are in last place in the nine-team Western Athletic Conference at 1-6. Hawai'i lost a home game to first-place Utah State, 67-51, on Saturday.

The 'Bows are scheduled to depart Honolulu tonight for their longest road trip of the season, in terms of miles. Hawai'i will play at Louisiana Tech on Thursday, and then at New Mexico State on Saturday.

The 'Bows will have two practices — including yesterday's — to improve an offense that is averaging just 54.2 points per game during their five-game losing streak.

"Obviously, we aren't shooting the ball very well, and teams are packing it in against us," Nash said. "We're tinkering with some things, making some adjustments that will hopefully generate points."

What's more, Hawai'i has shot for a .352 field goal percentage in its last five games, including .293 from 3-point range.

"We kept them here (in practice) longer than normal because there was a lot of teaching going on," Nash said. "We're in a tailspin right now and we have to work our way out of it."

Nash said he has received several coaching suggestions in recent weeks from fans, friends and family members.

"I'm getting phone calls, e-mails, letters; one fan sent me a whole eight pages with diagrams and everything," he said. "I don't mind. I'll look at all of them. That tells that there are people out there who want this program to be successful.

"But it has to start from here. I think before we can start adding new things, we have to perfect what we have."

If anything, the 'Bows could have some confidence against Louisiana Tech. Hawai'i's last victory came Jan. 5, a 65-64 home win over the Bulldogs.

"We beat them here by one," Nash said. "We know we can beat them, but we still have to prove it at their place."

MORE TRAVEL ISSUES AHEAD FOR 'BOWS

For a stretch of four games in 13 days from Jan. 20 to Feb. 1, the 'Bows will have traveled from Honolulu to Reno, Nev., back to Honolulu, then to Ruston, La., then Las Cruces, N.M., and then back to Honolulu.

That equates to more than 13,000 miles.

WAC commissioner Karl Benson said the unbalanced scheduling is a necessary evil in a conference with an uneven number of teams.

"There are teams that would appear to be getting the, quote, short end of the deal," Benson said. "Unfortunately with the spread we have, we're not going to treat Hawai'i differently because of the geography. Until the time comes that this league is a 10-team league and we have true travel partners, we're going to be faced with these issues."

Nash called last week's schedule "suicidal," when the 'Bows played at second-place Nevada on a Thursday, then returned for a home game against first-place Utah State on Saturday.

"It's a difficult situation, but I don't think the WAC is intentionally punishing Hawai'i for any reason," Nash said. "But if you look at our situation, when we have to travel 2,500 miles just to get to land, we have a little bit of a different problem."

The 'Bows will face a similar situation next month when they play a game at Fresno State on Feb. 19, then have to return for a home game Feb. 21 for the ESPN BracketBusters game.

"We can't make any excuses about the travel already," Nash said. "It is what it is. It's our turn to be the odd man out, so we deal with it the best we can."