Comments on: Hawaii women’s basketball: Rainbow Wahine picked fourth in Big West preseason polls

By: HawaiiMongoose

HawaiiMongoose — Thu, 24 Oct 2019 18:31:53 +0000

Aiea, regarding a dominant inside player, I think the hope is that returning 6’4″ junior Rewers will continue to improve. She was clearly more comfortable and effective on the floor as a sophomore than as a freshman, so the potential is there. Also the 6’2″ JC transfer Rangel was the most dominant junior college post player in all of California last season. She has a stocky build and hurt her knee in the JC title game, so her challenge may be getting up and down the court fast enough to keep up with the action.

On the other hand I don’t see a consistent (i.e. 35-40% accurate) 3 point shooter on the roster either. Perhaps Alexander can fill that role since she finished last season shooting pretty well from the perimeter. Or maybe one of the freshmen will surprise us.

By: Aiea 7

Aiea 7 — Thu, 24 Oct 2019 17:58:28 +0000

hope the team does well this year. but to be really successful they need a big dominate player on the inside and a consistent 3 point shooter from the outside. don’t believe they have either this year. to be successful with a smaller team you will need good speed and play great defense.

By: Matt

Matt — Thu, 24 Oct 2019 05:34:37 +0000

You know, Brian. It’s interesting that H-Man brought that up. But prior when I spoke to Atwell during the St. John’s Women’s Volleyball game about that, she said that pretty much Woodfolk’s not coming back. You know how difficult pregnancies are for student-athletes. Except, this isn’t another case of a Shawna-Lei Kuehu awakening. No. It’s an out-of-state girl we’re looking at here. It’s hard for someone from the mainland to get help without any form of financial aid to deal with thinking of their pregnancy and their playing career. I don’t think she’ll be coming back at all.

Also, prior after the Hawaii/UC Davis WVB game, I spoke with Julissa Tago about her shoulder, and it does look like she’s ready to get back in gear, considering that she had to play with it for most of the 2018-19 season. So, this should be an interesting setup, especially to see if she, Atwell, Reier and Middap can start out strong, and especially set the tone with the other returnees (Alexander, Rewers, Joseph) and the freshmen (Possibly).

But, again…I’m not really surprised that the WVB team gets picked 4th again. Twice, this team was picked either 4th and 5th respectably, after the 2015-16 NCAA appearance. I think it’s the depth that maybe is concerning why we’re picked in the middle or a bit at the top. This season will be an interesting scenario, especially with a lot of west coast teams in the fray, and 4 teams from Texas (Including the Longhorns). This oughta be fun.

(If you probably haven’t watched the Hawaii/UC Davis WVB match for the Stan’s 25th anniversary, Brian, I was the guy behind the top official in front, the one doing those animation moves, for anybody wondering.)

By: Brian McInnis

Brian McInnis — Thu, 24 Oct 2019 03:39:17 +0000

In reply to H-Man. It might be theoretically possible but all indications I've gotten are that won't happen.

By: H-Man

H-Man — Thu, 24 Oct 2019 02:08:15 +0000

Can Woolfolk rejoin the team? Maybe not this season, but next?