Throughout the 2017-18 University of Hawai’i men’s basketball team’s second official practice of the season, the key indicators showed significant year-over-year improvement.
With 71 percent of the team being returnees — including four starters plus another starter from 2016 — it was easy to identify players without the use of a roster. Gone was the awkwardness of some who were experiencing their first NCAA Division I practice last year, and so was much of the stoppages to show them proper fundamentals or positioning.
There were still several teaching moments, to be sure, but for the most part Saturday’s two-and-a-half hour, midday workout in sweltering Gym 2 was paced at second or third gear, and sometimes even fourth.