In defense of Kareem Nitoto, statistics don't always tell the whole story of a basketball player.

Defensive discipline is hard to measure in numbers.

So is personal discipline.

Nitoto has excelled at both this season with the University of Hawai'i men's basketball team.

"I don't really look at the numbers," said Nitoto, a sophomore point guard. "If you play basketball, you know you're going to have rough times. Nobody comes out and has a great game every night, except maybe Kobe (Bryant), and I'm not Kobe. Every game is a chance to start fresh. That's how I look at it."

That outlook has worked wonders in recent weeks.

In two victories last week, Nitoto broke out of a season-long slump by averaging 16.5 points and 6.0 rebounds per game while shooting 14 of 18 from the field.

"People get on him that he can't do this and he can't do that," Hawai'i head coach Bob Nash said. "He never let it bother him. He keeps working hard every day, and I think you got to see some of that pay off."

The 'Bows will need Nitoto to maintain his improved pace when they host Nevada tomorrow at the Stan Sheriff Center.

Nitoto is averaging 6.4 points, 3.2 assists and 2.9 rebounds per game this season. He admits struggling to adapt to the team's offense as the starting point guard early this season.

"I really didn't play much point guard in high school," Nitoto said. "A lot of it is still new to me. That's why I try to work so hard at it. I put in extra time in the weight room, I stay after practice every day to shoot. I want to get better."

It helps to have a clear mind.

At the start of this season, Nitoto's mother, Phyllis Collins, became seriously ill.

Nitoto said he thought about leaving UH to be by the side of his mother in Berkeley, Calif.

"Me and my mom are really close — she raised me on her own for a lot of years," he said. "I'm not going to blame that for affecting my performance on the court, but it did affect my emotions. I felt like I needed to be with my family to help my mom and I wasn't there."

Collins eventually moved in with her oldest daughter, and convinced Nitoto to stay in Hawai'i.

"I told him it would be worse for me if he came home because that would hurt me that he gave up his education," Collins said. "I told him I would be fine, and that I would be with him no matter what happened."

Nitoto said: "When I found out she moved in with my sister and she was getting better, it was a big relief."

Coincidence or not, that's when Nitoto's basketball play started to improve.

Kwame Nitoto, his father, said: "Kareem has been through some emotional challenges that people don't know about. For him to not say anything and still play through it, that tells you what kind of character he has. Believe me, you guys weren't seeing the real Kareem early in the season."

Through it all, Nitoto maintained his penchant for defense. He is regarded as the team's best perimeter defender, and is often assigned to watch the opposing team's best guard.

In a 71-49 victory over Idaho last Saturday, Nitoto held Mac Hopson to a season-low five points. Hopson is considered a candidate for Western Athletic Conference Player of the Year.

"He starts everything for us on defense," teammate Roderick Flemings said. "Once he's on his guy, you just have to worry about denying your own man because you know Kareem will lock his man down."

Growing up in the mean streets of Berkeley and Oakland, Nitoto learned how to play aggressive basketball.

"It was rough," he said. "Crime every day, shootings, gang activity. Basketball kept me out of that, but you had to be tough to play basketball over there, too."

Part of his defensive prowess also stems from his athletic gifts. His 45-inch vertical jump is the highest mark in the history of the UH basketball program. He is also one of the strongest and fastest players on the team.

There have been subtle suggestions from people affiliated with UH football for Nitoto to become a two-sport athlete.

"I was a receiver and (defensive back) in high school," he said. "I'd love to play receiver in the offense they run here. But I'm here for basketball first."

After all, Nitoto is named after former NBA great Kareem Abdul-Jabbar.

"Kareem was my favorite player at the time," his father said. "I knew he wasn't going to be 7 feet tall, but I knew he was going to be a player. You could see he had the talent from when he was a baby."

His mother remembers balking at the idea of allowing Nitoto to enter a "hot shot" competition when he was 6. The youngest age group was for 12-year-olds.

But Nitoto won that contest, and still has the trophy as proof.

It is why his parents think Nitoto has yet to blossom with the 'Bows.

"He can shoot, he can play point guard, he'll do what ever it takes," Kwame said. "Everything was so new to him in Hawai'i, I think it just took some time."

It also makes sense out of Nitoto's choice of odd jersey number 0.

"I wanted to start from scratch here, from point zero," Nitoto said. "And I just want to get better every day."

As long as his mother does, too, so should Nitoto.