Trust and faith

I was really concerned yesterday. Yeah. Half our guys were busy with high school summer league at the same time our game with KKB was going to begin (7 p.m.). Our other guys were busy, too, with Scout Camp, football practice. Some guys are injured. It was very bleak at best, but it's always good to have hope.

Thanks to Max's mom, Drew made it to the game after football practice and played despite an injured ankle. Because the KKB League allows adults to play, Drew's older brother Bulla joined in. We also had Nate play for the first time along with Tai, who we hadn't seen in Thunder orange since the Aiea Blazers tournament a few months back. Then there was Max, who is the youngest player in the league by far. No other eighth graders, period.

So we didn't have to forfeit, I felt relieved and we had some fun. KKB's team was a patchwork group, too. Most of their guys were missing, so they "borrowed" some of the Hawaiian Punch players. We had an entirely different crew from our first game two weeks ago, but there was a lot of great chemistry. It was cool to see the Viena brothers playing together and playing well. Max hit some nice perimeter shots and held his own against the taller, older guys down low. Nate was extremely quick and deceptive with that lefty drive and finish. Tai was tough on defense and in transition — even though we didn't press at all. Drew was his usual solid all-around self inside and on the break, and he even banked in a 3-pointer from 22 feet out. Bulla? The guy was on fire from the 3-point arc and tough underneath, almost always the first man back on defense. He had a lot of stops against KKB's fastbreak. Frankly, he should be playing college basketball somewhere.

It was fun, but I'm just glad we had a team. We'll have more bodies next week now that one of the high school summer leagues is done.

Shoot your 300: Everybody, we got shooting practice Sunday, 3 p.m., Makiki Park. Our next game is Friday, Palolo Gym, 7 p.m.

During the week, I'll be at Makiki Park 5 p.m. daily (with the new basketballs) so you can work on your game. Shooting drills. Ballhandling drills. If we have 10, scrimmage. This is what summer is about. Improve at least 1% every day and you'll be a totally new player within a month, two months, three months.