Take the good with the bad

And the bad with the good. That's life. 15U, you played a solid game this morning, very solid considering our situation this week. I thought we'd be fatigued, but we came out firing and hitting 3s from all over, and our defensive pressure was Tenacious. Lub it! To beat the Sharks for the first time after more than a year of close, sometimes VERY close losses, is excellent.

I love that it came down to free throws in the "overtime" period. Isaiah, Bryson = ON THE MONEY.

As for our 17U game later, it was fun to watch. Sure, losing in overtime sucks, but we battled back to tie it with some clutch shooting from our young guys and old guys. As I wrote earlier today, players win games and coaches lose them in most cases. In hindsight, as I told you after the game, it might have been better to have five ballhandlers on the floor. It was do-able after Uriah won the tip to start OT. I could've called time, put in a fifth ballhandler. But I suppose I trust all of you take care of the ball at all times a little too much maybe.

It's a learning process for all of us, no question. I've been coaching on and off since 1981, and I'm still learning a ton. We will learn to be patient with the ball, to protect it and not rush passes. That comes with time and experience. There's nothing to be gained by sulking and feeling sad about mistakes. All you can do is learn from them and move forward and, of course, do your best. It's a fun game and we had plenty of games in the past two weeks. A LOT OF FUN!

Thanks, guys for giving so much effort for your teammates, your coaches and your fans. Stick together. Support each other. It matters more than you would ever imagine. All we have is each other, and if we need to lean on each other, we should do it without hesitation. Win together. Lose together. Learn together. Move to the next level wiser and better prepared.

15U has a game next Sunday, 10:10 a.m. at Kilauea (CAL League). 17U has a bye. Practice this week Monday through Wednesday, 4:00 p.m. at Makiki Park. Shooting, ballhandling and more shooting. Our 17U showed today that there is huge potential. Once our older guys and newer guys get more used to each other, we can make a run toward the championship bracket. At 0-2, we need to win most of our remaining games to qualify for the championship bracket. I see no reason why we can't do this. We just need a little more work together and a lot of reps to reach our potential.

Schedule
Monday, 4:00 p.m.,  Practice, Makiki Park
Tuesday, 4:00 p.m.,  Practice, Makiki Park
Wednesday, 4:00 p.m.,  Practice, Makiki Park
Thursday, TBA (depends on varsity/JV conditioning schedules)
Friday, no games scheduled, no practice
Saturday, no games scheduled, no practice
Sunday, 10:10 a.m., 15U Thunder vs. Gladiators, Kilauea Gym (CAL)

Monday-Thursday, Sept. 5-9, Practice dates TBA
Friday, Sept. 9, 8:00 p.m., 17U Thunder vs. TBA, Kilauea Gym (NJB)
Sunday, Sept. 11, 10:45 a.m., 15U Thunder vs. Blue Devils, McKinley Gym (CAL)
Sunday, Sept. 11, 3:00 p.m., 17U Thunder vs. TBA, Palolo Gym (NJB)

I LUB DIS GAME.