Mahalos to Aiea tourney

Another summer and another tourney. We've played in the Aiea Blazers Summer Tournament three years in a row now (I think) and it's been a LOT of fun each time. A big, big MAHALO to Rob Godinez and his staff at Aiea for providing regular folks and kids with a chance to play in a top-notch, well-run and affordable tournament again each year. I had fun watching our team grow a little with each game. Thank you, Rob!

We've taken a lot of lumps with young players, but always, always emerged stronger and smarter after each tourney. I expect the same with our 14U team, which played in five games over three days.

Our lineup was very young, but our ability to compete was there. I don't look at the end result here. It's not about the five losses or the lack of depth with some of our guys unable to participate due to other commitments. I look at what each player, new and old, gained in experience by battling against GOOD teams that happen to be older.

We had Sean (14), Brent (14), Sifo (13), Kyle (12), Jenna (12), Jet (11), Kodee (11), Jerson (12), Little Paul (12). Then add Chris (11) and his brother Tanielu (12), both of whom had never played organized basketball. Chris dove for looses balls multiple times in every game. I've seen a big man do that on any level.

The new players — Jenna, Kodee, Jet, Chris and Tanielu — will be awesome additions to our 13U team. We've really suffered with players coming and going due to baseball commitments (yes, it IS baseball season, so it's to be expected), so it'll be really, really, really nice to not have to worry about having to forfeit games.

We're far, far from a polished product on the floor in 13U, but I have a lot of optimism. All of our 13U are coachable and work hard every day. In fact, I'm going to have to be careful about giving them too much work to do with a few of them (Sifo, Kyle, Jerson) playing on multiple teams and playing multiple games every week. But having this kind of depth now will ease the workload, I believe.

We'll be back at Aiea in a few weeks for the 18U tourney, and if another team drops out, we might be in the 16U tourney, also.

For now, get some rest, everyone. We've got 15U tomorrow (Monday) at Kilauea gym, 6:20 pm. followed by 13U at 7:10 (Kilauea). Warmup time 5:20 pm on the outside courts behind Kilauea gym. I'll be at Makiki Park 3:00 pm for shooting drills, and we'll leave for Kilauea at 4:50 pm.

I LUB THIS GAME.