That's basketball. That's life. You win some. Maybe a lot. Then you lose a few. And it tastes bitter.
I'll never mince words about how I feel when it comes to the game. When I screw up, it hurts. Coaches lose games. Players win games. We were 5-0 yesterday (Saturday) between the 17U and 12U at the NJB Classic. In position to battle for titles against some of the state's top teams, plus an NJB All-Star team from Orange County, Calif.
But today, our teams went 0-3. The 15U, with just five players (Haka, Brent, Felix, Yong and Wilson) battled to the end in a 45-41 loss to Hawaii Kai. This is the same team that whooped us by 38 a few weeks ago. Wilson fouled out with 7 minutes left and the score tied (or close to it). With less than 2 minutes left, we went up 39-37 on a great putback by Brent. But we couldn't get a call underneath as their big man (6-4) ran over Haka twice for layups, no call. But the officials pointed out that Haka was falling before the contact instead of taking the hit, so they swallowed their whistles.
Haka was incredible in that game, and everybody made key contributions. I feel good about the 15U and they way they've come along despite being low in numbers sometimes. I still want them to be committed to improving on a DAILY basis, of course. But they have improved.
That was at 9:00 am at McKinley's beautifully re-sanded, re-varnished court. (Talk about night and day compared to Palolo and Kilauea gyms.) Then it was the 17U title game at the NJB Classic against Lanakila, which began at 10:00 am. By the time I got there, we were down 30-9. Coach Larry said we simply weren't getting back fast enough on defense and (who else?) Mikey Kleman was destroying us on the fast break. We did chip away, though, bringing it down to about 14 or so.
But Lanakila played like a veteran, well-trained team. Good ball movement, no wasted motion or energy, and their complementary players shot lights out from everywhere. They probably shot 70% as a team. Incredible. Kleman didn't have to score in the last 25 minutes or so, but we lost 74-44.
Two points about the 17U's tourney performance:
• It was the best run in a tourney for them, especially if you note that the entire team (Tai sat out due to wisdom teeth surgery) is 16 or younger.
• Coach Larry continued to note that our offensive chemistry has improved drastically. We run sets fairly consistently, getting backdoor layups. And we're getting open shots both in transition and in the halfcourt game. That's a product of familiarity that has built and built since spring season began.
It would be too easy to put all the weight on our loss to Lanakila. Anybody remember rallying against them on Friday? We were right there at the end after being down double-digits (15 points). That's what we did, overcoming some very questionable officiating to get back into the game. Today, Lanakila was simply a great team on fire. Remember, these guys have beaten the best high school programs in the state this year (‘Iolani summer league). Kleman? I expect him to play D-I basketball somewhere in two years.
After that, the 12U played at 11:00 am and it wasn't easy. I was still riled up after the loss to Lanakila, but our players were ready for the most part. The Tar Heels have been a tough team for everyone to beat for a long time. They won a tourney in Las Vegas as 10-year-olds in 2010. They've been together a long time under Kelly Grant, my old teammate and friend from the Boys Club/Washington Intermediate School days. (He's also the head varsity coach at Maryknoll.)
We battled despite having a thin bench. The kids played their hearts out, but the Tar Heels hit seven or eight 3-pointers, including a couple after we'd switched to man defense. Though we had a size advantage with Chris and Tanielu, we really didn't pass the ball well into the post, and the Heels really exposed our fatigue. We had problems establishing traps today, probably because of fatigue and lack of depth, and their man defense wrapped up Chris inside and we didn't rebound well at all on the offensive end.
It didn't help that anything close to contact went to the smaller player (usually the Heels). But all in all, they're the more polished, efficient and skilled team ... for now. I know the reality — it takes time to truly develop skills in this game, and after just six weeks, we have pretty good chemistry as a team. But improving from this point will take practice TOGETHER. That's something I'd really like to see. So many of our kids do practice daily, but with other teams. Others play other sports, no surprise.
But for us to reach the consistently successful level of a team like the Tar Heels, it takes a lot of repetitions in shooting, ballhandling, defense, passing. There's no other substitute for real sweat as a team. I hope we get there, because our 12U has the potential to do really special things if the team can stay together. Time is on our side, and their chemistry on and off the court is so neat. It is rare!
So, it was a winless Sunday. But despite all my nagging and complaining, on the whole we had a great week in 12U, 15U and 17U, and we're still getting better.
Next up: 12U plays for the championship of the Compete & Learn League (Silver Division) on Thursday at Kilauea Gym. We'll have Sifo (13) back for that. When I reminded them after today's loss about that game and Sifo's return, everyone hooted and got excited again. We'll have a full lineup with Mackie and Jenna there.
We also have a 12U game on Friday against an unknown opponent from the Gold Division. That game will round out our nine-game schedule in CAL.
Then, in a little more than two weeks, we start playing 17U in Pa'a League. CAL restarts with 13U and 15U that same week. NJB will begin 17U play (no 13U or 15U in fall) in late August. I hope we have enough players (football will be in play) and coaches (my vacation ends in a week) to keep our momentum and growth alive.
It's been a fun spring and summer, roughly 74 games total for all our teams. The best is yet to come. I LUB THIS GAME!
The coolest thing I heard today: After 12U's loss, we were outside (thanks to Auntie Dora and Uncle Roland for bringing drinks, also Uncle Mark for bringing sandwiches and water) hanging out. Then Tanielu's dad, Passion, asked me if we were practicing this afternoon. In fact, a lot of players asked if we were going to practice like we usually do (daily) at 3:00. Before I could finish telling Passion that we'd give the kids a break after a long tournament, the tournament director (Matt Tsukazaki) cracked up and complimented us for having parents and players who really want to work hard every day.
He was actually stunned. I'm not. I see players who really want to improve, who love the game maybe as much as I do. And they don't see getting on the court and working on their skills as a burden at all. They see it as an opportunity to master the skills they've developed so far. That's what love can do. It can inspire and instill desire. I saw a lot of both this week and I think we'll see more in the days and weeks to come. It's not that everyone really has that drive and joy for the game.
It's just that when it's not just me who sees it — Matt has coached basketball, run leagues and tournaments for decades — it feels pretty cool.
Final note: Little Paul and I went to Makiki Park after lunch and he took 200 shots in 35 minutes. Then we both wanted to see the 12U championship game, so we headed back to Manoa gym. It was a tight game all the way. Tar Heels led in the first half, but when the 3-pointers stopped falling (lots of defensive pressure on the perimeter), NJB Orange County All-Stars rallied. The game went into overtime and NJB OC won 30-25.
I really wanted the Tar Heels to win so I could feel like the Thunder were the second-best team in the division. But really, both teams were polished and experienced. When NJB OC really needed to get the ball inside to their 6-foot-3 center, they did so with patience. So I'm comfortable with the notion that we were the third-best team in 12U. Any other team in the tourney, we're more than happy to take them on, too. But getting a shot at NJB OC would've been sweeeeeet.
