The System

LMU had the best one in my lifetime. Other schools, such as Division III Grinnell College, have mastered their versions of it. When it comes to employing 100% heart, desire, determination, persistence ... there are ways to funnel a team's collective energy and using it as fuel for something amazing.

Tonight, we weren't amazing. Not every minute of the game. But this is probably the first time in weeks, maybe since last year, that our 16U was defensively cohesive for almost an entire game. The only lapses, really, were from guys who are new or recently returned to the team. Understandable. The rest of the time, we had on-ball pressure all night, off baskets, free throws, missed shots.

It was amazing in that sense. It was a near-perfect defensive effort in those terms, more than enough for a 38-32 win over the Pearl City Chargers — a team that had more height, but no solution for our pressure.

The imperfections? We didn't box out well, but it was far better than last week's 18U tourney. We committed too many fouls, but the hustle was always there. We didn't play great offensively, but we had very good ball movement at times, especially against Pearl City's man defense with our '4 Out' offense. We pushed the tempo, though not consistently enough.

Defensively, we brought it tonight. Everybody brought it, and that's saying something since we had almost 15 players. Great defense will make up for a lot of other areas, and I'm glad our 16U guys take pride in it.

I was just glad we didn't have to forfeit. At some point today, I finally realized that we had more than five guys going to the game. Nobody's fault. That's the deal when you're on the wait list and get your shot to participate in a tournament just 24 hours in advance.

With Coach Bo (football) and Coach Larry (playing basketball) out for the night, Coach Loto and I did our best to get everyone involved. That included our vets like Isaiah to our pups like Chris (11), Tanielu (12) and Sifo (13). When we suit up tomorrow for the Aliis and Lanakila, I expect us to be very fresh and very prepared. We could be more prepared; not a lot of practice time together during the past week. But I really believe we've grown from our tough times last week against the bigger, older teams. We've learned what our limitations are. We've learned how much intensity and physical toughness it takes to compete.

It could become a fine, fine weekend. We're only getting better with each challenge.

I stayed late and caught some of the Aliis-Lanakila game. It was worth the wait. More on that tomorrow in pre-game. What did I think? Let's just say our defense has the potential — if we bring the toughness and intensity — to keep wreaking havoc. Have a good night's rest, gentlemen.

I LUB THIS GAME.