Bittersweet, but ultimately rewarding

17U struggled today against the state's best, Lanakila. I don't mind losing to a team like that, no matter what, as long as we play hard and fast and smart. Some folks might disagree with me, but let's face it. How many teams won the NJB league(s) (I think), won the summer league at ‘Iolani (I think), then won a tournament in Las Vegas? And the second-best team at the Vegas tourney was the Warriors (Kamehameha-Hawaii/Big Island).

So keep your chins up. Keep working. Learn from everything, the wins, the losses. I'd rather face Lanakila every game than blow out a weak opponent. You learn from playing the best, that's one thing I've learned in life. Lanakila's secondary players played well, played together, crisp passes, good movement without the ball, pushed the tempo while we jogged and made sloppy passes while failing to run our pressbreaker consistently.

I'm encouraged. When we run the pressbreaker, we get layups. That's what today's game came down to. And when we travel next summer, we'll only need 9 players who do those things right, the basics. The fundamentals. Working together to make the game easier and far more productive rather than playing selfishly or sloppily.

If we take more than 9 players on the trip, so be it. But I'm saying it now. We don't have to take more than 9 ... if 9 is all we have. 9 guys who play solid, fundamental basketball as a unified group. We were almost there this past spring and early summer when we almost beat Lanakila TWICE.

We'll be a year older by next spring. I expect us to be better. To have more discipline. More speed. More skill. Those who keep working and moving forward will ride the Thunder train. Everybody else will be left behind. A chain is only as good as its weakest link, and I am running out of room for guys who will be weak links come spring time.

Work hard. Play hard. Lub the game. Simple...