CAL Feb schedule out

Some news today (Thursday) for the Thunder.

• CAL League has released the February schedule. I used to run leagues with a friend in Kona, sometimes 16 teams (summer). Scheduling is never easy, especially with limited facilities and gym time. Well, that 16-team schedule I used to coordinate is nothing compared to what CAL League does with dozens of teams and short time frames at only 1.5 gyms.

If you ever see the Commissioner, Greydon Espinda, please give him your thanks and appreciation. He goes out on a limb to help us and every team more than anyone I've ever seen involved with basketball leagues and kids. And I've been involved as a coach or ref for more than 30 years now. (He even gave Chris a new pair of shoes last year.) Also, he makes sure that the game clock always stops on free throws. There is no other league that does this. This is why I keep telling you guys, CAL League is the best.

The schedule (February):
Sunday, Feb. 10
3:00 pm Thunder vs Crush 1

Sunday, Feb. 17
12:30 pm Thunder vs. Boom

Sunday, Feb. 24
2:10 pm Thunder vs. Tar Heels

This is a blessing for us. We tried to make it happen when we were scheduled for a Saturday game last weekend, but we lost seven players to other commitments and we struggled to be competitive with our very young lineup. I asked Greydon if we could somehow avoid Saturdays altogether from now on. He did what was best for our opposing teams and for our team. So we've got Sunday games, which is awesome!

• Aiea 17U League has pushed its starting date back to March 27 from March 19. The league currently has six teams and might be looking for more. Games will be played on Wednesdays and Fridays.

• Finally, uniforms. The gray uniforms numbers are being printed (Soccer Locker). They weren't ready today, but the guy said they'll be ready by Friday afternoon. The orange uniforms just came in (blank) and I'll be taking those to James Davis (Chocolate Factory) for the logo/team name printing first. That will take roughly a week to get done.

• Cost - None of this is free, not anymore. I've spent a whole lot more money than I like to admit on entry fees and uniforms and food and Gatorade over the years. So work on selling shirts to your relatives, friends, parents' friends and co-workers.

Sell four T-shirts ($20 each) and that covers your cost for the league entry fee. If everyone does this, we cover the fee for CAL ($400). Sell four more and that covers the whole cost for Aiea 12U ($375). Another four shirts and it covers PAA 13U ($440). It all adds up.

Sell four shirts and that covers one set of uniforms. I would rather see everybody keep their jerseys and shorts. Buying them is fine, but selling shirts means you won't have to pay anything if you just hustle a little. You'll be able to buy your uniforms AFTER the current leagues are done. I don't want any missing jerseys if some players can't make games later in the season. (Learned my lesson from the past with our other Thunder teams.)

HUSTLE ON THE COURT. HUSTLE OFF THE COURT. Anything is possible if you hustle.

WE LUB THIS GAME!

Wednesday Funday

Good practice tonight, Thunder. Javan Montiho, Joshua de Jesus, Jimark de Jesus, Jerry Killion, Kyle Moraga, Ryan Higashionna, Kalai Kuia and two faces we haven't seen in a long time — Tanielu Afe and Chris Afe. Tani and Chris worked hard last year, practicing every chance they got with a hunger and determination matched by only a few of our other Thunder.

This year, though, they've been committed to football during this winter season, so we haven't seen them like always used to. It was great to see them. Football training has been good for them, even though both of them were a little tired today. With PAA starting in one week, they'll be able to come to games (Wednesday and Saturday nights) and our 13U could be back to full force. That would be fun!

We practiced outside tonight, but there was no wind or rain, thank God. We've got a ways to go with our halfcourt execution, but we got a lot of reps in today, along with some drills and a bit of conditioning.

No practice until game day (Saturday). Get on the court, work on your game, study the game video and learn from everything — the things you and your teammates did well and also the mistakes. There's always room for improvement no matter who you are or what team you play for. It's up to you.

The same goes for conditioning. There were a lot of tired people today, and that shouldn't be happening. Every day, hit the field and run. Or run at the courts. Do your pushups. Do everything you can to improve physically every day. Get your reps in every day, at least 200 shots and 50 free throws. Don't short-change yourself, ever!

WE LUB THIS GAME.

CAL game postponed

Got word from CAL League (middle school division) that our game this Saturday has been postponed. This is a gift. We just don't have enough of our older players (eighth and seven graders) available on Saturdays. I'm hoping the Commissioner (Greydon Espinda) can get us Friday and/or Sunday games. Sundays are ideal, more than Fridays. But anything but Saturdays.

Despite not having six of our players in our last CAL game, the rest of our guys battled and battled. But it's unfair of me to ask them to compete against teams that are older and bigger, especially when our bench was a row of 11-year-olds!

That leaves us with our 12U game on Saturday, 9:00 am, against Aiea Blazers, at Aiea Gym. Practice is tomorrow (Wednesday), 6:00 pm, Kalakaua Gym.

Note: Please bring in a copy of your birth certificate for the PAA League (13U and 15U).

WE LUB THIS GAME!

Updated schedule

Wednesday, Jan. 30

6:00 pm - Practice, Kalakaua outside courts

Saturday, Feb. 2

8:00 am - 12U warmups, Aiea District Park outside court

9:00 am - 12U vs. Aiea Blazers I, Aiea District Park Gym

11:00 am - Lunch, Wendy's Aiea

Sunday, Feb. 3

11:00 am - Practice, McCully Gym

2:00 pm - Lunch, McDonald's McCully

4:00 pm - Shooting drills, Makiki Park

Monday, Feb. 4

6:00 pm - Practice, Kalakaua Gym

Wednesday, Feb. 6

6:15 pm - 13U warmups, Kilauea Gym outside courts

7:15 pm - 13U vs. Kapolei, Kilauea Gym (PAA) (Coach Roy)

Saturday, Feb. 9

9:40 am - 12U warmups, Aiea Gym outside court

10:40 am - 12U vs. Aiea Blazers II, Aiea Gym

12:30 pm - Lunch

4:45 pm - 13U warmups, McCully Gym outside court

5:45 pm - 13U vs. Tar Heels, McCully Gym (PAA)

Sunday, Feb. 10

11:00 am - Practice, McCully Gym

2:00 pm - Lunch, McDonald's McCully

4:00 pm - Shooting drills, Makiki Park

Monday, Feb. 11

6:00 pm - Practice, Kalakaua Gym

CAL, PAA schedules to be announced. See Aiea 12U schedule at right >

PAA 13U Week 1 schedule

Lloyd Lee of the PAA League just e-mailed the 13U schedule for the first week. That's right, we're ready to roll in another league in just a matter of nine more days.

Wednesday, Feb. 6
7:15 pm Thunder vs. Kapolei, Kilauea Gym

Saturday, Feb. 9
5:45 pm Thunder vs. Tar Heels, McCully Gym

Monday Funday

Thank the Lord for indoor practices, new (almost ready) uniforms and a great shirt designer in our friend James Davis of The Chocolate Factory. 

We had a very solid workout tonight, covered a lot of halfcourt man positioning, low/high post movement without the ball, positioning in the low post. Got a lot of shooting (3-point and free throws) done. Got a lot of halfcourt zone and man offense done. It's not always exciting, but the opportunity to go 5-on-5 is always, always awesome. I never take it for granted. We've had hundreds of practices in the past, outdoors in the blazing sun or rain or wind (or all three in the same workout) with smaller numbers. 

Somehow the kids persevere and find success despite any disadvantages. 

Tonight's practice lineup: Jared Elwin, Jimark de Jesus, Ryan Higashionna, Javan Montiho (back from his stomach flu), Felcris Corpuz (back from his cold), Kalai Kuia, Micah Tong, Jerry Killion and Micah Visoria. 

I picked up the new gray jerseys after practice from James, whose shop is just a few blocks from Kalakaua Gym. He printed the team name in a new color combo (turquoise/orange). Tomorrow I'll take the jerseys back to Soccer Locker to get the numbers printed. I like how they're turning out. Thank you, James! 

Next practice is Wednesday, 6:00 pm, Kalakaua outside courts. WE LUB THIS GAME!

 \

T-shirt Tuesday

T-SHIRT TUESDAY. Remember, wear your t-shirt to school (if dress code allows, of course) tomorrow. When your teachers or administrators ask, let them know that we're doing a fundraiser by selling shirts to pay for all our entry fees, new uniforms, post-practice and post-game meals, gatorade and everything else. $20 per shirt. Just get their phone number and/or e-mail address and send the info to me and I'll take care of the delivery.

PARENTS - If you can sell shirts to your friends, co-workers, bosses, that would even more awesome. The goal is to sell a LOT of shirts to pay for all these costs. If we're going to the mainland this summer to play basketball, we need to raise big bucks. Selling t-shirts can really make a huge difference. I know it sounds like a lot, but if we sold 2,000 shirts, that would cover the cost of a mainland trip (roughly $20,000).

Let's do this. A lot simpler and easier than most other fundraisers, and people always want something that lasts, like a cool shirt. WE LUB THIS GAME.

Aiea 13U tournament, Mar. 20-23

Just got word from Rob Godinez III of the Aiea Blazers. Their 13U tournament will be held Mar. 20-23 at Aiea District Park Gym. Entry fee is $275.

We'll fill out waiver forms and submit copies of birth certificates. All players must be no older than 13 as of Sept. 1, 2013.

WE LUB THIS GAME!

Sunday Funday

Got some good work in today at McCully Gym. Little Micah and Ryan were there on time and got in about 70-80 3-pointers. Micah was especially good, of course, from the corners. He was 7-for-10 to start in the right corner. He shot about 38% and Ryan shot about 30%, very good for kids who are only 11, 12 years old.

Coach Roy brought Kyle, Jimark and Josh, and later Big Micah (Tong) and Malosi arrived. We did some conditioning work - much needed for some of our guys - worked on halfcourt offense, pressbreakers and press.

Good job, guys. Next practice is Monday, 6:00 pm at Kalakaua Gym. Then Wednesday, 6:00 pm at Kalakaua outside court (my boss has that day off for me). No word yet on Saturday's scheduling conflict, but I'm hopeful it gets worked out. After this week, it's going to be super busy.

PAA League will start in February, which means we could have a PAA 13U game on a Wednesday, possibly CAL on Friday night, Aiea 12U on Saturday morning, possibly PAA on Saturday night, CAL on Sunday. Who will be ready, Thunder?

Video: 12U vs. Islanderz

Part 1


Part 2


I really enjoyed this game. Not the turnovers or other mistakes, of course, but I liked the hustle, the teamwork. Our pressbreaker was 100% successful when we ran it, when we cut and move the ball wisely. Each time we play, we get better, we get smarter and we keep playing fast.

We could go faster (and we will each week), but this is not bad for game 2 in the Aiea League. As I get older, I realize more and more it's best not to say a whole lot about any game until I get a chance to watch the video. I saw a LOT of good decisions by Ryan Higashionna, Micah Visoria. Big Micah (Tong) plays with consistent confidence that comes from a lot of hard work. Nobody makes free throw after free throw after free throw like that without putting in reps. The hours. It's an awesome thing.

Joshua, if you didn't notice, scored seven points in a row once we went to a spread in the final couple of minutes and the game went from a 36-33 lead to a 43-33 lead. Josh and Big Micah are getting more comfortable with the pressbreaker, and as they mesh more and more with our returnees, I really have a lot of optimism for our 12U (and 13U) team.

Javan is also getting more into the flow, as I expected. Same with Felcris, who is probably the least experienced of our guys. Walter is confident and is going to help us a lot as he keeps playing. He's probably one of the youngest players in the league (just turned 11), as usual, but I like how he ran 6-Ball once he got into the game during the first half.

Kalai Kuia - Can you see how much potential he has? He's gifted with size and coordination. He's just hungry and ready to put in the time to become the best teammate and player he can be. He's a great listener. All he needs are the reps, the encouragement (from all of us) and his own determination to keep working at his game one shot, one drill, one hour, one day at a time. He's so coachable, and that will speed his progress.

Malosi Viena is just starting to learn the plays. His whole game is about instincts and his instincts are good a lot of the time, and you guys have seen how deadly his 3-point shot is. He's just 10, but I think he's going to develop really well with more practice time. I'd really like to see how he would do in a faster game, focusing on transition 3-pointers. His shooting form is so good.

The halfcourt offense and defense were not bad. We have work to do, more so with positioning and the physical part of the game — getting leverage while keeping balance. The Islanderz are bigger than us overall and far more willing to push and dive for loose balls, so that's another thing for us to improve on. But on the whole, JOB WELL DONE, THUNDER. That was fun (again).

WE LUB THIS GAME!

Next week and beyond

I just received next weekend's schedule for CAL League and there's now a conflict. CAL has us playing at 9:00 am on Saturday (McCully Gym), but we already have a 9:00 am game that morning at the Aiea 12U League.

I wish there were no conflicts. I wish we could play just Sundays (and Fridays) in the CAL League as we requested, but the league is up against limited gym time in limited facilities. They're trying their best (Greydon Espinda, the commish) under tough circumstances, getting scheduling requests from a lot of teams, I imagine.

But on the other side, we wanted to play 12U and Aiea gave us that chance. We've been playing in that league for a few years (16U) and they posted a full schedule for us almost two weeks ago, and the games are strictly on Saturday mornings. When we started winter season, I really didn't expect us to have trouble getting enough guys for CAL middle-school division. If anything, I thought it would be hard getting enough 12U players.

Instead, it's the opposite. Ai caramba! It's mainly due to timing. So if you pray, pray for this: That we can get Friday and Sunday games in CAL. With four of our older/biggest players busy on Saturdays (football, church, intermediate school league), we need a blessing.

Otherwise, we have to make a tough choice, and I absolutely hate forfeiting. But we just don't have enough players on Saturdays to be in two places at the same time.

Update 3:40 pm I just talked with Greydon and he's going to help us (again). He'll look at the schedule try to tweak it. He has already been trying to help us avoid conflicts with the Aiea 12U schedule, but the Aiea schedule has changed a few times recently. Thanks to Greydon for his help!

12U wins, mid-school div loses

Mixed day for the Thunder. Our 12U played well down the stretch and beat the Islanderz 43-38 at Aiea District Park Gym. We had good depth for that one. Jared Elwin was solid at the point again, with Micah Visoria, Joshua de Jesus and Ryan Higashionna doing well on the wings, Micah Tong giving us key shots and Kalai Kuia providing solid rebounding. Javan Montiho was solid off the bench. Walter Berthold and Felcris Corpuz hustled hard off the bench, too.

When we executed the pressbreaker and halfcourt offense — passing and cutting against the Islanderz' fullcourt and halfcourt pressure — the points were easier to get. When we stood there instead of cutting, they got steals off us. We'll learn from every game if we're smart; we did a lot of smart things today, but it's the mistakes that help us to learn and grow.

The second game, against Laie in the CAL middle-school division, was rough. We lost 67-12. We played without Jared and Ryan (PAL game), and Little Micah had to leave before halftime to play in that same game. Sierra and Jimark were the guards. It was basically our team without three missing starters (Kyle, Tanielu, Chris) and a key reserve (Jerry), so we had almost no size under the basket.

Laie is huge. They've got some boys in the 6-2 to 6-4 range, and one of them is a really talented player who can go coast to coast off a rebound and finish. I would really like to challenge them with our full lineup, if we get that chance.  If our guys are available next time.

For today, though, it was great to see Javan battle guys more than a foot taller (and 100 pounds heavier) under the boards. It was good to see everyone improve on the pressbreaker, making smarter decisions. That can ONLY happen when we play strong teams, bigger teams. I'd rather see us make mistakes and improve on those against that kind of competition than play a lot of average or below-average teams.

But the reality is, Laie is so physically talented, they looked like a high school varsity team out there. To beat them with today's lineup, we'd have to play almost mistake-free (no turnovers) and hit a good percentage of our shots. We didn't really get to press them a lot since we weren't big or deep with athletes who could outrun Laie, but I know we can give them some trouble IF we have our older guys.

One more note: We really have to work on playing better position defense, both before and during the shot. We'll get to that at practice on Sunday and Monday. We're just not physical enough, as both games today showed. We reach too often instead of moving our feet early. That takes repetition at practice, so add that to our list of priorities.

So the day is done, the pizza has been eaten and we all still have the rest of the afternoon and night to enjoy this day. I like morning basketball.

MAHALO to Joy (Sierra's mom) and Claire & Scott (Big Micah's parents) for buying lunch and sodas today at Pizza Hut. That isn't cheap, so I really appreciate it!

Also: The guys who made it to the post-game pizza today told me at lunch they want to play in PAA. So the confirmed players for PAA 13U are:

Kyle Moraga
Micah Tong
Joshua de Jesus
Sierra Murobayashi
Felcris Corpuz

Need confirmation from:
Jared Elwin (PAL League Thursdays)
Ryan Higashionna (PAL League Thursdays)
Micah Visoria (PAL League Thursdays)
Tanielu Afe (football practice Thursdays, football games Saturday mornings)
Chris Afe (football practice Thursdays, football games Saturday mornings)
Javan Montiho
Kalai Kuia

Am I forgetting anyone? Please let me know if you're playing. I'll print out the forms soon. PAA League now requires a copy of a birth certificate for each player, so please bring those to me before or at the first game (first week in February). I'll be busy on some of those game nights (Wed/Thur/Sat), so Coach Roy will be in charge when I'm not there.

There's also PAA 15U starting in the third week of February, so guys like Jimark, Brent and Sifo, plus some of our 13U, will play in that division. I'll more info on that when they send it to us. (Note: Looks like we'll need more players for 15U, and I mean dedicated players who are willing to practice. I don't want a repeat of last year. We spent a LOT of money to enter teams in 15U leagues and a lot of guys were no-shows at practice and games. Never again...)

(Note: To see the upcoming leagues this winter and spring, check out the lists at the right side of this page.)

I like what we've done with a limited amount of practice. We're basically a brand-new team in 12U and everyone's meshing really well. All we need is more time together in practice and games. It's a blessing to have great people who happen to love basketball on the same team.

WE LUB THIS GAME!

To PAA or not to PAA? (updated Sat 4 pm)

Question: Who can commit to playing in the PAA 13U League? Games are going to be on Wed/Thur/Sat nights, normally 1 or 2 games per week. We're having trouble getting enough players for current leagues (CAL and Aiea) right now. I don't want to put us in another league (and spend $440) unless we get enough commitment from enough players. So please let me know, are you in or out for PAA 13U?

The league starts in early Feb. Need to know as soon as possible. I want at least eight committed players for this league.

Coach Paul
551-1054
alawaiwestheads@gmail.com

Updated Saturday, 4:00 pm Confirmed with PAA League that we'll begin playing 13U in the first week of February (Wed/Thur/Sat nights) and 15U in the third week of Feb (days to be determined later).

WE LUB THIS GAME!

Eternal faith (updated Fri 10 pm)

Due to football fundraiser (Tanielu, Chris), church (Kyle), PAL game (Jared, Little Micah, Ryan) and middle-school league (Jerry), we are low in numbers on Saturday morning for our 12U game at Aiea and our middle school division game at McCully. But fear not, young Thunder. We have all that we need.

Hopefully at least some our busy ballers can make it to one or both of these games. If not,  what we lack in numbers, we will overcome with great heart!

Aiea 12U League lineup vs. Islanderz
Big Micah
Walter
Joshua
Felcris
Javan
Kalai
Malosi
Updated 1/25, 4:00 pm
Ryan
Little Micah
Updated 1/25, 10:00 pm
Jared

CAL middle school division lineup vs. Laie
Sierra
Jimark
Big Micah
Walter
Joshua
Felcris
Javan
Kalai

Saturday
8:00 am, Warmups, Aiea District Park Gym outside court
8:30 am, Warmups, Aiea District Park Gym. We're the first game, so we'll get to warm up inside.
9:00 am, Thunder 12U vs. Islanderz
10:40 am, Thunder 13U* vs. Laie, McCully Gym (game time changed as of 1/23)
12:00 pm LUNCH! Pizza Hut Beretania

Sunday
11:00 am, Practice, McCully Gym

Monday
6:00 pm, Practice, Kalakaua Gym

Aiea 12U schedule, revised 1/24

Saturday, Jan. 26
9:00 am Thunder vs. Islanderz
(Note: See doubleheader and daily schedule in the post below.)

Saturday, Feb. 2
9:00 am Thunder vs. Aiea Blazers I

Saturday, Feb. 9
10:40 am Thunder vs. Aiea Blazers II

Saturday, Feb. 16
10:40 am Thunder vs. Makakilo

Saturday, Feb. 23
10:40 am Thunder vs. Imua

Saturday, Mar. 2
9:00 am Thunder vs. Hoops 4 Christ

Playoffs
Saturday, Mar. 9 (two games max)
9:00 am - 1:30 pm

Update on CAL game time

Got word from Greydon (CAL League) tonight. Our game has been moved from 9:40 pm to 10:40 am on Saturday, game is still at McCully Gym. This gives us enough time to get from Aiea to McCully for the game. 

Mahalo to Greydon for helping us so much! 

Thursday
6:00 pm, Practice, Kalakaua outside courts (tentative - depends on Coach Roy's schedule)

Saturday
8:00 am, Warmups, Aiea District Park Gym outside court
8:30 am, Warmups, Aiea District Park Gym. We're the first game, so we'll get to warm up inside.
9:00 am, Thunder 12U vs. Islanderz 
10:40 am, Thunder 13U* vs. Laie, McCully Gym (game time changed as of 1/23)
12:00 pm LUNCH! Pizza Hut Kahala Mall

Sunday
11:00 am, Practice, McCully Gym

Monday
6:00 pm, Practice, Kalakaua Gym

New players need the most work

Just finishing up work. I covered the girls playoff game between Kaimuki and Kapolei (Kaimuki won). Just heard from Coach Roy, had a small turnout for practice today. For Wednesday's practice, we need to work on our pressbreakers, presses, halfcourt offense, inbounds plays. Reps, reps, reps. You guys have to remember, we need to work together as a team at practice and get all our timing and precision down. I know everybody wants to scrimmage, but that's the last thing we need.

So focus on all the basics at practice tomorrow (I have to work again). NO SCRIMMAGING. Going 3-on-3 or 4-on-4 or even 5-on-5 to work on our offense and defense is fine, but not a full-on scrimmage for an extended time. Save the legs for conditioning and focus with Coach Roy and our team leaders like Kyle, Tanielu and Chris on the things that we need to execute come game time on Saturday.

Our new guys, like Malosi, Javan and Felcris, have so much to learn. We can't waste time scrimmaging when there's a lot of learning to be done first. I know it sucks sometimes, but repetition is KEY to success at this early part of the year. Trust me. The teams that only scrimmage at practice are the ones who buckle under pressure the most. Getting our newest guys up to speed is huge, especially for guys who have hardly been to any practices so far, if any.

So be patient, keep working together and focus on the big picture and the big prize.

WE LUB THIS GAME!

Daily schedule (updated Tue 2:10 pm)

NOTE: I was just informed by Greydon Espinda (CAL League) that we have a game on Saturday, 9:50 am at McCully Gym. I missed this totally on the schedule he e-mailed out recently, probably because I'd requested Sunday-only games. Greydon helps us out as much as possible, but he can't get us all Sunday games with the limited facilities and gym times available.

So, we have a conflict. There's our 12U game (vs. Islanderz) on Saturday, 9:00 am at Aiea District Park Gym. Then we're scheduled to play right after that at 9:50 am at McCully. I just spoke with Rob Godinez III of the Aiea League and he is going to make some calls and hopefully switch the 12U game to a later time.

Whatever happens, it's great to have league commissioners who try their best to help out. I just wish I hadn't missed this on the schedule sooner. Saturday will be a big test for our 13U regardless since Kyle has church and Tanielu and Chris will be busy with football commitments.

Our best-case scenario at this point is that the 12U game moves to a later time, which will follow our CAL League game in the morning. That means we could have a doubleheader on Saturday.

ARE YOU READY?

The worst-case scenario is that we play in the 12U game and show up late for the CAL game, which would be a forfeit. Or that we skip the 12U game and play the CAL game. I don't want either of those scenarios. Rob will let us know later today what he can do.

Tuesday
6:00 pm, Practice, Kalakaua outside courts

Wednesday
6:00 pm, Practice, Kalakaua outside courts (tentative - depends on Coach Roy's schedule)

Thursday
6:00 pm, Practice, Kalakaua outside courts (tentative - depends on Coach Roy's schedule)

Saturday
8:00 am, Warmups, Aiea District Park Gym outside court
8:30 am, Warmups, Aiea District Park Gym. We're the first game, so we'll get to warm up inside.
9:00 am, Thunder 12U vs. Islanderz (pending, may be rescheduled to a later time)
9:50 am, Thunder 13U* vs. Laie, McCully Gym (updated)

Sunday
11:00 am, Practice, McCully Gym

Monday Funday

Solid workout tonight at Kalakaua, TEN strong on a cool, breezy night. Mickey joined us to help with practice, doing his community service project for school. We got a lot of work done with sideline inbounds play (diamond), regular inbounds plays, halfcourt offense. Always good to have a good turnout so we can work 5-on-5. Good work, Thunder!

Tonight's turnout: Jared Elwin, Sierra Murobayashi, Kyle Moraga, Jimark Gwapo de Jesus, Joshua de Jesus, Felcris Corpuz, Javan Montiho, Micah Visoria, Micah Tong and Kalai Kuia.

Next practice: Tuesday, 6:00 pm, Kalakaua with Coach Roy. WE LUB THIS GAME!

Sunday Funday (updated)

Note: Next practice is Monday, 6:00 pm, Kalakaua Gym. 

Good workout today at McCully Gym. A lot of shooting drills on V-Ray, Monday/Tuesday (wing and corner), fastbreak spot-up threes. Micah Visoria, Micah Tong, Kyle Moraga, Javan Montiho, Ryan Higashionna. Solid crew, solid work. Just relaxing now, got a lot of work done on the laptop. Pickup games took over. Heading to Makiki by 4:00 pm if anybody wants to get some shooting done.

Update Monday, 3:45 pm Forgot yesterday that today (Monday) would be a holiday. The gym will be closed, but we'll practice on the outside courts (Kalakaua). 

Video: 12U vs Sharks

Part 1


Part 2

The Honolulu Sharks have been tough for a long time. We had some great battles with them in the 2011 CAL League (15U). One game went to overtime. The Sharks team we played on Saturday is young, a lot of 11-year-olds in the Aiea 12U League. But they're good and two of their guys had planned to play for us before the team decided to enter the league. 

We've done something similar before, playing against older teams to get our guys good experience against good teams. We had eight players suited up for this game and, for a season opener with limited practices together, everybody did a good job. There's a lot to work on, to improve on, but it was a fun way to start the 12U season. 

Updated daily schedule

Sunday (CAL League, BYE WEEK )
11:00 am, Practice, McCully Gym
2:00 pm, lunch, McDonald's McCully
4:00 pm, Practice, Makiki Park (if you can't make it in the morning, come to this one)

Monday
6:00 pm, Practice, Kalakaua Gym

Tuesday
6:00 pm, Practice, Kalakaua outside courts

Thursday
6:00 pm, Practice, Kalakaua outside courts

Saturday
8:00 am, Warmups, Aiea District Park Gym outside court
8:30 am, Warmups, Aiea District Park Gym. We're the first game, so we'll get to warm up inside.
9:00 am, Thunder vs. Islanderz

Sunday, Jan. 27
CAL League, to be announced

12U wins opener

Final: Thunder 50, Sharks 32. Solid work today by our 12U in their first game in the Aiea League. Jared Elwin gave us excellent leadership at the point. Micah Visoria and Ryan Higashionna were energized and did great work on the presses. Micah Tong had a lot of energy on both ends and shot well. We got a lot of hustle plays from Joshua de Jesus. Our subs, Walter Berthold, Javan Montiho and Felcris Jay Corpuz gave us a lot of positive plays, too.

Sharks are very young, mostly 11-year-olds, and two of them were originally going to play with us before they put the team into the league. We've got three more kids ready to start practicing with us — Nicole, Ian and Kalai. That will be awesome! We'll have the depth we need to go hard defensively every second of the game. We'll be able to go full speed on every fastbreak.

It's going to take a lot of practicing and precision as a team, but we could average 60 points per game. That would make me happy. For now, I'm just glad everybody hustled and played fast and smart today. We're going to get better and better. WE LUB THIS GAME.

Updated roster 12U, 1/19

Roster as of 1/17, 11 pm
Micah Visoria
Walter Berthold
Jared Elwin
Ryan Higashionna
Josh De Jesus
Micah Tong
Felcris Corpuz

Javin Montiho

Kalai Kuia* 

Ian*

Nicole*

Malosi Viena*
Chris Alaivanu-Afe*

* Malosi hasn't been to practice, Chris has football on Saturdays. Ian and Nicole (brother and sister) are young and new, same with Kalai. 

Map to Aiea gym

How to get to the gym tomorrow (Saturday) for the 12U game. Be sure, if you're coming from town, to take the Aiea/Pearlridge off ramp, stay right and go into Aiea. You'll get to the shopping mall at right, then turn up the road, uphill, on Aiea Heights Drive. Once you pass 7-Eleven and keep driving higher, you'll see the baseball field and basketball gym a few blocks later. Parking lot is behind the gym.

See Google Maps route to Aiea District Park Gym here.

12U building up

Note, Friday, 4:40 pm I'm picking up jerseys on Saturday morning before the game. I'll stop by Chris and Tanielu's house at 8:45 am, then Jerry's house at 9:00 am. I already have Kyle's jersey, so that should be enough for the game.

###

Thankful to be healing up from this nagging cold. We had a late start to practice today. (Thursdays have to start no earlier than 6 pm from now on due to busy courts). But we had a good number of our 12U there tonight and got a lot of important work done.

We're still quite unorganized in 12U with our first game on Saturday, but we'll still have a lot of fun in our first season at this age group (in a league). Our low numbers were a big worry for me earlier today, but Javin has committed to play with us (thanks to his dad, Carl), and two new players (Nicole, Ian) will start playing with us soon.

We'll be deep enough to run a lot now, and though it's no substitute for having Chris there full time, in this age group, it's about running, pressing, having fun. If this group gels nicely and works hard, maybe we'll keep the 12U going even when the 13U, 15U and 17U leagues get rolling in Feb/March.

Still need to collect more jerseys for Saturday's game. Please drop them off by calling Coach Roy (693-6777) or me (551-1054) on Friday. You'll get them back for your next game later. No CAL League game this weekend. New uniforms won't be ready for two weeks. 

Roster as of 1/17, 11 pm
Micah Visoria
Walter Berthold
Jared Elwin
Ryan Higashionna
Josh De Jesus
Micah Tong
Felcris Corpuz

Javin Montiho

Ian*

Nicole*

Malosi Viena*
Chris Alaivanu-Afe*

* Malosi hasn't been to practice, Chris has football on Saturdays. Ian and Nicole (brother and sister) are young and new, probably won't be ready until they practice first.

Need more 12U players ASAP

NOTE: Our 12U is down to six players — Walter, Jared, Ryan, Joshua, Micah and Felcris. The new guy on Monday, Javin, didn't leave me his contact info. Malosi hasn't been to any practices. Chris has football commitments. Two other new guys, Jaylen and Kai, are playing with their primary team (Sharks), which just joined the Aiea 12U League. 

Everybody else is too old. So please bring more players to practice with you. We want to have 9 players so everybody can stay fresh. 

First game is this Saturday, 10:30 am at Aiea District Park Gym (see schedule below). 

Roster as of 1/17
Micah Visoria
Walter Berthold
Jared Elwin
Ryan Higashionna
Josh De Jesus
Micah Tong
Felcris Corpuz
Malosi Viena*
Chris Alaivanu-Afe*


* Malosi hasn't been to practice, Chris has football on Saturdays

Practice today, bring jerseys

Practice today (Wednesday), 5:30 pm at Kalakaua Gym. Coach Roy will be there. (I'm covering the Kamehameha-Maryknoll boys game tonight.)

PLEASE BRING YOUR JERSEYS for the 12U, who play on Saturday. Or bring it tomorrow (Thursday). I'll collect jerseys and wash them each week. The new uniforms won't be in for at least two weeks.

Wednesday, 5:30 pm, Practice, Kalakaua outside courts
Thursday, 5:00 pm, Practice, Kalakaua outside courts
Saturday, 9:30 am, Warmups, Aiea District Park gym, outside court
Saturday, 10:30 am, Thunder vs. Sharks, Aiea District Park Gym
Sunday, CAL League, BYE WEEK 
Sunday, 11:00 am, Practice, McCully Gym
Sunday, 2:00 pm, lunch, McDonald's McCully
Monday, 6:00 pm, Practice, Kalakaua Gym

Video: Thunder vs Titans

Game video, Thunder vs. Titans. On one hand, we played a team with two 6-foot-5 guys, and another guy would've been one of the best freshman shooters in the state. On the other hand, #35 (6-5) always goes left and can be boxed out, and the shooter can be challenged on every shot - NEXT TIME. We learn, we grow, we play faster and smarter.

Part 1

Part 2

Updated daily schedule

Thursday, 5:00 pm, Practice, Kalakaua outside courts
Saturday, 9:30 am, Warmups, Aiea District Park gym, outside court
Saturday, 10:30 am, Thunder vs. Sharks, Aiea District Park Gym
Sunday, CAL League, BYE WEEK 
Sunday, 11:00 am, Practice, McCully Gym
Sunday, 2:00 pm, lunch, McDonald's McCully
Monday, 6:00 pm, Practice, Kalakaua Gym

Aiea 12U League schedule (revised)

Aiea 12U League
Schedule released Monday, Jan. 14, 2013
Revised Saturday, Jan. 19, 2012

All games at Aiea District Park Gym
Warmups begin 1 hour before tip-off at the gym's outside court

Saturday, Jan. 19
10:30 am Thunder vs. Sharks

Saturday, Jan. 26
9:00 am Thunder vs. Islanderz

Saturday, Feb. 2
9:00 am Thunder vs. Aiea Blazers I

Saturday, Feb. 9
10:30 am Thunder vs. Aiea Blazers II

Saturday, Feb. 16
10:30 am Thunder vs. Makakilo

Saturday, Feb. 23
9:00 am Thunder vs. Hoops 4 Christ (revised time)

Saturday, Mar. 2
10:30 am Thunder vs. Imua

Playoffs
Saturday, Mar. 9
9:00 am - 1:30 pm

Good Monday

Great workout today, Thunder. There's so much for our new players to learn, but they're definitely trying their best. We have a mental lapse now and then, but on the whole, I'm happy with everybody's effort and enjoyment of this awesome game. Tonight was the first time I can remember that Kyle, Tanielu and Chris all weren't at practice. Kyle had another game (with his other team) and the brothers had football practice. They work so diligently, so hard, that it's kind of strange when all three of them aren't there.

But there we were, 10 strong, at Kalakaua Gym and we got a lot done, including some early-practice conditioning. Again, the emphasis is on transition, pace, and that starts with the 5 getting the ball back in play as quickly as possible. Jerry and Jimark did a great job with that today. Big Micah did good too.

We're going to need that consistent, fast pace and we're going to count on our sharpshooters, like Little Micah, to help fill the void with Chris out for most of our 12U games. Keep working every day, 200+ shots, 50 free throws at a minimum. Nobody can stop you from becoming a good shooter or ballhandler or rebounder. It's all up to you and how you spend your valuable time.

MAHALO to Big Micah's mom, Claire, for bringing spam musubis for everybody after practice!

Next practice: Tuesday, 5:00 pm, Kalakaua outside courts (Coach Roy).

(Updated Tuesday, Jan. 15)
Tuesday, 5:00 pm, Kalakaua outside courts (Coach Roy).
Thursday, 5:00 pm, Kalakaua outside courts
Saturday, 9:30 am, Warmups, Aiea District Park gym, outside court
Saturday, 10:30 am, Thunder vs. Sharks, Aiea District Park Gym
Sunday, CAL League, BYE WEEK game and time to be announced, Kilauea Gym
Sunday, 11:00 am, Practice, McCully Gym
Sunday, 2:00 pm, lunch, McDonald's McCully
Monday, 6:00 pm, Practice, Kalakaua Gym

Running behind

Just finished work. It's 5:45. I'll be at practice ASAP, probably 6:15.

T-shirt Tuesday

Tomorrow is Tuesday. T-SHIRT TUESDAY. This is the plan. If your school allows an open dress code, wear your H1 THUNDER BASKETBALL shirt. If teachers ask about it, let them know about us and if they'd like to support us by helping with the cost of leagues, uniforms and food. Keep a list of their requested sizes, give them my contact information (551-1054, alawaiwestheads@gmail.com) and let me know. I'll get in touch with them and deliver the shirts to their school. 

I want everyone to sell at least four shirts at $20 each. If everybody on the team can do this, it'll help cover a lot of the costs. T-SHIRT TUESDAY is on!

Final: Titans top Thunder

Final: Titans 43, Thunder 33. Good work today, Thunder. The Titans and Coach Greydon did a smart thing, doubling Kyle at halfcourt almost every time. That took the ball out of his hands and it took us awhile to get the 2 Out working properly. But after being down 12 in the first half and 14 in the second half (28-14) we got within 30-29 after Jared Elwin hit a 3 and Micah Visoria got hot from the left corner. He's fearless and his shot is pure.

We actually went ahead 33-31.

After that, though, we ran out of gas. Jimark gave us some huge plays defensively off the bench. Tanielu was everywhere, scoring, rebounding, hustling. Two of his hustle plays led to turnovers or missed shots by the Titans.

Our matchup zone did fairly well, though we let Tayler get three open looks. He hit one trey, and then he hit one from NBA range to put the Titans up 34-33.

They were tall, with a 6-4 guy trapping Kyle at halfcourt, but I think we learned how to move the ball better over the course of the game. They just made big plays in the final minutes and we missed too many open shots. That's all we can really expect — great hustle, good ball movement, and if the shots fall, we'll keep beating a lot of quality teams.

I'm content. That was a good team, an older team, and we hung in there. If we play them again late in the season, that''ll be fun again. Our bench is still fairly inexperienced, but they're learning quickly. Once we get more guys comfortable with our system, they'll be able to get more minutes and we can really push the tempo to a higher speed. We're not there yet, but we'll get there sooner rather than later, I believe.

MAHALO
Mahalos to Mark Berthold (Walter's dad) for helping pay for today's pizza and sodas after the game, and big mahalo to Claire, Micah Tong's mom, who fed everyone tacos while we waited for the pizza. Thanks you guys!

Next practice is Monday, 6:00 pm at Kalakaua Gym.

Note: Tanielu called and said some of the guys are at Kalakaua Gym right now (Jimark, Josh, Kyle on the way). They have open gym until 4:00 or 5:00 today. I'm going to drop off a couple of basketballs there.

Preparation Saturday

Good job today, Thunder. Got a lot of things ironed out at practice, a lot of halfcourt offense work. Some basic schemes. V-RAAAY! Still a long ways to go, a few missing guys, but we were 11 strong today. That includes new guy Felcris. Game day tomorrow. Let's play fast and smart!

Sunday, Jan. 13, 9:50 am, Warmups, Kilauea Gym outside courts
Sunday, 10:50 am, Kilauea Gym, Thunder vs. Titans
Sunday, 12:30 pm, lunch, Pizza Hut, Kahala Mall
Monday, 6:00 pm, Practice, Kalakaua Gym

WE LUB THIS GAME.

Work hard, play hard

Solid workout today. We got sets of pushups and crunches in before practice. 50 of each, sets of 10. Some of us are already in good shape. A few of us will need work to get to that point. All good! Good workout, worked on presses, pressbreakers, zone offense. Did our new pre-game warmup drill. Nothing fancy. Just solid. Kyle, Jared, Jimark, Josh, Jerry, Sierra, Coach Roy, Coach Cliff. New guy today is Orlando, who may play with our 17U later.

Next practice: Friday, 5:00 pm, Kalakaua outside courts (Coach Roy).

Saturday, Jan. 12, 1:30 pm, Practice, Kalakaua Gym
Sunday, Jan. 13, 9:50 am, Warmups, Kilauea Gym outside courts
Sunday, 10:50 am, Kilauea Gym, Thunder vs. Titans
Sunday, 12:30 pm, lunch, Pizza Hut, Kahala Mall
Monday, 6:00 pm, Practice, Kalakaua Gym

WE LUB THIS GAME. 

12U update (Wed night)

The Lord giveth. The Lord taketh away. Just found out today that Chris will only play in our first two games in the Aiea 12U League. After that, he's committed to his football team, which begins playing games in February. The football games are on Saturday mornings, same time as our Aiea basketball league. He'll still be playing on Sundays in the CAL League (I think).

It's a big blow. Chris is our center, our best defensive post and inbounds play passer, one of our best pressbreaker passers, our rebounder and low-post scorer. We started this 12U team mainly because Chris wanted a chance to play against players his own age. (He's 11, turns 12 soon.) But now that we've built up a nice roster, here's the situation. We have seven players who will be available for all games. Three (see asterisks) are only coming occasionally.

So we need more players. Again. I'd like to have nine players available for every game. Nine full-timers. That means we need two more guys (or girls).

12U roster
Chris Alaivanu-Afe*
Micah Visoria*
Walter Berthold
Jared Elwin
Ryan Higashionna
Josh De Jesus
Micah Tong
Kai Nafarette*
Jaylen Young
Malosi Viena

* busy - Chris starts playing Saturday football games in February, Micah has baseball on Saturdays and Kai has his other basketball team to play with on Saturdays.

Practice on Thursday

Thursday (tomorrow), 5:00 pm - Practice at Kalakaua outside courts. I have the day off. We'll work on our plays and presses. Reps are crucial. Learn your responsibilities and it gets simpler, easier and funner. That's right. Funner.

This week
Thursday, Jan. 10, 5:00 pm, Practice, Kalakaua outside courts
Friday, Jan. 11, 5:00 pm, Practice, Kalakaua outside courts (Coach Roy), pending
Saturday, Jan. 12, 1:30 pm, Practice, Kalakaua Gym
Sunday, Jan. 13, 9:50 am, Warmups, Kilauea Gym outside courts
Sunday, 10:50 am, Kilauea Gym, Thunder vs. Titans
Sunday, 12:30 pm, lunch, Pizza Hut, Kahala Mall
Monday, 6:00 pm, Practice, Kalakaua Gym

Study Hall, Practice on Wed, 4 pm

This week
Wednesday, Jan. 9, 4:00 pm, Study Hall
Wednesday, 5:00 pm, Practice, Kalakaua outside courts (Coach Roy)
Friday, Jan. 11, 5:00 pm, Practice, Kalakaua outside courts (Coach Roy), pending
Saturday, Jan. 12, 1:30 pm, Practice, Kalakaua Gym
Sunday, Jan. 13, 9:50 am, Warmups, Kilauea Gym outside courts
Sunday, 10:50 am, Kilauea Gym, Thunder vs. Titans
Sunday, 12:30 pm, lunch, Pizza Hut, Kahala Mall

TEAM FIRST
We got a lot of work done last night at Kalakaua Gym. Repetitions are necessary for us to progress as a team, if we want to reach our potential. Any team that executes at an elite level has to go through this process, regardless of age, regardless of talent level. There's just no substitute for a team that has prepared for every possible circumstance.

It takes patience. It takes maturity. The more maturity, the faster the progress. Remember, those who came before you granted that same patience and tolerance when you were learning from scratch.

No discipline seems pleasant at the time, but painful. Later on, however, it produces a harvest of righteousness and peace for those who have been trained by it.

—Hebrews 12:11

If and when practice feels boring, remember discipline. Discipline your mind and thoughts. Discipline your mouth and words. Your actions. Everything matters. What you practice is what you will perform on game day. Practice precision because the team comes first. Practice foolishness, and a few fools, or even just one, can bring down the whole team. Discipline is a reason for great teamwork and success. Excuse-making is a reason for laziness and failure. Which do you prefer?

I'll tell you this. Teamwork and success are WAY more fun than the other stuff.

Monday's turnout wasn't as strong as Saturday, but it was solid. Sierra, Jared, Jerry and Rimel were there early. Jerry said he was there since 3:30 pm working on his shot, and the work is truly beginning to show. Kyle, Tanielu and Chris got there a little later after their other commitments. Micah (Tong) had to attend his grandfather's service. Jimark and Joshua were in Ewa Beach visiting their grandma. Walter is spending time with his grandparents, who are visiting from the Midwest.

We don't get use of the gym again for the rest of the week, but we'll practice on Wednesday, 5:00 pm at Kalakaua outside courts. (Note: Kalakaua Gym hours this week are Tuesday 2:30-4:00 pm, Wednesday 2:30-5:00 pm, Thursday 2:30-4:00 pm, Friday 2:30-4:00 pm.

STUDY HALL
Begins at 4:00 pm on Wednesday. Chris suggested this so we'll put our brains together and help each other. Where there is a will, there is a way. Never fear asking for help. Help each other succeed. Encourage each other to ask for help, always.

Coach Roy will be there. I have to work/cover a basketball game.

CONDITIONING
We have limited time together (hopefully Coach Roy can run practice on Friday, too) until Saturday practice and Sunday's game. So, please run your laps, do your sprints, do your pushups, get in better shape every day. Play pickup basketball when you're not doing drills on your own. 200+ shots every day, plus 50 free throws. Minimum. 200 shots over the span of one month is 6,000 shots. You will improve drastically with that kind of dedication. You'll earn success.

WE LUB THIS GAME.