A lot of lessons for both the Thunder teams tonight. The 13U had to fight off a tough Hoops4Christ team for a close win. 15U was close until the end against Kalihi Valley and lost by about 10. (I'll post the scores after the game videos load up and I can see the actual scores.)
13U did a nice job of staying focused and hustling, but there were a lot of boo-boos with making decisions when H4C started pressing us fullcourt in the final few minutes. We discussed this after the game and I'm hoping we all learn from this. We nearly gave the game away because of basic flaws in execution. It's on me to make sure everybody follows instructions, and when that does not happen, as a coach it's my responsibility that we have players who are prepared to execute and play smart.
But we made enough plays and made enough free throws — Kyle hit two foul shots in the final seconds to open the lead to four points and ice the win. That was gritty. Hoops4Christ has nice, talent and height on its 13U team. We'll see them again next week in the Aiea 13U tournament. I'm looking forward to another good challenge from them if we meet them.
The 15U played fairly well for most of the game against Kalihi Valley. Coach Roy ran the rotation and game plan very much like the last game (a win over Kalakaua). The difference this time was Kalihi Valley is taller, bigger and quicker than most of the teams in the 15U division. They've played together for awhile and their chemistry was better than ours, us being a team that's been together three weeks.
Coach Roy really put a lot of trust into our Tigers (McKinley) and we made a lot of turnovers, especially in the final several minutes. This was a winnable game, but it's clear Kalihi Valley played smarter. The video will be up by tomorrow night (or Friday) and we'll all get to see what I mean.
The most obvious flaws:
1. Lack of organization offensively against KV's man defense. This is where the lack of practice time together hurt us.
2. Lack of boxing out. This is more mental than physical. It's a mentality, a matter of being serious about making contact and establishing position BEFORE every shot is taken, not afterward. We're getting a little better. And with Max on the bench in the final minutes, we were really hurting for a physical presence on the floor.
3. Help-side defense. We had none late in the game. They had guys driving through one, two, three of us and nobody slid over to stop the ball. This happened at least twice in the final minutes, and it was frustrating to see how nobody was willing to stop the ball, take a charge or at the very least, foul the guy and make him earn the points. Too many of us play soft as jello, weak as paper on defense.
Whether we're playing a bigger or smaller team, that should NEVER happen. It's a mentality, just like boxing out, and right now, our guys are far too much finesse-oriented.
We'll work on these things at practice and get better. I can promise that.
NEXT UP: Practice, Kalakaua, tomorrow (Thursday), 6:00 pm. We'll get a LOT of shooting in, just like this past Monday, but also work on team defense, boxing out, and establishing position defensively and offensively.
15U plays Imua on Friday, 6:45 pm, Koko Head Gym. I'm expecting a much different Thunder team defensively. The offense will take work, too, but it's defense that we should completely master every night. Offense - shots will fall or not, and sometimes teams have off nights. But defense is constant if we all put our minds and bodies to it.
I would like to see 15U really buckle down and get mentally tougher. I'd like us to play in the PAA 15U tournament (see the earlier post today), but we won't do it unless that mentality becomes a reality. Let's get to work tomorrow night at practice.
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