H1 Thunder 43, HomeGrown 29 (13U)

CAL 13U League, Kilauea gym
We were 7 strong. Some of the guys played in the 15U game earlier and were warmed up already. Great defense, great hustle and nice ball movement against another tall team. Our pressure on defense was relentless, causing a lot of turnovers. We also did a nice job of challenging their 3-point shooters and battling their big guys under the basket. 

It's always good when we play physically tough and mentally sharp. Ryan was on fire with five 3-pointers. He made four of them in the first half. It was our passing and our inside attack that opened the 3-point shooting up. Colin did another great job on the high post and was a big part of our fastbreak off steals. 

We got crisp passing from Felcris, Micah, Little Josh, Walter and Jayden. This was a really good team win!

Lineup: Jayden Ramos, Josh Roberts, Colin Micah Ramos, Ryan Higashionna, Micah Visoria, Felcris Jay Corpuz Ahadain, Walter Berthold.

Next: Monday, 5:00 pm - Practice at Makiki Park.
WE LUB THIS GAME!!

H1 Thunder 56, McKinley 21 (15U)

CAL 15U League, Kilauea gym
What a blessing to have 10 Thunder today for our 15U game. I never know exactly who's coming and how many've got. But we had 10, including Tani, Kali‘a, Gabriel and Kapaa, plus our other 14U/15U mainstays Big Josh, Jared, along with our 13U/15U ironmen Ryan, Felcris, MIcah, Colin. 

It was fun to see a lot of the guys playing together again. Lots of energy, defense, great passing and scoring. We're 5-0 in CAL 15U. Sunday games make it better for us. Funner, too, for Coach Larry and me. 

Lineup: Micah Visoria, Jared Elwin, Mosi Afe, Kapaa Nishimura, Gabriel Porras, Josh M DE Jesus, Kali'a Mielke, Felcris Jay Corpuz Ahadain, Ryan Higashionna, Colin Micah Ramos.

Next: Monday, 5:00 pm - Practice at Makiki Park.
WE LUB THIS GAME!

Monday funday

Good workout today, got in a solid 60 minutes of shooting drills, basic offensive sets (UCLA cut, Princeton cut/handoff)ballhandling/on-ball defense in Alpha mode. 

Lineup: Josh Roberts, Walter Berthold, Micah Visoria, Jared Elwin, Sierra Murobayashi. Jared's friend Adam also practiced. Good job, Thunder! 

Jared and Littlle Josh pulled double duty. Jared had a conditioning workout at Roosevelt in the afternoon before coming to practice. They ran the bleachers in the heat. Josh had cross country practice before making it to Makiki Park. 

Next: Wednesday, 5:00 pm - Practice at Makiki Park.
WEEE LUBB THIS GAAAME!!

This Week (Sept. 29-Oct. 4)

Monday, 5:00 pm - Practice at Makiki Park.
Tuesday - No practice.
Wednesday, 5:00 pm - Practice at Makiki Park.
Thursday, 5:00 pm - Practice at Makiki Park.
Friday - No practice.
Saturday, 12:00 pm - H1 Thunder vs. Team Dream (CAL 13U), Kilauea gym. Stretching/warmups 11:00 am.
Sunday, 10:20 am - H1 Thunder vs. HomeGrown (CAL 15U), Kilauea gym. Stretching/warmups 9:20 am. 

Sunday, 11:10 am - H1 Thunder vs. Raiders (CAL 13U), Kilauea gym. 

Next week (practice schedule to be announced)
Saturday, Oct. 11, 11:10 am - Thunder vs. McKinley (CAL 15U), Kilauea gym
Saturday, Oct. 11, 12:00 pm - Thunder vs. Lanakila (CAL 13U), Kilauea gym
Sunday, Oct. 12, 10:40 am - Thunder vs. Owls (CAL 15U), McKinley gym Sunday, Oct. 12, 11:30 am - Thunder vs. Swish (CAL 13U), McKinley gym
WE LUB THIS GAAAAAME!!

Sunday pickup route

11:00 am - Felcris Jay Corpuz Ahadain, Josh M DE Jesus, Micah Visoria?
11:15 am - Tanielu Mosi Afe? Chris Afe?
11:30 am - Keanu Pratt?
11:40 am - Jared Elwin?
12:00 pm - Stretching/warmups.
1:00 pm - H1 Thunder vs. McKinley (CAL 15U), Kilauea gym.
1:50 pm - H1 Thunder vs. HomeGrown (CAL 13U), Kilauea gym.
WE LUBB THIS GAAAAME!!!

Sharks-Black 44, H1 Thunder 29 (13U)

PAA 13U semifinals, Koko Head gym
A great hustle effort by our 6 Thunder this morning. We led 26-23 midway through the second half when the Sharks switched from zone to box-and-1 (on Colin) and we ran out of gas, kept missing most of our open shots.

Thanks for a solid PAA 13U season, guys. We played with great heart and I'm proud of you for that!

Little Josh had a cross country meet this morning. Javan is out with a broken left thumb. Other guys have football. But we went from almost not having a 13U team this fall season to reaching the semifinals of PAA 13U League. Everybody got a lot of playing time. Despite the low numbers and so many guys missing practice time, it was still worthwhile.

Lineup: Walter Berthold, Jayven Ramos, Colin Micah Ramos, Micah Visoria, Ryan Higashionna, Felcris Jay Corpuz Ahadain.

Next: Sunday, 1:00 pm - Thunder vs. McKinley (CAL 15U), Kilauea gym.
Sunday, 1:50 pm - Thunder vs. HomeGrown (CAL 13U), Kilauea gym.
WE LUB THIS GAME!

Monday/Wednesday Fundays

Monday, it was Walter and Sierra getting hundreds of reps in. Wednesday, it was Ryan and Little Josh working hard. Every rep matters, each day of working out builds and builds. A year or so ago, so many of our players were so much younger, smaller, but hungry to get better. 

Watching them grow and develop is amazing. It's fun.
Good work, Thunder!

This Week (Sept. 22-28)

Here's an update with the PAA 13U playoff schedule. We have a semifinal game early Saturday morning and if we win that, we play in the final that same morning.

Monday, 5:00 pm - Practice at Makiki Park.

Tuesday - No practice.

Wednesday, 5:00 pm - Practice at Makiki Park.

Thursday - No practice.

Friday - No practice.

Saturday, 8:30 am - Thunder vs. TBA (Sharks-Black/Swish/OTB) (PAA 13U playoffs), Koko Head gym. 

Saturday, 10:45 am - TBA (PAA 13U final), Koko Head gym.

Sunday, 1:00 pm - Thunder vs. McKinley (CAL 15U), Kilauea gym.

Sunday, 1:50 pm - Thunder vs. HomeGrown (CAL 13U), Kilauea gym.

H1 Thunder 36, Lanakila 27 (15U)

CAL League, 15U Division, McKinley gym
Solid hustle and defense from our 11 Thunder today. Having lots of depth makes a big difference for us defensively. Fresh legs matter even more on a hot, humid day. That gym is merciless.

Game was close all the way, but we took the lead in the third quarter. A lot of strong fullcourt defensive pressure, stealing and deflecting passes. Kapaa and Tani covered a lot of ground and Jared pushed the ball well in transition. Kapaa also had a lot of nice outlet passes to start the break. We did our best when we pushed the break and got open looks from the corners to start the offense.

Kali‘a and Tani had some nice passes off our 45 set inside. Kapaa hit some nice 3-pointers during our run.

Good, smart, tough, fast basketball. Fun game to watch!

Lineup: Javan Montiho, Tanielu Mosi Afe, Kapaa Nishimura, Kali'a Mielke,Jared Elwin, Ryan Higashionna, Micah Visoria, Sierra Sisi Murobayashi,Josh M DE Jesus, Colin Micah Ramos, Felcris Jay Corpuz Ahadain.

Next: Monday, 5:00 - Practice at Makiki Park. Work on shooting and other fundamentals, run some sets, pressbreaker drills and hopefully scrimmage.
CAL and PAA (playoff) schedules will be posted when we receive them.
WE LUBB THIS GAAAAME!

Video: 5 treys vs Kahuku (CAL 15U)

H1 Thunder: 5 treys vs Kahuku (CAL 15U) 9/13/2014
video: Brandon Higashionna

Video update: Technical difficulties

Just got up from a nap and two things happened to the uploads.

1. The Swish game video upload broke after 3 days of loading. Not sure why, but it reads like this:

An error has occurred while sending data over the network. Please check your network connection and try uploading again.

Now, that doesn't mean there's no hope on that upload because ... on the other end - the admin menu I access - it says that the Swish game video is "processing." As slow as the upload was, the processing will probably be slow, too, and at the end of that, it could still tell me that the upload malfunctioned. (That's what probably will happen.)

2. The next video queued up was the 3-point highlights from the Kahuku game. That went through. Now it's the Kahuku game that's uploading. Hopefully, that takes.

Could be YouTube has cut down the amount of video I can load. Used to be 5 minutes awhile back. Then it was 10 minutes, then 20 and for the past several months, it's been a maximum of 40 or 50 minutes. Pretty great. Until now.

Video delay

Questions about the game videos. Answers here.

1. I've been extremely busy with work, and when work is pau, that's when I edit and upload videos. Fortunately, I am an insomniac, so I can get a lot of the editing done late at night unless I'm exhausted, like this past week. Then I crash out while I'm editing.

2. YouTube sucks. It used to take "only" 10 to 12 hours to load one game. Now it's taking (not joking) more than 4,000 minutes. That's roughly 65 hours. Why is this happening? I do not know. I loaded the Swish 13U 3-point highlights the other night. About 5 minutes of video usually takes 2-3 hours to load. Now it takes 8 to 10.

The Swish 13U game video should've taken just 10-12 hours. But it started out saying it would take more than 4,000 minutes to load. That was yesterday when I reloaded it - thinking that it was a bad connection or weird mistake. Nope. As of today, it's down to 2,100 minute left for the full upload.

So that's how it is. It's frustrating, but that's what we have. The next videos queued up to load after Swish 13U are Kahuku 15U and HomeGrown 13U. Thank you for your patience.

Crush 41, H1 Thunder 33 (15U)

PAA 15U playoffs, Koko Head gym
Another gutty effort by our 6 Thunder. Lacked depth, height and experience compared to Crush, a team of 6-3, 6-1, 6-0 guys. But we were right there for three-fourths of the game.

They manned us and we executed so well, used almost every play in the book, driving strong to the basket, cutting strong. It was a winnable game even though we were mostly 12, 13 and 14. Sierra was our only 15-year-old today.

But Crush switched to a zone with the game still close at 20-19 midway through the second half and we went cold. Our execution in man offense was great (Sierra's backdoor pass to Colin was smooth), but our zone offense was not good at all, people not setting their screens or looking to shoot when the shot was there. All the little things take on a bigger effect against a team that's much, much taller, and before we knew it, we were down 10 points and struggling to get back in the game.

It's another learning experience for our younger guys. They're accustomed to beating taller teams. But we gave up too many easy layups (challenging their non-shooters too far from the basket) and didn't execute late in the game. Hopefully, we keep learning and getting smarter.

Didn't have a lot of our bigger guys — Kali‘a (football), Anu (football), Tani (football), Chris (football). Our Kalani 15U guys are busy with other things. So this was a nice opportunity for our 13s and 14s to step up, and they almost did it again. Proud of the guys for their hustle.

Ryan came off the bench. He hurt his ankle playing for his school team on Friday, but still played hard on both ends.

BIG MAHALO to Eric for shooting video today!

Lineup: Ryan Higashionna, Sierra Murobayashi, Jared Elwin, Felcris Jay Corpuz Ahadain, Josh M DE Jesus, Colin Micah Ramos.

Next: Sunday, 10:40 am - H1 Thunder vs. Lanakila (CAL 15U), McKinley gym. Stretching/warmups 9:40 am.

WE LUB THIS GAAAAME!!

H1 Thunder: 9 treys vs Swish (13U)

H1 Thunder: 9 treys vs Swish (CAL 13U) 9/13/2014
video: Brandon Higashionna

15U Lineup - Saturday

All hands on deck! Lots of our 15U guys will be busy today with football, so we need everybody to step up and show up. Game time 11:40 am at Koko Head. Warmups/stretching 10:40 am.
WE LUB THIS GAME!

Sunday pickup route

8:40 am - Felcris Jay Corpuz Ahadain, Josh M DE Jesus, Micah Visoria?
8:55 am - Tanielu Mosi Afe? Chris Afe?
9:15 am - Keanu Pratt?
9:20 am - Jared Elwin?
9:40 am - Stretching/warmups.
10:40 am - H1 Thunder vs. Lanakila (CAL 15U), McKinley gym.
Call/text 551-1054 before 8:00 am for a ride.
WEEE LUBBB THIS GAAAAAAME!!

Saturday pickup route

9:30 am - Josh M DE Jesus, Felcris Jay Corpuz Ahadain, Micah Visoria?
9:45 am - Tanielu Mosi Afe?
10:00 am - Jared Elwin?
10:30 am - Stretching/warmups.
11:30 am - H1 Thunder vs. Crush (PAA 15U playoff), Koko Head gym.
Call/text me 551-1054 before 9:00 am for a ride.
WE LUB THIS GAAAAAAAAAAME!!

H1 Thunder 34, HomeGrown 31 (13U)

PAA 13U playoffs, Kilauea gym
We were 7 strong tonight compared to 5 yesterday and that made a major difference. We played our game and opened up an 11-point lead in the second half. But HG is TALL, a 6-1 guy with nice shooting skills inside, and a couple of guys 5-10, 5-11 with size.

Last time we played them (might have been CAL 13U), they hurt us from the 3-point line, but we did a stellar job there defensively, and our 5-foot-6 and under team did pretty solid work being physical under the basket. Fullcourt pressure was key for us, too, and we can't do it as effectively with less than seven guys.

Felcris hit some big 3-pointers down the stretch. He and Colin made key free throws. We got plenty of great defense from Micah and Ryan. Little Josh, Walter and Jayven took good care of the ball and were mostly solid on defensive pressure. A great team win. Now we advance to the next round. Hopefully, we'll have at least 7 guys again.

BIG MAHALO to the Higashionnas for helping with transportation. Colin and Jayden needed a lift from Ewa, so they brought the boys in with them. Thank you, Arlene and Nathan!

Lineup: Walter Berthold, Jayven Ramos, Colin Micah Ramos, Ryan Higashionna, Micah Visoria, Josh Roberts, Felcris Jay Corpuz Ahadain.

WE LUB THIS GAME!

Thursday pickup route

4:30 pm - Felcris Jay Corpuz Ahadain, Josh M DE Jesus?
6:15 pm - H1 Thunder vs. HomeGrown (PAA 13U playoff), Kilauea gym.
Call/text 551-1054 before 4:00 pm for a ride.
WE LUBBB THIS GAAAAAMME!

Mahalo, Mrs. Chang!

Thank you for another generous donation
You know the kids' hearts well. Thank you for watching over all of us and blessing us in so many ways. Your are one of a kind!

Kapolei Canes 44, H1 Thunder 26 (15U)

PAA 15U League, Kilauea gym
Another "crossover" game that had no bearing on the standings and playoff seeding. Canes have a tall, athletic team, probably all 15-year-olds. 

We had some good moments, but with so many of our 13U guys playing, it was a physical challenge that we did not overcome. Kyle and Kali‘a gave their all inside the paint. We just didn't hit enough open shots. That's about it. Things could be totally different next time if and when those shots drop. Good effort, just need to be a little stronger and trust each other, keep running our plays. Cut, cut, cut.

Lineup: Ryan Higashionna, Colin Micah Ramos, Sierra Murobayashi, Josh M DE Jesus, Kali'a Mielke, Kyle Moraga, Felcris Jay Corpuz Ahadain.

Next: Saturday, 11:30 am - H1 Thunder vs. Crush (PAA 15U playoffs), Koko Head gym. Stretching/warmups 10:30 am.
Sunday, 10:40 am - Thunder vs. Lanakila (CAL 15U), McKinley gym. Stretching/warmups 9:40 am.

OTB 44, H1 Thunder 38 (13U)

PAA 13U League, Kilauea gym
Great, gutty effort by our 5 strong. No subs, sweltering humidity. They gave it their all. I got no complaints. Game is meant to be won, but this had no bearing on the standings. The playoffs start tomorrow (Thursday), and hopefully we'll have a little more depth and start a magnificent run to the title. 

I BELIEVE because I have seen the TRUTH. We can shoot with any team. We can press with any team. We can run with any team. We can do it.

Lineup: Colin Micah Ramos, Jayven Ramos, Josh Roberts, Felcris Jay Corpuz Ahadain, Ryan Higashionna.

Next: Thursday, 6:15 pm - Thunder vs. HomeGrown (PAA 13U playoffs), Kilauea gym. Stretching/warmups 5:15 pm.
WE LUBBB THIS GAAAMME!!

Thursday lineups: 13U & 15U

H1 Thunder 13U vs OTB, 7:00 pm, Kilauea gym (PAA)
H1 Thunder 15U vs Kapolei Canes, 7:45 pm, Kilauea gym (PAA)

Update 5:00 pm
#0 Micah Visoria - Not available (Manoa League)
#1 Keanu Pratt - N/A (football)
#2 Kapaa Nishimura - N/A (resting)
#3 Kyle Moraga - ?
#4 Chase Santos - studying
#5 Jared Elwin - N/A (Roosevelt conditioning)
#6 Ryan Higashionna - playing 13U/15U
#7 Josh M DE Jesus - playing 15U
#8 Tanielu Mosi Afe - N/A (football)
#9 Thomas Baptiste Takahashi - N/A (football)
#10 Josh Roberts - playing 13U
#12 Kaelyn Espinda - 15U?
#13 Jayden Ramos - playing 13U
#15 Sierra Murobayashi - playing 15U
#17 Kanehe Nishimura - N/A (cross country, band)
#21 Chris Afe - N/A (football)
#22 Kali'a Mielke - ? (football)
#23 Felcris Jay Corpuz Ahadain - playing 13u/15U
#25 Raydyn Kaleikini - N/A (training with dad)
#30 Colin Micah Ramos - playing 13U/15U
#33 Javan Montiho - N/A (football)
#35 Gabriel Porras - N/A (studying)
#88 Walter Berthold - N/A (Manoa League)

13U Lineup Check: Wed & Thur

Ray (Colin and Jayden's dad) said they may not be able to play on Thursday and Friday due to a leadership sleepover at school. (Friday's game will probably be cancelled.)

So unless Micah and Walter are available, that leaves us with not enough players to play in the PAA 13U playoff game on Thursday.  Micah and Walter might have a Manoa League game that night. I need to find out from them if they are free.

Who is available to play on Thursday? ALL HANDS ON DECK!

Wednesday, Thunder 13U vs. OTB (PAA)
#0 Micah Visoria - ?
#6 Ryan Higashionna - yes
#10 Josh Roberts - yes
#13 Jayden Ramos - yes
#21 Chris Afe - football
#23 Felcris Ahadain - yes
#30 - Colin Ramos - yes
#33 - Javan Montiho - football
#88 - Walter Berthold - ?

Thursday, Thunder 13U vs. HomeGrown (PAA playoff)

#0 Micah Visoria - ?

#6 Ryan Higashionna - yes

#10 Josh Roberts - yes

#13 Jayden Ramos - school function

#21 Chris Afe - football

#23 Felcris Ahadain - yes

#30 - Colin Ramos - school function

#33 - Javan Montiho - football

#88 - Walter Berthold - ?

Please let me know. Call or text 551-1054 ASAP. I do not want to forfeit a game, but if we don't have enough, we need to let PAA League know ahead of time.

Mahalo.

This Week: REVISION #2 (and more)

*** TUESDAY UPDATE: First game on Wednesday (13U) has been forfeited by the Warriors. We still have our 13U game, 7:00 pm, vs. OTB, followed by 15U game, 7:45 pm, vs. Kapolei Canes.

Updates from PAA and CAL Leagues. WE MAY HAVE GAMES EVERY DAY WED-SUNDAY.

Please note, the CAL 13U game on Friday is up in the air. I have to work at a football game at Campbell, so it's going to be rough for us to get some players to the gym while so many parents are getting off work and driving across the island/town. Also, Coach Larry might have to work until 6:30 pm and that Friday game starts at 6:20. Normally, CAL doesn't assign us to Friday games because of my work schedule, not sure what happened. Hopefully, we'll have it resolved real soon. Coach Greydon is doing his best to accommodate all the teams in his league as gym time permits.

Wednesday, Sept. 17, 5:30 pm - Thunder vs. Warriors (PAA 13U), Kilauea gym 

Wednesday, Sept. 17, 7:00 pm - Thunder vs. OTB (PAA 13U), Kilauea gym 

Wednesday, Sept. 17, 7:45 pm - Thunder vs. Kapolei Canes (PAA 15U), Kilauea gym

Thursday, Sept. 18, 6:15 pm - Thunder vs. HomeGrown (PAA 13U playoffs), Kilauea gym

Friday, Sept. 19, 6:20 pm - Thunder vs. Raiders (CAL 13U), Kilauea gym ???

Saturday, Sept. 20, 11:30 am - Thunder vs. Crush (PAA 15U playoffs), Koko Head gym

Sunday, Sept. 21, 10:40 am - Thunder vs. Lanakila (CAL 15U), McKinley gym

Wednesday, Sept. 24 - PAA playoffs TBA, Kilauea gym

Thursday, Sept. 25 - PAA playoffs TBA, Kilauea gym

Friday, Sept. 26 - PAA playoffs TBA, Koko Head gym

Saturday, Sept. 27 - PAA playoffs TBA, Koko Head gym 

Sunday, Sept. 28, 1:00 pm - Thunder vs. McKinley (CAL 15U), Kilauea gym

Sunday, Sept. 28, 1:50 pm - Thunder vs. HomeGrown (CAL 13U), Kilauea gym

Friday, Oct. 3 - PAA playoffs TBA, Koko Head gym

Saturday, Oct. 4 - PAA playoffs TBA, Koko Head gym

Saturday, Oct. 4, 12:00 pm - Thunder vs. Team Dream (CAL 13U), Kilauea gym

Monday funday

Solid work on fundamentals on Monday afternoon by Sierra, Walter and Ryan. A lot of ballhanding work, on-ball defense, cleaning up a few things here and there. Worked on fundamentals against double-team pressure. Worked on some basic sets, the new plays and finished with shooting drills.

I'll always prefer for us to have enough players to go 5-on-5, but it's never bad to just work on basics when there are less guys there. Fine-tuning our fundamentals makes the difference big time in a close game.

Nice work, Thunder!

Next: Tuesday - No practice.
Wednesday, Thursday, Friday, Saturday, Sunday — PAA and CAL League games. See the game schedule in the newer post above.

WE LUB THIS GAAAAAME!!!

This Week (Sept 15-21)

Monday, 5:00 pm - Practice at Makiki Park.

Tuesday - No practice.

Wednesday - We have 3 games combined in 13U and 15U, all at Kilauea gym.
5:30 pm - Thunder vs. Warriors (PAA 13U)
7:00 pm - Thunder vs. OTB (PAA 13U)
7:45 pm - Thunder vs. Kapolei Canes (PAA 15U)

Thursday - PAA playoff games TBA.

Friday - No practice.

Saturday/Sunday - TBA. I'm expecting a CAL schedule soon.

The reason why we've had a lot of 13U games clustered up recently is because we were granted some extra time in early August to find more players, not even sure if we would field a 13U team. Both CAL and PAA leagues helped us out. So on the back end, a lot of games.

PAA playoffs begin on Thursday, so be ready :)

Weekend scores

Saturday scores

Crush 35, Thunder 24 (PAA 15U)

Thunder 51, Swish 35 (CAL 13U)

Thunder 44, Kahuku 37 (CAL 15U). 

I watched the game videos of the last two games. FUN FUN FUN! Thunder rained threes against Swish's zone, terrific halfcourt pressure on defense. Then so many clutch plays by our 15U against a big Kahuku team. Jared was everywhere making great plays - rebounds, assists, drives, steals. Kali‘a was a perfect hub with his passing from the high post, plus rebounding. Ryan with 4 FTs in the final minute. Sierra with cold-blooded 3-pointers from the corner to break open a tight game. It was fun to watch.

I'll edit and post the videos soon. Got some work to do first.

Again, mahalos to Coach Larry, Coach Ray and all our parents for being so devoted to the Thunder kids.

WE LUBBB THIS GAAAAAME!!

Saturday tripleheader

The day is done. Thunder 15U lost in the morning to Crush, then won in the afternoon (under Coach Larry) against Kahuku. Thunder 13U beat Swish under Coach Larry and Coach Ray.

Thank you, Coaches Larry and Ray, and parents, for getting everybody to Koko Head gym and Kilauea gym. I'm sorry I had to work, but I never worry about it as long as we have Larry there. Now I know Ray can step in Shoot, Larry's record this year has been phenomenal, no surprise.

Don't know the scores since I don't have the camera, but I can't wait to see the afternoon videos. (I just pau work so I'm looking for the camera.)

Our guys did pretty good this morning against a very tall Crush team, stayed close all the way until the last few minutes. I'm just glad we had enough players. I know we always play with heart, and you combine that with smarts from our players and coaches, we can beat anybody.

BIG MAHALO to Coach Ray for taking Felcris to Kilauea gym and then home. 

Good job, H1 Thunder!

15U & 13U Lineup - Saturday

ALL HANDS ON DECK.
9:15 am - 15U game (PAA), Koko Head gym
1:00 pm - 13U game (CAL), Kilauea gym
1:50 pm - 15U game (CAL), Kilauea gym

15U/13U
#0 Micah Visoria?
#1 Keanu Pratt?
#2 Kapaa Nishimura - resting
#3 Kyle Moraga - church
#4 Chase Santos - not playing/studying
#5 Jared Elwin?
#6 Ryan Higashionna
#7 Josh M DE Jesus - "not coming"
#8 Mosi Afe - football
#9 Thomas Baptiste Takahashi - football
#10 Josh Roberts - cross country meet
#13 Jayden Ramos - not playing 9:15 am 15U game. Will play in the 13U/15U afternoon games.
#15 Sierra Murobayashi?
#17 Kanehe Nishimura - not playing/cross country
#21 Chris Afe - football
#22 Kali'a Mielke?
#23 Felcris Jay Corpuz Ahadain
#25 Raydyn Kaleikini - training with dad/not playing
#30 Colin Micah Ramos - not playing 9:15 am 15U game. Will play in the 13U/15U afternoon games.
#33 Javan Montiho - football.
#35 Gabriel Porras - not playing/studying.
#88 Walter Berthold?

Saturday pickup route

7:30 am - Felcris Jay Corpuz Ahadain, Josh M DE Jesus, Micah Visoria?
7:40 am - Chris Afe?
7:50 am - Keanu Pratt
7:55 am - Jared Elwin?
8:15 am - Stretching/warmups.
9:15 am - Thunder vs. Crush (PAA 15U), Koko Head gym
10:30 am - Snack time.
12:00 pm - Stretching/warmups.
1:00 pm - H1 Thunder vs. Swish (CAL 13U), Kilauea gym.
1:50 pm - H1 Thunder vs. Kahuku (CAL 15U), Kilauea gym.
4:00 pm - Coach Paul pickup at Kilauea gym for guys who need ride home.
WE LUB THIS GAAAAAME!!

Sharks-Green 46, H1 Thunder 32 (13U)

PAA League, 13U Division, Kilauea gym
It was 13-10 at halftime even though we lost Ryan for the last several minutes. He got hurt again, a cut under his chin after getting fouled on a drive.

That meant we played the last several minutes of the first half with just 4 Thunder. They played hard, though, and Jayden and Little Josh did a great job of playing strong at that high post area. 

Second half, Ryan was still out, and the Sharks gradually stretched the lead to 5, then 6, then 7. We stayed close with Felcris and Colin making hustle plays. Jayden and Little Josh hit threes tonight, too.

But eventually, we were down 10-12 points and it was a battle just to stay within range without subs.
Ryan returned with about 10 minutes left and we were close to making a run, but missed some open 3-pointers that rimmed out. Our guys played with a lot of heart tonight. Proud of them! 

Lineup: Josh Roberts, Jayden Ramos, Colin Micah Ramos, Felcris Jay Corpuz Ahadain, Ryan Higashionna. 

Next: Friday - No practice.
Saturday, 9:15 am - H1 Thunder vs. Crush (PAA 15U), Koko Head gym.
Saturday, 1:00 pm - H1 Thunder vs. Swish (CAL 13U), Kilauea gym.
Saturday, 1:50 pm - H1 Thunder vs. Kahuku (CAL 15U), Kilauea gym.
Note: I have to work (Saint Louis-‘Iolani football) game on Saturday, 1:00 pm, so our dads (I asked Larry and Ray) to fill in. I'll have the basketballs and camera there for you guys to use. I'll be back around 4:00 pm to pick up the guys who need ride home. 

WE LUB THIS GAAAAAME!!

Thursday 13U Lineup

Micah and Walter will miss Thursday's 13U game at Kilauea gym because of Manoa League game at roughly the same time. This means our roster will be very thin, so please get there early for stretching and warmups. We need all hands on deck!

#23 Felcris Jay Corpuz Ahadain
#30 Colin Micah Ramos
#6 Ryan Higashionna
#10 Josh Roberts
#13 Jayden Ramos
#33 Javan Montiho (not available - football)
#21 Chris Afe (not available - football)

Wednesday funday

Good workout by Micah, Walter and Little Josh today. A good hour non-stop (except for water breaks). Plenty of ballhandling/court vision drills, on-ball defense, conditioning, execution on halfcourt sets/screens and our new play (3-Ball).

Good work, Thunder!

Next: Thursday, 5:30 pm - H1 Thunder vs. Sharks-Green (PAA 13U), Kilauea gym.
Friday - No practice.
Saturday, 9:15 am - H1 Thunder vs. Crush (PAA 15U), Koko Head gym.
Saturday, 1:00 pm - H1 Thunder vs. Swish (CAL 13U), Kilauea gym.
Saturday, 1:50 pm - H1 Thunder vs. Owls (CAL 15U), Kilauea gym.

Note: I have to work (Saint Louis-‘Iolani football) game on Saturday, 1:00 pm, so our dads (I asked Larry and Ray) to fill in. I'll have the camera there for you guys to use. I'll be back around 4:00 pm to pick up the guys who need ride home.
WE LUB THIS GAAAAAME!!

Video: H1 Thunder vs HomeGrown (15U)

vs HomeGrown (PAA 15U) 9/4/2014
video: Brandon Higashionna
score: Thunder 36, HomeGrown 29

Monday funday

Every rep counts. Solid workout for Ryan and Little Josh this afternoon. Non-stop 35 minutes (with water breaks) of transition drills, ballhandling drills, on-ball defense, fullcourt layups. Then 15 minutes of free throws and 3-point drills (Monday/Tuesday/2K).

REPETITION BUILDS CONFIDENCE. Good work, guys!

Next: Tuesday - No practice.
Wednesday, 5:00 pm - Practice at Makiki Park.
Thursday, 5:30 pm - H1 Thunder vs. Sharks-Green (PAA 13U), Kilauea gym. Stretching/warmups 4:30 pm.
Friday - No practice.
Saturday, 9:15 am - H1 Thunder vs. Crush (PAA 15U), Koko Head gym. Stretching/warmups 8:15 am.
Saturday, 1:00 pm - H1 Thunder vs. Swish (CAL 13U), Kilauea gym. Stretching/warmups 12:00 pm.
Saturday, 1:50 pm - H1 Thunder vs. Owls (CAL 15U), Kilauea gym.
WE LUB THIS GAAAME!!

This Week (Sept. 8-14) - revised

Found out I'm working on Tuesday, so no practice that day. Also, PAA has switched the teams we will play the next two weeks, but the days and times are the same.

Monday, 5:00 pm - Practice at Makiki Park.
Tuesday - No practice.
Wednesday, 5:00 pm - Practice at Makiki Park.
Thursday, 5:30 pm - H1 Thunder vs. Sharks-Green (PAA 13U), Kilauea gym.
Friday - No practice.
Saturday, 9:15 am - H1 Thunder vs. Crush (PAA 15U), Koko Head gym.
Saturday, 1:00 pm - H1 Thunder vs. Swish (CAL 13U), Kilauea gym.
Saturday, 1:50 pm - H1 Thunder vs. Owls (CAL 15U), Kilauea gym.

Monday, Sept. 15, 5:00 pm - Practice at Makiki Park.
Wednesday, Sept. 17, 5:30 pm - Thunder vs. Warriors (PAA 13U), Kilauea gym
Wednesday, Sept. 17, 7:00 pm - Thunder vs. OTB (PAA 13U), Kilauea gym
Wednesday, Sept. 17, 7:45 pm - Thunder vs. Kapolei Canes (PAA 15U), Kilauea gym
Thursday, Sept. 18 - Playoffs TBA, Kilauea gym

WE LUBBB THIS GAAAAME!!!

H1 Thunder 36, HomeGrown 29 (15U)

PAA League, 15U Division, Koko Head gym
We were really low in numbers before the game, but by game time we had 8 Thunder, including Colin (got out of leadership class early) and Javan (football season). Having depth helped us a lot. It was a hot, muggy day and the game was at 12:15 pm.

Solid game against HG's man defense, a lot of smart drive and kicks to the corner. Felcris, Javan and Sierra hit big 3-pointers in the first half. In the second half, a lot of mental errors, but our defense made up for much of that. Kali‘a stopped their fastbreak and layup attempts at least four times by himself by getting perfect position. The refs did a really good job of recognizing that positioning by Kali‘a as people tried to force contact on their drives.


That's what I call intelligent aggression: being smart enough to get position and being physical enough to take the contact - or give it out when necessary. That's one of the things that Kali‘a always brings us, and it negated HG's height advantage (they had Christian, who is 6-2 or 6-3).

Solid team win. The game really changed off our fullcourt pressure and Anu attacking on the fastbreak. He scored six or eight points in a row late in the first half as we took control.

Lineup: Colin Micah Ramos, Sierra Murobayashi, Javan Montiho, Keanu Pratt, Felcris Jay Corpuz, Josh M DE Jesus, Ryan Higashionna, Kali'a Mielke.
Next: Sunday - No practice.
Monday, 5:00 pm - Practice at Makiki Park.
WE LUB THIS GAAAME!

Video: H1 Thunder vs. HomeGrown (13U)

vs HomeGrown (PAA 13U) 9/4/2014
video: Brandon Higashionna
score: HomeGrown 32, Thunder 31, 2 OT

Saturday's 15U game - at Koko Head gym

Please note, our PAA 15U game on Saturday, 12:15 pm, is at Koko Head gym.

Our other game scheduled for 12:00 pm in CAL League has been cancelled. PAA League released their schedule first, so we are abiding by theirs first. Wish we could play both, but it's impossible. CAL League has tried hard to reschedule that game, but was unable to.

NOTE: I've sent an e-mail to PAA League with the hope that they can reschedule our game. CAL League did everything they could, so maybe PAA League has an alternative solution for us.

Saturday pickup route

10:15 am - Josh M DE Jesus, Felcris Jay Corpuz Ahadain, Micah Visoria?
10:30 am - Chris Afe?
10:45 am - Keanu Pratt.
10:55 am - Jared Elwin.
11:15 am - Stretching/warmups.
12:15 pm - H1 Thunder vs. HomeGrown (PAA 15U), Koko Head gym.
WE LUB THIS GAAME!!

HomeGrown 32, H1 Thunder 31, 2 OT (13U)

Great effort tonight by our shorthanded 13U (7 strong), playing our second game in as many nights. We started strong against a massive team. HomeGrown had a big 6-3 guy, a 6-1 and a 6-0. Still, we led for much of the way and it was 22-14 early in the second half before we gave up three 3-pointers in a row.

A lot of that had to do with fatigue and inexperience. No way we should let them hit an open 3, and after the first one, it's time to tighten up, but with our team being young guys, it takes time and experience to unlearn bad defensive habits. We'll get there.

We still had a 5- or 6-point lead in the final 2 minutes, but our unforced turnovers did us in. So did missed free throws on our part. HG hit two free throws with :04 left in regulation to tie it and in the first OT, we got the ball and weren't able to get a good shot. I should've called 6 or Double 9 instead of assuming someone would hit the high post and screen for Colin on top.

In the second OT, we fouled them right off the tip even though we had two guys back on defense to protect the rim. Another mistake due to inexperience. They hit the first free throw on 1-and-1 and that was the game.

I did everything I could for you guys, but this loss is on me. I just couldn't get us to execute our pressbreaker consistently. All the times we dribbled through it set us up for a crucial turnover late in regulation when we tried to dribble (again) through a double team instead of trusting our teammates, being crisp, moving the ball and cutting to open space. We were very, very lacking tonight on cutting through the middle on press breaker.

On the defensive end, even though we had lots of fouls to give, nobody fouled their big guys on the low post. Very similar to the night before, when we lacked the intelligence to be physical on the low post - give fouls and force them to take the ball out again.

I hope we learn from this and get back to fundamental, fast, smart basketball. And I hope we learn to be very physical when necessary down low against taller teams. We really miss Javan, who understands this very well. Kali‘a is another guy who is very intelligent and physical defensively.

All in all, a huge effort in defeat. We're now 2-2 in PAA 13U League with 3 more regular-season games before the playoffs. Young and shorthanded as we are, I expects us to make a run and win the championship. If that means all our guys have to run every day when there's no practice, then that's the sacrifice it will take. It kills me to see us lose to a team just because they're bigger and we didn't consistently, constantly push them out of the post. We'll learn quickly. That's my hope for all our 13U guys.

Lineup: Walter Berthold, Jayden Ramos, Colin Ramos, Micah Visoria, Felcris Ahadain, Ryan Higashionna, Josh Roberts.

Next: Friday - No practice.

Saturday, 12:15 pm - H1 Thunder vs. HomeGrown (PAA 15U), Koko Head gym. All 13U needed since we're shorthanded on 15U. Stretching/warmups 11:15 am.

WE LUB THIS GAAAAAAME!

Video: H1 Thunder vs Sharks Black (13U)

vs Sharks-Black (PAA 13U) 9/3/2014
video: Brandon Higashionna
score: Sharks-Black 49, Thunder 39

Thursday pickup route

3:15 pm - Micah Visoria?
3:30 pm - Felcris Jay Corpuz Ahadain, Josh M DE Jesus?
4:30 pm - Stretching/warmups.
5:30 pm - H1 Thunder vs. HomeGrown (PAA 13U), Kilauea gym.
Call/text 551-1054 before 3:15 pm for a ride.
WE LUB THIS GAME!

Sharks-Black 49, H1 Thunder 39 (13U)

PAA League, 13U Division, Kilauea gym
We were in Small Ball mode tonight against the tall Sharks. They were about 6-2, 6-0, 6-0 in their starting lineup, while we were 5-7 and shorter. No problem. We led for most of the first half, great job of ball movement and shooting over their 2-3 zone by Felcris and Micah.

But we tired late in the half, didn't box out enough, and they came back to take a 23-20 lead at halftime. Second half, we stayed within 3 to 7 points until the final 5 minutes or so. We fell behind by 10 or 12 before our fullcourt pressure got us some opportunities. Walter and Little Josh were terrific putting pressure on the ball, and we hit some 3-pointers to cut the score to 45-39 with less than 2 minutes left. But the Sharks finished strong.

Our guys played their hearts out. Colin kept driving to the bucket to get And-1s. Felcris was on fire in the first half with threes and mid-range floaters. Jayden hit some nit some nice mid-range shots, too.
We lost Ryan for most of the first half after he fell backwards on a collision and hit his head on the floor. He wasn't dizzy, just in pain. He felt better in the second half, so he played most of the final 14 minutes. Any head injury, crucial to check for dizziness, nausea. 

It was a very good effort for us and our young guys. They're not quite at the point where they know how to play physical basketball under the basket against taller teams. That's something that takes time and practice, intelligent aggression. Old guys know what that's about. 

Lineup: Walter Berthold, Jayden Ramos, Felcris Jay Corpuz Ahadain, Ryan Higashionna, Colin Micah Ramos, Micah Visoria, Josh Roberts.
Next: Thursday, 5:30 pm - H1 Thunder vs. HomeGrown (PAA 13U), Kilauea gym. Stretching/warmups 4:30 pm.
WE LUBBB THIS GAAAAME!!

13U lineup - Thursday

Thursday, 5:30 pm - H1 Thunder vs. HomeGrown (PAA 13U), Kilauea gym.

#0 Micah Visoria - ?
#6 Ryan Higashionna - ? (injury)
#10 Josh Roberts - yes
#13 Jayden Ramos - yes
#21 Chris Afe - football practice
#23 Felcris Jay Corpuz Ahadain - yes
#30 Colin Micah Ramos - yes
#33 Javan Montiho - football practice
#88 Walter Berthold - ?

Wednesday pickup route

3;30 pm - Felcris Jay Corpuz Ahadain, Josh M DE Jesus?
4:30 pm - Stretching/warmups.
5;30 pm - H1 Thunder vs. Sharks-Black (PAA 3U), Kilauea gym.
Need a ride, call/text 551-1054 before 4:30 pm.
WE LUB THIS GAAAME!!

Tuesday funday

Good workout today, all fundamentals on offense. Jab steps, triple threat, bank shots, pull-up jumpers, floaters. Ballhandling drills w/ shooting, then halfcourt sets (man offense). Got to fine-tune a lot of stuff today and Jayden, our youngest guy at 11, is picking up things quickly.

Good work, Thunder! 

Lineup: Jayden Ramos, Colin Micah Ramos, Ryan Higashionna, Jared Elwin. 

Next: Wednesday, 5:30 pm - H1 Thunder vs. Sharks-Black (PAA 13U), Kilauea gym. Stretching/warmups 4:30 pm.
WE LUBB THIS GAAAME!!

3 ballers from Ewa. 1 baller from Makiki.

4 Thunder strong. 

Video: H1 Thunder vs PC All-Stars (13U)

vs Pearl City All-Stars (CAL 13U)
video: Brandon Higashionna
score: Thunder 40, Pearl City 39