Sunday, May 17, 2015

H1 Thunder Globetrotters



Yeah, I'm the only one who even wonders about playing overseas. But it's fun and when I did get to play (not coach), it was a trip. Kaimuki HS went to Okinawa and played 4 games. Three were against local teams, including one (Conan) that was #6 in all of Japan. We lost to them, beat the other two schools. Shot clock! We lost to a US Army base HS team (Kubasaki). Then we went to Taiwan, no games there.
The places I would love for us to travel and play at:

China - Basketball is hot there, from Beijing down the coast.

Hong Kong - The game is growing there partly because of Jeremy Lin.

Japan - Tenchi​ can be our interpreter.

Singapore - Yes, it's one of the cleanest, crime-free cities in the world, and they also host an international Asia-Pacific tournament. Too bad it's in October.

Philippines - Some of our guys say it's not a great idea because most schools there don't have indoor gyms. But the dollar is super strong there. Everything would be cheap. And the day will come when a former Thunder player plays pro ball there. I know a kid from Kona who spent more than 10 years in the pro league there (Brandon Cablay).

Australia - Good hoops but expensive.

South Korea - ??

Brazil - Soccer is huge but basketball is big too.

Argentina - Hoops must be good there, it's the birthplace of Manu Ginobili.

Europe - Pricey because of distance, but my choices in preferred order: 1. Spain, 2. Lithuania (great basketball despite being a tiny country), 3. Italy, 4. France, 5. Germany (historical tour would be crazy good, i.e. the Wall, 6. England/Ireland.

All of this is easy to dream about, tough to achieve. But it starts with a vision.

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