Video: Thunder vs Blazers (JV)

Full game footage


vs Aiea Blazers (JV) 6/12/2015
Aiea JV Tournament
∆∆ Full game http://youtu.be/UbRM0Ss9Cs4
∆∆ Highlights
Video: Joel Gormley.
Score: Blazers 56, Thunder 30.

Aiea Blazers 56, H1 Thunder 30 (JV)

Aiea JV Tournament, Aiea District Park gym
Great performance by the host team. They shot lights out, put solid defensive pressure on us and probably forced us into 20 or 25 turnovers. We were sloppy with the ball instead of strong, our posts weren't consistently sealing their defenders down, and it was never close.

That being said, we can beat this team. When we took care of the ball, we got good shots. Take away most of the turnovers and it's an even game. But it was clear tonight that 1) This team that won the OIA (same group, same coach in Rob Godinez) is the real deal, very balanced, smart with the ball, and 2) we were fatigued.

Our football guys definitely were a step slow and I never even considered that factor in my game plan. But at the end of a busy conditioning week for the football guys and also our basketball guys training with their school teams, I still expected us to have our normal energy level. We simply did not.

We were out of sync sometimes, and it's not a shock because our older guys haven't practiced together for at least two weeks, maybe three. It wasn't that long ago that we were going 5-on-5 every day with 15 to 17 players at Makiki Park, PLUS our Thunder Alums coming to the court to give our JV and Intermediate guys great battles. That absolutely helped us win the Ikaika League title.

But we didn't play to our normal level and we ran into a juggernaut squad in Aiea. We obviously won't have practice time to prepare for Saturday's remaining two pool-play games, but if we get back to playing our kind of basketball, we could squeeze into the championship semifinals on Sunday. I expect us to push hard for that result even as we'll be missing a lot of our older guys on Saturday. Our Inter guys played well tonight when they got playing time, and they play fearlessly. I won't be surprised when they spark us into the semifinals. They are always the smallest team on the floor, but they know how to compete, how to move the ball and how to wreak havoc defensively.

We'll need that on Saturday against Kahuku and Central Kauai. I'm pumped to see our Thunder make a huge turnaround.

Lineup: Sierra, Jonah, Micah, Jance, Ryan, Radyn, Chase, Tani, Chris, Kali‘a.

Next:
Saturday, 9:00 am - Stretching/warmups at Le Jardin gym. 10:00 am - H1 Thunder vs. Kaiser (Le Jardin JV/16U League).
10:30 am - Stretching/warmups at Aiea gym. 11:30 am - H1 Thunder vs. Kahuku (Aiea JV Tournament).
1:50 pm - Stretching/warmups at Aiea gym. 2:50 pm - H1 Thunder vs. Central Kauai (Aiea JV Tournament).
WE LOVE THIS GAAAME!!

Video: Thunder vs Blazers (13U)

H1 Thunder vs. Aiea Blazers
Sunday, Jan. 25, 2015
Aiea 13U League playoffs
Quarterfinal round

HIGHLIGHTS


FULL GAME FOOTAGE


Video: Ray Ramos
Score: Thunder 41, Blazers 33

H1 Thunder 41, Aiea Blazers 33 (13U)

Aiea 13U League, quarterfinal round
Good win for our guys. Battled Aiea's big man again. This time, we focused on keeping him occupied constantly near the basket with boxouts and double teams and it worked. Big, big props to Micah, Javan and Jayden for doing good work against a talented 6-footer who did damage on us last time.

We were down early, but came back and took a 24-17 lead lead by halftime, playing smart basketball. Blazers tried to pressure us near halfcourt (similar to what Pearl City All-Stars did yesterday against our 'Pup Squad'), but Felcris, Colin, Javan and Jayden played smart and moved without the ball, made good passes and took quality shots. Our fastbreak was the key to getting a decent lead.

A little sloppy and rushed to start the second half, but once we settled down, we finished strong. Hopefully, our Pups watch and learn from our 'vets'.

Our semifinal game will be on Sunday, Feb. 8 — bye next week due to Super Bowl — at 10:40 am. We still have a game on Super Bowl Sunday, 12:00 pm at CAL League (Kilauea gym).

Lineup: Trinity, Jance, Walter, Chaz, Javan, Colin, Felcris, Micah, Jayden.

Josh R is sick today and couldn't play. Chris had football combine training. (The Nike Combine is next week.) Jonah had a CAL League game with his first team, Pearl City All-Stars. Ryan came to watch and cheer his Thunder on. He's out until late Feb with a fractured left wrist.

WE LOVE THIS GAAAME!!

Stats: Thunder vs Blazers (13U)

Game statistics
Aiea 13U League
Sunday, Jan. 4, 2015

TEAM: fg 20-56 (3-pt 5-21), ft 2-4, reb 15 (8 off), ast 16, to 11, stl 21, blk 2.

Blazers: fg 16-30 (3-pt 3-5), ft 9-10, reb 26 (4 off), ast 9, to 30, stl 5, blk 0.

Individual: 

Micah fg 5-10 (3-pt 1-4), ft 0-0, reb 1 (1 off), ast 2, to 2, stl 4, pts 11.

Ryan fg 2-7 (3-pt 1-5), ft 0-0, reb 0, ast 4, to 3, stl 3, pts 5.

Josh R. fg 2-3 (3-pt 1-2), ft 0-0, reb 1 (1 off), ast 0, to 0, stl 0, pts 5.

Chaz dnp

Trinity dnp

Jayden fg 0-1 (3-pt 0-1), ast 1, to 1, pts 0.

Jance fg 0-1, reb 1, pts 0.

Chris fg 5-14 (3-pt 0-0), ft 1-3, reb 1 (1 off), ast 2, to 1, stl 2, blk 1, pts 11.

Felcris fg 2-7 (3-pt 1-5), ft 0-0, reb 3 (1 off), ast 0, to 2, stl 3, blk 1, pts 5.

Colin fg 4-10 (3-pt 1-3), ft 1-1, reb 5 (4 off), ast 5, to 0, stl 5, pts 10.

Javan fg 0-3 (3-pt 0-1), ft 0-0, reb 2, ast 2, to 0, stl 2, pts 0.

Jonah fg 0-0, ft 0-0, reb 1, ast 0, to 2, stl 2, pts 0. 

THE GOOD

> Very good ball movement and patience. Sometimes on the ball reversal, we have open shots on the top of the key, but that's minor. We were already doing a good job moving the ball, and Chris on the post gets us more very good passing. We had 16 assists on our 20 baskets. That's excellent. 

> Offensive rebounding. We had eight on the offensive board, which is good. Four them by Colin. 

> Good shots. We had almost ALL good to very good looks. I don't mind misses when they are good quality shots. The more the better! 

> Steals. We still reach a little too much instead of trapping, but most of the time we played good team defense and got 21 steals. 

THE BAD

> A lot of missed layups. That'll improve with reps. Chris is finally back from a long football season (and an injury), and he'll shake off the rust over time. 

> The Blazers shot better than 50% from the field, including 11-for-17 in the first half. Most of that is because they shot really well in their home gym, but we can do a better job challenging shots. It wasn't bad on our part, just could be better. 

> 3-point shooting. It wasn't really bad, but it's the first time our percentage from 3-point range didn't improve over the previous week. Still, 5-for-21 isn't too bad. We're getting more reps at practice. 

> Box outs. Still lots of room for improvement here, especially after that first shot. We let Aiea's tall guy get second and third shots instead of boxing him out after the first one. 

All in all, a solid effort against a very solid team. Room to get better, yes. But excellent defense, ball movement and shooting down the stretch. Clutch play to win it with the inbounds pass by Ryan and the shot by Felcris. 

H1 Thunder 47, Aiea Blazers 44 (13U)

Aiea 13U League
Played for the last shot in the last 2 minutes and Ryan found Felcris open on an inbounds play. Felcris hit the wing 3 with 2.5 seconds for the lead and the win. Astounding, Thunder!

We trailed for most of the game before finally going ahead in the final few minutes. It took equal parts of determination, focus and composure to make that comeback.

A lot of missed layups off steals, and with Chris finally back from All-Star football (Seattle), we got lots of layup opportunities on offense. He's rusty, we're still a little rusty and it'll be much better when we make those bunnies. Everybody made just enough positive plays to pulls this one out. Aiea always plays us tough, and they were ready today. We just wore them down with constant pressure, even though the pace was slower than we like. It's always nice to get the 'W' on an off-shooting day.

I'm looking forward to practice on Monday when we can have the older Thunder 13U (Aiea League) scrimmage the younger 13U (PAA League). Our younger Thunder really need it every day. Nothing like real GAME SPEED and the test of execution on offense and defense.

Busy week ahead with two PAA League games (Thur/Sat) and most likely a CAL League (Intermediate) game (Sun). We have a bye in Aiea League.

Next: Monday, 5:00 pm - Practice at Makiki Park.
Tuesday, 5:00 pm - Practice at Makiki Park.
Wednesday, 5:00 pm - Practice at Makiki Park.
Thursday, Jan. 8, 7:15 pm - vs D Up, Kilauea gym, PAA League (13U)
Saturday, Jan. 10, 7:15 pm - vs Warriors, Lanakila gym, PAA League (13U)
** CAL 13U League begins Jan. 10
Sunday, Jan. 11 - Aiea League (13U), Bye
WE LUB THIS GAME!

Video(s): Thunder-Blazers (Aiea 13U)

FULL GAME FOOTAGE


HIGHLIGHTS
 

FIVE 3-POINTERS

GAME-WINNING PLAY

Video: Thunder vs Blazers I (Int)

Part 1


Part 2


Part 3

Blazers 44, Thunder 43 (Int)

Aiea Blazers I 44, H1 Thunder 43, OT 

Aiea Intermediate Division

We played hard, but not as smart as usual. A lot of fundamental breakdowns. I knew it could happen because we haven't had much time to practice lately. Hopefully, we learn, learn, learn. All of us, definitely including myself.

Aiea always plays smart, fundamental basketball and their "1" teams are always title contenders. Coach Rod is a helluva coach.

For us, we had won every game in our division, and this game was a "crossover" game to complete the regular-season schedule. Next Saturday, we start the playoffs in that league. The unbeaten season is no more, but a championship is definitely in our reach. Got to have full practices, that would help. A full lineup would be great, too.

Today's lineup: Walter Berthold, Javan Montiho, Hsien Pascua, Micah Visoria, Kali'a Mielke, Jared Elwin, Ryan Higashionna, Kapaa Nishimura, Joshua de Jesus.

Video: Thunder vs Blazers2 (Inter.)

Part 1


Part 2


Part 3


Part 4


Second game of the Aiea League (Intermediate Division) went better. After missing a lot of layups in the first game against Ali‘i, we shot pretty well. Great hustle and teamwork all over the court against Aiea Blazers 2. Mahalo to Brandon Higashionna for shooting the video!

Video: Thunder vs Blazers2 (Intermediate)

Part 1


Part 2


Part 3


Part 4

Intermediate: H1 Thunder 88, Aiea Blazers II 26

Great hustle, great passing, great quickness in transition, super defensive pressure and, yes, we hit a lot more shots. I don't know if the scrimmages are helping, but everybody played with focus and fire today, so that was really nice. We're not quite there yet, making some little mistakes that are correctible. But I think we had some fun today. Building toward the future!

Today's lineup: Javan Montiho, Ryan Higashionna, Micah Visoria, Felcris Jay Corpuz, Joshua de Jesus, Chris Afe, Kali'a Mielke, Kapaa Nishimura, Jared Elwin and Manoa Kualii Moe.

Next: Sunday, 11:00 am, practice at McCully gym. WE LUB THIS GAAAAME!!

2013-14 Winter: Aiea Basketball League / Intermediate Division

H1 Thunder

*** Originally posted on the H1 Thunder Facebook page 12/28/13

Boxscore added on 1/7/14

H1 Thunder (Honolulu) at Aiea Blazers II (Aiea League/Intermediate Division)
Dec 28, 2013	1ST	2ND	SCORE
H1 Thunder (Honolulu) (2-0)	48	40	88
Aiea Blazers II (Aiea League/Intermediate Division) ()	14	12	26

H1 Thunder (Honolulu)
STARTERS	MIN	FGM-A	3PM-A	FTM-A	REB	AST	STL	BLK	TO	PTS
#5 Kapaa Nishimura	1	1-1	0-0	0-0	3-0	4	5	0	0	2
#10 Manoa Kualii-Moe	1	4-5	0-1	0-0	5-2	5	8	0	3	8
#15 Jared Elwin	1	3-6	0-1	0-0	5-4	4	3	0	0	6
#24 Chris Afe	1	7-12	0-0	2-4	0-0	4	0	1	0	16
#41 Kali‘a Mielke	1	6-7	0-0	3-4	2-2	1	0	0	0	15
BENCH	MIN	FGM-A	3PM-A	FTM-A	REB	AST	STL	BLK	TO	PTS
#0 Micah Visoria	1	3-6	0-0	0-0	2-2	2	1	0	0	6
#1 Hsien Pascua	1	DNP
#6 Ryan Higashionna	1	1-2	0-1	0-0	1-1	6	4	0	0	2
#7 Joshua de Jesus	1	9-17	3-6	0-2	6-3	2	0	0	0	21
#11 Javan Montiho	1	2-3	1-2	0-0	0-0	2	1	0	0	5
#33 Felcris Ahadain	1	3-8	0-1	0-0	4-3	3	1	0	2	6
TEAM TOTALS		39-67 (.582)	4-13 (.308)	5-10 (.500)	28-17	33	23	1	5	88

Aiea Blazers II (Aiea League/Intermediate Division)
STARTERS	MIN	FGM-A	3PM-A	FTM-A	REB	AST	STL	BLK	TO	PTS
#3	1	2-4	0-1	0-0	0-0	4	0	0	4	5
#31	1	1-2	0-0	0-2	2-1	0	0	0	6	2
#32	1	0-1	0-0	2-4	3-1	1	0	0	4	2
#33	1	4-5	1-1	0-3	4-0	0	1	0	4	9
#44	1	2-3	0-0	2-6	3-1	0	1	1	1	6
BENCH	MIN	FGM-A	3PM-A	FTM-A	REB	AST	STL	BLK	TO	PTS
#1	1	1-3	0-1	0-1	0-0	1	0	0	8	2
#2	1	0-1	0-1	0-0	0-0	0	0	0	2	0
#21	1	0-0	0-0	0-0	0-0	0	0	0	2	0
team	1								4
TEAM TOTALS		10-19 (.526)	2-4 (.500)	4-16 (.250)	12-3	6	2	1	36	26

18U loses close in semis

The Thunder 18U lost a close game to the Aiea Blazers in today's semifinal matchup at the Aiea Tournament. Coach Bo said they had just six players, meaning a bunch of key guys did not show up. Bo said if we had a full lineup of the guys who played on Friday and Saturday in pool play, the Thunder probably would've won the championship.

Aiea went on to beat Dream Hoops Elite for the title in another close game. The Thunder 18U lost a squeaker to Lanakila in the third-place game. It's been the same story all year for the 17U/18U. The older guys aren't unified. Half the guys are dedicated and come to every game. The rest come and go and don't really care. It's saddening to me that it's turned out this way, but it's not shocking. Some guys just never had the real dedication and heart to be great teammates, to work hard every day to get better. It's just not who they are. They've got other priorities than winning championships and making small sacrifices to help their teammates.

The NJB Summer Classic is in 10 days (July 17-21) and I still like the core of this team. We'll discuss later whether we'll enter the tournament again. Last year, we finished second to Lanakila.

17U: Aiea Blazers I 68, Thunder 60

Another strong first half, then a struggle in the second half. We've got the heart and Lord knows we've got the scoring. Haka and Bryson were unconscious from 3-point land in the first half. We led 38-28 at the break. But the lack of height and interior defense always catches up with us against the best teams. Credit to the Blazers for pounding the ball inside to their go-to scorer, Tyson. Our bigs just didn't want to play big consistently tonight, and that hurt. We move on and try to make the top four to qualify for the playoffs.

(Note: Tai's absence was an obvious blow to our interior defense tonight.)

Our second-half strategy would be fine if our bigs would step up. But I'm done waiting for that to happen. They prefer to drift further and further away from the basket, so it's pointless. Literally. It's time for Plan B, 100% all the way. Nothing drastically different. We'll still run and press and shoot open 3s in the first half. But as coaches, we're going to do what we've got to do from now on. Reality vs. fiction.

17U tourney set

The tourney with the Canadian team is on. We start on Saturday, game time to be determined, but it'll be in the late afternoon.

Monday's game will be 3 pm. Tuesday's game time to be determined. All games are at Aiea District Park Gym.

Active and reserve rosters will be posted later.

Aiea 12U playoff sked

Saturday, Mar. 9
11:30 am H1 Thunder vs. Aiea Blazers 1

Winner plays Imua-Islanderz winner at 2:00 pm, also on Saturday, Mar. 9, for the league championship.

Loser plays Imua-Islanderz loser at 1:10 pm for third place.

Video: 12U vs. Aiea Blazers II

Part 1 Part 2

12U improves to 4-0

Nice work this morning by the 12U. They hustled, they battled, they were mentally tough enough to get a 43-30 42-31 win over Aiea Blazers II. We were the bigger team for a change (compared to the teams in PAA 13U or CAL middle school division), but as always, Aiea Blazers can shoot the ball and handle the ball.

Our press was inconsistent, but the hustle plays were still there. Our pressbreaker is getting better, still need consistent movement away from the ball (cutters). Our shooting was cold in the first half, but our defense (halfcourt man) kept us in it until we started making shots. Layups, especially. Good job, Thunder!

Get some rest before today's second game, 5:45 pm, McCully Gym against the Tar Heels. Always a tough game with them. Warmups 4:45 pm. I'll be done with work by then. Heading to the Mufi Hannemann Jamboree at Manoa Gym for now. Got some interviews to do and a story to write before our game.

WE LUB THIS GAME!

12U improves to 3-0 (videos posted)

Part 1

Part 2
Good work this morning by the 12U in a 35-15 win over Aiea Blazers I. The Blazers are always well-coached and always have good shooters when we've played them at the 16U level. But they have so many 12U kids that they split into two teams for this league. This is the reason why there's a 12U league at Aiea, which I'm greatly thankful for.

Today's lineup: Jared Elwin, Ryan Higashionna, Joshua de Jesus, Micah Tong, Kalai Kuia, Walter Berthold, Javan Montiho and Felcris Corpuz. Our first-season guys are learning and growing and our returnees are showing great composure, leadership and patience. I really like the guys on this team. Everybody is very coachable and hard-working.

I'll edit the game video this afternoon since there's time before I go to work. That's one of the benefits of playing the earliest game of the day (9:00 am). Overall, we played fast at times, smart most of the time and hustled a lot, so I'm happy regardless of the result. Can we get better? You know we can. That will come one practice at a time, one day at a time. But you guys have earned your way into first place. Three wins, no losses - not bad at all.

Micah Visoria missed the game. He injured his right thumb at school on Friday. Bummers!

BIG MAHALO to Micah T's parents, Scott and Claire, for bringing three huge boxes of manapua for the post-game snack. Also, BIG MAHALO to Javan's parents, Carl and Julie, for bringing a ton of manapua last week.

Busy week ahead. With limited practice time, it's so important that we get the most out of practice each time out.

Sunday, Feb. 3
11:00 am - Practice, McCully Gym
2:00 pm - Lunch, McDonald's McCully (CANCELLED DUE TO SUPER DUPER BOWL)
4:00 pm - Shooting drills, Makiki Park (CANCELLED DUE TO SUPER DUPER BOWL)

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 - Shootaround, McCully Gym

1:00 pm - Lunch, McDonald's McCully

2:00 pm - Warmups, Kilauea Gym outside courts

3:00 pm - Thunder vs. Crush 1, Kilauea Gym (CAL)

Monday, Feb. 11
6:00 pm - Practice, Kalakaua Gym

Aiea 16U season pau

From the Thunder Facebook page last night.

Aiea 16U League is pau. AIEA BLAZERS 45, THUNDER 29. Aiea kicked our tails tonight. That guard #4 nailed five or six treys from the left corner and we never really stopped him. The other guard #40 killed us with the lefty drives. Aiea is a fun team to watch (I shot video). Great ball movement, handled the press well, looked like a clinic at times out there. Good coaching, good basketball. Big props to Coach Rob and his staff, and a truly good Blazers squad. Thank you for inviting us to play, Rob!

We gained a lot and we'll learn from our defeats much, much more than our wins. Thunder, good effort, we'll get better with more time together. Good run for a team of old and new guys playing together for the first time. On to the next league!