Saturday Funday

Success as a basketball team means working together, building on our strengths, eliminating weaknesses. TOGETHER. Great work this morning on a sunny day at Makiki Park. Majority of work was on man defense, positioning, offensive sets and, above all, boxing out. Job well done, Thunder.

Lineup: Ryan, Josh R, Micah, Chaz, Jance, Jhevin, Sierra, Jonah.

Not available: Tani Mosi (?), Chris (?), Radyn (funeral), Keanu (?), Kapaa(?), Kyle (?), Jared (?), Josh D (?), Trinity (school team practice), Jayden (?), Kali'a (?), Felcris (?), Colin (?), Gabriel (injured), Walter (?), Michael (?), Tenchi (?).

Mahalo to Coach Bino for helping with today's workout. We'll keep working on our weaknesses. No soft marshmallows ever again.
WE LOVE THIS GAME!!

This Weekend

>> Friday - No practice.
>> Saturday, 10:00 am - Practice at Makiki Park. Pau 11:30 am. Alums please come scrimmage 10:30 am.
>> Sunday, 10:30 am - Stretching/warmups at Aiea gym outside court. 11:30 am - H1 Thunder vs. Mililani Storm, Ikaika JV League.
>> Monday, 4:30 pm - Practice at Makiki Park. Pau 4:30 pm. Alums please come scrimmage 5:30 pm.
Shawn Cambra, Drew Viena, Maximillian Roe, Bulla, Isaiah, Mike Pimentel,John Chow, Shaq, Cody Ogoso, Bryson Quackenbush, Brent, Mick Colling, Wilson, Bronson, Christian Akana, and all Thunder Alum.

Monday Funday

Great work this afternoon. Windy at Makiki Park, but we got some shooting reps in. We definitely got a lot of defensive work in, primarily with our man defense, positioning, stance... the sometimes boring, hard work that wins games and championships. I'm just glad everyone put good effort into their team today. Thanks again to Ryan (Radyn's brother) for helping out during our 5-on-5 scrimmage. We were 15 or 16 strong today.

Lineup: Jance, Jhevin, Felcris, Micah, Chaz, Jayden, Colin, Walter, Michael, Radyn, Jonah, Trinity, Ryan H, Gabriel. Also, Jance's friend, Jason, practiced with us for the first time. He's 13. If he keeps practicing, he could play on our 13U in CAL and PAA leagues this June.

Not available: Keanu, Kapaa (volleyball), Kyle, Chase, Jared, Josh D, Mosi, Josh R (school team practice), Sierra (Islanderz practice), Chris, Kali'a(football weight training), Tenchi (ankle). Thanks to Tenchi for helping on on our shooting drills.

It was great to have Colin and Gabriel back from injuries. Plenty of work to do tomorrow. See you guys at 4:30. Good work, Thunder!

Next:
Tuesday, 4:30 pm - Practice at Makiki Park. Pau 6:30 pm.

Wednesday, 4:30 pm - Optional shooting practice. If Thunder alums show up, scrimmage.

Thursday, 5:55 pm - Stretching/warmups at Lanakila gym outside court. 6:55 pm - H1 Thunder vs. Lanakila (Ikaika Intermediate League).

Friday - No practice.

Saturday, time TBA - Practice at Makiki Park. Depends on my work schedule (ILH baseball playoffs).

Sunday, 10:30 am - Stretching/warmups at Aiea gym outside court. 11:30 am - H1 Thunder vs. Mililani Storm, Ikaika JV League.
WE LOVE THIS GAAAAME!!

Tuesday funday

Good workout today with a little more conditioning, plenty of ballhandling drills and 4-on-4 scrimmage. The team of Ryan Higashionna, Jared Elwin, Coach Rob and Coach Paul beat the team of Kyle Moraga, Kali‘a Mielke, Joshua de Jesus and Manoa Kualii-Moe in a thriller, 39-35. (Can't remember the final score.)

Day by day, reps, competition, teamwork. We bust our lip, bleed, sweat, and keep working. League season is going to be here real quick. Let's keep going strong! WE LUB THIS GAME!

Next: Wednesday, 5:00 pm, practice at Makiki Park. Anybody need a ride? Call/text me 551-1054.

Monday Funday

Good workout today at Kalakaua. Lineup: Jared Elwin, Javan Montiho (Julie Montiho), Kyle Moraga, Felcris Jay Corpuz and Ace. Good, solid work on ballhandling, shooting, footwork (wing/low post drills), on-ball defense. Ace is a new guy, real good ballhandler. If he sticks around, he'll definitely help us and have fun. I like his level of concentration and maturity.

Video: Thunder 13U vs Homegrown II

H1 Thunder vs. Homegrown 2, NJB All-Net 13U League, Saturday, May 11, 2013, Kilauea District Park Gym. Our 13U and 12U had overlapping games for the third week in a row, so we had six players at the 13U game and six players at the 12U. Homegrown 2 is young with some good shooters, but the 13U played smart defense from start to finish. Final: Thunder 40, Homegrown 2 18.

Part 1 Part 2

15U: Thunder 37, Kailua White 23

Good doubleheader experience for our Thunder 15U today.

First game, Thunder 15U 37, Kailua White 23. Had just six players, not bad for Mother's Day. We led 26-7 and everybody did a decent job defensively in the second half. That lack of depth could've hurt us, but we controlled the tempo in the second half, saved our legs. At some point, when 15U has 8-10 players again, the tempo will be fast almost all the time. Until then, we have to be smart with the tempo.

Everybody continues to step up, particularly with Tone out (one-game suspension due to two technicals last game). The 15U plays smarter and smarter each game, especially down the stretch. The lineup: Sifo, Brent, Sierra, Triton, Jerry, Keanu.

Second game, exhibition game against NJB Select 17U: NJB Select 52, Thunder 34. We had our 15U — Sifo, Triton, Jerry, Keanu, Tone — plus Jared, Isaiah and Cody. Before the game, we knew we were short on 17U players (Mother's Day, Roosevelt guys at another game), so we got permission to play our younger Thunder in this game. Good experience for everybody playing a solid team.

We were tied at 14 late in the first half when NJB Select pulled away before halftime. Then they jumped on us to start the second half. Fatigue was a factor, but overall I'm happy with today. Sifo stepped up big offensively with smart shot selection and good passing. Triton was solid for the most part, improving rapidly. Sierra was strong defensively and hit some big 3-pointers. 'Anu was steady and all over the court in the first game, so valuable as a point guard and post. (Second game, he was worn out from all that work in the first game.) Brent had a great game defensively, made some nifty plays on offense. We missed him in that second game. Jerry was a big plus offensively with his passing, and his rebounding and defense always help big time.

Tone was unstoppable in the first 5 minutes of the exhibition game. He was on fire in the low post. But NJB did a good job of pressuring us out of our early flow and Tone didn't get as many touches after that. Foul trouble (three in the first half) was a factor, too. But overall, Tone and everybody did well today. Sure, we miss our McKinley guys, but this has allowed us to find our rhythm and chemistry as a team.

Cody gave us a lot of strong minutes, one of the smarter players on the floor. Experience does matter. Isaiah was very effective on the mid-range J at the high post. I've got some ideas on how to put his versatility to use against zone defenses.

To the moms who came and watched their sons play basketball on Mother's Day, thank you! You are one of a kind. The best kind :)

TEAM FIRST

Observations from the game video, 17U vs Da Rebelz: 

It's about TEAM. When the game is tied, time is running out and we're in a zone, that means staying home and being responsible. Not going to halfcourt in the final seconds with the score tied, chasing their PG and getting burned on the game-winning shot. TEAM means being smart and protecting a 13-point lead by taking high-percentage shots in the final 5 minutes, especially when there's no shot clock.

TEAM means you don't jack up miss after miss on low-percentage shots, especially if you're one of our key rebounders. TEAM means when we're winning by a few points and the other team drives to the basket, we stop him from scoring an easy layup. But Da Rebelz drove five, six times in a row right to the basket for easy baskets. Nobody stopped them. 

TEAM? What happened? Soft. Pushovers. Selfish. Sloppy. We played fairly well for 25 minutes, then gave the game away in the final 5 minutes of regulation, then overtime. 

TEAM. We play for a team. Not for ourselves. The sooner everyone gets that, the better we will close out games. 

Losing to the best makes us better

We had our chances, but in the end, it was another loss to the Tar Heels in 13U. Maybe they're our "nemesis," a very good team that has a spell over us. Or maybe they're just better because they've worked together since they were in a national 10U tourney (and won it) and have kept improving.

All I know is, we were right there for three quarters, within one point, two points, three points. Our defense was playing well. We locked in on all four of their long-range shooters. But now that it's break time before we have pizza and shooting drills at the park, it's time to reflect.

1. With Kyle hurting (hyperextended knee, slight dislocation of the knee cap), Tanielu and Chris hurting (ankle) and several players still learning (or relearning) plays, we were not a good matchup with the Tar Heels. Even though we had them on the ropes in the NJB Classic semifinals, it's tough to match up when key players are hurting.

2. Even with new players and other players who don't practice much with the team, I had opportunities to call our new plays against the Tar Heels' zone and man defenses. But I didn't. Looking back, I should've called each of the plays at least once, but it was difficult to get into our halfcourt offense with the Heels applying tough on-ball pressure against Kyle.

3. Our ballhandling was sub par. Their guards are fairly tall, which negated my desire to put Jerson or Micah at the point so Kyle could go to the high post, where he's very effective. I should've given it a try anyway.

4. We still have a number of players who don't know the most basic plays, such as Princeton. Until we are all in sync on the floor, we will struggle against the best teams instead of scoring as often as we really should.

5. We played great defense for most of the first 3 quarters, locking down on their top shooters. The communication was there and we forced their secondary shooters to take shots. It was good to see our strategy and smarts take effect. We had our new "Pippen" defense ready to go, but we didn't need it, so we'll put that to use another day.

As much as you hear me scolding or yelling, in the end, when a team wins, it's because of the players and when a team loses, it's because the coach didn't make enough adjustments.

The one good thing out of this is that we'll be hungrier. I'm narrowing down our deficiencies, including point guard ballhandling against tough on-ball pressure at midcourt. If and when we improve there with ALL our guards, then we can actually connect the dots. Today, we just couldn't get ball from the perimeter to the low post (Chris and Tanielu).

Another note: I'm not against a clear-out offense where we feed the ball to a scorer on the wing and let him drive several times in a row. I'm not totally for it, either, because it can drain that player for a long time. We may have to do this next time, though, and let Tanielu take command offensively. Kyle was trying his best, but his leg was just not strong and he had to gut it out.

We need Sierra, Jerson, Micah to be ready to take the point against any kind of pressure from any team. That's one of the things we'll work on between now and the next 13U game on Saturday (Aug 25).

THE GOOD THING ABOUT LOSING TO THE BEST TEAM IS THAT YOU LEARN EXACTLY WHAT NEEDS TO BE IMPROVED. Losing hurts — this was only our second 13U loss in the past 11 10 games or so, and both losses were to the same Tar Heels. BUT ... they did us a favor. We know what we need to work on. I hope we get another shot at them in the playoffs.

We also need our injured guys to rest and heal up. For now, let's have some pizza and enjoy the rest of this hot, sunny Sunday afternoon at the park. I'll bring the pizzas in about 5 minutes.

The System

LMU had the best one in my lifetime. Other schools, such as Division III Grinnell College, have mastered their versions of it. When it comes to employing 100% heart, desire, determination, persistence ... there are ways to funnel a team's collective energy and using it as fuel for something amazing.

Tonight, we weren't amazing. Not every minute of the game. But this is probably the first time in weeks, maybe since last year, that our 16U was defensively cohesive for almost an entire game. The only lapses, really, were from guys who are new or recently returned to the team. Understandable. The rest of the time, we had on-ball pressure all night, off baskets, free throws, missed shots.

It was amazing in that sense. It was a near-perfect defensive effort in those terms, more than enough for a 38-32 win over the Pearl City Chargers — a team that had more height, but no solution for our pressure.

The imperfections? We didn't box out well, but it was far better than last week's 18U tourney. We committed too many fouls, but the hustle was always there. We didn't play great offensively, but we had very good ball movement at times, especially against Pearl City's man defense with our '4 Out' offense. We pushed the tempo, though not consistently enough.

Defensively, we brought it tonight. Everybody brought it, and that's saying something since we had almost 15 players. Great defense will make up for a lot of other areas, and I'm glad our 16U guys take pride in it.

I was just glad we didn't have to forfeit. At some point today, I finally realized that we had more than five guys going to the game. Nobody's fault. That's the deal when you're on the wait list and get your shot to participate in a tournament just 24 hours in advance.

With Coach Bo (football) and Coach Larry (playing basketball) out for the night, Coach Loto and I did our best to get everyone involved. That included our vets like Isaiah to our pups like Chris (11), Tanielu (12) and Sifo (13). When we suit up tomorrow for the Aliis and Lanakila, I expect us to be very fresh and very prepared. We could be more prepared; not a lot of practice time together during the past week. But I really believe we've grown from our tough times last week against the bigger, older teams. We've learned what our limitations are. We've learned how much intensity and physical toughness it takes to compete.

It could become a fine, fine weekend. We're only getting better with each challenge.

I stayed late and caught some of the Aliis-Lanakila game. It was worth the wait. More on that tomorrow in pre-game. What did I think? Let's just say our defense has the potential — if we bring the toughness and intensity — to keep wreaking havoc. Have a good night's rest, gentlemen.

I LUB THIS GAME.

Rain or shine

Solid workout today, Thunder! Day by day, minute by minute, we get better. Our new guys learn the system. Our older guys lead the way. I think our new play is going to work fine, though not everyone has been to practice this week, so there's some more work to be done.

Thursday (tomorrow), we'll have practice at 4:00 p.m. with more work on ballhandling, defense, SHOOTING. More reps on the plays and hopefully more time to scrimmage. That drizzle cut our scrimmage short today.

Schedule
Thursday, 4:00 p.m., Practice, Makiki Park
Saturday, 1:00 p.m., Practice, Makiki Park
Sunday, 10:10 a.m., 15U Thunder vs. Gladiators, Kilauea Gym

Smart defense is positioning, peripheral

We played man defense all season and I think it was well worth the effort. Little can be learned by young players who sit in a zone and never learn how to play man-to-man. But check this out: Even pros like Jordan Farmar play ridiculously weak defense away from the ball.

Don't you guys think even 14-year-olds can play better defense than him? Farmer is in red, wearing #2. He totally leaves his man on the right wing, never even considers getting good position between his man, the basket and the ball. He just walks to the ball like they're playing H-O-R-S-E, then leaves his man wide, wide open. His man hits a 3 to give the Knicks a 4-point lead with 35 seconds left.

NOT SMART.

Good afternoon for the Thunder

Good hustle, good effort today, Thunder!

First, I'm thankful we had enough players and didn't forfeit.

Second, we played a good first half.

Third, Da Rebelz were deeper and in better shape than us in the second half and deserved the win. Until ALL our guys get into shape and work on their game every day, that's how it goes. So let's go to work this week!

Finally, with just 6 1/2 players (Cody felt sick in the second half) and one brand-new guy (Shiraz did a nice job hustling and rebounding), I feel like I did some very stale coaching today. Our traps were fine in the first half and we were down one point. But we lost our legs after that and should've gone to a 2-3 zone or maybe a soft man. But I wanted us to use our speed and stay active, which in hindsight was the wrong move.

We simply had too many rusty players right now and I expected too much. But overall, I liked our fastbreak, hustle and defense (until we got tired).

NOTE: Our backside defense, regardless of zone, man or traps, still needs to get on point. We gave up too many easy cuts (to the middle of the key) and gave up uncontested 5-footers because we weren't paying attention, i.e. MAN, BALL, YOU. We'll work on that this week. And the next.

Thunder-KBB post-game: We must be doing something right

I spent the rest of Sunday, after the game, editing video of football games I've covered, working the weekly Top 10 polls (work) and, finally, examining the video of our game with KBB.

We did some things well. We had better ball movement against their zone defense. We moved our feet more defensively. Not perfectly and all the time, but we're getting much better at it.

Things to improve on? We still have a habit of leaving our feet offensively for no reason other than to pass. That gives any defender an extra split-second to read you, and when we did it, it resulted in turnovers. Always best to stay on two feet, use your brain and a fake or two instead of jumping and throwing the ball away.

When we did take care of the ball, we got quality shots most of the time. That's one aspect I like. We have a better sense of shot selection than a lot of the high school varsity teams I've seen over the years.

Overall, though, the key was our hustle on both ends of the floor. KBB was a young team, but disciplined and fundamentally sound, as all of Coach Ed's teams and players are. His son, Kainoa, wasn't Player of the Year in high school basketball last year for nothin'.

Beyond all that, the one thing I know we can't control is the officiating, and I've gone to lengths with the league director and the officials to correct what seems to be a decline in good positioning (yes, refs have to get in position, too) and basic reflexes. By that I mean sometimes a rusty or past-his-prime referee will miss calls that are in plain view, not more than 5 feet away.

When that happens, as was the case when Blake got elbowed on the head on a low-post shot and there was no call, there's really nothing a coach can do except bring it up, which I did during the time out that followed. Quality is varied when it comes to officials; some work hard to improve and others stagnate before declining quickly.

Any time you realize that a call hasn't been made properly, just remember that players have no choice but to adjust to the game officials, not vice-versa. That's why I'm proud of you guys. Things didn't always go our way, but you kept playing hard and never lost your cool.

As for any further discussion with the league director, Greydon, about the dropoff in officating in our past two games, LET ME HANDLE IT. I've already done one DVD on our previous game. I'm going to put another one together for yesterday's game since there were at least six questionable-to-blatant non-calls.

As a former age-group and ILH intermediate summer league referee, I know it's not easy. But it's also wrong to simply ignore sub-par officiating. It has to be dealt with, not just for the referee's sake — maybe he really does need to get his eyes checked — but for the players' sake most of all.

Even when things aren't looking so bright, we find the light, Thunder. We find the light.

See you guys at Kahala Park on Tuesday, 4 p.m.

Teamwork beats any press

Hope everyone is enjoying the game video from Sunday (below, previous post). (I've reposted the videos and they are all "normal" sized now, still in HD.)

For now, check out this snippet of video I shot of one of Southside's games on Sunday afternoon. When they send their big man (Canton) to the bench, they like to press out of their man-to-man defense with the five smaller guys. Nothing special. The point guard dribbles up the sideline and a second defender leaves his man to trap right past midcourt. Simple and effective against ballhandlers with bad habits.

Notice that the Blazers did just about everything a team could possibly do wrong against such light pressure:

1. Jumped to pass over a trap, giving the back defender an extra second to time an easy steal

2. Sent high, soft lobs over the middle, easily intercepted

3. Drove into the paint without a plan — whether to use a post move or dribble back out — and wound up with a traveling violation

It was a comedy of errors that could've been corrected and prevented.

A. When there's a sideline trap, the smart thing to do is dribble away from the trap area. A second teammate should always be parallel to the point guard as a "safety valve".

B. If you see a trap coming, immediately decide whether to drive around the second trapper, or retreat with a dribble to create separation and space. (We'll work on this at practice.)

C. Use fakes constantly. If you noticed, Southside trappers love to jump again and again, hoping for deflections. They're not that tall, so if they jump on your fake, you should have an easier view of your teammates, and if they jump, dribbling around them is easy. It's a matter of faking and patience.

D. Once you pass successfully out of the sideline midcourt trap, you MUST cut to the basket. Your teammate will find you and we'll have 4-on-3 and 3-on-2 situations all game long.

So watch and learn. This is what I mean when I say we can win by 20 or lose by 20. It's about your awareness, intelligence and patience first and foremost.

Thunder-Kapolei post-game

THUNDER ALERT: Solid work today, Thunder. I say work because you guys played great defense at times today. Is it possible we actually got better on defense in just one week? Offense can be dream-like if you're in The Zone ... but it comes and goes. Defense? It's pure consciousness, complete effort and sweat. It's not a dream. It's heart. That's what I saw more of today.

Would've been closer to perfect if we'd hit the floor for those loose balls.

Good poise, keeping composure in a close game with Kapolei. The A-Team was balanced and got mostly good shots. Bomb Squad out of sync. With more reps at practice, we'll get this thing nailed down. The sweetest thing is both units played fairly good defense. 

Overall, it's a good team win. Enjoy it. We've got work to do this coming week. I saw Southside win two games this afternoon against the Blazers and the Sharks. They've got some size and quick guards, but they're also very, very beatable. We could beat them by 20 or lose to them by 20.

I'm looking forward to Tuesday already.

Thunderation, Thunder Nation

Thunder. A-Team. Bomb Squad. Unveiled tomorrow. Fun Times to da max ... could be.

Game video: Thunder vs. Sharks

Haven't had a chance to stat the game yet, but in the glimpses I've seen, the one glaring bad habit is that we didn't consistently pick up our man. Several times in the final minutes, we lost track of our man and he got open — too open, once by 10 feet — while our defense lost track. It was something only video can really help us with, and we'll continue to work on this aspect of the game at practice tomorrow afternoon.

Ball, man, you. If you can't find the ball and your man, your positioning is off. Getting 100% effort on defense from everybody on the floor is KEY. We can't play our best against the best teams if four guys are playing defense and one loses his man. Defense is work by all five men on the floor. Defense, as the cliche goes, wins championships. If you want a championship, consider giving defense your all, Thunder.

I believe we can and should do it. Everything else that we didn't execute perfectly, from free throws to ballhandling (turnovers), I can actually live with. We learn from those kinds of mistakes, and if professional athletes make those mistakes, a team of 13- and 14-year-olds will make them, too. There hasn't been a 100% free-throw champion ever in the NBA, has there?

Great defense trumps most, if not all, mistakes. Let's have fun getting back to work tomorrow.

* As always, the game video is for us: players and families only.









Enjoy and learn.

KAC/CAL Thunder: Saturday update

Good shootaround yesterday afternoon at Kapaolono Park. We got to meet Blake, his friend Elliott and Colby's friend Drew. We did some ballhandling drills, shooting challenge, jab-step work (and finish), and then a scrimmage, followed by a little bit of free-throw shooting. It was a fun workout. Very simple.

At practice tomorrow afternoon, we'll work on more basics, and start working on offensive and defensive plays. Start time is 4:30 p.m., followed by a parents meeting at 7 p.m.

See you guys then!

Persistent Pressure

There will be times when we step back and employ a "vanilla" defense. But most times, we will persistently inflict pressure on opposing teams in an organized, effective fashion.

In ancient times, those skilled in warfare were able to prevent the unity of the enemy's front and back, the many and the few, the noble and the peasants, and the superiors and the subordinates.

Have the enemy be separated and unable to assemble;

if the enemy is assembled, it should not be organized.

Move when advantageous, stop when not advantageous. 

—Sun Tzu

Persistence is a mind game. The stronger the mind, the more persistent the pressure. I believe that under pressure, we will prevail over any opposition because we have prepared for exactly that level of intensity and heat.

The strongest metals have been forged under the hottest of furnaces. When it is cooled and formed for battle, iron sharpens iron, and we have sharpened and sharpened day after day.