Bulldogs Strive For More Slam Dunks
By Jack Danilewicz
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Del.icio.usThe month of February has been good to the Kaimuki boys basketball program in recent years, as the Bulldogs have made three appearances in the final four of the state tournament, including winning the title in 2007.
Not to be discounted, however, is the impact of December’s non-conference games.
Head coach Kelly Grant hopes his team once again will benefit from a demanding pre-season slate, one that is highlighted by a matchup against defending Pennsylvania state champion Neumann-Goretti at the Iolani Classic in mid-December. Neumann-Goretti is led by 6-6 Daniel Stewart, who committed to Division I-Rider University last week.
“It will be my usual: Start slow, and hopefully finish strong,“mused Grant, whose team went 15-7 last season.
As in past years, Kaimuki was playing its best basketball when it counted most last winter,finishing fourth at the state tournament. Only a heart-wrenching, triple-overtime loss to Punahou in the semi-finals kept the Bulldogs from playing in their third state title game in four years.
While he counts on the leadership of key returnees Gabriel Stietzel, Tevin Nishiyama and Desmond Tautofi, Grant expects there to be a period of transition early-on with several newcomers to the varsity likely to play significant minutes.
“We’ll only have five days of practice in when we play our first tournament,” he explained.“I’m sure I’ll be losing more hair because the kids won’t be playing the way I want them to play yet. But we have to be patient.
“As far as athleticism goes, this will be a very athletic team. The kids just haven’t played that much together. In the summer, it (attendance) was sporadic because they had other things. Football is a priority then (in summer).”
Grant expects several players from last year’s OIA champion JV team to make key contributions. “The four or five trying out have tremendous skills. The kids coming up are very quick and very explosive. They just need to learn my style.”
For leadership, the relative newcomers to the program can look to Stietzel, a three-year starter, who recently was appointed team captain.
“He has a good work ethic - he tries his hardest at everything he does, including in the classroom,“Grant said.“When we do drills or activities, he always gives 100 percent. He’s very competitive.”
Stietzel is projected to be the starting off-guard alongside junior point guard Tevin Nishiyama.
“Tevin was very accurate from three-point range when he came off the bench last year,” Grant said.“He spends a lot of his time at clinics. I’m always running into him outside of school.He’s always with a ball,working out.He’s a gym rat.”
Tautofi is at a Mainland private school for the first semester for academic reasons, said Grant, but is expected to re-enroll at Kaimuki in time for the season.
“We’ll be the same size - even with Desmond - but we’ll definitely be quicker, and we’ll have more options because of our speed,“he said. “I told the kids we can do things we haven’t had a chance to do in a long time.”
In addition to their annual appearance at the Iolani Classic next month, Kaimuki also will play in tournaments at McKinley and Moanalua. In all,the Bulldogs have 11 pre-season games before opening the OIA schedule in late December.
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