Kaimuki Bulldogs Focus On Learning In Summer League

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In Hawaii Prep Basketball, champions, as Kaimuki head basketball coach Kelly Grant knows firsthand, are crowned in February.

With that in mind, the Bulldogs coach puts little stock in his team’s won-lost record during the summer. Nor does he mind a schedule heavy in Division II schools.

“If we win, we win,” said Grant, whose team took a 3-1 record into the weekend. “If we lose, we lose. As long as we accomplish what we need to - which is learning our offensive and defensive systems - we’re happy.It’s more important that we learn the system.”

Kaimuki is coming off an historic season that saw the Bulldogs deliver the school’s first state championship since 1994 with their 61-53 win over Punahou in the title game on Feb. 23.

The Bulldogs also won a second straight Oahu Interscholastic Association title last season,and were the first OIA school to win the state championship since Kalaheo in 2001.

“It has started to sink in,” Grant said of Kaimuki’s championship run. “They know what they’ve accomplished now.”

Not surprisingly, Grant has seen interest in the program multiply over the past few months. Most notably, is the addition to the Bulldogs’summer roster of three transfers (two from University High and one from Roosevelt), who already lived in Kaimuki’s District and are expected to enroll at Kaimuki for the fall term.

“In the past, a lot of kids in the district wanted to go to other schools,” Grant said. “It also helps that Darren Johnson is our new football coach.We won’t be just getting basketball players (who decide to stay in the district and attend Kaimuki). Football is still my first love, so I’m OK with our switching to a football school instead of being known as a basketball school.”

For their part, the Bulldog’s 2007-08 edition figures to have a much different look.Personnel-wise, newcomers will fill out the Kaimuki roster, while the Bulldogs will take a different tact scheme-wise as well, according to Grant.

“We’ll be more of a transition team this year,” Grant said. “We’ll be able to push the ball. We’ll be a smaller team than in the past so we’ll have to minimize our turnovers, while at the same time trying to push the ball. (Rebounding) is a concern. We’ll spend a conscious amount of time working on blocking out.Every drill we do will end with a block-out.”

In Keone Reyes,Daniel Colon and Beau Albrechtson, the Bulldogs lost three of the most talented players to come out of the program, but a handful of veterans return to provide leadership. Highlighting the list of returnees are Makali’i Nahinu, Chauncey Nicola and Chezz Diaz. All three are seniors,who logged key minutes last season for Kaimuki.

“Makali’i has been a role player for us - one who does the dirty work,” Grant said of Nahinu. “He was an important piece to our success last year.”

Also back in the fold are Ryan Kakitani, who started two thirds of last season, and up-and-coming sophomore center Desmond Tautofi, who moved up the Varsity in time for the post-season and had a big fourth quarter in the win over Punahou in the state title game.

“Ryan will play some point guard early on and then we’ll move him to a starting position as a shooting guard,” Grant said of Tautofi. “Desmond has looked really good in the summer. The Punahou game was a good boost to his confidence.”

Tauotofi’s size could also allow Kaimuki to play more zone, which it thrived with during the 2007 post-season, according to Grant.

“We’ll play a lot of match-up zone to start,” he said.

The rest of the Bulldog roster figures to be young.

“We’ll have six sophomores, which is unusual for me,“Grant said. “We usually only keep one or two at the most,but they’re talented kids, more skilled (than other classes from the past).”

By the end of July, Kaimuki will have played a 15-game schedule.The Bulldogs’ Summer League allowed them to play games against Kaiser, Kalani, Roosevelt, Lutheran and University High. Kaimuki was also to host the Diamond Head Summer Classic over the weekend, where the Bulldogs were expected to play a pair of teams from Texas. Kaimuki will also host a tournament at the end of this month, with a pair of California teams expected to participate in addition OIA East rival Moanalua.