Hurricanes Eye OIA Postseason
By Jack Danilewicz
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If Kapolei head boys basketball coach Gary Ellison has his way, the 2007-08 Hurricanes will be a team in perpetual motion.
“The thing that has been most impressive is our speed,“Ellison said of preseason camp. “We’ll have a really, really fast team. Last year we were more of a half-court team, but this year we’ll let the kids loose and just let them go.”
On that note, an array of experience also figures to give them a big boost as the Hurricanes look for a return to the Oahu Interscholastic Association’s post-season following a one-year hiatus. Kapolei finished just 1-11 last year, but showed marked improvement down the stretch of their OIA West slate. The Hurricanes went 6-4 in 2006 to make the OIA playoffs and were the West’s No. 2 seed in 2005, compiling a 17-6 overall mark, including preseason and post-season encounters. A return to that kind of success will hinge not only on the play of its veterans, but an up-and-coming corps of under-classmen, which Ellison expects will have an immediate impact.
“Another strength will be our depth,“said Ellison, a Georgia native and former University of Hawaii football player. “We have some young players who will probably make the team.”
Kapolei opens its preseason this week with games at home against Kamehameha at 8 p.m.Wednesday and 7 p.m. Saturday versus Hawaii Baptist Academy. Both games figure to provide good competition for a Hurricane team that is hoping for an improved offensive showing.
“Offense and shooting are a concern,” he said. “We think we’ll be pretty good on defense. Last year, the defense was OK, but we really struggled, offensively. We’re hoping our defense is going to become our offense. That’s our plan.”
Kapolei will count on seniors D’Shaun Dubois, Nate Dixon and Mason Koa to lead the way early on, but they’ll all be playing different spots this season after some fine-tuning by the coaching staff. In a series of position switches, Dubois moves exclusively to point guard, after “floating between both guard spots” last year, with Dixon shifting from small forward to shooting guard and Koa from power forward to small forward.
Dubois is the team’s acknowledged leader, in Ellison’s view.“He knows how to take charge, and he gets everyone going. He can lead by example, and he can lead by being vocal. He’s a really good kid who knows everyone’s abilities on the court.”
In Dixon and Koa, the Hurricanes have two of the better athletes in the school. Dixon was a wide-out on the football team, while Koa played multiple positions, including quarterback, on the gridiron.
“Nate has played varsity since his sophomore year, so he brings a lot of experience, and he can take anyone in the state off of the dribble. He plays extremely well on defense, too. Mason is only in his second year of basketball, but it is amazing how much he has grown in that time. He’s just a winner - he wants to win.”
In the back court, Ellison also expects junior Larry Mero to log a lot of minutes. As a sophomore, he competed on the Hurricanes’ junior varsity.
“He’ll float between point guard and shooting guard. We think he’ll be huge for us off of the bench, and he may even start. He’s really good fundamentally, and he understands the game.”
Junior power forward Jordan Ferreira and 6-foot-5 senior center Lawrence Olive will also be key components in the rotation.
“Jordan (Ferreira) has a good mid-range jump shot, and Lawrence (Olive) can block anything - he understands defense. We’ve seen a lot of improvement in the kids we have coming back from summer league to now.”
Kapolei opens its regular season at home Jan. 2 against Mililani.
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