AAU 12U D-II Nationals 2008 (Day 5)

Well two more days of fun in Bloomington IN and at least two more to go (but hopefully three).

Monday, the first day of championship bracket play, the team played inspired and went 2-0, including the best game I have seen them play against the White Rose Stars that knocked them out of the Nationals last year. The struggling to score was stopped with a nice 73-57 victory over a good Stars team. All twelve girls played well. It is good to see them be successful as they are a good group that work and have fun together.

Tuesday, we played the Indiana Blizzard and looked slightly off offensively; however, pulled out another good victory by 7 points to move on to the "elite 8".

The highlight of the last two days for the girls was the scary movie on Monday night and the bowling escapade tonight. As I said, the team definitely has lots of fun together on and off the court.

On to the next few days...

AAU 12U D-II Nationals 2008 (Day 3)

Bloomington IN is about 185 miles from Centerville OH and has been a pretty cool place to visit so far...

Given the 11U team did not attend a Nationals this year, Naddiyah was ecstatic to get the opportunity to join the Dayton Lady Hoopstars 12U White team at the D-II championships in Bloomington. It has been a great nationals already and we are not even into the bracket play yet. What makes it so great is the closeness of the girls and the parents on the team.

We came up on the 4th of July (Happy Fourth!!!) and found a way to enjoy the night despite a lack luster opening ceremonies. The cool thing was that the girls were given t-shirts, bags, and traded for other memorabilia on the first night. I don't remember all that at Disney, but maybe I just wasn't taking in each moment as I was this year.

Oh yeah, we are here for basketball. The pool play was up and down. We played the first two games in a shooting slump (I mean bad -- even on layups and free throws), but still found a way to split 1-1. Then at the 6:00p game today, the girls put together a pretty good win that should boost their confidence going into the championship brackets. All the girls seemed to be firing on all cylinders and Naddiyah even got to a play a fair amount which was cool for her as she really enjoys playing with these girls. They are a great group. I am glad this last game was so successful as I think they were mentally beaten in middle game.

Anyway, back to Bloomington. We went to Lake Lemon yesterday, which was very fun. Afterwards, we enjoyed the night some more in the cozy area behind the Quality Inn we are staying at. Speaking of which, we ended up in the Presidential Suite thanks to Zayannab's wisdom (a lot of years put into...ok I'll stop there), which isn't as big of a deal as it sounds in a small hotel; however, it is very nice. We have a jacuzzi in the master bedroom and our own TV, so we actually feel like we are on vacation.

Well, I will have to keep you all posted, but the girls are on their way.

Peace.

GBA Nationals 2008

The 6th annual Girls Basketball Association (GBA) National Championships held at Sports Plus and McGee's Courts4Sports in Cincinnati this year was the final tournament for the DLH 11 Black team this year. It was a great turn out with 20 teams in our age group with good competition.

In typical fashion, we have to keep everyone on the edge of their seats, so we come out losing our first game Thursday night to the Columbus Lady Diamonds (3rd place finisher) by a score of 28-29. Fortunately for us, the girls grew as the tournament progressed in typical fashion as well.

We compiled two wins on Friday before going into Saturday to battle the Cincy Royals one last time. With lots of heart, we beat them 32-28 to clench first place in our pool as we entered the single elimination championship bracket consisting of four straight games to be played all in one day on Sunday.

Funnily, thinking back, we ended the day in the reverse of how we started, but I won't get too far ahead of myself as there was plenty of really good basketball in between our 20+ point victory over WV Blue Devils and 20 point lost to Southern Ohio Magic (apparently who were our arch nemesis accounting for four of our loses for the season). We were just flat out of juice after playing WV Thunder (10) in a tough battle we won in OT 38-35, then Miami Trace 43-35. Between the brilliant plays and the fast pace, four games ended up being too much for us to muster enough to contend with the very good Souther Ohio Magic team.

As sad as that sounds at the end, it was an amazing tournament for us finishing as the GBA Nationals Runner-Up with a record of 6-2. I could not have been any more proud of the girls, especially for the Miami Trace game which was most definitely our best game of the tournament and probably for the year.

Have to stop now (for this year)...

But we played hard, had fun, and stuck together!

Who are we: HOOPSTARS! And how did we do it: TOGETHER!

Tough Year

It seems like things have been overly rough this AAU season for me and I guess the Hoopstars as a whole. It is a wonder these 8 - 16 year kids can come week after week and play the game of basketball with the joy they should.

Mark Thompson, one of the DLH coaches for the 15 & under age group, unexpectedly passed away last night. Mark was very upbeat and a pleasure to be around. He will surely be missed by all. It just makes me think about all the wasted time, we are using up on some of these teams causing unnecessary discord, that could be better spent loving our daughters and families a little more before it is too late.

Life is too short. Enjoy every moment.

Kev

Adidas/Wendy's National Invitational Tournament 2008

Well, it took seven tournaments, but Naddiyah's team is finally above 500. They are a great group of 11 year old girls, so it has been a joy to watch them grow to the level they displayed in this past weekend's tournament at the Kingdom Sports Center in Franklin OH.

We were playing up in the 12 & under division which we won in very good style. The girls played like a team the entire way, moving the ball extremely well. We even saw an ally-oop that in a few years may be a dunk as Johna made a beautiful pass to Chea on fast break that looked very (W)NBA.

After going 4-0 in this tournament, the girls have a record of 17-14 now with 13 loses being to DI Nationals bound teams with 12 coming from the same 5 teams that have been or will most likely be in the sweet sixteen or close to it. With how we started the year, it is a big accomplishment that I am very proud of the girls for. Additionally impressive is that it is two undefeated weekends in a row, which was also a welcome occurrence after all our struggles. The middle schools better watch out because these girls are going to do some damage in the future. With some hard work, the high schools will be rocking in a few years as well. And even better, if they can avenge some of the 13 loses to DI National Qualifiers next year, they can do some damage on the AAU courts.

Can't stop now...

Keep playing hard and sticking together!

Who are we: HOOPSTARS! And how did we do it: TOGETHER!

Greater Cincinnati Classic 2008

Well it has been several months without a word, but of course life and basketball has continued.

After my middle school season came to an end, I could turn my attention back to the kids basketball tournaments in March. Kaleb's team (2nd grade recreation) was knocked out in first round; Kevin's team (4th grade recreation) made it all the way to the championships and finished runner-up to best team in their league; Kailyn-Naddiyah's team (6th grade select) made it to the championships and finished their year as Dayton Metro DI Runner-Up to Springboro.

That's the end...just kidding...you should know by now that basketball lives forever, so on to AAU.

Through a series of chaotic twists and turns, I ended up coaching Naddiyah and the Dayton Lady Hoopstars 11 and under black team this summer. This group of girls are very talented, but we struggled for first two tournaments largely in part as I figured out what kind of team we were going to be. They say you learn more from the games you lose than those you win, so boy did we do a lot of learning. :) 1-7

By our third tournament, we were looking like a decent team, but in the same tournament showed we needed lots more work going 2-2. Therefore, we learned some more and went on to prepare for the Ohio AAU District Championships which we were lucky enough to draw the #1 team in our district the first game into a double elimination bracket of 14 teams. I was hopeful, though, but was probably the only one -- and even I have to admit I was being optimistic about winning against WV Thunder but thought even a lost playing our best game would propel us to the next level. Luckily for me, the girls worked very hard and took the lose to WV Thunder as the spark to make a run in the tournament I had hoped as we went on to win four straight games decidedly and nearly won fifth losing to the 3rd place Cincy Angels 48-50 with Naddiyah scoring 19 points. From where we started to districts, I was very happy with 4th place and 4-2 record.

And the growing doesn't stop there...

On to McGee's Courts4Sports for another AAU Super Regional in which we put in pool with our district championship's 2nd place team, Southern Ohio Magic, and the solid Indiana ISSA Elite. We played phenomenal basketball in both games, but had not quite learned the lesson the Cincy Angels lost should have taught us about playing with a lead in a close game, so we lose two heart breakers at buzzer 40-41 and 46-47 to end up 3rd in our pool. That would probably stop most teams, our girls bounced back the next day short-handed (6 players) and beat Cincy Legend to advance to the semi-finals, controlling the game and displaying an understanding of all the areas we came up short in the previous three loses starting with the Angels. Unfortunately, with few subs, we played Southern Ohio Magic poorly in the first half of the semis; however, the girls showed their talent and we scored 30 points in second half to prove again that we are still a good team. It was only 1-3, but what we learned was well worth the heartache. We played like champions even in defeat highlighted by Krystah's 14 point (4 3-pt baskets) and Bethany's 22 point (6 3-pt baskets) displays in lose to ISSA Elite (tournament champion) in pool play and Magic (tournament runner-up) in semis, respectively.

We can't stop now...

The Greater Cincinnati Classic finally arrived last weekend May 16th - 18th and we were ready to show the world how much better we were, but we did one even better and we became even better as the tournament went on. Starting on Friday night, the girls played a game I told them was the "worst game" I have seen them play all season as we won 40-17 -- harsh coach I know, but it worked. On Saturday, the girls played very disciplined and made it clear to everyone what they were all about as we won two more games 37-12 and 50-25 to move on to the championship bracket. We couldn't stop now and we didn't playing two brilliant defensive games to win semis 24-17 against Cincy Heat and finals 36-29 over Cincy Royals. We still did a lot of learning, but without the losing: 5-0 and tournament champions.

We saw a number of big things, including a 13 point run by Nadi to get us fired up in the first half of Saturday night's game, followed up by a complimentary second half 13 points by Krystah (16 points total) as Naddiyah sat out hurt. We had 11 point barrage by Bethany to lead us in scoring in the championships along with Chea who pulled down 12 boards to go along with her 11 points. We also saw the "iron woman" display by McKenzie who played 24 minutes straight playing the best girl on Heat on Sunday; played in a soccer game; played almost 24 minutes straight again playing the best girl on Royals in championships. Brittni had key free throws down the stretch and controlled the boards with Chea all weekend. Johna, Tiffany, and Mallon showed everyone how to hustle in game against Heat as we held them to 17 points to win semi-finals.

The girls made my weekend and so I had to share with all of you as I was very proud as a coach and a dad. No matter what we do from here on out, I know two things will always hold true.

Who are we: HOOPSTARS! And how did we do it: TOGETHER!

And we won't stop...

January Madness

Well, this was my first season as head coach of a middle school team and it was quite interesting.

This year seems to have much earlier ending that last year, so we are embarking on our end of season tournament today -- that's right, January Madness, baby!!

There is a big difference in coaching middle school students as I found coaching a 12 and under AAU team this past summer, but school team with 13-4 year old boys is another ball game all together. Once things start clicking they make a pretty good team. We have recently gone 3-1 but I won't go into our record before that (1-8). Rebuilding is always fun and frustrating at the same time.

Looking forward to next season and this summer for AAU.

Go RAMS!!

AAU National Championships 2007

Naddiyah and the 10 and under Dayton Lady Hoopstars team finished 7th in the nation at this years National Championships for girls AAU Basketball. The trip was extremely fun as the games are held in Disney's ESPN Wide World of Sports complex in Orlando FL.

It was worth seeing the determination Nadi showed in the second to last game her team played as she drove the full length of the court fully intending to score. She must have gone through all five defenders or at least that is how it appeared to the spectators. One defender for sure will remember her presence, as the last move was very strong and decisively a facial. As her coached said it was a WNBA caliber move. This basket was the winning shot to put the team into 7th place as the subsequent game they lost to the 5th placed ISSA Elite out of Indiana.

It was amazing seeing 59 teams with 10+ girls each, all playing basketball at a very high level while still being adorable kids and enjoying the atmosphere.

Guess I have to keep saving money because it is a cool family experience that we will probably have to keep doing as long as Naddiyah still loves the game.

Peace

Basketball Fanatic

Well, I guess I am a basketball fanatic even though I rarely see a NBA or WNBA game anymore. With Naddiyah deep into AAU, I am apparently crazy enough to volunteer as an AAU coach for the fourth team at the 12 & under age group. That's right, I am trying to see the better parts of Naddiyah's 10 & under team run their way to nationals while working towards strength with my own team on Nadi's off weekends.

As I type, I am on my way back home from bowling grren university where the 12 gray team went 0-3 unfortunately. We are improving and almost won last game, but lost by 2 in overtime. Wanted to still be in town and spending time with the boys who are with me, but I can't argue about getting more time at home with my beautiful wife; therefore, I am driving like mad and keeping my mind awake by sharing my thoughts with you.

I am in Wapakoneta OH now. Again, only a fanatic drives to places with strange names in the name of basketball. I love it though and since the boys are with me at all my tournaments we get to hang out a little more.

Hopefully, it is good for Naddiyah to as she gets me on weekends just being dad as she has a great coach, plus I am alled coached out from my own tournaments. ;)

Anyway, I am going to let the boys stretch out and get a treat here in Wapakoneta...so love you all.

Salaam,
Kevin

Raffle Tickets - AAU Fundraiser

If you are interested in buying some $5.00 raffle tickets for $500.00 (hehehehe) or maybe just $5.00 each, please give me a call and I will write your name in on the drawing stub and you can send me a check.

Naddiyah is playing AAU basketball as I mentioned and their big fundraiser for Dayton Lady Hoopstars is a cash raffle that she is selling tickets for.

The 1st prize is $1000.00 cold hard cash with second and third prizes of $300.00 and $200.00, respectively.

[update date="04/13/2007 @ 11:24AM"]
The raffle tickets can also be purchased for $5.50 using PayPal online donation using the link on this page. Please remember to enter the raffle ticket entry/contact information, so they know who to give the money to at the drawing - include address since out of town. The extra charge is due to cost for receiving funds through PayPal. Figured this is around the same cost of buying a stamp and envelope to send funds via "snail mail," so this shouldn't be too much of an overage.
[update]

I have been trying to sell them at work for her like a good dad, but figured I would do a little advertising as I am not a great sales man, which is why I am into computers.

Anyway, hope everyone is doing well. Summer is coming, so enjoy it. I know we will as the AAU National Championship tournament for the 10 year olds is in Disney. Don’t be jealous, I have to figure out how to pay for it. :)

“Keep smiling”
Salaam (Peace)
Kev

Lil A.I.

And so another season of AAU (Amateur Athletic Union) is under way and Kailyn is playing again for the Dayton Lady Hoopstars. She has a long way to grow, but I love watching her play, especially when she exhibits all her talents and lives up to her nickname the A.I.

Under a great coach (not me), she hopefully will learn to keep her focus on the court and take her talent to the next level as she heads into middle school.

The 10U team she plays on has had two tournaments to date and they look real good already. I can't wait until they reach their full strength, which is hopefully by the National Championships in Florida or even better by the Ohio State Championships.

Go hoopstars!!