Red Rocha was cut from coach Beans Afook's Hilo High squad [tangled feet] but went on to become our only native-born NBA player. Red's neighbor Ed Bento led Hilo's St. Joseph High to its only territorial/state title 1958, & high-scoring forward Bento went on to
become one of only 3 native-born NCAAI All-Americans
[incl. Rocha/Derrick Low]. Of course, Ah Chew Goo
born 1918 still sharp as razor preceded the NBA, &
unquestionably is the greatest passing guard that ever
played the game. Pete Maravich via dad Press copied
Ah Chew's patented "celestial magic." Magic Johnson/
Larry Bird were great passers, but none surpassed Ah
Chew Goo. Ah Chew's coaching inspiration is Hilo High's Roy Roberts, not Beans Afook, who couldn't stand Ah Chew's "circus passes." Afook a disciplinarian/fundamentalist who forsook razzle-dazzle fan-friendly play a la Goo to staid/predictable
ball control. Goo presaged today's NBA zip-quick game half a century before transition ball started.
Sadly, our current State sports hall of fame has not
enshrined Goo [father of local alltime winningest DI coach for # of games played-- Vince Goo], on grounds that Ah Chew not a college star/olympian/NBAer. Ah
Chew didn't go to college & had to work right out of
high school. Ah Chew not asked to be olympian because did not go to college. NBA didn't exist in
Ah Chew's time. Neither has heralded coach Vince Goo
been enshrined in our sports HoFame. BTW, Rocha says that fellow Hilo peer Goo the greatest passer period.
Hawaii High School Basketball Forum
Hawaii Hoops - Forum » High School Boys
best-ever native born Hawai`i hoopsters
(136 posts)-
Posted 1 year ago #
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5'8" Wat Misaka of U of Utah was All-American mention & peer of Red Rocha in newfound pro league, later NBA post-WWII. Misaka had Yuta Tabuse's straightaway speed but not Alan Tanabe's almost demented ability to find a way to score via backboard shots/etc. Bobby Kau is touted as our islands' best-ever dribbler. 5'6" Chinese Kau was smooth/fluid but cannot match antecedent Ah Chew Goo born 1918, still sharp as tack. Goo INVENTED moves/feints/dribbles, whilst Kau only refined conventional moves. Kau never executed Ah Chew's cross leg dribble or Ah Chew's duck walk dribble. Unquestionably, Goo is the best-ever passer in the history of basketball. Naismith Hall of Fame
enshrinee John Bunn called Ah Chew the most inventive mind ever to dribble a basketball. Bunn's player & Ah Chew acolyte Kiyo Hamakawa born 1929 calls Ah Chew the man who defied gravity & Isaac Newton's cognition. Hamakawa was Wat Misaka's friend, but even Hamakawa says that Ah Chew rebuked the laws of nature, including speedbug Misaka, NBA forerunner entry, who was nowhere near Ah Chew in skills, talent, and creativity. Japan's sole NBA entry Yuta Tabuse is not even up to par with Hilo's Alan Tanabe, much less Ah Chew Goo. As creative & foresightful as Tanabe was, still yet Tanabe was no Ah Chew Goo. Thank you, --CurtPosted 1 year ago # -
Frankie Gonzales St. Louis '67 was flit-quick like Tony Parker and deserves plaudits as St. Louis' unsung hero. Gonzales was so valuable to Walter Wong's squad that when Gonzales got leg cramps vs. St. Louis' feared foes Oakland O'Dowd & Hilo High, Wong took Gonzales out for 10 seconds after Gonzales collapsed, then put Gonzales right back into the cauldron. Wong was so wary of Hilo High that Wong had St. Louis go thru extra practice to overcome Hilo High's full court press & Hilo High's AAASA embryonic game [attack/skip/attack]. Of course, Wong had no time to prep St. Louis vs. O'Dowd, inasmuch Wong only had a few hours to prepare vs. O'Dowd, so Wong did the unthinkable & told his players to play hard & be proud of who they were -- a loser's lamentation, if you will. This is the only time in St. Louis' unmatched epoch that Wong spoke like a loser trying to accept defeat. Unreal! Thank you, --Curt
Posted 1 year ago # -
Hilo High coach Beans Afook has the winningest % based on seasons coached. Beans' 1st college scholarship offer [no scholarships pre-WWII] was to 1945 guard Tai On Chock [later renowned sportsman], who did not take up the offer [had to help out his family]. Beans' next offer was to 1947 guard Kiyo Hamakawa, who eventually played for legendary John Bunn at Springfield College. Beans' last offer was to 1948 guard Al Manliguis, who dribbled into the pages of history and lore [ascended UH's fledgling program to stratospheric heights]. You see, in Ah Chew Goo's era mid-1930s, or for that matter, in Kanaka Red Raymond's era 1920s, college aid was unheard of, which is why vaunted athletes like Goo & predecessor Raymond had to join the labor force the day they left high school. Yes, this website's very young communicants marginalize antiquity's Adonis archetypes like Mandarin Magician Goo and his antecedent Red Raymond [Red's McKinley coach and former great athlete Rusty Blaisdell, later Honolulu's most popular mayor of all time, acknowledged that celestial starlight Goo was better than Roarin' Twenties red rocketman Raymond], but just as today's prodigies regale over Derrick Low, so did antiquity's superhuman action heroes make our hearts aflutter & even stop!! Till this day, there is no equivalent of Ah Chew Goo!! Aloha, --Curt
Posted 1 year ago # -
Hi Curt,
Just a correction on which game I had cramps. It was against Hilo in the States at Maui Memorial in 1967 not Bishop O'Dowd. Anyways when losing to Bishop O'Dowd, Coach Walter Wong never dwelled on the game we lost. He moved forward and always encouraged us to learn from our mistakes. Winning was not his ultimate goal, but learning from the game and applying it to our daily lives. He would always take a personal interest in us. Sometimes, he would come and visit my mother and I with his wife Ethel at the small quaint Benny's Tailor Shop located on River Street. He was a very kind and always looked after us. Even after practice, he give me a ride to the Oahu Cemetery and from there I would walk home. At that time, I had moved to Alewa Hghts.when I was in the 10th grade. Prior to that I use to live by myself at the old Benny's Tailor Shop in 332 North King St. in the 8th grade and would walk to school to go to Cathedral Grade School.
Aloha,
FrankiePosted 1 year ago # -
Frankie Gonzales is Jesus come to life!! Where do you find a person who utterly is imbued with so much love and compassion for others?! Frankie always was TEAM-FIRST, not me first! Two other persons come to mind who have Frankie's saintly nature-- Territorial Savings marketing chief Denise Takashima [Ah Chew Goo's son Vince Goo's friend] and WWII 442nd infantry anti-tank gunner Herb Isonaga, who astutely says that Herb's riflemen did not wake up one morning & say "I'm going to be a hero today," but simply were reacting to the call of service to America, "Go for Broke," [poker player's mantra, which 442 boys were]
swept up in the "fortune of circumstance," to use Herb's phrase. You see, gang, like unspeakably loving Frankie Gonzales, we don't seek our destiny. Our destiny eventually is revealed to us, as you saw in Tom Cruise's movie "The Last Samurai." That is, it's not for us to self-declare ourselves heroes. That accession is reserved for others to say of us. Frankie, the whole world declares you as our patron saint! Much aloha, --CurtPosted 1 year ago # -
Our greatest hoops analyst Bill O'Rear born 1955, original member of Jimmy Yagi's Peerless Fab Five 32 yrs. ago, says that over the past 3 decades the best prep point guards from the Big Island are Hilo's Bruce Ferreira and Honokaa's Austin Souza, who went on to stellar small college careers. Ah Chew Goo born 1918, the greatest passer the world has ever seen [Ah Chew ascribed as the greatest ballhandler and playmaker, per Naismith Hall of Fame enshrinees John Bunn/Hank Luisetti/etc.], is pleased that guru/prodigy O'Rear picks Ferreira and Souza as O'Rear's best prep point guards that O'Rear has seen. Ah Chew always encourages others. This is Ah Chew's mantra. When Derrick Low was feted as our greatest-ever prepster [scribes have short memories!!], what did Ah Chew do? Ah Chew wrote a beautiful letter congratulating Derrick on Derrick's recognition. Such class/empathy/compassion from larger-than-life Ah Chew!! An aside, for you history buffs -- do you know that when Abe Saperstein brought his Harlem Globetrotters to town, Abe's guards REFUSED TO GUARD AH CHEW GOO??!! THEY DIDN'T WANT TO BE HUMILIATED BY AH CHEW'S MAGICAL BALLHANDLING/PASSING!! YES, THEY REFUSED TO GUARD AH CHEW GOO!! Which is why Meadowlark Lemon/Marques Haynes touted Ah Chew as a Fireball in
the Pacific!! Yikes!! Thanks, --CurtPosted 1 year ago # -
Among our best-ever multi-sport athletes is Hilo High 1987 grad Bruce Ferreira, born 1969, All-State prepster in basketball and baseball. Bruce also started at running back as a senior in his only football season, and started in volleyball as a junior, being that he was injured as a sophomore. Bruce went on to start for the UH-Hilo Vulcans hoopsters as a sophomore, then switched to baseball where he started for the rest of his college career, usually in the outfield and at 2nd base. I asked Bruce what his legacy will be. Bruce's response consists of --
"I hope people remember me as 1) a good teammate; 2) who played with his last ounce of devotion & gave it his all; 3) who loved what he did; 4) who wants to pass on to the next generation all that he knows about the sport(s) based on his experiences & skills attained. My inspirations were the UH-Hilo Vulcans of the 1970s. I never had a chance to leave the Islands, so I felt that our Vulcans were the greatest team that ever played!! I even wiped the floors for them [hoops], and I remember saying to myself, 'I wish I could be just like them and play like them!'" Heartstopper evocation from profoundly compassionate Bruce Ferreira. A real-life action hero. Wow!! Needless to say, Vulcan alumni Alan Tanabe & Bill O'Rear, this one's for you, straight from Bruce's heart. Aloha always, --CurtPosted 1 year ago # -
Curt, you were up at 1 in the morning?!
Sunday 8:00 Chat room. You can be the "guest speaker" buddy.
Posted 1 year ago # -
Curt,
You continue to amaze us with your strolls down memory lane.
Keep it up my crazy hoop brother!Posted 1 year ago # -
Filipinos are typecast as Puma cat-quick. So it's no surprise that part-Filipino Bruce Ferreira born 1969,
Hilo High '87, all-State in prep hoops/baseball who went on to stellar hoops/baseball careers at UH Hilo [forsook D1 Manoa baseball scholarship], is speed of light like St. Louis '67 alltime ballhandler/playmaker Frankie Gonzales of A'ala neighborhood. Thank you 2Dhoop/backpick for your kind words. Aloha, --CurtPosted 1 year ago # -
Yes, Ronnie Kakuda played for commercial league coach Ah Chew Goo. Though Kakuda is immortalized as the playground superhero, Allen Young [only local star for ABL's Hawaii Chiefs pro franchise] was better than deservedly hyped earthy Kakuda. Ah Chew quips that in one game Kakuda was running all over the hardwood like a jumping flea. Ah Chew exasperates to Kakuda, "What you doing?" Kakuda exhorts, "Man to man, right?" Ah Chew bellows, "No, zone, Ronnie, zone!" Yikes! See, Kakuda would've excelled in today's run n' gun patterned/pressure game. But Ronnie came along a bit too soon to optimize Ronnie's God-given athleticism. Nonetheless, everything Ronnie could do, Allen Young could do better, except maybe to embrace the playground neophytes who hungered for hardwood heroes like Ronnie Kakuda!! Aloha, -Curt
Posted 1 year ago # -
Damn, u are wild!
Posted 1 year ago # -
Thank you for your kindness, HoopFanatic. To hear oldsters like Bill Souza regale about distant past heroes like Ronnie Kakuda, one actually hears their hearts palpitate with delirium and apoplexy!! Yes, give these buggas their props -- indescribable "blowing out" of total transcendence. Aloha always, --Curt
Posted 1 year ago # -
You are like the Naismith of our site, lol!
Posted 1 year ago # -
Thank you for your kind words, HoopFanatic. McKinley High grad Don Snyder starred for USF [Frisco] in the mid-1960s. Aloha, --Curt
Posted 1 year ago # -
Hi Kurt,
I knew Don Snyder. I remember when we went up to play against Bishop O'dowd, I watched him play for the USF. I also knew him through a classmate of mine, Kendrick Loo ( who passed away about 10 years ago from brain tumor), who was his Uncle. He would sometimes come to A'ala Park and play pick up games. When I played against him one on one, he would always goal tend. He was a great shooter from the outside. Aloha, Frankie
Posted 1 year ago # -
Had Leroy Lutu Sr. played college hoops, he would've been a good D1 power forward. He could jump out of the gym but got injured as D1 football receiver/end. John Kamana/Kaulana Park were football blue chips like Lutu. Hilo's Reed Sunahara was big fish in hoops small pond, & would've had difficulty w/D1 speedsters. Sunahara could jump for Vball standards but was no hoop D1 prodigy. Kentucky showed hoop interest in Sunahara, but it's only because Sunahara loved hoops, & certainly Kentucky wanted to amp up its Vball. Sunahara was a decent baseballer, but not exceptional like Shon Malani, all-State in hoops/baseball. Had UH Manoa offered a hoops try to hoops-first Bruce Ferreira Hilo '87, rather than just a baseball scholarship, Bruce might've opted for UH-Manoa instead of staying at UH-Hilo, where he excelled in hoops/baseball. As w/Frankie Gonzales & speed demon Given Goo [no relation to Ah Chew Goo], Ah Chew Goo was not a straight-away speed demon like teammate sprint titlist Hideo Suga, but Ah Chew was very shifty/elusive, as was Frankie Gonzales in a more conventional way [there's only one Ah Chew Goo, for which there is no equivalent legacy]. Thank you, --Curt
Posted 1 year ago # -
Houdini of the hardwood Ah Chew Goo was ambidextrous, vs. rightie Bob Cousy. Ah Chew Goo's all-around brilliance [around/behind the head passes, for example] still is the standard [aspiration level] today, nearly 80 years after Ah Chew graced the floorboards!! What today's young studs/readers overlook are the end results -- Ah Chew's highest skill level allowed Ah Chew to see better/evade defenders, & to make better passes/for the high % shot. Which is why ferocious competitor Frankie Gonzales, with Frankie's amazing deft moves/quickness/feints, is a good study of what Ah Chew Goo was all about -- team-first/the whole is greater than the sum of its parts. Thank you so much for the opportunity to revisit our storied past. Much aloha, --Curt
Posted 1 year ago # -
curt u giving me one headache. try use paragraphs and complete sentences please!!! can u talk about bball in the past 1-2 years or only from B.C.?
who cares about ah chew goo, and all the other prehistoric peeps u name. damn, man, name some guys from today!!!
Posted 1 year ago # -
People like You (yes HIHoopsfan and PrincessV) don't really appreciate the insight and valuable information Curt brings to this site. Anyone can give their opinion and breakdown of todays players, but who can compare players from today to the best ballers ever from hawaii, like Red Rocha and Ah Chew Goo to name a few.
Posted 1 year ago # -
Dear Shooter: Thank you for your kindness/thoughtfulness. If there is anything I may assist you on, please feel free to let me know. Communicant Brew knows who I am. I once was a contempo-only fan like HIHoopsFan/Princess V. I do not fault them at all. It is part of life's maturation process. They'll see what you/I treasure as they evolve into expansive sages. Thank you for your comments. I am eternally grateful to you. And congratulations to all communicants on this website. You love the game like no other!! Aloha always, -Curt
Posted 1 year ago # -
Dear shooter: Thank you again for your words of inspiration and acknowledgement of antiquity's value in today's NBA [metamorphosis of skill level, amping up to LeBron James' bigger/stronger version of Michael Jordan]. I just posted hoops guru Bill O'Rear's quote on the evolution of NBA ballhandlers/playmakers at Frankie Gonzales' thread/topic on "correction on heart murmur." Bill's treasure is for you, shooter!! With everlasting gratitude/appreciation, Aloha!! --Curt
Posted 1 year ago # -
If you are referring to Brew as your resource, then I don't know how credible you can be.
Posted 1 year ago # -
Hi HIHoopsFan: As you say, I am not credible. Then simply ignore what I write. Thank you for your feedback. I do not ignore what you write, because you love hoops like I do. That is our common bond, if any. Do you know who is Brew in person? Thank you again, & aloha always, --Curt
Posted 1 year ago #
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