St. Louis '67 our 1st ever squad to play outside Hawai`i, losing to national powerhouse Oakland Bishop
O'Dowd, still the talk of Bay Area scribes to date. That is St. Louis' only hardwood loss from 1966-1968.
St. Louis coach Walter Wong's deliberate/measured
slow-down game overcame the Big Island's best-ever
prep hoopsters, Hilo High '67. Hilo High '74 Alan Tanabe was flown by Alan's devoted dad to Maui to watch St. Louis defeat Hilo. Though Alan was only 10 yrs. old at that time, Alan reflects back now by saying that had Alan been in high school in 1967, Alan would've run all night around/past St. Louis'
stationary post men to make high backboard shots,
just as Alan did in vanquishing UNLV's All-Americans in 1976. Essentially, Alan would've done what O'Dowd
did to win vs. St. Louis, running different patterns
to flex around St. Louis' postmen, who didn't lateralize to stymie national calibre talent. O'Dowd's squad dribbled-penetrated/passed well a la
Alan for easy baskets. To St. Louis' credit, its
starters had just returned from football & had not even acclimated to hardwood habits when it played O'Dowd-- Christmas tourney 1966, vs. O'Dowd's year-round hoops play. Fearless/superhuman Alan Tanabe says that Alan would've run right at St. Louis' postmen the way O'Dowd did for easy baskets.
Hawaii High School Basketball Forum
Hawaii Hoops - Forum » High School Boys
St. Louis High '67 our best-ever prep hoops squad
(197 posts)-
Posted 1 year ago #
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???
No one doubts your basketball knowledge, but your explanation and story telling skills are scattered at best.
What are you trying to say?
Are you pumping up the Crusaders or are you an Alan Tanabe lover?
Not sure what the hell you are talking about.
Posted 1 year ago # -
My apology to Shaka. You are correct, I projected
ambivalence. If one reads the periodicals of St.
Louis' era 1960s, where St. Louis pulverized everyone
except Hilo High [that had the richest winning tradition w/most territorial titles under Hilo High disciplinarian coach Beans Afook], no one touted anything to beat St. Louis [Honoka`a native/Radford High's Jim Alegre lamented that St. Louis overcame anything one threw at St. Louis; similar sentiments echoed by Bud Scott/etc.]. In contrast, 10 yr. old Alan Tanabe, watching St. Louis beat Hilo High for
State title 1967, having flown over from Hilo to Maui w/Alan's totally devoted dad, reflects back at
age 52 today & says that Alan would've run all night
vs. St. Louis, & taken St. Louis to the hole for easy
buckets the way Oakland's Bishop O'Dowd High did via diverse patterns [every starter could dribble/pass/
flex proficiently for O'Dowd--all were D1 calibre,
though the tallest player was 6'4"]. Ambivalence projected by me because Alan Tanabe solved St. Louis'
riddle. Bottom line is that St. Louis '67 is the unprecedented pulverizer, but that O'Dowd '67 [like Tanabe in 1976] solved St. Louis' puzzle. No one had the audacity to do that in the 1960s. St. Louis'
reign was invincible a la Bill Russell's Celtics 1960s. Totally unbeatable locally. Again, my apology to Shaka for projecting ambivalence. Thank you, -CurtPosted 1 year ago # -
Are you making a comparison between the St. Louis basketball teams in the 1960's with the current STL team or just sharing Alan Tanabe's & STL basketball history? It's definite that your a wealth of knowledge when it comes to Alan Tanabe, are you him? It's very interesting but I just don't know where you're going with this and if you are just sharing this with us, then that's cool.
Posted 1 year ago # -
Thank you for your queries, Just4fun. No one team in the Hawaiian Islands ever matched St. Louis High '67.
Yes, an all-star amalgam could match St. Louis '67
[prepsters Fletcher at center/Sensley & Ed Bento at forwards/Ah Chew Goo & Ia Saipaia at guards, w/1929
all-around athlete Kanaka Red Raymond & `Iolani's Low
coming off the bench], but no one singular intact team
could beat St. Louis locally. Alan Tanabe is my lifelong neighbor [we older kids roughed up Alan & by
reason of this, Alan played fearlessly vs. grown men]
& in-law. I don't promote Alan because of my affinities w/Alan. I just share my observations from
fan-friendly hoopsdom Hilo. BTW, I'm Ah Chew Goo's
acolyte/devotee, not Alan Tanabe's fan-atic. No way
one can compare sentient/mortal Alan w/Providential
Ah Chew, whose passing skills have never been matched, not even by Pistol Pete [Ah Chew's acolyte],
nor by Magic Johnson/Rick Barry/Larry Bird/Chris Paul/current NBA crop. Thank you, Just4fun. Aloha,
--CurtPosted 1 year ago # -
Curt, you are in full command of the english vernacular. I'm impressed!
You can be as sentimental as you want about your selections, but please be realistic too.
If you are picking all-time greats to come out of our State, 'Iolani's Low does not come off the bench.
All of the names you listed above, did any of them lead, not role play, but lead their team to the Sweet 16? In the Pac-10, night in and night out, Low was guarded as well as assigned to guarding 1st round draft picks. Guys playing in the NBA right now! LED team usa to 3 wins in Pan Am Games, while being the leading scorer in all 3 games. Can any of the guys you mentioned above put that on their resume? No disrespect to them as I did not get to see several of them play (back when there were belts in the shorts and the ball had laces on it) but to say that Low comes off the bench is a joke, at best.
Posted 1 year ago # -
Shaka, no they can't!
Posted 1 year ago # -
Hi Shaka. `Iolani's Low comes off the bench as a prepster, not as an NCAA cager. You are correct,
Low starts on an alltime Hawai`i native-born-raised team
[shooting guard/Ah Chew Goo point guard/6'8" Red Rocha
center/6'6" Ed Bento & Sensley at forwards]. Thank you for your critique. --CurtPosted 1 year ago # -
What are you talking about?
Posted 1 year ago # -
Hi HoopFanatic: Prep alltime Haw'n Islands squad includes Ah Chew Goo as point guard, Ia Saipaia as
shooting guard, Ed Bento or Julian Sensley as roving forward, Leroy Lutu as power forward, & Francis Fletcher or Jim Nicholson as pivot. Red Rocha was cut from Hilo High squad [tangled feet] & didn't play high school ball. Our holy trinity of NCAA Div. 1 All-Americans consists of Rocha/Rocha's neighbor Ed Bento [Loyola]/Low. Obviously, Low starts on our best-ever Haw'n Islands squad that includes NCAA Div. 1 All-Americans Rocha/Bento, along w/the greatest-ever passer in hoops history,
the indomitable Ah Chew Goo [of the unprecedented 90
degree cut cross-leg dribble that breaks ankles unless
practiced to perfection--not even Ah Chew's acolyte/
devotee Pistol Pete ever mastered it. Candidly, only
Fernee Hardaway attempted a diluted version of it --
45 degree cut. Again, renowned writer Kriegel is
incorrect on Pistol Pete's mastery of genesis Goo-invented moves. Pistol Pete never executed the cross-leg dribble, nor the duck walk dribble [that also breaks ankles -- only contortionists master such moves]. This is why Ah Chew Goo correctly is called the "Mandarin Magician" by luminaries like Naismith HoF's John Bunn/Hank Luisetti/Meadowlark Lemon/Marques Haynes/Abe Saperstein [who tried to recruit Goo but Goo didn't want to deal w/White racists who denied equal accomodations to the Globetrotters]/John Wooden/Pete Newell. Sensley is the final 5th starter on the alltime Haw'n Islands
squad. Thank you, HoopFanatic, for your inquiry. Of course, college cagers George Puou/John Sabas/Martin Hess/Rich Haenisch also join our alltime squad. Aloha, --CurtPosted 1 year ago # -
Difference b/n Alan Tanabe as our greatest-ever
native-born-raised scoring guard [penetration/shot
selection/6th sense anticipation]& Low as our greatest-ever shooting guard. Strictly as shooter
[outside shots], Low is our best-ever. But Low cannot
match Tanabe for scoring a la Tiny Archibald. Thence
Low makes starting tandem w/playmaker Ah Chew Goo
instead of hybrid [in/out] masterpiece Alan Tanabe,
who really spiked up into Tanabe's peak form in college instead of high school. Strictly on an explosive game-changer fuse [higher % shot per player as result of Tanabe's in/out supremacy to open the lane/teammate], Tanabe tops Low. Low not creative/
imaginative like superhuman Tanabe. But again, on
conventional position/role alone, obviously Low
complements Goo as backcourt tandem [like bread/butter]. Thank you. --CurtPosted 1 year ago # -
Duuude, I can't understand a thing you're attempting to write. All I know is the era's of your boy Alan and our boy DLow are completly different. To say your little guy could go to the mainland and compete against the Brothers like DLow did is a big stretch.
Whoever said your vocab is great is smoking with Micheal Phelps.Posted 1 year ago # -
No crap!
Posted 1 year ago # -
Curt-Do you think itd be possible for you to type a full sentence without pressing 'enter' at random every 15 or 20 words? WTF?! Its frikn annoying!
Posted 1 year ago # -
"'Iolani's Low comes off the bench as a prepstar"
Curt, are you serious?
Low lost only 2 games to Hawaii competition in high school. Both came his freshman year. Pre, regular, and post season. 2 games...that's it!
3 State Championships (lost to Kalaheo 9th grade)
4 Time ILH Player of the Year (never done before)
3 Time Consensus State Player of the Year
3 Time Gatorade POY for Hawaii
4 Time All Tournament Team State TourneyYou talk about how great st louis did in a loss against a mainland team. Low and the Raiders lost by 2 to nationally ranked Fairfax his junior year. His senior year, they lost on a last second shot from half court to #4 in the country Montrose Christian. In both games, he carried his team to near upsets.
Can any of the prepstars you mentioned boast these stats?
You act like scoring points is the barometer to measure a player's worth. Low could have fell out of bed and averaged 30 if he wanted to. Anyone who has seen him play, knows he only averaged 16. Not points, but minutes a game!
To have him come off the bench is a great disrespect and really shows your lack of knowledge.
Nothing against Tanabe, but Low is the best homegrown talent and skilled player our state has produced to date!
Posted 1 year ago # -
Hi backpick/HoopFanatic/HiSelect: Thank you for your
critiques. I'll type full sentences. In the year 2040
backpick might defend the quantum radiance of NCAA1
All-American Derrick Low, & deservedly so. Backpick is
correct, basketball evolves & everyone/everything gets
better [inexorable progress/march of time]. Look at
LeBron James as a stronger/bigger version of Michael
Jordan, who was a bigger version of Elgin Baylor [Chinese acolyte of Ah Chew Goo is Allen Young, who
employed a diluted version of Goo's cross-leg dribble
vs. an astonished/heartstopped Baylor, Young a Roosevelt/UH star for coach Goo. Young was the only
local player for the ABL Hawaii Chiefs.]. Backpick
correctly demonstrates the recurrent/undiminished point of successive leadership, from an older generation down to a younger generation, a la Hawaiian Moo Alii. Backpick will advocate Backpick's Era/Age while recognizing current leaders/stars in the year 2040.
Plaudits to Backpick for transforming then-contemporary
talk into the expanse/breadth of history, the Old as well
as the New. Yes, younger folks repudiate the past as
irrelevant and non-recurrent. No young stud wants to
hear drivel from an old fart. This is Nature's way of
upending the status quo to ensure adaptation/survival
of a species, whether genealogical or sociological
[such as sports]. But to know a little about our
forebearers perhaps gives us a greater perspective
on where we are today. What Derrick Low bestows
to hoopsters in the year 2040 is field intelligence,
Derrick's ability to grasp the flow/terrain of the
game & utilize such momentum for his team's benefit.
If Derrick is so disposed, Derrick will make a fine
coach because of Derrick's field intelligence. Certainly, Derrick's early mentors deserve credit for
Derrick's evolution/progress, most of all Derrick's
unquenchably loving father. Thank you. --CurtPosted 1 year ago # -
Hi Shaka: Thank you for your critique. Derrick Low
correctly refrained from being a high points whole-cheeser shooter. Derrick always was team-first.
Yes, Derrick's stats are unmatched. Based on such
stats, Derrick is #1. Ia Saipaia was bigger/quicker
than Derrick, just as St. Louis' Jim Nicholson was
bigger/quicker than any post player you might name.
Big Nick got injured at Michigan State & was but a
phantom of his former zip-quick self when he hobbled into the NFL [KC Chiefs]. Of course, fellow St. Louis
'67 teammate Howie Dunnam had tremendous agility/scoring ability & still stands among our
greatest-ever point producers. Dunnam later left college to farm on Moloka`i [his daughter died in a
tragic plane crash on Moloka`i years later]. Fellow forward Larry Frank went on to a stellar football career at UH,
as did bench relief Glenn Hookano [sub George Helm
became our greatest falsetto vocalist but drowned
at the cusp of Hawaiian renaissance 1977]. Peer/fine
shooting guard Ray Lum broke his ankle in his frosh
season at then-ubiquitous Santa Clara [Ogden bros./
Dennis Awtrey] & never recovered from such injury
[dramatically slowed him down a la Nick's injuries].
Peer/playmaker Frankie Gonzales had to quit a college career because of a detected heart murmur at his
physical. Thank you. --CurtPosted 1 year ago # -
Ok Curt, yes you have a deep and long theroy regarding the great game of basketball, for that I give you Big Ups (since you appear to be a old timer, it means good job). But the presentation is killing me, I can't even figure out your style, let alone the content. It's like watching the View when all of the crazy woman are speaking at the same time. It makes my head want to explode. Please use complete sentances so we can share in you're knowledge.
Posted 1 year ago # -
I believe it was the point guard Ito, of Montross that won the game on a last second shot against Iolani. I believe that Derrick Low missed a free throw which would have iced the game for Iolani. If my memory serves me correct, Ito hit the game winning shot off an out-of-bounds play inbounded right in front of the half court line. While it was a long 3 pointer, it was not from half court. I would estimate the shot was about 30 feet-35 feet which is extremely long, but not half court....
Posted 1 year ago # -
Curt, we all know that you're knowledgable about the local players of the past. Do you know anything about the current local HS basketball players that you could share?
Posted 1 year ago # -
Howzit Curt, I've reread your posts twice and really want to absorb some knowledge from your handywork. It seems like (no offense) your rambling in and out your past. Very interesting buddy. My family is from North Kohala (I am Kohala born) and my uncle did play against Urban Legend Alan Tanabe. Whenever we talk basketball he will always bring up Tanabe's name with great respect. Says that Tanabe shot the lights out of every gym that he played in. Out dribbled entire defenses on the way to the basket for what seemed like easy baskets, but Tanabe was just too quick to defend. Also said that Tanabe was such a great guy it was impossible not to love the guy and his game. He admits that Hilo was a basketball power in his day, and that Hilo kicked their butts up and down the court all 4 seasons that he played. Everyone and everything else you say or talk about I need help with. Great posts, I can appreciate the litature and effort. Are your posts thought through, or are you postings random thoughts? I like it, I just need some help with it buddy.
Posted 1 year ago # -
Hi Just4fun & 2Dhoop: Thank you for your queries.
I asked pundit Bill O'Rear to share Bill's observations
of current prepsters. I await Bill's reply if any. My posts are based on my own observations/probes of other observers such as Tony Morse/Kiyo Hamakawa/Tai On Chock/etc. Kohala High produced top-flight stars Brad Estabilio/Lynette Liu/Sean Francisco. Thank you. --CurtPosted 1 year ago # -
Great insight Curt. You sure have seen a lot of basketball. Just have a hard time decoding what you write. You must practice law for a living. You sure sound smart!
Posted 1 year ago # -
Man, you are kind of strange!
Posted 1 year ago # -
Ron Jeremy/had the biggest schlong you ever saw. Only matched by LONG DONG SILVER. I mean John Holmes. Wait A-Rod just admitted he used- stop there was a snow storm in... Did I just see that we have a black president. AH CHOOOO. Excuse me. Pistol Could not match the strength or the cross your legs while you sit stance of( I have no idea) I am eating cheetos while sitting naked on a bean bag chair.
Holy crap, what has this site come to. I need to move back so that I can restore some sanity.
Aloha Curt,
I have no idea what in the hell you are talking about. In fact I don't think you understand some of it. You seem to know a lot (I think). But take some advice from the great BBALLFAN!!! These guys will eat you alive if you don't start typing like a normal human and not an alien. And you are using some words that most on here won't understand ( I have had to have a dictionary while I catch up. And I think that you have made some of the words up!) Maybe Jones will get it but I have a feeling he is saying "What the f___" Please keep posting. I think that I have almost cracked your code.Good to see some of you letting this guy have it. I wouldn't want to see it any other way.
Thanks - FAN
Posted 1 year ago #
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