Hawaii Basketball

2008 Hawaii State Player-of-the-Year Shawna-Lei Kuehu is featured in the May 2008 issue of Slam Magazine. (Regional Covers - Eric Gordon, Derrick Rose, Michael Beasley; Released in March)

Many of you have seen the highlights of Love at the UCLA shootaround hitting shots from the opposite end line… Here’s an old highlight of Love throwing a full-court alley-oop to Beasley who 360s it. Video taken while the two were practicing for the Elite 24 HS All-Star Game at Rucker Park.

Okay, this might be a stretch for Hawaii Hoops, but Michelle Wie is from “Hawaii” and Robin Lopez does play “Hoops” so… close enough.

StanfordSecrets.com caught the pair hanging out together at the Athlete Date Auction a few weeks ago.

Jumping ahead a bit, but, man, can you imagine their kids?…

The fact that he only plays basketball professionally is disappointing…

Steve Nash, the two-time NBA MVP, could be doing so much more. Besides being a decent tennis player and skateboarder, the guy is apparently good enough in soccer to play for the Canadian National Team.

On top of that, he’s also an avid filmmaker. Last summer, Nash wrote, pitched and produced this commercial for Nike on a $30K budget… It’s legit!

T.J. Ford of the Toronto Raptors drops the Knicks’ Jared Jeffries on an inside-out dribble… then sticks the “J”.

You’ve heard about it… you’ve even seen the pictures… now here’s the video. Enjoy!
(Highlights of Derrick Low from the 2003 Iolani Basketball Season)

You’ve probably seen this shot over and over… the one that launched the career of THE greatest basketball player ever, but did you ever notice his shoes? Most assume that Jordan was wearing kicks from the company that he took to astronomic levels in the years following… Nike. Wrong!

So what brand was he wearing? (Find out after the jump…)

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Their college careers maybe coming to an end, but it seems like just yesterday that Derrick Low and Bobby Nash were tearing it up as teammates on the court for Iolani School. During their time together, the duo combined for two state championships, the first of five in Iolani’s illustrious run, and were each named to the All-State First team in 2002 and 2003.

During the 2001-02 season, Nash (Jr.) and Low (So.) accounted for 28.8 points, 9.8 rebounds and 4.1 steals per game for the Raiders who went on to defeat the Kalaheo Mustangs in the 2002 State finals.

Following that season, the pair was featured in a two-page article in the December 2002 publication of SLAM magazine. See it below…

The 2008 McDonald’s All-American Game will be played on Wednesday, March 26th, 2008 at the Bradley Center in Milwaukee.

Hawaii nominees: Stevie Austin, Moanalua; Kien Aviero, Honokaa; Colton Collins, Kamehameha-Hawaii; Cheynne Lishman, Kalaheo; Mike Makinano, Campbell; Taylor Mounts, Iolani; Cole Shidaki, St. Louis; Earvin Sione, McKinley; Kameron Steinhoff, Punahou

No player from Hawaii has ever played in the game.

Not much to say… its just plain ugly. Ughhhh. He’s in the NBA for goodness sake. You’d think the Rockets could find someone to fix him.

Two great dunks caught on film… but which one was better? (Leave comments below.)

A. February 28, 2003 - State Tournament Semifinals: Kamehameha vs. Iolani - Derrick Low (Iolani ‘04) on Waika Spencer (Kamehameha ‘05).

B. January 22, 2008 - ILH Regular Season: Iolani at Punahou - Trevor Crabb (Punahou ‘08) on Pablo Warner (Iolani ‘09).

[Photos: Honolulu Star-Bulletin (A) and D-Tech Hawaii (B)]

Called “the best pure-shooter in the Class of ‘08″ by Slam Magazine, Rotnei Clarke, a 6-1 combo guard at Claremore Verdigris High School in Oklahoma, is currently averaging 41.1 points per game and recently broke the career scoring mark (3606 points) in his home state. He has signed with Arkansas for the 2008-09 season.

Not all that impressive by “Clinic” standards, but just wait until he’s 6-5 with a 40″ vert and still got the same handle. Buy your tickets now for the Iolani Classic in 2014…

Funny guy, pretty good baller. Well, I don’t know how he’d do in a real game, but the guy can sure shoot it.

Watch as super-comedian Will Ferrell smokes Hall-of-Famer Bill Walton in a game of H-O-R-S-E when the two meet up for an ESPN interview to promote Ferrell’s new movie, Semi-Pro.

Special Note: Sorry for the lack of updates, but hopefully all the exciting games this season (and the HH Forum) took care of your “basketball jones” over the last few months.

Now that the high school season is over, we’ll be doing our best to keep the posts coming (whether its about Hawaii basketball or not) so you all don’t go crazy watching baseball.

Thank you all for visiting and we appreciate your continued support.

Four teams set to appear at the 2007 Iolani Prep Classic opened their season ranked in the USA Today High School Basketball Super 25 which was released today:

Montrose Chrisitan (MD), coached by Classic veteran Stu Vetter, will return to Hawaii as the No. 7 ranked team in the country with what he calls one of his “most talented teams”. That’s quite a claim when you consider the teams and players Vetter has coached over the years such as former NBA veteran Dennis Scott (Georgia Tech, Orlando Magic) and recent No.2 Draft Pick Kevin Durant (Texas, Seattle Supersonics). This season, Montrose is touted as having the best core of juniors in the country in 6-6 F Terrell Vinson, 6-7 F Tristan Spurlock and 6-7 F Isaiah Armwood. And if they weren’t big enough already, they also have two recently acquired transfers Temidayo Adebayo (6-10) and Brian Ameka Okam (7-0).

As last year’s New York State Runner-up, Rice (NY) will be back at the Iolani Classic this year with four returning starters. Their talented backcourt is led by Connecticut recruit, PG Kemba Walker, and All-State Selections SG Chris Fouch and Lamont Jones. Rice is ranked No.11 in the USA Today Super 25 and No.4 in the Sporting News.

2006 Iolani Classic Champion Leflore (AL) will be looking to defend their championship in 2007 when they return as the No.16 ranked team in the Super 25. Despite already sporting a huge lineup, the Alabama 6A champions got even bigger (and better) when 6-10 junior center DeMarcus Cousins, the No.3 center in the Class of 2009 according to Scouts, Inc., transfered to LeFlore in late October. 6-5 Marquette-signee Nick Williams, a 2006 All-Tournament team selection, will also be back for the Rattlers.

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