Comments on: Punahou’s Kobayashi is ILH player of the year

By: Redlentless Fan

Redlentless Fan — Sat, 11 Mar 2017 21:32:15 +0000

@Tafena totally agree with you about Avea. Such a talented player. If he doesn’t make it on the Fab 15 list something is seriously wrong. Not too many Hawaii players move on to play Div 1 ball, and he’s one of them. So you would think he should make the list. But sometimes things don’t make sense (like him not making first team OIA). And I get how a player on the higher finishing team got the nod. That’s the way it goes. Lots of talented players in both the OIA and ILH for sure.

By: Tafena_Costa

Tafena_Costa — Sat, 11 Mar 2017 21:13:07 +0000

@REDlentless fan … Not Hogland or Avea or anybody else’s fault for how tall (or short) they are. But Avea was not even the OIA East player of the year. He was 2nd team which was really ridiculous that he wasn’t 1st. It seem like most people go beyond the ILH season and take into account how the teams finished in the state tournament. Comparing the two ILH front-runners, one guy’s team made it to the finals and the other’s placed 4th in the state tournament. This year’s ILH was Hogland’s to lose, but I completely see why coaches went with the player on the more successful team.

By: Redlentless Fan

Redlentless Fan — Sat, 11 Mar 2017 20:56:12 +0000

@Tafena. You’re missing my point completely. Is it Hogland’s “fault” that he’s a 6’9″ guy in Hawaii? Is it Avea’s “fault” that he’s a 6’6″ guy in Hawaii? Don’t you think that Avea scored a lot of points because he too is “tall”? So should that be listed as a “just because”? And yes, Fotu getting into foul trouble was a HUGE advantage. But so what. That can be said of every single “key” player who gets in foul trouble. That’s why those guys especially need to be more careful. I’m public school all the way. The irony of this whole recruiting thing is BOTH SIDES (ILH and OIA) are both pointing fingers at each other when they should just be pointing fingers at themselves. Does the ILH recruit? Heck yah. They can call it whatever they want. Financial aid whatevers. But bottom line is recruiting. And OIA does the same with their “district exemptions” and stud athletes all of a sudden moving with aunty, uncle, grandparents, etc. SAME SMELL. DIFFERENT NAME. Oahu is infamous for recruiting in both public AND private schools PERIOD. Show me a Div 1 public or private school (from Oahu) who has won a state championship … And I guarantee they have recruited and/or “district exempt” kids on their roster.

By: Tafena_Costa

Tafena_Costa — Sat, 11 Mar 2017 20:34:11 +0000

@Redlentless Fan… These comments have already established Kobayashi was on the team that won the league, made it to the finals of the state tournament. I see nothing wrong with looking at team success as one of the first criteria in deciding this. To say the guy had no advantage because of his height is not comical. It’s very reasonable – especially for BASKETBALL in Hawai’i of all places where he had no equal in stature. Your comparison of Hogland’s height advantage to Villa’s speed advantage, to me, was swing and a miss. You tried to make a point by comparing a pg who had to come down break full-court pressure, handle the ball, initiate the offense, find teammates, and then get his own looks in between all that to a center who just had to get in position in the paint and received touches on the majority of plays.
If you are a “Redlentless Fan” you understand that the best thing that happened to ‘Iolani in the semifinals for Kahuku was Fotu getting into foul trouble early. When dude came back in for OT, he couldn’t be stopped. The ILH should be the last league in the state crying about non-ILH teams getting acquired talent.

By: Redlentless Fan

Redlentless Fan — Sat, 11 Mar 2017 16:59:45 +0000

@Watcher you’re right, it probably did come down to who had the better season. As for Punahou, if they can’t take a state championship in the next two years (at least ONE of those years), that’ll probably be it for their coach. Talk about a team that’s loaded, with several young talented kids. I thought this was going to be their year, but then Kahuku shows up 3 new studs. It should be Punahou’s year next year (unless Kahuku or some other school all of a sudden finds “new blood” from the mainland or internationally). But that’s another story that unless the OIA and ILH can get a handle on will just keep getting worse and worse. Talking about finding a loophole in the whole recruiting scheme.

By: The Watcher

The Watcher — Sat, 11 Mar 2017 16:46:37 +0000

Punahou won’t win. They coach is a dufus. Also, regardless of who gave Kahuku a better game, Punahou went farther in the season all the way to the finals. There are many variables why the Iolani game vs. Kahuku was closer than the Punahou vs. Kahuku game. It’s all about match-ups. That doesn’t mean they are a better team. Head to Head is always the #1 variable when comparing two teams. Punahou beat Iolani 3-2. Both kids are good. The award could have gone either way. Obviously the voters and coaches felt having the better season was the criteria.

By: Redlentless Fan

Redlentless Fan — Sat, 11 Mar 2017 07:48:52 +0000

@AOK Chong should do some serious okole kicking next season. His for the taking. Let’s hope their coach can finally get them a championship. If not, what a waste of some talented players.

By: Redlentless Fan

Redlentless Fan — Sat, 11 Mar 2017 07:45:48 +0000

@Matt is spot on. @Sue I think you might not understand what happened in the ILH. Or maybe you do? There was a 3-way tie for first in the regular season (Punahou, Iolani and Maryknoll). By PURE luck of the draw (literally), Punahou scored the #1 spot, Maryknoll scored the #2 spot. And Iolani got the #3. They had THE toughest road. To say “Many of his son’s points was because of his height” is actually pretty comical. What does that matter? It’s like saying many of Villa’s points was because he was fast (more to it of course, but just making a point). I for one believe that the TRUE state championship game was between Kahuku and Iolani. Game went into OT. When Kahuku played Punahou, wasn’t even THAT close of a game. And do you know why we had a hard time against Iolani? Because of Hogland. He was a difference maker. Kobayashi didn’t even make the all-tournament team. But that being said, is Kobayashi an awesome player? Yes. And he seems to have been slighted all these years. He didn’t make the FAB 15 last year. And he made the ILH 2nd team last year. He seemed to have always been under the radar. Do I think Hogland would’ve been a better choice? Yes. But that’s a matter of opinion. I’m sure others have their own take on this. And I’m sure some believe a totally different player is more deserving. But congrats to all the boys nonetheless!

By: AOK

AOK — Sat, 11 Mar 2017 06:43:15 +0000

Watch the game and it’s obvious to see who had a bigger impact.

I’d take Chong over Kobayashi all day, everyday. Watch next year, when he’s the featured scorer. His stats will be way better than Kobayashi’s ever was LOL

By: Sue Chun

Sue Chun — Sat, 11 Mar 2017 01:53:23 +0000

Yes. Basketball is a team sport.

Here are some published stats that are not mentioned above:

‘Iolani player. 15. ppg. 210 total pts. 2. 3-pt shots. 37% ft ave.

Punahou player. 14.7 ppg. 206 total pts. 37. 3-pt shots. 95.5 ft. ave