However, if you examine close games, I don’t see too much adjustments. I don’t see coaching maneuvers to control the game flow.

I will use the two most prominent loses. When they lost to Lahainaluna when they had the girl who went to Gonzaga, the adjustments to stop their big was missing. They never changed their defensive schemes to limit Lahaina’s PG from dictating tempo which was a huge factor in the game. With a few seconds left, they tried to run a back door from like 40 feet with 2-3 defenders sitting in the key. That play that Awa drew up during the last TO on OC-16 (where the camera was showing her board) was insane.

During Molina’s freshman year, Kona had a 20 point lead late in the 3rd. However, instead of taking care of the ball and using the clock, they continued to push the ball and play fast. Now I understand that is their style of play. But when Kamehameha started to adjust to it and force turnovers to reduce the lead, Kona never changed the style they played or tried to change the tempo. Having a 20 point lead about to enter the 4th quarter should mean game over without a shot clock.

When Galdeira played they beat Punahou in the finals by a few points. They should have won by 20, easy based on the difference in talent. But Punahou changed defenses. They scouted Kona well. They controlled tempo and slowed the game down. Kona didn’t make any adjustments to speed the game up.

True and not true. In the early years, the combination of basketball IQ among Jessica Hanato, Jazzmin Awa-Williams, Nancy Hoist, Hina Kimitete and many others who grew up playing for the Stingrays was a sum-is-greater-than-the-parts success story. None of them racked up enough stats to be considered the dominant player in the state, but they had tremendous understanding and chemistry. It was later when Lia came along, teamed up with Dawnyelle, and that was possibly the most cerebral, skilled 1-2 combo I’ve seen in girls basketball. Then Chanelle with her sisters. A lot of hard work and reps when nobody else was around. That’s one of the wonders of girls basketball. There’s fatigue and physical pounding, but it isn’t quite at the level as it is with boys. Size is a big reality in boys hoops, not as extreme with girls hoops. It’s more possible to rely on two or three players, and they can play longer minutes as long as the complementary players have enough skill and IQ to fill their roles.

Right now, this is a green team with one player who can create her own shot, a big who is too hesitant to attack the rim against bigger, slower defenders, and another guard who is on the cusp of becoming a very good player. What’s interesting is that Coach Bobbie has never preached individual play, but what they need more than ever is for their top three players to be much more aggressive and assertive. It goes against the pass-and-cut style of ball they’ve always embraced, but there’s no way any of the three should be averaging less than 5 points per game in this tournament. The learning curve applies to these returnees as well as the newbies. I believe Coach Bobbie when she says they will improve and succeed in the postseason. It’ll be an interesting process for folks who get to see it unfold.