Tuesday, June 19, 2001
[ PREP BASEBALL ]
Mark Mugiishi had some extra carry-on luggage on his flight home Sunday after a European vacation with the Iolani boys basketball team. Raiders hoop team
gets international
educationBy Jason Kaneshiro
jkaneshiro@starbulletin.comThe Raiders coach found space in an overhead bin for the second-place trophy his team won at an international tournament in Milan, Italy, last week. Incoming sophomore guard Derrick Low also came home with some hardware as he was named the tournament's most valuable player.
"(The Italians) were very interested in our team because, number one, we're from Hawaii, and number two, they're fascinated by players like Derrick," Mugiishi said. "The Italian coaches were saying European basketball, although very good, is very mechanical. The kids are taught to play the same way. ... They said they don't have creative, imaginative players like that, so it's good for their players to play against people like (Low)."
Mugiishi's team of 11 returning varsity players defeated the Lithuanian Junior National Team and Italian all-star teams en route to the finals of the six-team tournament. The Raiders lost to an all-star team made of 20- to 21-year-old players representing Timonte, Italy, in the championship game.
"They were just too physically dominant for us, their guards were 6-foot-6," Mugiishi said. "But we actually gave them a good game. We were getting smashed, brought it down to one and lost by about nine."
The Raiders had to learn to play by international rules, including a 24-second shot clock. Mugiishi said the rules forced the team to adjust to playing an up-tempo style which suited players like Low and shooting guard Bobby Webster, who nailed 11 3-point shots in one game. He said the team average 86 points per game during the tournament.
"I feel like we have the kind of team that can run a lot next year, so it was good for us to play with a shot clock and learn to push the ball," Mugiishi said. "It was good for us to play at that speed and get our kids to take good shots even if you're going to shoot quickly."
The Raiders also played in a mini-tournament in Genoa prior to the Milan tournament and toured Rome, Paris and New York before returning home.
"I think just the experience of traveling together helps them grow up," Mugiishi said. "When we went to Paris I made them go everywhere on the Paris metro and made them figure out the routes on their own.
"You could see them getting closer, you could see them getting more mature," he added. "We had some adversity in travel, our flight got canceled in Paris and we had trouble getting out of the country. And the kids were very patient with the whole thing and you could see them maturing into young adults."
The European trip was just the first in a summer of travel for Low, who is in St. Louis this week participating in the Nike All-America Camp. He will also play in Las Vegas later this summer with the Hawaii Raiders. But he has already left a definite impression in Europe.
"After we beat (the Lithuanians) the coach said, 'We thank number 11 (Low), for giving us a clinic,'" Mugiishi said.