Wednesday, January 2, 2002
[ PREP BASKETBALL ]
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A road less traveled From couch potato to one of the best big men in the state in less than four years.
Alama-Francis used to be content
watching cartoons, and now he's
one of the best high school
basketball players in the stateBy Tim Crouse
tcrouse@starbulletin.comKalaheo senior center Ikaika Alama-Francis hasn't traveled the usual path to basketball success, but his road has taken him from a novice freshman in 1998-99 to a Division I prospect.
"He came in here 6 feet, a skinny little freshman who hadn't played anything but park league basketball," Kalaheo coach Pete Smith said. "He's grown physically -- he's 6-6 and he's strong, and he's developed into a great player."
If it weren't for a little urging from his dad, Alama-Francis may never have found his way onto the court. Alama-Francis played some football in junior high school, but as a kid, he remembers watching a lot of television.
"I sat on the couch and watched TV, typical cartoons," Alama-Francis said. "My dad told me 'if you're going to be sitting around, you might as well do something.' He got me involved in sports and my mom pushed me, too."
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In his freshman season, Kalaheo got to the state championship game with players such as Julian Sensley, Ryan Hogue and Levon Freeman. In Alama-Francis' sophomore year, Kalaheo saw its 76-game Oahu Interscholastic Association winning streak come to an end at the hands of Castle. Last year everything came together for the Mustangs and the season ended with a state championship."When you have players that have been in your program for four years and played at the varsity level for four years, it makes a big difference," Smith said. "(Alama-Francis and guard D.C. Daniels) have been through a lot. Their freshman year, we lost in overtime in the state championship game, and then last year, they won one. So they know what it takes.
"They've been through all the different kinds of battle you've got to go through and they've become leaders. That's something you can't replace."
The word that continually comes up when coaches and players describe Alama-Francis is versatile.
Alama-Francis poses considerable problems for defenders. He is a great outside shooter, but can also punish defenders in the paint.
"He brings a lot of trouble to opposing defenses because it's hard to guard him," Daniels said. "A lot of big men can't stop him on the dribble and a lot of big men don't want to play him outside, so he can shoot the 3 and drive."
Alama-Francis is perhaps the Mustangs' best outside shooter -- he drilled four 3-pointers in a preseason game last month -- and he can also post up inside.
"He steps out, he's got a great stroke and then you turn around and he is tough on the inside," Smith said. "To get him to balance that is what we're looking for. We need to have him hit some 3s but we need to have him play strong in the post."
Add that to Daniels' ability to create and drive to the basket, and also pull down offensive rebounds, and it's a 1-2 punch that is difficult to stop.
But defense is what Alama-Francis feels is most important.
"We take pride in our defense at Kalaheo," he said. "Our man-to-man (defense) picks up everybody's intensity. It affects both ends of the court if you play straight up man. If you can prevent them from scoring, then, hey, you win.
"Our offense will come if we play defense."
Kalaheo (11-2 in the preseason) opens the OIA season this week with two tough road games, at Castle and Moanalua, after completing a challenging preseason schedule.
"We've played a lot of tough games. We've played a lot of the better teams in the state," Smith said.
Some of Kalaheo's opponents included Punahou (twice), Iolani, Kamehameha, Hilo, Waiakea and several mainland teams in the Iolani Classic.
Tomorrow's OIA-opener marks the first time Kalaheo has visited Castle since the Knights ended the Mustangs' 76-game OIA win streak on Jan. 19, 2000.
"That was a tough loss because we lost the streak, and you don't want to be a part of that, but that was (our) sophomore year," Daniels said.
And Alama-Francis and Daniels have grown a lot since then.
"Because I've been around this program and (the coaches have) been teaching me good fundamentals I think my game has changed a whole lot for the better," Alama-Francis said. "I'm really grateful to these coaches for teaching me how to play."
The skills that he has learned from Smith and the Kalaheo coaching staff could land him on a Division I college basketball team.
Smith said the Mustangs' offense is geared toward giving the players a chance to become well-rounded and helping prepare them for the possibility of playing in college. He said the coaching staff tries to balance what they need to do to win with what will help the players improve.
"It gives opportunities for (players like) Ikaika, Julian (Sensley), it gives those guys chances to face up to the basket," Smith said. "When they go to college, they're not going to play in the center spot. We could come in and have them play right on the block and pound the ball into them and not give them the opportunity to step out, but that's not in their best interest."
Just like sitting on the couch and watching cartoons wasn't in Alama-Francis' best interest.
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