Men's Basketball: The Word From Hawaii 4
11/24/2008 12:00:00 AM | Men's Basketball
Nov. 24, 2008
Aloha!
Business started early Sunday morning on Maui. The EA Sports Maui Invitational organizers scheduled a head coaches meeting for 7:45 in the morning, followed by a press conference starting at 8 a.m. with the festivities wrapping up with a Charity Free Throw Contest featuring each head coach and a local middle school student at 9 a.m.
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| The eight head coaches met with tournament officials and later had a free throw contenst to raise money for a local school. |
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| Coach Gottfried prepares to shoot a free throw. He was the only coach to sink all five attempts. |
After the conclusion of the press conference, the coaches joined local students for the free throw contest. The contest featured the student taking five attempts followed by his coach/teammate taking another five attempts from the line. It was quickly evident that certain coaches - one in particular - took some personal pride in their performance at the line. Gottfried, an excellent free throw shooter in his own rite, sank all five free throw attempts - the only coach in the group to do so.
For his efforts, Coach Gottfried and his teammate, T.J. Molina, and eighth grader at Lahaina's Lokelani Intermediate School, raised $300 for the school. One interested observer was Crimson Tide Sports Network analyst Bryan Passink, a former Alabama player who shot 69 percent from the line for his career. Passink offered that he could beat Gottfried in a free-throw contest but, considering Passink's career numbers and Gottfried's technique on Sunday morning that seems like a stretch. Perhaps a three-point shooting contest would be more intriguing.
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| Coach Gottfried and his teammate, T.J. Molina, and eighth grader at Lahaina's Lokelani Intermediate School, raised $300 for the school. |
After the contest, the coaches joined for a group photo on the patio area of the Westin.
After some down time, a team breakfast took place at 10:30 followed by a team meeting that focused on game planning and video study of Monday night's opponent, Oregon. The Ducks, 2-1 this season after a win at California-Irvine on Friday night, seem much like the Crimson Tide on paper. Both teams are trying to establish an identity early in the season, hoping to develop some momentum in this week's tournament while building toward January and the start of conference play.
After film study, the players and staff enjoyed some personal time. The weather forecast had called for rain and cloudy skies most of the next three days, but the skies cleared over Maui in mid-morning and the day turned sunny and bright. Most of the team stayed in the hotel to rest up for the afternoon practice. Meanwhile, the coaches took the time to spend with family at poolside and on the beach next to the hotel.
One of the highlights of the afternoon was an unexpected appearance of a school of dolphin just off the beach by the hotel. About eight dolphins slowly swam back and forth along the shoreline as snorkelers, swimmers and several hundred onlookers from the beach took a break from sun bathing and swimming to catch a rare glimpse of them as they calmly surveyed the area.
The team and staff departed for practice at 3:00, taking a 10-minute drive west from the resort through downtown Lahaina, then up the hillside to picturesque Lahainaluna High School. The team then worked through an intense two-hour practice session in the LHS gymnasium. The practice featured the extensive work on Monday's game plan. The intensity and focus was good. All in all, the team was in good morale and confident heading into Monday.
After returning to the Westin to shower and change clothes, the team and staff headed to the Hyatt Regency hotel for the Maui Invitational Banquet. The two-hour event served as the formal introduction of the teams to Maui and Lahaina.
From there it was back for a late night snack for the players and an early turn-in.
Game day looms on Monday.
