‘NMI needs to work harder with youth program’

Marianas Dolphins coach Joe Diaz said the local basketball community should work doubly hard when it comes to its youth development program if the CNMI hopes to raise its level like its island neighbors.

Marianas Dolphins coach Joe Diaz, second right, joins his team along with assistant coaches John Babauta, left, and Kanata Omori, right. Also in photo is Northern Marianas Sports Association executive director and former Basketball Association of the Northern Mariana Islands official Tony Rogolifoi. (Jon Perez)

Diaz made the statement after the second place finish of the Dolphins, composed mostly of players under the NMI Rollers Basketball Association program, in the recently concluded 2015 Micronesian Basketball Tournament U15.

The FIBA-accredited coach, despite suffering consecutive lopsided defeats at the hands of Guam, said their experience in the regional basketball tournament was a huge learning experience.

The Dolphins dropped a 41-94 decision against Guam in their first meeting in the elimination round then suffered a 40-75 thrashing in the finals that completed the Commonwealth’s Southern island neighbor’s dominance in the tournament.

Diaz said he and the coaches of the two other local teams—Marianas Alu’u and Marianas Tataga—learned a lot when they go up against champion Guam and Palau, which finished third.

“I’m pretty sure that me and the other coaches learned a lot from this tournament, especially seeing the level of Guam’s play. We weren’t ready to play against their man-to-man defense and we need to learn about that. We need to make the adjustment especially during the games,” said Diaz in an interview with the Saipan Tribune.

“We need to improve further especially if we are going up against teams like Guam and Palau. We need to work on how to execute our transition defense and passing like Guam. Guam does not dribble much.”

Diaz added that the CNMI players, who were shorter against Guam, must also learn how to outhustle and box out their bigger opponents to grab the rebounds. “We took videos of the games and saw how Guam dominated the boards.”

“It is just the fundamentals of the game that we need to work on, like footwork. We need to make plays on how to break the press and half court defense. We’re short so we need to box out their rebounders.”

“When we played against Palau, we used man-to-man defense and we beat them,” said Diaz, who guided the Dolphins to a tough 61-56 victory over Palau in their opening match and a 70-59 drubbing in their semifinals encounter.

He added that Guam focused more on a team concept of play and shot better from the field the entire tournament.

“When Guam plays, they just keep on fighting and they play hard. They immediately get back on defense even if they miss a shot. If they’re called for a foul, they never complain or talk to the referees to contest the calls.”

“For me that just shows how disciplined Guam is in playing. Guam showed a whole different way of playing the game. They get back in transition and let the coach do their part.” Diaz ended.

Diaz said that some of his Under-15 players are moving up to U16 but he would keep the remaining members intact to prepare for other local and off-island tournaments.

Dalton Dancoe, Aaron Ogumoro, Christian Arceo, Angelo Factor, Emmanuel Cobacha, Jun Alipio, Matthew Mamaril, Jude Tengco, Chioni Dela Cruz, Jake Pangelinan, Jhon Mendoza, and Ezekiel Quiroz are the members of the Dolphins, with John Babauta as assistant coach.

Islam Khalid, Evan Miller, Adonis Favor, Darryl Soriano, Rikko Lizama, Drew Bayot, Carl Itaas, Sean Apasan, Kent Ogasawara, Bud Jason Norita, and Tim Pangelinan composed the Preston Basa-coached Alu’u with Greg Iginoef as assistant.

Matthew Richardson, Roger Valencia, Elijah Quiroz, Joseph Kisa, J.P. Cruz, Corey Leon, Richard Baleares, John Ichihara, Paulo Caddag, and Matthew Ong are the members of the Tataga that’s also coached by Diaz with Kanata Omori as assistant.