What Really Matters !!!

I say over and over that TALENT IS EVERYWHERE and I have and always will go for the UNDERDOG, why, because it makes it more interesting to me and many years ago, I received a call from San Antonio Islanders head coach Jesse Torres telling me about his team and if I got a chance to check them out at event they were playing in Houston, stop by if I had a chance. That was over a decade ago and this tournament was spread out at numerous high schools so I got bored at a blowout and by accident, the next school had the Islanders going against one of the top teams in the area

I was amazed at what I saw because on paper, they weren’t supposed to win yet with the countless guards who could shoot the long ball, understand how to trap apply heat on defense as well pay the passing lane, they came away with the win. I had to introduce myself because not only was I overly impressed at what they did, it was how they did it that had me smiling. I put Islanders in the search bar on my BLOG and WEBSITE and those memories just popped back instantaneously as I think about Jessie’s daughter Alexia not cracking a smile and dropping NBA range three-pointers at the buzzer to beat teams as she, Annabelle Tovar, and countless others JUST DID IT for me

With that being said, it was a pleasure watching them pop shoe teams and I recall a parent from a Nike squad asking me what I knew about the Islanders and my exact words were “They are tough, smart, play together, and can shoot the lights out” and the parent said “really”? Then I had to add a little something to it and said “If it comes down to coaching, yall gonna get your ass whipped” because that dude knows what he’s doing. I admire those who “dance with who brought them there” and the game has changed since those early days yet I’m thinking about future next-level virtually unknowns like Erin Wimberly and Claire Hale keeping it going, then Karina Ortiz who was from a small town but had a huge game, I even made a special trip to see her

Debi Hernandez is a player who had been playing for him like forever and watched her sister star while she was I guess 4 or 5 and with her dropping 40 against a shoe team, the former Lee star left a lasting first impression that I still playback and smile about yet it has been a thrill watching the squad over the years, here are more articles I dropped on PGH and with the talented new group which has been plagued by injuries, any time I get a chance to see Jessie, Alexia, and AJ, I take advantage not only because of the talent and the friendship but the memories and doing things for the RIGHT reasons and yes, popping shoe teams because “it’s not what you do, it’s who you do it against