A Recap Of The Best Basketball Weekend Of The Summer
Words. Aron Phillips
Last week I wasn’t kidding when I said that this past weekend was the best basketball weekend of the summer. Featuring two of the best events of the year – Boost Mobile Elite 24 and Nike Tournament of Champions – NYC’s asphalt was full of hoops. And it all started Friday night up at Rucker Park.
Or at least it was supposed to. I headed up to Rucker from work and got up there around 4:10. By 4:15, I was standing in a Penske with the coach of Grassroots Canada, Ro Russell, Joe Jackson‘s boys from Memphis and the catering staff as we tried to avoid being casualties in Hurricane Rucker.
Once the rain subsided, the crew from ESPN did their part to get the court ready for the dunk contest and then the game, which was supposed to tip-off at 7:00. The fans who had been standing in the rain holding their place in line, along with Doc Rivers, Jay Williams, Wilson Chandler (and his new tattoo – see below), Terrence Williams and Class of 2010 Arizona recruit Sidiki Johnson were ready to see some ball, but unfortunately the rain was unwilling to help us out.
So after the game was cancelled at the Rucker, we headed over to the Gauchos Gym. Over there it was kind of hectic as Tri-State had also been rained out of their outdoor location where they were playing the semis and finals to see who would represent in the Tournament of Champions, so they had moved into the Gauchos Gym as well. Long story short, the games gets cancelled for Elite 24 and a team of some of the best players come together to represent Tri-State at TOC. Sure playing indoors isn’t the same as playing at Rucker Park, but basketball is played with two hoops and a ball and it was finally time to play.
The starters for The Goat (Orange Squad) were Kyrie Irving, Josh Selby, C.J. Leslie, Tristan Thompson and Jared Sullinger, while the starters for Skip To My Lou (White Squad) were Joe Jackson, Will Barton, Tobias Harris, Harrison Barnes and Josh Smith.
Couple of observations:
– Brandon Jennings was talking so much smack from the sideline
– C.J. “Talk of the Town” Leslie (15 points, 11 rebounds) clearly has SportsCenter Top 10 constantly on the mind
– Kyrie Irving (16 points) is so smooth with the rock; clearly the most polished PG here
– Tony Wroten Jr. is a true playmaker/passer
– Austin Rivers is cagey; clearly the son of a coach. He’s like Sol Smith on steroids.
– While I wasn’t super impressed with Kendall Marshall during the scrimmage, the guy is super smart with it, and has a crazy handle/IQ
– Roscoe Smith (22 points, 7 rebounds) is a BEAST!
– Josh Selby (18 points, 6 assists) throws down a ridiculous dunk; let the games begin. He goes for three in-a-row
– Myck Kabongo (16 points) and Tristan Thompson were both wearing the Original adidas Ewing Attitudes
– Josh Smith looks like a young Eddy Curry (that’s a good thing)
– Rakeem Christmas looks like a young Dwight Howard/Kevin Garnett (that’s a good thing too)
– Harrison Barnes (18 points, 6 rebounds), who some don’t agree is the No. 1 player in the country, was playing with something to prove. And proving them wrong. He could start for a couple NBA teams right now.
– Doron “Smooth Criminal” Lamb (23 points, 6 rebounds, 5 assists) was gunnin’ in front of the hometown crowd
– Remind me never to matchup with Dion Waiters (15 points)
– Will Barton (18 points), just like his cousin Selby, is a pogo stick
– While Tobias Harris (20 points, 5 rebounds) had a lot of hype surrounding him before the game, the kid can play. Lots of runners though.
– You heard it first here: Cory Joseph is a pro. Lots of people sleep on his game as a PG, but he’s one of the best in the game. Findlay Prep won’t lose a game this season.
– For rising sophomores in a guard’s game, Perry Ellis and DaJuan Coleman held their own
– While they weren’t able to convert all the shots they were taking in the scrimmage or at MSG, Joe Jackson (10 points, 6 rebounds, 4 assists) and Phil Pressey are clearly problems for opposing guards
– Portland cats Terrence Ross and Terrence Jones would have been one of the best tandems in the country is Ross didn’t transfer to Montrose Christian. Maybe Jones can go to Maryland.
– Final score: Skip To My Lou wins, 133-120
Saturday was a whole different story. While the Tournament of Champions was supposed to take place at Goat Park, it got rained out. Take two, and we’re back at the Gauchos Gym in the Bronx. The gym has a great feel to it, and it was interesting to see some of the playground’s biggest stars tearing it up on the hardwood instead of the asphalt.
Game 1: Tri-State (Dancy Power) vs. Dyckman (Bingo’s All-Stars)
In this game you had a ton of talent. For Tri-State you had Kenny Satterfield, Adris “2 Hard 2 Guard” DeLeon, “T2,” B.J. “The Beast” McFarlane and “Flex,” while Dyckman featured Andre Barrett, Antwan “Antifreeze” Dobie, Gary Erving, Mike Glover and his brother Anthony Glover. Seeing former NBA guys like Satterfield and Barrett battle it out was great, but it was the playground legends like “T2″ and Mike Glover that kept you on the edge of your seat. While Tri-State led 43-36 at halftime, “Antifreeze” took over in the second half as he hoped to push Dyckman to victory. Despite hitting a deep bank three to make it 82-79 with 13.5 seconds left, it was too little too late. Final: Tri-State wins, 83-79.
- Tri-State: “Flex” (25 points), “2 Hard 2 Guard” (19 points), Satterfield (17 points) and “T2″ (16 points)
- Dyckman: A. Glover (20 points), M. Glover (19 points), “Antifreeze” (19 points), Erving (12 points)
Note: Dyckman was supposed to have Lamont “MoMo” Jones and Kemba “EZ Pass” Walker playing with them, but Jones had to leave for school at Arizona and Walker couldn’t play because it wasn’t an NCAA-sanctioned event.
Game 2: Pro-City (NIKE 1) vs. West 4th (X-Men)
In the second game, you had a ton of talent as well. For Pro-City you had Junie “Mr. Excitement” Sanders, Charles Jones, John “Mookie” Thomas and Kavon Lytch, while West 4th featured Smush Parker, Sean Dantzler, Tommie “Guns” Eddie, Miguel “Miles High” Millien, Chris Wehye and Mike “The Icon” Campbell. As the defending champs of TOC, you could see from the jump that the X-Men didn’t want to lose… and they didn’t. Smush wasn’t in the same shape as when he was starting for the Lakers, but the dude showed everyone in the gym what a difference League skills are. Final: West 4th wins, 89-56.
- Pro-City: Lytch (14 points), “Mookie” (10 points), “Mr. Excitement” (9 points)
- West 4th: “Miles High” (19 points), “Guns” (15 points), Parker (14 points), Wehye (12 points)
Game 3: High School Showcase
After winning MVP honors two nights previously, Doron Lamb was back in the house and looking to pick up where he left off. But perhaps playing on the same team as Sidiki Johnson was just a little too much! Together with Fuquan Edwin, the red team jumped out to a 73-51 halftime lead. But in the second half, Russell “Steal The Show” Smith took over leading the charge back, completing an and-one to put the black team in front 105-104. But putting his team on his back like he did all game, Johnson took the ball into the post, making the game-winning bucket to win by one. Final: Red team wins, 111-109.
- Red team: Johnson (36 points), Edwin (35 points)
- Black team: Smith (35 points)
Game 4: Tri-State (Dancy Power) vs. West 4th (X-Men)
When the finals tipped off, you knew it could go either way. Either we’d be seeing repeat champs in X-Men, or we’d see a new tournament champion for the third time in three years. The game throughout the first quarter was back-and-forth until Tri-State pulled away towards the end to finish the quarter with a 27-18 lead. In the second, Smush decided it was time to do some work. While he was matched up against Satterfield, the two went at each other’s throats. At one point, Sat shook Smush that got the crowd hyped but couldn’t finish. “It’s like ice skating in August,” said AG a.k.a. “The Voice of Harlem.” By halftime Tri-State’s lead was cut down to 41-36.
In the second half, “2 Hard 2 Guard” decided to show why he was awarded Nike’s NYC Player of the Summer before the game with a lay-up in traffic and nice pull-up jumper back-to-back. But after a nice little run by the X-Men, punctuated by a bucket by Parker, Tri-State’s lead was only 64-60 after three. In the fourth, it came down to “T2″. Battling with the bigs of West 4th, T2 was hitting jumpers, post moves and lay-ups at will. After a Smush technical for a no-call and a jumper to seal the deal with 50 seconds left, it was all over. Final: Tri-State wins, 87-74.
- Tri-State: “T2″ (27 points), “2 Hard 2 Guard” (18 points), Satterfield (13 points), “Flex” (12 points), “The Beast” (10 points)
- West 4th: Parker (24 points), “The Icon” (13 points), Wehye (10 points)
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