THE DREAM LEAGUE
Asian American / Open Basketball Leagues
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2006_Summer/Fall AAA (NYC) |
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Seoul Says...Report Cards | ||||||
16 Minute Men Get First Ever Franchise Win! 16 Minute Men Get First Ever Franchise Win!
The wait is finally over. After one-and-three-quarters seasons, the 16 Minute Men have FINALLY done it. They have finally recorded their first win in team history after upsetting previously undefeated HKT on Sunday in overtime 40-35. After suffering through a winless 0-13 campaign last season, and losing the first seven games of this season, it seemed unlikely this would be the season they would finally do it. Prognosticators felt good that they would since they unveiled a new and improved line-up. But with each passing week and each bad loss, doubts crept in, especially since a couple of good opportunities had passed them by. After coming off a 24 point loss to this same HKT team, captain John Wong and his boys shocked the world by showing grit, determination, and pride in playing a full 36 minutes to shed their label of only playing for 16 minutes if at least for just one day. They handed a team that looked unbeatable their first L with just 5 players no less, and nearly led wire to wire. After the game, there was no popping of bubbly or ticker tape parade. Only large smiles on the players faces and a humongous feeling of relief. "Will ya get off our backs now???" screamed Simpson Wong at the media. Yes, Simpson. We finally will. We only did it to drive you guys so you could attain that elusive first win. Now that ya'll got it, welcome to the club. If you can beat HKT, a team that looked to be a shoo-in to reach the Finals, you should be in good shape to make a run at the chip now, eh? Now, wouldn't that be a story? I’m really diggin’ the new NBC Show Heroes. That Hiro Nakamura (there’s a player by the exact same name over in the AL on Team Matrix, I swear) is something else. He can bend the time/space continuum by just thinking real hard. Pretty nifty. And all his random spouting at the mouth reminds me of myself. When I’m in Seoul, or Shibuya, me and my friends talk a million miles a minute like him. I miss it. New York’s my home now and my home within my home is the AAA of the DL. Because I missed it a few weeks back when we were at the halfway point of the season, I’m going to do my best to bend the time/space continuum with you, my readers, and give you my mid-season report cards. (It may be the three-quarters point in reality, but bend with me, won’t you? A couple/few weeks ago I was in Cali and didn’t have access to a computer. Okay, that’s a lie. I was in the Silicon Valley where even the homeless have laptops and a Crackberry, but I digress.)
A couple more weeks and playoffs are already here, but it’s never too late to grade a team on how they’re doing: HKT: Not much was known before the season began about HKT. They were a mysterious team full of mysterious players. We’d seen some of them here and there at the occasional tournament in Chinatown (who can forget Sing Lau’s tattoos?) At the halfway point now, everyone knows who they are. And if you don’t, get out from under that rock that’s over you. With Lau leading the team (13.3 ppg, 3.5 apg, 4.5 spg), HKT sits atop the AAA at a perfect 6-0. They have six players averaging 5 or more points a game, grabbing 3 or more rebounds a game, and all shooting over 43% from the field. Their trio of similar forwards - Tony Lau, Kevin Fong, and Steven Lee are the strength of their line-up. Sing makes them go, but these guys, like Ben Wallace to the Pistons, just put on their hard hats and battle. HKT leads the AAA in scoring (50.5 ppg) and have the second best defense allowing just 36.5 ppg. They started the season off with a 1-point nail-biter, but since then, have beaten opponents by an average margin of 16.6 points. They finish with two tough games against Jurassic Park and Picked Last that ought to test exactly how good they are, but in looking ahead, it’s hard not to see them 9-0 headed into the postseason. If they have one weakness it’s at the line. Their best FT shooter is Sing, and he’s only hitting at a 55.6% clip. He’s even air-balled a couple. They shoot 47.5% as a team. If it’s a tight game – FOUL THEM. Grade: A.
Picked Last in PE: With the top offense (43.3) and top defense (36.2) in the Tokyo Conference – and a not too shabby 5-1 record – Picked Last, to no one’s surprise, is putting together a solid season. While they haven’t been laying waste to everyone by 20 as some foresaw, as predicted - Stan Yeung (10.3 ppg, 8.3 rpg, 3.3 spg) and Quincy Tso (13.2 ppg, 3.2 apg) have been leading the charge. The player who may put them over the top however has been Jeff Leung. Leung is averaging an impressive 10 points and 8.5 rebounds an outing and could be the X-factor that drives Picked deep into the post-season, something Tso’s beloved Yankees failed to do once again recently. So happy was Tso and Yeung (who hang together off the court like they do on it) after the Game 1 win over Detroit, Tso and Yeung slapped 5’s and spilled beer all over an unsuspecting fan next to them. So sad was Tso after the Tigers roared back to win 3 straight, he took his authentic A-Rod jersey, urinated on it, and set it on fire. I think Q will be channeling his anger and setting the nets on fire for the rest of the season. If he does, and if Picked wins it all, watch your heads Albert (Chang), Ken (Lam), Ramsey (Ong). You might get something wet all over you. Grade: A-. Jurassic Park: It’s hard to say a 4-2 team is underachieving, but really that’s what Jurassic is doing in a season where they are only outscoring their opponents by 6 points on average. They have arguably the best talent in the AAA. They have six players who have competed on the NL level. They have no problem putting the ball in the hole (2nd tops in AAA after HKT). And yet, there does not appear to be this air of championship caliber team written all over them. Befuddling losses to a pair of sub .500 teams (Bonzai and LYSE Shot) leave us scratching our heads. With the explosive James Tai (14 ppg), the South Asian Invasion - Swishy Rassiwalla (12.3 ppg, 7.5 rpg) and Arif Ansari (12.2 ppg, 10 rpg) – and a pass-first backcourt most teams would kill for with Felix Shen and Mike Owh, Jurassic ought to be laying waste to anything before them. I just get the feeling they aren’t taking things seriously. The question is: why? If they don’t answer that soon, the question will pass them by. Despite all this however, they are still 4-2 and no one would be surprised if they ran the table and walked out the Victor (Wu). Grade: B+.
Rage: The opposite of Jurassic, Rage has been an overachieving team, particularly since their leading weapon, Mike Peng, has only played in three of their seven games. At 4-3, and 2nd place team in the Tokyo Conference, the Rage are doing it primarily on defense (3rd best in the AAA) and the strength of division leading rebounder Sean Zhang (10.2 rpg). Since Peng is departing for SoCal in the very near future, they must move on as if he’s already played his last game for the team. That means Zhang (9.4) and Jerry Lu (9.1) have to continue to step it up in the scoring column for their team. Already their averages have jumped considerably when Peng left the line-up. This team is a very decent free-throw shooting team (66.3%) and also have effective pieces in Ace Watana and Kon Cheung. Watana, who looks fully recovered from an early season wrist injury makes it tough on guards with his cat-like quickness and Cheung, when he comes (only 3 games played), gives them another dimension with his 3-pointer. Not many expected Gary Chen’s team to be looking for a double elim card at this point in the season, so kudos to them for being where they are. One more win – and they have two very winnable games left – and they’ll get it. Their downside? All three losses have come against the AAA’s top three teams (combined records of 15-3) by just less than 10 points. Can they get it done against the big boys? Grade: B+. Bonzai: Where in the world is Bonzai’s offense? They are the lowest scoring team (38.1) in the Tokyo Conference. They have explosive scorers in Andrew Chen, Mark Kiang, and Jon Hwang. Chen is averaging 12 points and 6 boards, Kiang 12 points and 8 boards, and Hwang is a lethal 3-point shooter at 45.5%. The problem for captain Brent Morita’s team is that after Chen, Hwang, and himself, his team is too enamored with the arc. Discouting those three, who are shooting 45% between them, the rest of Bonzai is shooting a dismal 7% from the 3. No bigger culprit has been Jabin Kim who has popped just 3 out of 38 tries. This teams has managed a 3-4 record cause they are physical. Kiang, Jae Ha Hwang, and Chris Kim are an imposing frontline even on their AL A Ball team. In the AAA, they ought to dominated the glass from here on out. They have a big win against Jurassic and played both HKT and Picked Last tough. Their record doesn’t suggest it, but Bonzai can hang with anyone. In looking at their last two games against the Sea Slugs and Run B&C, finishing 5-4 to nab a double elim card is not out of the realm of possibility. Grade: B-
Run B&C: Looking back, I didn’t know what to expect of this team. Today, I have to figure that at 3-3, it’s just about right. B&C is a team that revamped its roster as several players from previous seasons made their way to the Far East. Just a week before the tip-off, captain Rich Cheng was able to land a few recruits to save the franchise. For the first time ever, they had legitimate size inside. For the first time ever, they had a Korean movie star on their team. As they got off to a 3-1 start, enthusiasm glowed, but a closer look revealed that they were beating lesser teams and were getting outscored on average. In their last two games against the top two teams in the AAA, they lost by 12 and 19 respectively. That’s a more accurate reflection of who they really are right now. Nick Gao leads the team with 11.4 ppg and 9.8 rpg, but is shooting far too many threes and missing them far too many times (just 13%). Eden Chuang and Ray Cheng are scoring ably, but this team’s main problem is with turnovers. Every one of their guards - Milton Han included – is averaging over 3 turnovers a game. Three times three plus Gao’s 6 plus a game equals a lot of turnovers. The NBA is changing their game ball from the leather one to some sort of microfiber composite material that Shaq promises will boost turnovers league-wide. Maybe B&C has already been using it. B&C also has the worst defense in the Tokyo Conference and second worst overall. They have three more games in which they could win, but if they don’t cut down on turnovers, bad shots, and points allowed, they could just as easily lose all three. Grade: C LYSE Shot: LYSE is a sub .500 free-throw shooting team. Outside of Seth Lee, they don’t have much 3-point pop. Their leading scorer Ian Yu is averaging just 11.5 a game. They’ve lost a couple of games by 20 points or so. Then, how is it that the team is 3-4 and still in very good contention for a double elim slot for the playoffs? I can’t really place my finger on any one thing, but for whatever reason, LYSE just knows how to hang around. They’ve beat both Picked Last and Jurassic Park. In terms of quality wins, they are right at the top of the heap. It could just be their competitive spirit and unwillingness to give in. LYSE leads the AAA in technical fouls and that’s because they just hate to lose. They don’t have the best talent, but they play with the most heart. Lee, Carson Yiu, and Ethan Lung provide offensive boosts to Yu, but since they are the lowest scoring team in the League (37.1 ppg), you can see that their boosts aren’t exactly huge. Even if they win out and have two losses to give in the post-season, no one expects much from this group. That could be just the way LYSE likes it. Grade: C.
Sea Slugs: The Slugs aren’t the best or worst at any one particular thing, but it’s all added up to a 1-5 record this season. They’ve had some hard luck as they only lost to HKT by a single point and played Picked Last tough. Captain Ricky Auyeung leads the team in scoring (12 ppg) and assists (2.2 apg), but after him, it’s a committee of players who take turns doing what they can do for the team. Simon Yuan looks like he could be a capable #2 option (7.7 ppg, 4.8 rpg, 2.2 spg), but until he starts knocking down some threes, shoots better than 38% from the line, and using his brawn to just overpower defenders, he might be mired in inconsistency for awhile. Hahn Dang showed some range the game in which the Slugs picked up their lone win against 16MM, but he also showed no conscience. This might be exactly what the team needs as they try to finish this season off with a good streak (they play no one above .500 so this is very possible.) Go out swinging. Speaking of swing, swingman Jeph Dais is also a player who has the look of someone who could really hurt opponents, but will often times go back into his shell. He has the size, the speed, and shoots the ball well (52.6%), but just doesn’t look for his shot enough. I think I just found the answer to their problems. The Slugs have attempted a League low 68 (by far) free throw attempts on the season. This is a team that settles for way too many jump shots as opposed to being the aggressor and attacking the rim. If they do that more – and get human pogo stick Peter Lantin to show up for a couple more games – this season could get turned around yet. Grade: D. 16 Minute Men: Poor guys. Nearly two seasons done and still in search of a win. Any win. There have been a couple of close calls. They were in the games against Jurassic, B&C, and Bonzai till the 4th, but as has been their case all too often, folded down the stretch. Captain John Wong really wasn’t kidding when he gave his franchise their team name. After halftime, the guys just seems to wane. They have some legit talent this season with Simpson Wong (12.7 ppg, 8 rpg) and Jason Yeh, Joe Kataoka, and Donald Hom. With these four, plus veteran Wong (9.2 ppg, 2.2 spg), I thought this would guaranteed be the season 16MM pulled out their first W. They have three more shots and to be honest, none of them are looking good. Two games are against teams they lost to by 45 combined points and the other – against the Rage – comes against a team who is intent on getting double E. We all want these guys to get a win. They’re giving up a AAA-worst 52.4 ppg, so if they’re to upset one of these teams, it gotta come on the defensive end first. They’ve proven they can do it for the 1st half in just about every game they’ve played. It’s the 2nd half they’ve got to get over. Guys, we challenge you to bring all 12 of your men to a game just once. That could be your best shot at lasting the full 32. Plus, I made a guarantee that you would all win one this season. Help a brother out. Please. Grade: D- (Not an F cause they’ve improved upon last season.) Da Pick Prognosticator Finally! A flawless 3-0 week makes me 19-10. It makes me feel good too. Like I'm a good Asian selecting all the right answers on the SAT. Speaking of which...check out this insightful, sometimes hilarious, all too familiar look at the lives of four high school seniors trying to get into an Ivy League University - Ivy Dreams. It's playing on AZN TV and produced by the same guy who is bringing you West 32nd St., a movie that's been talked about on these pages plenty before. Sun Oct 8 16 Minute Men vs. HKT: For the first time in League history (outside of the repeat championship Finals), two teams face off against each other in consecutive games during the season. The last time 16MM faced HKT was two weeks ago and what's changed since then when HKT crushed 16 by 24? Other than the New York City weather dipping, and the Yankees getting dusted aside, absolutely nothing. In that game, Jason Yeh kept 16MM in it early with a charged up game, but in this game, which is in the same early morning time slot, HKT may not be so forgiving from the get-go. 16MM may already be looking ahead to next week when they take on LYSE Shot, perhaps their last shot at a realistic chance to get their first ever franchise win. Run B&C vs Rage: First off, B&C's leading scorer and rebounder, Nick Gao, will be out as he's still out in the Far East. Next, Rage's once looked upon savior, Mike Peng, has been written off as he's probably moved out West. East, West, it don't matter which way this game goes, if B&C can't control Rage's guards, this game is as good as over. Rage's Ace Watana and Jerry Lu will give the B&C backcourt fits if B&C can't cut down their turnovers and control the tempo by playing the game the right way. The Rage don't allow many points (2nd best in the Tokyo Conference) and B&C has trouble scoring sometimes. Sean Zhang controls the paint for Rage and that's why it's ultimately key for B&C to get good games from their perimeter. Eden Chuang will be playing in his first game since September 24, so all eyes will be on the "Zygote" and how his reintroduction to the game goes. This battle is for sole possession of second place in Tokyo and another step in the right direction for double elim in the playoffs (teams above .500 get it). They each have 3 losses and interestingly enough, all 3 for each team were against the same 3 teams - the top 3 AAA teams: HKT, Picked Last in PE, and Jurassic Park. Neither side could get it done against the big boys. This fight for the right to be fourth best in the League should go Rage's way since B&C has done nothing to prove to me they can beat an above .500 team. Rage wins, B&C rages over another loss. Jurassic Park vs. Picked Last in PE: Finally, finally, finally. It's as if it was meant to be that the aforementioned top 3 teams haven't played each other at all this season. We've saved the best for last and in the next coming weeks, the men will finally be separated from the boys as HKT, Picked Last, and Jurassic square off against one another for the first times this season. How goes this game will have a lot to do with how goes the backcourts of either side fare. Picked Last's backcourt of Quincy Tso and Stan Yeung (who's really a point-center on this team) - the new bosom buddies - may get the nod over Jurassic's Golden Bears Mike Owh and James Tai on the court, but the real war may not get started till after the game at a local bar. (How cool is it that 3 out of the 4 guards in this fight hail from the Golden State?) Q and Stan have called out the self-proclaimed beer-meisters to see who can down more O.E. in one sitting. That is something I'd pay to see! Back to the hardwood - while the guard tandem with the most will go a long ways towards deciding this game, they will need to receive a load of help from the inside too. That means that Picked Last's Jeff Leung, who is hardly a classic big, will have to sprout in height and weight in his game and grab more rebounds than his normal AAA 6th leading (7.5) self. That's because Jurassic's Arif Ansari and Swishy Rassiwalla - 17.5 rpg between them - usually gobble up the glass like Yankees used to gobble up rings. With so much hoopla surrounding this game - take a look at the leader boards and you see several names littering it from either side (Tai leads in points (14 ppg), Owh in assists (4.4), Yeung 3rd best in steals (3.3)) - I see how this game could actually be determined by one of the team's role players like Albert Chang, Kevin Chu, Victor Wu or Felix Shen. As doubling down on Ansari becomes too much of a burden for the smallish Picked Last, watch as Wu takes advantage with all his cutting know-how for several easy baskets. Jurassic takes this in a close one that goes down to the wire. Note: If JT pulls a no-show, as I suspect he will (notice I ain't even talked about Henry Park cause he's confirmed out), the decision is reversed, Picked Last wins it, and by virtue of a forfeit, get the bar fight too since Q & Stan would crush Owh by himself. So James, we beg of you, if not for your team, for Mike Owh - and for beer - please show up. |
