Team Analysis (IN ALPHABETICAL ORDER):
Boston Knights: Everything up in Boston has been coming up roses in recent years, so why not here too? The Patriots, Red Sox, and Celtics have all been dominating the game, if even they didn’t wind up on top in the most recent seasons and then Tom Brady’s knee gave out. The Knights will look to use some of that Boston bounce as they return to Gotham after getting exposed to the national scene last year in their first try. Joe Brush heads their charge and after showing himself on the big stage last year, expect him to be even better this time around as he knows he can hang with the big boys. Speaking of big boys, Stanley Hwang’s return will be instrumental as most of Boston’s attack is predicated on quick up-tempo guards of which they have plenty. Andy Tam, Rod Chang, Sunny Luk, and Vin Bui are all of a similar ilk – they all averaged between 8.2 and 10.5 ppg last year. If their trap is working, Brush is beaming, and the Boston sports Gods are with them again, they could make some noise.
| Dream League Bay Area: When you travel this far for a tournament, you bring your best. SF is coming correct this year after falling just short last year to the eventual champs Soormay in the semis. GM/Coach Rich Twu rolls out a roster that is stock full of Fil-Am studs. East Coasters may not be familiar with their names, but they will soon be after going up against the likes of 6’2” F Sonny Margate, who some have called the 2nd best Asian-American baller in the country and brawny JoJo Pierce, who won the 2005 DL Vegas Tourney MVP. Throw in point Josh Urbiztondo (a PBA player), who averaged over 30 ppg at this summer’s DL Vegas tourney, and man, do you have a team. Complementing this terrible threesome will be Mike Reding, who only led DLBA last year at 18.4 ppg. When his 3 is on, it’s over. Taraz Lee and Barry Lee - definitely no relation – provide everything else the team needs – passing, defense, and the timely shot. An instant field favorite to go far, if not all the way. They’re also on a streak, having just captured the Dream League Bay Gold Rush Tournament last weekend in SF. If David Shu were coming out too, everyone just might be playing for 2nd to begin with.
| Dream League New York: This promises to be a better showing for DLNY this year. Last year, after making the semis the year before, DLNY had a complete roster make-over, leaving them in shambles even though Wilson Wang led the tournament in scoring at 25.3 ppg and captured the MOP. 2006 Gotham Games’ MOP Nic Echevestre makes his return to the Games albeit in a part-time fashion (law school finals may limit his participation). So too does DLNY’s oft-MVP Shawn De Los Reyes, who in ’06, wore Tri-State red. With these athletic collegeball caliber forwards forming the core of the team, expect a good showing from these co-hosts. The parts around NicE and SDR aren’t bad either. IndoPak circuit stalwart Mo Ghumman has joined the team (he’s run with them in another tournament they captured in October) and feels mighty comfortable at the high post with those forwards to pass to. Brandon Chock comes back from 2006 too and will man the paint getting back to his Landlord ways. Echevestre’s LA Tiger comrad, Derik Kumagai, will hardly leave the floor as he directs the offense and gets after it on D in his first Gotham Games. If he and Harris Chung can connect throughout the tournament, watch out, there may be an alley-oop or two. Wilson Lew and Brian Yang bring experience off the bench.
| Glass Tiger: Although the Glass Tiger moniker pays homage to the 80's rock band from Canada, most of its members reside in the New York and New Jersey area. Comprised from last season's Dream League AL division finalists Moneyball and Yaletown, Glass Tiger brings a team that is undersized in comparison, but is full of long range sharp shooters such as team captains Ray Huang and Sung-Mo Cho. Sol Choe and the diminutive Eden Chuang are in the back court as the catalysts of their uptempo offense and Joe Liu, a trip-dub waiting to happen, is a handful for opponents with his athleticism and all-around game while Nick Pao complements. Look for Glass Tiger to bring an unselfish brand of ball, lots of 3 point attempts and the eye of the tiger to compete for the top prize. Sing it! Don’t Forget Me (When I’m Gone)!
| NEW YORK D-UNIT: Champs from two years ago, the D-Unit fell short of the Finals last year when they dropped in the semifinals to Philly FAY. Usama Nausrudeen is no longer around but the make-up of this team remains relatively intact. All-Tourney honorable mention Akshat Tewary, who proposed to his longtime girlfriend after the Games ended last year, heads this host team along with high flyin’ short shorts wearing Varun Bhartiya and a plethora of combo-guards who will look to push the pace and get in your face. D-Unit always performs well on the national stage and the expectation is there again for them to go far. Whether they can get back to the top will require one of their guys to step up into the spotlight to fill U-Naus and his team leading 14.5 ppg from the last GCG.
| NEW YORK FURY: Manhattan’s Fastbreak NYC brings their group which will be a mix of some of the city’s finest. They have a decidedly Korean Spartan flavor with the insertion of James Choi, Joe Kim, and Mark Lee rounding out their backcourt. These guys push the pace, can shoot lights out, and play bigger than their small frames suggest. Their backcourt matches up with any out there in the field instantly, even if Ren Hsieh will sit it out with a torn MCL. Who they unveil as their frontcourt will be what determines how they perform in their return to Gotham after sitting last year out. They’re in the midst of a Finals run in DLNY currently but three of their key components – De Los Reyes, Ghumman, and Chung – will be running for the DLNY squad. Ah, the trouble of tournies tearing teams asunder.
| NEW YORK WARRIORZ: Bunty Anand and Vishapreet Singh are expected to be back for the Warriorz which makes them tough enough, but this year, this team’s expectations are through the roof. Literally. With the defending champs Soormay Franchise electing not to play, last year’s co-MVP, 6’7” Balbir Singh, joins the fray. Singh aka Sabba, isn’t just a handful on offense where he can score inside and has a nice touch out to 16 feet, he’s a game-changer on defense. He won the Defensive Player of the Tournament last year too. You think thrice before shooting around the paint with him around. That said, last year, Soormay struggled through pool play with Sabba – and that was with Paul Phangurh, the explosive UC Davis guard. How well Sabba meshes with the rest of the Warriorz will mean everything as they take on the rest of the field.
| PHILADELPHIA F.A.Y. FAY returns to the Gotham Games for the 3rd straight year with a little bit of a different look to the squad. This year's team returns Malu Church All stars Toby Jose and Joe George as well as the All Southeastern PA Recreational League MVP Anish Nair who made Gotham Games 2nd Team last year. New faces have been added to the team to provide quality depth to a team that is ready to run with anyone. Regardless of roster, expectations are high after losing in the finals last year, nothing less than cutting down the nets is acceptable. Getcha popcorn ready, the Phillies have broken the Philly hex and FAY wants to keep it going.
| RL CRUISERS: RL is mad. Real mad. And they’re looking to take it out on someone. Last week, the Cruisers, perennial DLNY chip contenders, were eliminated from league playoffs. That same day, after they lost in the DL, they were involved with a skirmish in a local Y-league game with players from the D-Unit – a shocking bit of news. If instead of getting another chip, they’re now wearing a chip on their shoulder, this could be dangerous for the rest of the field. In any tournament they play, RL is team who has to be dealt with. They finished in the Elite 8 of the most recent Chinese Nationals and lost in the Final 4 of our first Gotham Games. Last year, they were a shell of themselves with attendance issues and were eliminated much earlier than anticipated. This year, that doesn’t appear likely to happen. Not with George Chan bringing his big body to mix it up, Stan Yeung running point, and Eddie Wang lighting it up from outside. None of these guys were present last year, leaving Tony Hu (19.3 ppg last GCG) to fend for himself. CB Liu has been involved with a couple of Dream League national tournaments in his career and he always seems to come alive on the main stage. If he can recapture some of that magic this weekend, pencil RL in for a Top 8 seed easy and, really, likely a semifinal spot. The rest will be up to how mad they play.
| SK WAR DOG: The tourney hasn’t even started and already it seems SK has gone to war. It’s been nuts for GM Andre Liu in finalizing his roster. It will be a blend of IndoPak and Chinese players as SK traditionally has been, featuring an old face in a new place as electric Usama Nausrudeen, a co-MVP in the 1st Gotham Games, suits up for SK. He may never take a second off this entire tournament. Helping him will be his cousin whom U-Naus says is better than him. High-scoring Dave Wong, who is atop the scoring boards in the AL and AAA of DLNY, will lend his fast feet and Arif Ansari anchors the paint. With his two bad knees, can AA last 36 minutes three times over in one day now – even if Len Kamdang will be there to lend a hand? The public waits with abated breath…
| USA Warriors: This traditionally Chinese New York based team will sport a very different look in their first ever Gotham Games. Two years removed from winning the Chinese Nationals, USAB’s entire roster has essentially had a makeover as several key players are unavailable – namely a big man (Joe Vines). With pretty much nothing but guards, Nick Mui will look to push the tempo in hopes of creating easy transition buckets. Mui had a strong showing at the Chinese Nationals in ’07 and has the potential to elevate his game to the elite level. This will be a good experience for him to see where he's at. Don’t sleep on Justin Kao. The babyfaced shooting guard looks 12, but in a flash, he’ll drop a 3 and then drive right by you. Coach Bill Chan will make do with what he has and be competitive.
| VIRGINIA DIRTY SOUTH: The team formerly known as the Young Gunz promised changes this year. They’d have a bigger roster. More than just 5 guys so they could actually last an entire tournament. Two days ago, word on the street from Rock Reddy was that they only had 4 guys shored up for this weekend. Uh-oh. One of those guys will be 6’4” Chris Henderson who is Gotham’s version of Dirk Nowitzki. Big man with an outside game. C-Hen can play down low too, but what’s traditionally gotten them in trouble with such a thin line-up is that he has to do it all. He likes his game all over, but if he doesn’t stay low, the team gets no boards. No matter how solid as a rock Reddy may be. Here’s to hoping more than just a few of those North Carolinans show up.
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