THE DREAM LEAGUE
Asian American / Open Basketball Leagues
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2009`Fall/Winter AAA (NYC) |
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VINSANITY'S TRIPLE A TIMES (9/21/09) | |||
A WEEKLY LOOK AT THE STATS THAT MATTA, THAD MATTA, ERRATA, CHILLED HORCHATA, & OTHER GENERAL WEIRDNESS...
Hey Dream Leaguers, Vinsanity here, relaxing on a warm Fall night rocking my semi-obscure Fresno State basketball shorts and jamming to Fleetwood Mac's epic album "Tusk"...back to blow your minds with semi-stream of consciousness banter on the goings on in this great league. THE league, as far as I'm concerned. Come on, you gotta admit. Basketball leagues don't get much better than this. I mean...top-notch organization & admin, great venues, the sense of community that's fostered, timely stat-tracking...and now, freakin' Fantasy Hoops? What's next, a draft? (now that'd be insane...I can already picture you guys in ill-fitting, garish gear cheesing it up for the camera while shaking The Commish's hand)
Let's briefly examine the implications of this. PRO: adds another layer of meaning to accumulated stats...and CON: adds another layer of meaning to accumulated stats. Allow me to explain: while I don't doubt your collective love and pride for the game, this new feature may potentially make some even more stat-conscious than they already are. Yeeeah...I'd have to add that to my list of pet peeves if I ever get around to penning one (sample entries - #24: wet hair, #8: restaurants that botch "over hard" as a preference when cooking eggs). In my opinion, nothing sullies the game like stat stuffers and people who hoop wearing blue jeans. Yeah, come on...admit it. You've seen them lurking at your neighborhood Y...jumping in to make that 10 to run full court. Straight wrong...just something about a cat who wears denim to ball that makes you not take them seriously. But don't hate this kid. I digress. Please read here for more details and if you're down, make sure to email BOTH brian@dreamleague.org and garry.yeung@gmail.com to get a league invite. Please specify which division (NL, AL, AAA) you want to join. So without further ado, let's take a look at how things are shaking up in the AAA, conference by conference, team by team. BANGKOK CONFERENCE (*snicker*...too easy) NYC Gritty Committee (2-0) So it looks like the loss of big Elbert Kwak leaves fellow monolith Victor Chia alone to intimidate those who dare to drive to the rack. Big Vic has pulled his weight in the pivot so far, averaging a double-double: 13 ppg(47.8% FG)/11.5 rpg/2.5 ast/stl/1.5 blk. Oh and 1 3PT attempt (what is with centers and having to always have like 1 three attempt???)...he's only played one game so far, but Kwon Lim (14ppg) is leading the Committee in scoring this season again...Can these guys continue their run and finish the season strong? Stay posted... Tri-State Old School (2-0) Captain Andre Liu has led his veteran-heavy squad to an early 2-0 record while reprising the role of the proverbial "Point Forward." He's leading the team in assists (5) and leading the league with a sick A:T Ratio (10!)...On paper, this looks like a dangerous team. You have Arif Ansari's post presence (14 ppg/9 rpg/2 apg), Felix Shen's intangibles and vet savvy, and the scoring of David Wong and Ray Huang. Not to mention, they added former TS-Sands of Time leading scorer and 3-point specialist Chris Kwan. When they manage to work him into the offense, it'll be scary. I mean, they already lead the conference in team PPG (66). *shiver*... New Blood (1-1) New Blood is giving up 11 more points per game (55) than they are averaging (44). Sobering news, yeah, but kind of skewed by the fact that they were on the losing end of a blowout by the Bearmen 2.0. It's nothing their stalwart, Charles Barkley-esque Captain Nick Gao (10.5 ppg/10 rpg) can't handle. If you have any doubts, go over to the McBurney YMCA on 14th St. between 6th & 7th and see Gao go from business casual to a straight beast down low against guys he gives up like 5 inches to... Thelonious Dunk (1-1) Dave Wang is carrying this squad so far. He's averaging 22 (good for 2nd in the league)/8/1.5/3 spg. Walter Ho (9 ppg/8 rpg) and John Ng (7 ppg/5 rpg) bring up the pack. Who knows - maybe this is the way the team is structured (i.e. akin to the Lakers with Mamba and the Sixers used to be with AI). It can be done, but an off-night by Wang might be downright disaster...speaking of AI, you've gotta admit he looks dapper in his new threads... Baroness (1-2) While we're on the theme of players carrying their squads, I should mention former AL stalwart Noh-Joon Choo's All-League effort. His 14.3 ppg and 11 rpg both rank in the Top-10 of league leaders and his .586 FG% is 2nd in the league...I really wonder what's up with the team name though. It's got that vague mysteriousness and ambiguity that is oddly compelling. I mean, what would make captain Jen Chang (yes Jen, I know you're behind this) name his team after a tight black leather bodysuit-wearing GIJOE villain? We may never know, but hey - maybe its better that way... Oldboys (N/A) Haven't played yet, but their name makes me think of this. And possibly this dude. SAIGON CONFERENCE Bearmen 2.0 (2-1) Off the bat, the league-high team average of 68 ppg jumps out at me. I guess it's not unfathomable considering they have Kashem Miah (23 ppg) and Mike Chin (20.7 ppg) getting buckets. I mean, these two ballers both rank in the top-5 scoring-wise in the league (#1 and #4 respectively). Not fair...add the fact that their 3rd leading scorer Danny "Statkeeper's Nightmare" Chin is posting a Grant Hill/Pippen-esque statline (12.7 ppg/11 rpg/6.7 apg/4.7 spg/3.3 bpg) and you've got a recipe for success if there ever was one...actually, you know what - Chin's line through 3 games is so jaw-droppingly gorgeous, I don't even think there is an NBA precedent to compare it to. Jason Kidd on methamphetamines? He should just stop playing now to preserve it. I mean it. Too early for MVP talk???...
Run & Gun (1-1) These guys look legit. They beat the Bearmen 2.0 in their first game and dropped a heartbreaker to the Gritty Committee in their second. Keep in mind that the margin of victory in both contests was a mere 2 points...Tommy Zheng stands out to me right now because of his top-5 leaguewide scoring average (20 ppg/4.5 rpg/2 apg/1.5 spg), but on paper, it looks like there are touches aplenty in their offense. Four of them have taken at least 22 FG attempts...Tim Chin has shot the rock rather poorly (7/23, 30% FG), but has managed to average a double-double: 11 ppg/11.5 rpg/ast/stl... Team Biny (1-1) Last season's AAA-Premier champs are hanging in there, despite showing some inconsistency. They barely edged by Baroness, then put up an admirable fight in a loss to the Bearmen...Chris Di is as consistent as usual, posting a clean 17 ppg (team leader) and 10 rpg...Carson Yiu is providing his scoring touch again as usual: 12.5 ppg with 3 spg to boot...the real puzzler here is the disappearance of last season's AAA-P MVP Eden Chuang. His decline in performance has Dream League pundits scratching their heads. Last season's averages of 15.8 ppg/3.3 rpg/2.9 apg/2.2 spg have dipped significantly to 5 ppg/0.5 rpg/2.5 apg/1.5 spg. I know it's only been 2 games, but this has been a pretty surprising development to say the least. Who knows...maybe he's nursing an injury? Psyche afloat in the throes of an off-court romance? Here's hoping he regains his form... Firstrade (0-2) ...A.K.A. last year's Pay4Bugs. I guess they went with the name change not only because of a new sponsor, but to exorcise the demons and start fresh...Captain and starting center CS Hsia is once again leading the team in rebounding (10 rpg). It seems like he's perpetually in the Top-10 for rebounding. I wonder how many seasons he's done this...Jay Shih has stepped his game up considerably so far this year - improving in practically every statistical category: from 2.9 ppg (17% FG), 3.3 rpg, 0.7 apg, 1.7 spg then to 9.5 ppg (30% FG)/6 rpg, 1 apg, 1.5 spg now... Good News Bears (0-2) The loss of Captain and AAA All-Leaguer Sung-Mo Cho (gone to the sunny climes of Cali to rub shoulders with Steven Spielberg and hopefully not this guy) has the Bears scrambling to reestablish themselves. Sung set the precedent for his team with his hustle and hard-nosed, heady play. It's just hard (impossible even?) to replace what he brought to the table...Yohan Lee has picked up some of the slack, upping his rebound total (11 rpg). His scoring is down this season (7 ppg), but is bound to resurface... Victor Suh has more than doubled his scoring average (4 ppg to 10 ppg) as well as hit the boards harder (5.7 rpg to 8 rpg)... NY Lions (N/A) The Lions are the NY iteration of the Bay Area SF Lions - the common denominator being Captain and F/C Vince Morales. I talked to him briefly as he was busy inhaling 3 hot dogs for "dessert" and he said that he formed the team in the wake of the Tri-State Sands of Time disbanding. "I just thought it was the right time to start the Lions franchise here in DLNY," he mumbled as he fumbled for his second dog. He added: "The Sands were slipping through the cracks so to speak and I had been talking with Ricky Ho last year about forming a new team." All things considered, the inaugural season for the Lions looks bright. Vince's brother and DLNY Staff Writer Ralph Morales holds down a spot on the team as well as the aforementioned Point God R-Ho...Josh "The Dentist" Prensky will be making surgical strikes from 3-point land as usual (and hopefully rocking his chuckle-inducing, trademark #69 on the court)...Ricky also recruited former NL/AL baller Leighton Kuet to bolster the roster which should add another dynamic twist to things... |
