THE DREAM LEAGUE
Asian American / Open Basketball Leagues
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2010 Winter/Spring AL (NYC) |
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Courtside Chats With Chip - Week 5 | ||
| Chip here. I lost my voice last week. I hope you did too. I don’t know about you but between what’s going on here in the DL and what’s going on over there in March Madness, I’ve been screaming at everything. The TV, my laptop (sometimes I got my laptop going as well as the TV, my desktop, and No One’s laptop so I can watch 4 games at once), the court when I’m at the LFNY, my goldfish, the guy on the 6 train. It doesn’t matter. I can’t help it. That Ohio State loss? AAAAHH!!! The first few minutes of the Cornell-Kentucky game? Then Kentucky’s loss? What people are calling THE best game in tourney history? K-State-Xavier was unreal. Keeping things at home, last week in the AL I witnessed more crazy as Queens Elite barely got by on SKWD, the Ridgewood Vets got their first win of the season, and the Monkey Kings shredded two teams by a combined 61 points. 61!!!!??!? Guys, you’re looking like kings while the rest of the league is a bunch of monkeys. And so, with all that hoopla, like I said, my voice is shot. And so I have to write this week’s edition of Courtside Chats. Sorry. But maybe this is better for those who are tired of Chip’s act. Blame No One. Dude brings me down. Sorta like Jeremy Lin after all his fanfare hit a peak in January. (Anyone else notice that or was that just me? After all the media blitz on JL4, his numbers plummeted like Black Friday and Harvard couldn’t get any money wins – lost twice to Cornell, lost twice to Princeton, and then got bum rushed by Appalachian State in the CIT. The CIT folks! I’m still trying to figure out what in tarnation the CIT is.) I actually couldn’t speak anymore by Friday night and my doctor has me on some medication where I’m not supposed to talk for 3 weeks. Frack. I just hope the Final 4 this weekend isn’t wiggety-wacked. Else I may have to disobey doctor’s orders. I can’t help it. I’m Chip Carey. Screaming is my thang. I mean, freak, it was all I could do the last couple of nights as I figured I could rest myself and casually take in some women’s madness and NIT action in the interim. I mean, how exciting could those be?
I think I busted my last vocal cord on Monday night when lady Stanford beat lady Xavier at the buzzer on a 92-foot coast to coast lay-up after #4 on Xavier blew two gimmes that would have likely won the game for them. (Man, she must be somewhere back in Ohio still crying right about now.) Then, on Tuesday night in knit action, UNC needed OT to get by Rhode Island after Dayton barely beat Ole Miss. There was a dent in my wall from throwing the remote in the final minute of the first game and today I’m spending time on the phone getting a contractor to come in and replace my window after I put a stapler through it during OT of the Tar Heels’ win. I’m starting to think basketball is a sickness and there is simply no cure. It’s more maddening than the black smoke on Lost. If you’re feeling me, can I get a woot? Not a loud one mind you. I’m trying to stay soft. Soft is certainly not something I see the Monkey Kings being. Crazy George Chan joined the party late, but they’re already making a splash, moving to 3-0 quickly, winning their games by an average of near-30. They’ve got the best offense in the AL and the best defense. Can you have the best of both worlds? I mean, is that legal? Obviously, when you have the likes of Tony Hu (averaging 16/10 so far) and Nick Mui (averaging 20.7/6.7/2.7/3.3 as a King and 15.5/7.5/4.0/4.5 as a Gen X’er), you can. Mike Chan (12.7/5.7) isn’t half bad and I like this combo of Kwok Ng and Kenn Quach - two new faces who are going places with their marksmanship from downtown. They’re shooting a combined 9/24 from the arc. Toss in Wilson Lew, who we all know is apt to get hot from 28 feet at anytime, and basically these monkeys have no holes in their game from what I see. My advice to teams taking them on? Bring bananas and lay them out all over the gym. It may be your only chance to distract them. Kudos to RV for sticking with it and not throwing the towel in on the season. After losing their first 4 games by a combined 104 points, they turned the table on TSIV and pounded them by 23 on Sunday. How good did that feel? It’s like they took out all their frustrations in one game on their opponent. And hey, they’re not mathematically out of clinching double-e yet for the playoffs. If they can finish up winning their last 3, a .500 record gets them there. And, hey with Gen X, SKWD, and another game against TSIV – all teams with losing records – impossible is nothing. Not if Frank Liu keeps asserting himself. I like this swingman’s game – a lot. He’s averaging 14.5 ppg and is hitting 56% of his shots, including 6 of 11 from 3. If I’m any RV guy, I’m feeding him as often as possible. He’s a legit scorer and he can fill it up fast. Mark Lee (a dozen dimes on Sunday) and Dave Wang (if he ever shows up again) have found the jump from the AAA to the AL tough, but it looks like they’re starting to get the hang of it, so if they can continue to make strides, get serviceable jobs from their big men, and ride the hot hand of F. Liu, I won’t discount them to finish this season with a flourish. As for TSIV? Pffffffffffffffff. That QE/SKWD game was fierce. I like ferociousness. Despite no Steve Hong again and Daniel Kim doing Las Vegas, QE survived this war of attrition. SKWD struck early but QE clawed their way back into it and the 4th quarter served as a case study in how I wish all quarters across all DL games would be played.
It was a close game all the way through and in the final frame, it was perfection played. Shots found their target for the most part, passes were crisp, it was a high level of basketball that was played. QE won it 25-24, holding on for the 3-point win and established themselves as a contender (unlike last season when they had a miserable regular season before turning it around in the playoffs) early. Yoshi Kagitomi (18/12) seems to just get younger with age. Chris Youn (17/5) is clearly liking the Lasik surgery he got and these boys are, for the most part, obviously having a lot of fun playing with one another again. Flip that on SKWD’s side, and while Mo Ghumman (18/16), Kash Miah (17/4), and Danny Lee (17 pts) are demonstrating a high degree of performance, the wins (only 2 in 5 games) aren’t coming as often as they’d like. Clearly, (and maybe Youn could advise them on a few things) wrinkles need to be ironed out. The last team to be involved in a game last week, Gen X, I’m simply befuddled about. First, I will allow this: they are much better off than where they were last season when they went 0-8. Already this season they have two wins. They could not win another game and deem this a successful season compared to last. What’s confusing though is that I feel like they could be so much better. If there is a better Jekyl and Hyde around, show me. Their loss to the Monkey Kings on Sunday was a great example of how they have been this season – play great in spurts, but then fall apart and implode by the end. It’s not the end yet, but after having the Kings knocked back on their heels a bit in the 1st half, Gen X, who has had big wins against then undefeated Who Dat and a tough SKWD, lost their way in the backhalf, getting outscored 38-22. Guys were yelling at each other in the huddle, scowls adorned many a face. Henry Kim is a bona fide deep threat (12 of 25 on the season) and Len Kamdang and Jiang Yu present most teams with severe size problems inside, but the straw that should stir their drink, Dennis Yang, is surprising to say, possibly the reason they aren’t 4-1, if not at least 3-2. D-Yang, typically one of the elite guards in the game, is averaging a career low 2.0 assists a game and hasn’t found consistent rhythm with his J yet. Should he do that soon, watch out. Not only might Gen X be doing some serious damage, but I might be yelling all out again. LOOKING FOR A JOB? If you're a sports-minded web designer and you've always wanted to work for Sports Illustrated, this great opportunity is up for grabs: SI WEB JOB. Hit us with a note through our FB site (link below) and we'll put you in touch with the appropriate contact. |
