THE DREAM LEAGUE
Asian American / Open Basketball Leagues
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2010 Summer AAA (NYC) |
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BK Hustlas Meet Tri-State War Dog in AAA Summer League Finals |
| Any bets folks? |
| Looks like we had it right throughout our season recaps, BK Hustlas did get stronger as the season went along. The Finals are finally set with BK Hustlas taking on the favorites, Tri-State War Dog on Sunday August 22nd at Julia Richman Gym aka “The Oven.” The Hustlas got here by defeating a solid but short handed Moneyball team in two grinding games last weekend. Both games headed into overtime and both games proved how far BK has come this past season. They started out as a bunch of guys who had the talent but needed to figure out roles, and come Sunday, they’ll have to play their roles and rely on each other to defeat an undefeated War Dog team, hoping to finish an undefeated Championship season. For BK, Lewis Leung has become the main go to scorer, with Phivan Quach doing the slashing and providing perimeter defense. The interior is sealed off by Ilye Levin, the always-hustling Danny Luk and towering big man, Phu Tran. BK has some nice outside shooters as well with Alex Wong, a very solid 3-point shooter and Jimmy Nguya, a quiet but deadly shooter. Sometimes we forget that Jimmy and Alex are a part of this team because they’re non-flashy, quiet, get it done type of guys. They’ll be relied on heavily to provide the outside spark. If BK can get Lewis going early, they can play outside in and have the War Dog team scrambling. Last time these two teams faced each other; Leung had his worst game of the season. He should be pondering revenge. On the other side are the War Dogs, another Andre Liu creation that finished undefeated in the regular season, and then dismantled the Bad Boys to get to another AAA Finals. They’re led by familiar faces with two new additions, Nazar Khan and Kash Miah. Miah has been solid all season long filling in for the departed Ray Huang, and Khan has been great on the boards and providing excellent offense below the 3-point line. The familiar core for War Dog has been just as good if not better this season. Felix Shen, Vegas Wong, Chris Kwan, Arif Ansari and Andre Liu himself, seem rejuvenated this summer, as everyone is contributing for the highest scoring offensive team in the league. The key for them against the defense minded Hustlas will be to hit the early shots and get Vegas Wong going towards the basket. Once that happens, the other guys can fill in the gaps and hope to celebrate another championship victory. Both teams have come a long way this summer, with tweaks to their lineup. Both teams have also had contributions from everyone on their squads to earn victories. Basketball is all about a team game and as proven by Mr. Lebron James’ departure to Miami, one man cannot carry a team to the promise land. On Sunday, that team concept is going to be taken to another level. Expect an amazing Finals series, possibly going 3. But don’t expect either team to give up till the final whistle. Captains Andre Liu and Danny Luk will make sure none of their guys take any plays off. It’s the Championship after all, you have the entire week to be lazy and do nothing, right Arif? Let’s Hoop it Up fellas! BTW - ANYONE LOOKIN' TO HOOP IT UP 3 on 3 STYLE?? Registration still open now for: Showcase NYC. Various divisions, so get your game on outdoors before the summer ends! |