THE DREAM LEAGUE
National Basketball Tournaments
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Arizona Desert Jade 65, Dream League All-Stars 58 |
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Arizona Outlasts Dream League All-Stars |
| September 9, 2006 LAS VEGAS, NV -- Arizona Desert Jade overcame a 14-point deficit in the first half to outlast the Dream League All-Stars (DLAS), 65-58. The DLAS brought a deep squad of 11 players, of which 10 were available against Arizona, but had very little output outside of four of the starting five: former two-time LVI MVP Karl Gusner (#15), former all-tourney Ross Lim (#32), Mike Kraus (#50), and Huy Nguyen (#8). Ultimately, they ran out of gas against the Arizona starting five of Fruity Brooks (#44), Bennett Woodward (#7), David Clarke (#3), and unsung ballhandler brothers Jeff Lee (#32) and Chris Lee (#23). Gusner led the DLAS first-half charge with 16 points on 4-for-4 from downtown. Kraus added 8, but the only player to score other than Gusner, Kraus, Lim, and Nguyen was reserve guard Johnny Liu (#22) with 2 points. In the second half, Arizona caught a tail wind and Woodward scored 16 of his own to finish with a game-high 21 points. He was unstoppable from beyond the arc, eventually going 4-for-6 as the fatigued DLAS defense couldn't keep up. Brooks scored 9 of his 15, going 5-for-6 from the line. Nguyen did all he could to keep the DLAS afloat, with 9 of his 11 points in the 2nd half before fouling out. The only other player to score besides the DLAS Big Four was former all-tourney selection 6'5" center Brian Liang (#1) with 2 points, who had moved out to NYC and hadn't been involved with the team since last year's LVI. Perhaps the unsung heroes were the Lee brothers handling the Arizona offense. Whenever Brooks, Woodward, or Clarke were contained by the proud DLAS defense, the Lees found themselves open for threes or under the basket for layups. In a high-intensity tournament game, it's not easy for the 4th and 5th options to convert on what should be automatic baskets, but on this day they converted and made the DLAS pay. Desperate three-point attempts by Gusner and Kraus with under two minutes to go were airballs, a sign that the stamina of the DLAS wasn't up to par against the better-conditioned Desert Jade. By late in the 2nd half, DLAS coach Rich Twu had lost confidence in his bench, which he criticized harshly at halftime, perhaps too harshly. The DLAS also found themselves in the same predicament as Team USA: it's very difficult to come together for only a few select tournaments and expect lavish outcomes, especially against an under-rated, battle-tested, talent-laden team like Arizona. Twu was not off the hook either, as substitution patterns as well as on-court performance exhibited the symptoms of a rusty team, at least in the 2nd half after Arizona had gotten the mini-wakeup call and more than responded to cut the lead to only 6 at halftime, then turn the tables and win by 7. But the DLAS had gotten the real wakeup call. How they fared Arizona went on to avenge last year's 3rd Place loss against LA Dragon's Den, albeit only winning by six. Then Desert Jade fell victim to the Pac Coast Barons freight train, in a most deflating, anti-climactic 10-point loss in the championship. Getting over the proverbial hump for that first taste of glory seems imminent from here on out. The DLAS bounced back and took out their frustrations against the Alpine Striders with a 13-point victory, their largest margin of victory against the fabled franchise. Then the DLAS avenged last year's championship loss to the Tigers Blue by walloping the depleted Tigers by 21 to win the Consolation. Both the DLAS and Arizona embarked on the difficult task of playing a 3rd day in a row at the AANC. From the perspective of the LVI, the DLAS have now taken a couple of steps backward since their back-to-back championships in 2003 and 2004 (2003 was in the AA-Silver division, a feat duplicated these past two years by Pac Coast), while Arizona has made a significant step forward in finally reaching the championship. Will both teams continue to head in opposite directions? The DLAS will need to address their issues with offensive output from more than 3 or 4 of their players. Four of the five starters combined for 54 of the 58 points the team scored. Point-forward Jameel Uddeen (#33) was shut out on just 0-for-2 shooting. Meanwhile Arizona may need to consider adding some depth. |
Score by Quarters
| Team | Q1 | Q2 | Q3 | Q4 | OT | Total |
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| Arizona Desert Jade | 26 | 0 | 39 | 0 | - | 65 |
| Dream League All-Stars | 32 | 0 | 26 | 0 | - | 58 |
Boxscore
| Arizona Desert Jade - 65 | |||||||||||
| Player | FG | 3PT | FT | REB | AST | STL | BLK | TO | F | PTS | |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Brooks, Jamal "Fruity" | 5 / 12 [0.417] | 0 / 2 [0.000] | 5 / 6 [0.833] | 5 | 3 | 1 | 1 | 1 | 0 | 15 | |
| Clarke, Dave | 3 / 10 [0.300] | 2 / 4 [0.500] | 4 / 4 [1.000] | 7 | 2 | 1 | 0 | 0 | 1 | 12 | |
| Hwang, Benny | 1 / 2 [0.500] | 0 / 0 [0.000] | 0 / 0 [0.000] | 6 | 1 | 0 | 1 | 0 | 4 | 2 | |
| Lee, Chris | 2 / 2 [1.000] | 2 / 2 [1.000] | 1 / 2 [0.500] | 1 | 2 | 1 | 0 | 1 | 2 | 7 | |
| Lee, Jeff | 2 / 5 [0.400] | 0 / 1 [0.000] | 4 / 4 [1.000] | 4 | 3 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 3 | 8 | |
| Wang, Keith | DNP | ||||||||||
| Woodward, Bennet | 8 / 14 [0.571] | 4 / 5 [0.800] | 1 / 1 [1.000] | 4 | 1 | 0 | 0 | 1 | 2 | 21 | |
| 21 / 45 [0.467] | 8 / 14 [0.571] | 15 / 17 [0.882] | 27 | 12 | 3 | 2 | 3 | 12 | 65 | ||
| Dream League All-Stars - 58 | |||||||||||
| Player | FG | 3PT | FT | REB | AST | STL | BLK | TO | F | PTS | |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Carrao, Jonny | 0 / 2 [0.000] | 0 / 0 [0.000] | 0 / 0 [0.000] | 3 | 2 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 1 | 0 | |
| Gusner, Karl | 8 / 14 [0.571] | 4 / 7 [0.571] | 0 / 1 [0.000] | 1 | 3 | 1 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 20 | |
| Kraus, Michael | 5 / 15 [0.333] | 2 / 7 [0.286] | 2 / 3 [0.667] | 6 | 1 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 3 | 14 | |
| Liang, Brian | 1 / 2 [0.500] | 0 / 0 [0.000] | 0 / 0 [0.000] | 2 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 1 | 2 | |
| Lim, Ross | 3 / 5 [0.600] | 1 / 1 [1.000] | 2 / 3 [0.667] | 5 | 4 | 1 | 1 | 3 | 4 | 9 | |
| Liu, Johnny | 1 / 2 [0.500] | 0 / 0 [0.000] | 0 / 0 [0.000] | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 2 | |
| Luu, Jimmy | 0 / 0 [0.000] | 0 / 0 [0.000] | 0 / 0 [0.000] | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 1 | 0 | |
| Nguyen, Huy | 5 / 15 [0.333] | 0 / 2 [0.000] | 1 / 1 [1.000] | 4 | 2 | 2 | 0 | 1 | 5 | 11 | |
| Susanto, Ryan | DNP | ||||||||||
| Uddeen, Jameel | 0 / 2 [0.000] | 0 / 0 [0.000] | 0 / 0 [0.000] | 4 | 0 | 0 | 1 | 0 | 1 | 0 | |
| Yamazaki, Yuki | 0 / 1 [0.000] | 0 / 0 [0.000] | 0 / 0 [0.000] | 2 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 1 | 0 | |
| 23 / 58 [0.397] | 7 / 17 [0.412] | 5 / 8 [0.625] | 27 | 12 | 4 | 2 | 4 | 17 | 58 | ||