THE DREAM LEAGUE
Asian American / Open Basketball Leagues
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Rage 42, Bonzai 40 |
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For Thrillers, There's No Team Like The Rage | |
| January 24, 2008 – New York, NY (DL) – Okay, so maybe Bonzai does belong. Bonzai, who made an unexpected leap up a division from the AAA this season after not even performing well there, proved on Thursday that they can hang in the AL. Oh, they lost alright – they’ll likely take their lumps in the AL (at least until Kevin Park joins the roster), but the fact that they lost in overtime by 2 points to the Rage, who lost by just 2 points to the defending champs last week, means that Bonzai is plausibly in the same netherworld as SK War Dog. And the Rage. What to say about the Rage? The Rage make a living out of playing in nail-biters. If there’s a game involving the Rage, hang onto your jockstraps people, it’s going down to the wire! They proved it all last season, in their season opener, and in this one – winning 42-40. It doesn’t ever matter what the score is in the game early on, with the Rage, it’s going to be close in the end.
They could be down 10, 12, 14, or more. Or their opponent could be down 17-5 after one (as it was in this game), the Rage will either get back into it or allow their opponent to do so. After exploding to a large lead in the 1st with a 9-0 start, holding Bonzai to just 2 field goals, hitting three 3s, and watching Leighton Kuet go buck wild for 7 points, the Rage did exactly what you’re not supposed to do with a lead like that: get fat and comfortable. Seeming like they were going to laugh their way to this win (and seeming like Bonzai made an awful choice to move up to the AL), the Rage rested on their laurels and, wouldn’t you know it, the tables entirely reversed in the 2nd quarter. Bonzai hung a 16-6 frame on the Rage to cut the halftime deficit to 23-21, limiting the Rage to just 2 field goals, hitting two 3s, and watching Brent Morita go mad wild for 7 points. Not only did the Rage get fat and comfortable, Bonzai made it loud and clear that their zone defense has more holes in it than a sponge as they used a stifling man-to-man to get back into it. Bonzai’s offense suddenly sprung leaks left and right as after a 7/12 2nd, they cooled down to 1/12 in the 3rd as B-Mo’s triple was their lone field goal which tied the game up at 24. Fortunately for them, the Rage didn’t burn up the baskets either, going 2/7 in the frame (4/17 across the 2nd and 3rd) to keep the game close. When Kuet and Joe Yen (16 pts, 9 rbs, 3 stls) opened up the 4th with back-to-back buckets to give the Rage an 8-point lead, Bonzai found themselves in trouble again. No one, however, could have figured that those would be the first and last field goals the Rage would score in the frame. B-Mo (16 pts, 5 rbs, 3 assts, 4 stls) and Jerry Tanaka delivered bombs to help Bonzai mount a comeback, and while the Rage could only muster free throws (but my, did their +11 in attempts there help them), Joe Hwang got open for a score and with 8.9 ticks in the game, down 2, Drew Chen got hit from behind the arc by Kuet and went to the line where a myriad of possibilities could have happened. Miss all 3 – look like a bozo. Make just 1 – look like a bozo, but still allow Bonzai a slight chance. Make 2 – tie the game and leave it to fate. Make 3 – look like a stud, put Bonzai in the driver’s seat. Well, since DC’s neither a bozo nor a stud, he went for option 3 and when Kuet (12 pts, 5 rbs, 3 assts, 2 stls) surprisingly missed a jumper at the buzzer (he usually make those), we were headed to OT. The score was 40-all at the time which meant that after Hwang, Morita, DC, and Jae Ha Hwang missed every single one of their attempts (field goals and free throws) and Danny Luk made a lay-up for the Rage, fate dictated that that one shot was the only thing the Rage needed for the victory. Sometimes fate is funny. Bonzai belongs, Rage rocks. |
Score by Quarters
| Team | Q1 | Q2 | Q3 | Q4 | OT | Total |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Bonzai | 5 | 16 | 5 | 14 | 0 | 40 |
| Rage | 17 | 6 | 7 | 10 | 2 | 42 |
Boxscore
| Bonzai - 40 | |||||||||||
| Player | FG | 3PT | FT | REB | AST | STL | BLK | TO | F | PTS | |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Chen, Andrew | 1 / 9 [0.111] | 1 / 5 [0.200] | 2 / 5 [0.400] | 2 | 2 | 2 | 0 | 4 | 4 | 5 | |
| Chen, Jonathan | DNP | ||||||||||
| Chin, Danny | DNP | ||||||||||
| Hwang, Jae Ha | 1 / 2 [0.500] | 0 / 0 [0.000] | 0 / 2 [0.000] | 3 | 0 | 1 | 0 | 0 | 3 | 2 | |
| Hwang, Joe | 3 / 13 [0.231] | 0 / 7 [0.000] | 1 / 4 [0.250] | 2 | 1 | 1 | 0 | 3 | 4 | 7 | |
| Kim, Chris | 0 / 4 [0.000] | 0 / 0 [0.000] | 2 / 2 [1.000] | 3 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 2 | 1 | 2 | |
| Morita, Brent | 6 / 16 [0.375] | 4 / 11 [0.364] | 0 / 0 [0.000] | 5 | 3 | 4 | 0 | 3 | 2 | 16 | |
| Park, Kevin | DNP | ||||||||||
| Run, Jack | 1 / 3 [0.333] | 0 / 0 [0.000] | 0 / 0 [0.000] | 4 | 1 | 0 | 0 | 2 | 2 | 2 | |
| Tanaka, Jerry | 2 / 7 [0.286] | 1 / 3 [0.333] | 1 / 2 [0.500] | 6 | 0 | 2 | 0 | 3 | 2 | 6 | |
| 14 / 54 [0.259] | 6 / 26 [0.231] | 6 / 15 [0.400] | 25 | 7 | 10 | 0 | 17 | 18 | 40 | ||
| Rage - 42 | |||||||||||
| Player | FG | 3PT | FT | REB | AST | STL | BLK | TO | F | PTS | |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Chen, Gary | DNP | ||||||||||
| Hsia, CS | 0 / 1 [0.000] | 0 / 0 [0.000] | 0 / 0 [0.000] | 3 | 1 | 1 | 2 | 1 | 0 | 0 | |
| Hsueh, James | DNP | ||||||||||
| Kuet, Leighton | 4 / 9 [0.444] | 1 / 3 [0.333] | 3 / 10 [0.300] | 5 | 3 | 2 | 0 | 8 | 5 | 12 | |
| Lu, Jerry | 1 / 8 [0.125] | 0 / 1 [0.000] | 3 / 6 [0.500] | 4 | 0 | 1 | 0 | 2 | 1 | 5 | |
| Luk, Danny | 1 / 5 [0.200] | 0 / 1 [0.000] | 0 / 0 [0.000] | 2 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 6 | 1 | 2 | |
| Watana, Ace | DNP | ||||||||||
| Yen, Joe | 4 / 8 [0.500] | 2 / 5 [0.400] | 6 / 10 [0.600] | 9 | 0 | 3 | 1 | 1 | 2 | 16 | |
| Zhang, Sean | 3 / 10 [0.300] | 1 / 3 [0.333] | 0 / 0 [0.000] | 11 | 1 | 0 | 0 | 3 | 4 | 7 | |
| 13 / 41 [0.317] | 4 / 13 [0.308] | 12 / 26 [0.462] | 34 | 5 | 7 | 3 | 21 | 13 | 42 | ||
Referees
| Tyrone Blount: | Rate Me |
| William Bullock: | Rate Me |