THE DREAM LEAGUE
Asian American / Open Basketball Leagues
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Moneyball 67, Purple Cobras 57 |
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Money Looks It; Dashes Purple Dreams | |
| April 9, 2008 – New York, NY (DL) – Okay, so an hour later, the Purple Cobras had a chance to right the wrong. Make amends. Leave with a good taste in their mouths. Get double-elim. Forget atonement. Screw justice. All a team ever wants for the DL Playoffs is double elimination status since it’s a long road home. You know the rules (you should anyways and will you stop asking whether it’s 5 or 6 fouls to foul out? Or whether you can go backcourt when inbounding from the sidelines?) – finish .500 or above, and you have a loss to give in the post-season. Don’t take that loss lightly either. Ask those who have finished on top after burning it. It’s come in handy many a time.
Well, the Cobras problem on the backend of this doubleheader they played on Wednesday night is that the second game’s opponent was none other than the Seoul Conference’s second place team – Moneyball. In case you forgot, folks, Moneyball is good. Damned good. Even without Joe Liu, Money mauled Purple 67-57 to render the Cobras a single-elim team for the playoffs as they finished a disappointing 3-5, blowing both chances to get the double dip chip in one night. Perhaps it was fatigue that set into Mark Yiin’s legs and arm as he struggled into a 7/25 evening, missing many many lay-ups. Perhaps it was oxygen deficiency that prevented Andrew Cheung from grabbing more than 2 rebounds or blocking any shots after he went for 10 and 5 in the Cobras’ loss to the Wildcats an hour earlier. Maybe it was just a big wall the team collectively hit after spending a solid 36 minutes chasing the Cats uphill and physically, mentally, and emotionally draining them. Or…maybe it was just that Moneyball was too good. Fatigue this, folks. The Cobras attempted 76 shots. Money tried 74. This qualifies as some sort of Doug Moe era Denver Nugget team around these parts. That’s a lotta attempts, and even if the percentages weren’t stellar, it was proof positive that no one was tired. Money simply made more shots, grabbed more misses (57 rebounds?!?!), and played a brand of team ball that ought to be patented, it was so good. 16 assists – and they were led by their center Brian Zhang who had 4 (and asked the table for each one after he got it) – and it’s easy to see why a team that relies way too much on one guy (Purple Yiin), couldn’t keep up. In the 1st, the Cobras could as they were down only 15-14 with Kenneth Chan (11 pts, 13 rbs) pumping in 8 Purple points while Nick Pao (who deserves an apology a hundred times over for mistaking his son for a daughter) poo poo’d the DL, said this game’s too easy, and dropped 8 of his own points. Everything changed in the 2nd however as Chan checked his shot at the door and missed all 7 of his tries while only Yiin (16 pts, 10 rbs – his first double double) and J Alejo (11 pts, 5 rbs, 2 stls) scored for Purple while Money’s team concept came to fruition. Ray Huang heated up. Sol Choe (7, 4, 3, 4) found guys. John Lee, a defensive specialist, showed off his jumpshot. When it was said and done by the half, Money moved ahead 31-24 – only setting up what would happen in the 3rd. Huang kept the hot hand and after scoring 7 in the 2nd, saw his wife arrive, inspire him more, and drop 8 more in the 3rd. Lee (season high 10 pts, 12 rbs, 3 assts) continued to hit the open J and Money’s D smothered the Cobras into a 4/22 quarter to leave them down 47-33 headed into Q4. While Roberto Ko scored 10 in the 4th for the Cobras, and the team made a late push to make the score respectable, Huang – 8 more in the 4th for a season high 26 points and 7 boards – was too hot to handle and Money was too good to slow. Money finishes 6-2, clinching the 3rd overall seed for the playoffs and likely the best offense and best defense in the Seoul. Purple, on the other hand, wants to forget this night ever happened. |
Score by Quarters
| Team | Q1 | Q2 | Q3 | Q4 | OT | Total |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Purple Cobras | 14 | 10 | 9 | 24 | - | 57 |
| Moneyball | 15 | 16 | 16 | 20 | - | 67 |
Boxscore
| Purple Cobras - 57 | |||||||||||
| Player | FG | 3PT | FT | REB | AST | STL | BLK | TO | F | PTS | |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Alejo, J | 4 / 8 [0.500] | 1 / 4 [0.250] | 2 / 2 [1.000] | 5 | 1 | 2 | 0 | 3 | 1 | 11 | |
| Chan, Kenneth | 4 / 16 [0.250] | 0 / 2 [0.000] | 3 / 11 [0.273] | 13 | 1 | 0 | 0 | 2 | 1 | 11 | |
| Cheung, Andrew | 0 / 2 [0.000] | 0 / 0 [0.000] | 0 / 0 [0.000] | 2 | 0 | 1 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | |
| Huang, Simon | 1 / 8 [0.125] | 1 / 6 [0.167] | 0 / 0 [0.000] | 7 | 0 | 2 | 1 | 1 | 3 | 3 | |
| Ko, Roberto | 4 / 7 [0.571] | 1 / 2 [0.500] | 1 / 2 [0.500] | 6 | 1 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 2 | 10 | |
| Ngok, Karl | DNP | ||||||||||
| Pelaez, Victor | 2 / 10 [0.200] | 0 / 1 [0.000] | 2 / 3 [0.667] | 2 | 2 | 1 | 0 | 3 | 1 | 6 | |
| Rokadia, Anjum | DNP | ||||||||||
| Yiin, Mark | 7 / 25 [0.280] | 2 / 10 [0.200] | 0 / 0 [0.000] | 10 | 0 | 2 | 1 | 1 | 1 | 16 | |
| 22 / 76 [0.289] | 5 / 25 [0.200] | 8 / 18 [0.444] | 45 | 5 | 8 | 2 | 10 | 9 | 57 | ||
| Moneyball - 67 | |||||||||||
| Player | FG | 3PT | FT | REB | AST | STL | BLK | TO | F | PTS | |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Chau, Jack | 2 / 7 [0.286] | 0 / 1 [0.000] | 0 / 2 [0.000] | 4 | 1 | 0 | 1 | 2 | 1 | 4 | |
| Choe, Sol | 3 / 10 [0.300] | 1 / 7 [0.143] | 0 / 0 [0.000] | 4 | 3 | 4 | 1 | 1 | 2 | 7 | |
| Huang, Ray | 10 / 19 [0.526] | 4 / 6 [0.667] | 2 / 3 [0.667] | 7 | 1 | 0 | 0 | 2 | 1 | 26 | |
| Kang, Alex | DNP | ||||||||||
| Lee, John | 5 / 11 [0.455] | 0 / 0 [0.000] | 0 / 0 [0.000] | 12 | 3 | 1 | 1 | 0 | 5 | 10 | |
| Lin, Victor | DNP | ||||||||||
| Liu, Joe | DNP | ||||||||||
| Pao, Nick | 5 / 15 [0.333] | 0 / 1 [0.000] | 2 / 4 [0.500] | 10 | 3 | 0 | 0 | 3 | 1 | 12 | |
| Tan, Jeremy | 2 / 6 [0.333] | 0 / 0 [0.000] | 0 / 2 [0.000] | 9 | 1 | 2 | 2 | 1 | 1 | 4 | |
| Zhang, Brian | 1 / 6 [0.167] | 0 / 0 [0.000] | 2 / 2 [1.000] | 11 | 4 | 0 | 1 | 1 | 0 | 4 | |
| 28 / 74 [0.378] | 5 / 15 [0.333] | 6 / 13 [0.462] | 57 | 16 | 7 | 6 | 10 | 11 | 67 | ||
Referees
| Mark Leeds: | Rate Me |
| Bobbie Lewis: | Rate Me |