THE DREAM LEAGUE
Asian American / Open Basketball Leagues
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MIA 55, FBNYC Fury 50 |
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Yohan Lee Steps Up for MIA to Defeat Fury | |
July 30, 2008 - Brooklyn, NY (DL) - Every good team needs a Yohan. The seldom-heralded small forward for MIA will not dazzle you with his handles, is not big and imposing, and is not particularly fast or has out of the ordinary hops and he doesn’t have stats that jump out at you. Yohan is your typical role player. He’s your James Posey, Ron Harper, Bruce Bowen, Steve Kerr, AC Green, Greg Kite, etc. These guys are the ultimate compliment to the superstar and every good team needs one. The unsung hero that doesn’t get the glory, but does the small things that helps the team win. The role player, however, does not go unnoticed. He’s the guy that hits the open jumper when the superstars are double-teamed, passes up their shots to get them the ball or grabs a key rebound or steal because the other team doesn’t pay their full attention to them. The role player can very well win you a game. With the addition of Mark Patience and Chris Youn, MIA has its superstars now. It's no wonder over 2 games, Lee has been a key component to their 2-0 start. In their previous game, a 2-point victory over the vaunted Hype Beasts, Lee scored 10 points on 5 for 8 shooting. In this game against the Fury, Lee proved once again that he may be MIA’s most unnoticed most valuable player.
The Fury was fresh off a 5 point victory against HBI. Their all-star line up of James Choi, Alex Cho, Harris Chung, Rich Cheng, Brian Sun, etc matches up against the top teams in the AL and the NL. The backcourt combination of Choi and Cho, in particular, might become the best backcourt in the AL, if they aren’t already. From the onset of the game, the chemistry between Choi and Cho was evident, as they combined on 4 scores for 10 of the Fury’s 16 1st quarter points. It was if they spoke in telepathy to find each other. MIA took themselves out of a 7 nothing deficit to start the game by Chris Youn and James Gonzales finding their 3 point range. J. Gonzales connected on 2 consecutive treys, while Mark Patience ended the quarter with his offensive rebound put back and strong inside move to end the quarter with only 3 points behind the Fury. The 2nd quarter was an old-fashioned run and gun shoot out with minimal defense. The scoring went back and forth starting with Patience inside, then Rich Chang right back at Patience with a strong drop step of his own, then a spectacular double pump basket plus the harm by Garry Yeung - and on it went. MIA took a lead with Yohan putting back a rebound and then hitting a baseline jumper to put his team up with a 3-point lead. The flurry ended only because of the buzzer, in which Chung beat with a last second basket to put his team within one, 24-25. After Choi’s 3 and 3 straight baskets by Chang put the Fury up by 2, it was Lee again not letting his team lose their lead. He hit a three to put his team up 31 to 29 and then again when they were down 31-33 to put them up 34-33. MIA clearly found their long-range touch, where every basket they scored was from three point territory; 15 points from 5 treys until the 2:40 mark when Youn made a layup and was fouled. Choi answered right back on a lay up and foul on his own to put his team within 4, but it was Lee who made sure that MIA would keep a nice cushion with another critical jump shot. During the 4th quarter, the Fury would inch closer to MIA’s lead and with 40 seconds left, tied the game at 50. MIA’s fatigue was showing as many of their long range shots were no longer falling and simple lay ups and open jumpers were falling short. The Fury kept chipping away with drives. Cho on one drive dished to Ding Lin for a lay up and then took it himself to be fouled, where he connected 1 out of 2 free throws. It was the effervescent Choi, however, who rallied his team with his energy on defense when on a crucial stance, he ripped the ball cleanly away from Youn to go in for a lone fast break to pull his team within 2. Patience was missing several inside looks that he was making earlier, but made up for it by hitting a timely turnaround to give his team the lead back at 52-50 with 20 seconds left in the game. Chung had an opportunity to bring his team within one, but missed a wide open three pointer and so MIA would win 55-50. It’s no coincidence that MIA is winning on the strength of their underrated star Yohan Lee. If he continues to light it up, he won’t be so underrated or unheralded much longer. |
Score by Quarters
| Team | Q1 | Q2 | Q3 | Q4 | OT | Total |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| MIA | 13 | 12 | 21 | 9 | - | 55 |
| FBNYC Fury | 16 | 8 | 18 | 8 | - | 50 |
Boxscore
| MIA - 55 | |||||||||||
| Player | FG | 3PT | FT | REB | AST | STL | BLK | TO | F | PTS | |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Albano, AJ | DNP | ||||||||||
| Chen, Stephen | DNP | ||||||||||
| Cheng, David | 0 / 5 [0.000] | 0 / 4 [0.000] | 2 / 2 [1.000] | 0 | 1 | 0 | 0 | 1 | 1 | 2 | |
| Gonzales, James | 3 / 6 [0.500] | 2 / 4 [0.500] | 0 / 1 [0.000] | 1 | 3 | 2 | 0 | 0 | 2 | 8 | |
| Gonzales, Shaun | 0 / 2 [0.000] | 0 / 1 [0.000] | 1 / 2 [0.500] | 3 | 1 | 1 | 0 | 4 | 2 | 1 | |
| Kwak, Eddie | DNP | ||||||||||
| Lee, Yohan | 5 / 13 [0.385] | 2 / 4 [0.500] | 0 / 0 [0.000] | 2 | 1 | 1 | 0 | 2 | 1 | 12 | |
| Patience, Mark | 5 / 9 [0.556] | 0 / 0 [0.000] | 0 / 0 [0.000] | 6 | 2 | 3 | 0 | 3 | 4 | 10 | |
| Yeung, Garry | 5 / 9 [0.556] | 2 / 2 [1.000] | 1 / 1 [1.000] | 3 | 1 | 0 | 0 | 5 | 2 | 13 | |
| Yeung, Garvin | DNP | ||||||||||
| Youn, Chris | 3 / 8 [0.375] | 2 / 6 [0.333] | 1 / 3 [0.333] | 10 | 3 | 0 | 0 | 6 | 1 | 9 | |
| Zheng, Charles | DNP | ||||||||||
| 21 / 52 [0.404] | 8 / 21 [0.381] | 5 / 9 [0.556] | 25 | 12 | 7 | 0 | 21 | 13 | 55 | ||
| FBNYC Fury - 50 | |||||||||||
| Player | FG | 3PT | FT | REB | AST | STL | BLK | TO | F | PTS | |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Chang, Rich | 5 / 8 [0.625] | 0 / 0 [0.000] | 3 / 4 [0.750] | 3 | 1 | 1 | 0 | 2 | 3 | 13 | |
| Chen, Steve | DNP | ||||||||||
| Cho, Alex | 3 / 8 [0.375] | 1 / 5 [0.200] | 1 / 2 [0.500] | 5 | 4 | 2 | 1 | 2 | 1 | 8 | |
| Choi, James | 8 / 11 [0.727] | 2 / 5 [0.400] | 1 / 1 [1.000] | 5 | 2 | 3 | 0 | 4 | 4 | 19 | |
| Chung, Harris | 2 / 9 [0.222] | 0 / 5 [0.000] | 2 / 2 [1.000] | 4 | 1 | 2 | 0 | 5 | 1 | 6 | |
| Hu, Brian | DNP | ||||||||||
| Kim, Joe | DNP | ||||||||||
| Lam, James | DNP | ||||||||||
| Lin, Ding | 1 / 6 [0.167] | 0 / 1 [0.000] | 0 / 2 [0.000] | 3 | 0 | 1 | 0 | 1 | 1 | 2 | |
| Lo, Sam | 0 / 1 [0.000] | 0 / 0 [0.000] | 0 / 2 [0.000] | 1 | 1 | 2 | 0 | 1 | 2 | 0 | |
| Sun, Brian | 1 / 5 [0.200] | 0 / 2 [0.000] | 0 / 0 [0.000] | 1 | 1 | 2 | 1 | 1 | 1 | 2 | |
| Wang, Alvin | 0 / 4 [0.000] | 0 / 0 [0.000] | 0 / 0 [0.000] | 8 | 0 | 0 | 1 | 1 | 0 | 0 | |
| 20 / 52 [0.385] | 3 / 18 [0.167] | 7 / 13 [0.538] | 30 | 10 | 13 | 3 | 17 | 13 | 50 | ||
Referees
| William Bullock: | Rate Me |
| Gina Kennedy: | Rate Me |