THE DREAM LEAGUE
Asian American / Open Basketball Leagues
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.DLNY All-Star Games |
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All-Star Evening Wrap | ||||
All-Star Night on the UES was spectacular, if not competitive (other than the AAA.) It was all about bringin’ it back old school in the AAA game as East versus West went full-court 4-on-4 style as all the other invitees decided to get out of dodge early for the Memorial Day long weekend. The East survived da West 110-107 after they were up as much as 20 points in the 3rd quarter. With a man down on each side and having to run 85 feet back and forth, this one was all about who could put the ball in the bucket more. Matador defense prevailed and even for an ASG, it was ludicrous. Both sides shot over 60%, the East snared 56 team rebounds and the West had 24 team assists. If you totally closed your eyes and didn’t look at who was before you, you’d have thought an NBA game was going on!
Danny Chin (Bonzai) exploded for 41 points, 16 rebounds, and 9 assists for the East as he led his team to victory, but the MVP of the night – and perhaps all of eternity – went to the West’s Sato Nakajima (Funky Skillz). S-Nak dropped a cool 61 on 28/36 shooting as he made jumpers look like lay-ups and lay-ups look like eating raisins. Mid-way through the 1st, when the West realized S-Nak was droppin’ everything he threw up, it became a mission for them to keep on feedin’ him. Andrew Chen (Corlears) had 11 dimes and was heard after the game talking the shooting guard up in an effort to sign with his team for next season. All four Westerns recorded double doubles and while not all four Easterners did (How? There was NO defense played), Oliver Bidol (random add on) had the game of his 35 year old life with 29 points, 16 rebounds, and 3 assists. He don’t get that on Playstation even when he plays as LeBron!!! In the AL ASG, it was yawn city as the East ended any drama in the 1st quarter by winning that frame 32-11. By the end, matters read: East – 96, West – 77. Gross.
The game was gross, but so was Junji Nakamura (Team Matrix) who was just J-Smooth with 29 points, 16 boards, and 7 dimes. Brother Hiro delivered an interesting stat line of 11 rebounds, 11 assists, and 11 steals. Trip-11’s? We’re thinkin’ Hiro ought to get that inscribed on his shoes. Sorry, there was just nothing to say about this game that was essentially a 30 point difference the entire time until the West put on a little run in the 4th – and still lost by 19. The evening’s last game – the NL ASG – was hardly a barnburner as well, but what it lacked in a close score – the West won 120-102 – it made up for in acrobatic athleticism. There were a ton of show-stopping plays, aerial assaults, and other things that only those on the NL level can perform. Sick, simply sick. #1: Sung-Mo Cho’s (Gen X) no-look alley-oop lob to Nic Echevestere (M&A 101) off a back-door play that NicE laid home over 3 defenders.
#2: James Choi’s (Renegades) whirling dervish cradle to the grave lay-up amongst 9 bodies. Freak nasty. #3: 7 of 17 triples from Jeff Moy (NY Fury)? That’s ice. Nice ice. #4: Nazr Khan (Ghee Unit) showin’ off his lefty mid-range game. 11/22. Then showin’ off his Porsche Carrera in which he left the game in. Not sure which was nicer. #5: Vegas Dave Wong (TSIV) dropping a game high 31 points on a variety of his usual crafty moves. Dr. Vegas was on point tip again flying in the from the side, stickin’ bank 3’s, lookin’ like he could run for another 60 minutes afterwards. #6: The hammer – NicE yolked one home at the end of the game to put the exclamation point on the West win and with it, the NL’s MVP walked away with the ASG MVP as well with a too nice stat-line of 28 points, 12 boards, and 9 rebounds. If he was smart, he would have missed the dunk on purpose, got his own rebound, and completed the triple-dip. Nic Echevestre, he may have it all, but he doesn’t know everything. |
