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 Standings: 2004 _Fall (NYC) |
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Welcome Playas! Last Updated: 9/22 10:14AM
Dream League Fall 2004 Preview
Dream League tips off the New York Fall Season this week with its new format featuring the Uptown Conference and the Downtown Conference. The Uptowners play on Wednesday nights while the Downtowners play Sunday afternoons. Think baseball but not...the AL and the NL with an inter-conference game thrown into the mix later on in the season. The playoffs will be similar to your NBA format (hey - we play NBA rules!) where the top 8 teams of the entire league advance to the playoffs where its the #1 teams from the Uptown and Downtown divisions earning seeds 1 and 2 (better record finishes #1, if tied, then tiebreakers are (in order - and this is where the interdivisional game could be very important): head to head record, record against same opponent (if they didn't play head to head), and finally point differential). Seeds 3-8 are filled in order by records (and similar tiebreakers as above). Then it's 1 vs 8, 2 vs 7, AI vs. KG, etc., etc. Top 6 of 8 teams get DOUBLE ELIMINATION status, seeds 7 & 8, unfortunately don't.
If you need a refresher on the league rules, roster changes, or any other FAQs, be sure to scan: Dream League Rules
Now that logistics are out of the way...let's take a sneak peak at the new season. Our roving reporter chimes in:
Welcome back folks! It's season deux and I'm as excited as anyone about the new format of Dream League and all the excitement that is sure to come as a result. Kudos to the players and league management for all making this happen as Dream League continues to grow. I just got back from Vegas Labor Day, and lemme tell ya - this organization is doing nothing but growing, putting on some awesome bball contests, and giving back to the community all at the same time. Sounds just like the NBA, except the cost of going to see one of these contests isn't gonna run you half your month's rent in Manhattan.
What's going on on the Upper Eastside...
It all begins with last season's reigning champ Da Bien. Unless another team steps up to surprise everyone, these guys are the odds on favorites to repeat. MVP Shawn de los Reyes and all-everything Kevin Park return as they attempt to lead their squad to back to back titles. While they had their hands full in the championship when Maximum Output stretched them to the limits, they put the pedal to the mettle when it mattered most and laid claim to Kings of the East for now. Here's hoping that they can make it out to LV for the AANCs in February to see what's up with the West Side...Time will only tell if the rest of the Uptowners are contenders or pretenders...look for Tri-State InvAsian to make a run at it with newly acquired guard All Dream Leaguer Marshall Cho who was last year's scoring leader. Cho runs players ragged and with his new mates, will they be able to run the table?...Mo Betta Ballers (ranked #3 here by Dickie Chi of ESP the Magazine) have assembled an interesting lineup of veterans from NYC and the Bay Area Dream League led by Walter Ho and we'll see if they can bring some magic back out of those ole Cobra unis they'll be sportin'. Those valuable retro jerseys have not been in use since 2000 when the Cobras came in 2nd in the North American Chinese Nationals in Toronto. Ex-Cobra Danny Hsiao will still be draining 3's for this team....Gen X returns with All Dream Leaguer Danny Wang. He's back and he's mad. Gen X started gelling down the stretch last season and look to continue their growth. They could be one to watch...And the Lee Brothers shall lead them...3 expansion teams - Oh Holla! - (with 4 Lees and recently relocated West Coast phenom Stanley Yeung of the San Francisco Associates of the Nippon Athletic Union league), Retros, and the Wolverines bring a whole new dimension to the league. What can we expect from these guys? Who knows? But we'll find out. I can't wait to check it out!!!
On the 6 downtown...
Week 1 kicked off last week at Baruch and man, lemme tell you - YTMT looks like it's on a mission. Last season, the wheels came off the truck as they had some issues that I'll just altogether avoid here. Sources tell me things are worked out and the guys look in shape and healthy and ready to bring it. D-Scott (I call him Ice Man) and his tender knees looked on point. If he remains so, he'll be an All Dream Leaguer fo sho this season. If this was Vegas, and I was at the Monticeto sportsbook (anyone else watch Las Vegas Monday nights at 9pm on NBC?) - I'd be taking Y Tu Mama Tambien and the points...however, despite their name (and name change - this franchise was Maximum Output) (and loss to YTMT in week 1) - the Gummi Bears - these boys could shake things up downtown and do some damage. 2nd Team Dream Leaguer Jiang Yu will be launching and boarding and their rugged players will battle. It all hinges on if Eric Wang shows up to play. They ought to just get him a jersey made that says: THE DIFFERENCE...last season's NYC Scraps come back with a new name (Sky Hook) and a new roster. Sky Hook's captain Frank Liu has teamed up with a couple Golden Bears in James Tai and Mike Owh. Will they conjure images of Kidd to Lamond? Or will it be more George Ashley to Monty Buckley? (Jelani Gardner? Okay, fine - KJ Roberts)...a couple of expansion teams in A ball and the Wounded Dragons represent two extremes of the spectrum. This past week A ball played the Wounded Dragons and won 66-19...A ball has to be considered the dark horse of this division as they appear to have fielded a strong lineup led by Charlie Hustle. No, not Pete "I bet on my own team" Rose. Mark Fang will make a run at the all-defensive player if he keeps up what he did in Week 1. Kevin Park (last season's All D Ace of Da Bien) and Mark Fang - you guys will be summoned to do diving drills and liners soon...The Wounded Dragons have nowhere to go but up. These guys just got together and are still feeling each other's games out. Word of advice - get the ball in more to big man Young Ban. Boy got a nice shot and I predict he's going to lead the league in blocks when all's said and done. Also get Don Chan in a rhythm - do whatever it takes - pregame shooting practice of 1,000 threes if you must. If he gets on a roll and the team starts to orient themselves with each other and the 24 second shot clock, they'll gain more experience and be able to compete.
And that, my friends, is the bird's eye view from where I sit. Now I gotta get back to my thesis on why watching Team USA is no fun. Watching Dream Leaguers is gonna be more interesting than what I saw in Athens this summer. Trust me. Play ball!
Side note: I just checked out a video called Crossover that was directed by Justin Lin (director of the smash hit Better Luck Tomorrow) that is hella fresh. Check it out if you still got a VCR - it'll show you why the ball's still in the West Coast's court in terms of Asian-Am hoops. The sun may have set in the West, but let's show them that it's rising in the East.
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| Click on team names to see player stats | Downtown Conference |
Uptown Conference |
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