Welcome fellow basketball players to the weekly column that I'll be writing for the Cornerstone Friendship League. Each week I hope to recap all the games and provide any highlights as well as offer some commentary and opinions. Of course, this is all for fun but should make for an interesting read.
Anyways, onto the first column of the league which will be my preseason rankings! This will be a partially biased and an un-official view of how I think the season will play out after viewing some of the teams during the "pre-season" games we had this past Tuesday night.
#1- Team Orange
Impressive pre-season games put this team at the top. Lead by team captain Greg "Don't call me Craig" Wong, this team looks as balanced as any team with a good mix of guards and big men. J "Bruce Bryant" J is the defensive stopper on the team that will definitely crash the offensive boards and shut down his opponent. Jeff Chan has solid fundamentals and will get the hustle points. The big question mark will be the guard play but they look solid from the preseason games.
#2- Team Grey
Baron Davis and Jason Richardson. Jason Kidd and Vince Carter. Chauncey Billups and Rip Hamilton. I think you get the idea of the strength of this team. All-around guard Stan Chan has the skill to breakdown his opponent or pull-up for a 3-pointer while sharp-shooter Hank Liu can rain jumpers all day if you give him even an inch of space. This dynamic duo will be a load to handle for any team. Not to mention Hubert "Great Wall of China" Lim manning the paint and making bodies bounce off him like a rubber ball. Ivan "X-factor" Hsieh will bring hustle and heart to the game with his unpredictable style of play. But do they have enough size without team captain Octavio Jimenez being able to play?
#3- Team Black
This team is probably the most fundamentally solid group with each player running on a weekly basis. Erik "Mini-Mullin" Chan can dish the rock, shoot the jumper, finish at the bucket, and even has a solid post-up game. He'll be the catalyst for this team to be successful. Kenton Wong has great range to pull the big men out of the paint and spot up for jumpers. "Terrell" Brandon Cheung has an all-around game while team captain Brian "Old Man" Chew will drop dimes and control the offense. Oz "Webmaster" Orr will be spotting up for his Tim Duncan-ish bank shots and look for Adam Lee and Kevin Vo to be solid contributors. This team could be a sleeper pick for the championship.
#4- Team Red
Although they are ranked 4th in this preseason ranking, any team with Ryan Susanto will be a contender. His deadly outside shooting combined with his driving ability will make it hard for any opponent to stop. If the other team decides to double-team him, he'll have plenty of shooters from the outside with Dennis "Dagger" Ngai and Jon Yee. With Andrew Chan playing the Ben Wallace role by rebounding, blocking shots, and playing all-out defense, this team will be a tough load to handle. Don't be surprised if they have a good season
#5- Team Blue
Col-daddy will have his work cut out for him this season. He'll have a couple young guys who can jump out of the gym in Tim Ng and Dennis Hoang so you may see some Sportscenter highlights from this team. But the rest of the team is an unknown for right now. Col-daddy's leadership and handling of the rock should pull everyone together and be able to build some chemistry as the season goes on.
#6- Team White
Last but certainly not least is the oldest yet tallest team in the league. With an average height of about 5'10, this team can look intimidating on the court. Team captain Jon Kwok brings back some of his friends from last season which made an uncanny run at the championship but this is a different team. John "12% FT" Chang is a rebounding machine and don't turn your back on Ray "Lefty Hook" Yu because he'll pick you from behind or streak down the court. Injuries have setback Chris Wong and Sherman Lee but they'll look to contribute when they can. Rommel Reyes and Tony V. will anchor the middle while Albert Tseng will handle the rock. Jeffery Wu is the young legs on this team. Some have predicted a winless season for this team but Jon will use this as inspiration for the team every week.
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