Recaps 02/05

Friday 04th of July 2008

Written by Bill Wongton correspondent for the CSPN (Chinese Sports Premier Network)

Oh the humanity!!! It was opening night of the 3rd annual CEBC Silver Friendship league and the gym was buzzing with excitement as players eagerly filed into the gym for their first game of the season. You could sense the nervousness in the air as teams received their new t-shirts/uniforms and hoping to get their favorite basketball player’s number. So look out for the T-Macs (#1), Joe Johnsons (#2), D-Wades (#3), CWebbs (#4), Baron Davis’ (#5), Andrew Boguts (#6- only player I could find), Lamar Odoms (#7), Deron Williams (#8), and Luol Dengs (#9) of the league. Of course, if you’re a superstar like Gene, you have your own jersey and number, #32, which is fitting because Shaq is the same number. These were nationally televised games courtesy of the camera crew made up of cameraman Vincent “YouTube” Mostajo along with commentary by Paolo “Dick Vitale” Mendoza. You also had the same referees returning from last season, Scott “No Blood No Foul” Crook, Rob “Stop your whining” Tam, and Caleb “Inadvertant Whistle” Wong. Is it me or does Scott bear some resemblance to veteran NBA referee Dick Bavetta?

Remember last year when Charles Barkley challenged Dick Bavetta to a race during the all-star game? I think we should get our own local Charles Barkley, Gene, to race against Scott in between games. Early odds are 3-1 in favor of Scott but rumors have it that Gene has been laying off the Twinkies and getting in shape. And of course, we have to mention the hard working statisticians keeping track of every point, rebound, assist, block and turnover. You have to give them props for trying to record this data especially when the pace gets fast and furious. It does help that stat-mongers like Jon Kwok lets the score table know every stat he puts up every time down the floor. Pre-game festivities included Wilson and JJ in Yao Ming jerseys lip-syncing to BackStreet Boys.

Yellow vs. Green

Green team aka PG&E took the floor first looking to return to the championship game this season. Most of the same players are returning lead by Matt “Boston” Hedges and Neil Wong. Fitting that they wear Celtic green as they have cagey veterans that know how to win. Yellow team is a relative unknown but you know that team captain Ryan will motivate his players to perform at the highest level. Game started out as one-sided as possible. Green got good production from Neil and Matt while holding Yellow scoreless for the first 10 minutes. It was a either a display of suffocating defense or offensive futility as Yellow could not put the ball in the bucket. Yellow then subbed in 5 fresh guys including Ryan and Jeff “Matt Barnes” Chan. It was like the Detroit Red Wings line changing with a junior hockey team. Soon the 12 point lead that Green had disappeared with baskets from Jeff and Kevin Mau. During the 2nd half, the game went back and forth but Yellow’s Detroit Red Wings line proved too much in the end as Ryan hit crucial free-throws to seal the win for Yellow. Leading performers for Yellow included Jeff with 15 pts, 4 rebs, 3 stls and Ryan with a Boris Diaw-like line of 6pts, 5 assists, 4 rebs, and 2 steals. Green’s leading scorers were Neil with 15 pts, 9 rebs, 3 stls and Daniel Quach with 7 pts and 6 rebs.

Red vs. Blue

Having only witnessed the 1st half of this game, I had thought that Blue would probably win this game with preseason MVP and 1st team all-league Greg Wong along with hustle players like Armando Perez. But coach Gene and Oz-ubuiki drafted well and picked up the Asian Dwight Howard named Alan Lin. He was virtually unstoppable around the paint area easily getting buckets around the hoop. And playing the Rashard Lewis role was Anthony Pineda complimenting Alan’s game with outside shooting and slashing moves to the bucket. Blue’s team woes started and finished with their outside shooting as they shot an anemic 32% from the field and 40% from the free throw line. Without Greg playing his usual 38 mins and 28 secs of the game, Blue had to rely on new-comers Matthew Lum and Halbert Au-Yeung for buckets. But don’t count Blue out yet, they have the talent to rebound and run off a string of wins. Leading scores for Blue were Matthew with 9 pts (50% shooting) and 2 rebs along with Halbert with 8 pts, 3 rebs, 1 stl, and 1 block. Greg did grab 8 rebs and block 2 shots but only had 4 pts, way below his career friendship league average of 18 pts/game. Red was lead by Alan with 16 pts, 8 rebs, but 6 TO’s (almost a rare triple double) and Anthony with 11 pts, 4 rebs, 4 stls, and 2 assists. Gene was also a perfect 2/2 from the field so I think those odds for the race against Scott just went down to 2-1.

Black vs. White

Black was looking to start the season where it left off last season and repeat as champions although they have had some roster turnover without rebounding machine John Chang or bench catalyst Jun Dam. But White was no pushover opponent lead by Colman Chung and Erik Chan which is pretty much like playing Monta Ellis and Baron Davis. The pace started out quickly with Black getting solid play from Norm Siu and Sherman Lee taking advantage of their height down low. But White quickly countered with hustle baskets and second-chance points from Ian Go and Sherman Low. Although Black had the clear height advantage, White used their quickness to go after loose balls and pressured the ball into several turnovers. Black missed key shots down the stretch and White iced it with free throws. It looks like the road to the championship for Black is slightly detoured for now and age might be playing a factor as most of the players looked fatigued at the end of the game. Leading scorers for Black were Sherman Lee 15 pts, 8 rebs, 3 stls, but 3/9 FT shooting and Norm Siu with 16 pts and 6 rebs. White was led by Colman with 15 pts and 5 rebs and Ian Go chipped in 11 pts, 3 rebs, and 3 stls.

Player of the Week: Alan Lin 16 pts, 8 rebs, 58% shooting

Power Rankings

1. White- Speedy guards along with the mini-van in the middle (Hubert). Hard to stop.
2. Yellow- What if the 2nd unit played the entire game. Scary…
3. Red- Alan and Anthony are a lethal 1-2 punch
4. Blue- Any team with Greg is going to do well
5. Green- Veterans come up just short
6. Black- Chemistry and age are working against them. 2nd Scott Crook trophy appears doubtful.