CEBC Preaseason and Week 1  by Janny Who?

 

            Commissioner’s Note:  Welcome to the Cornerstone Friendship Basketball League!  Thank you to all the participants for joining this year.  We encourage everyone to form, renew, and strengthen relationships with all everyone in the league.  Our purpose for the league is to continue to spread the gospel while enjoying the great game of basketball.   

 

 

Preseason Rankings

 

Ranking	Team	Comments
1	Red	Tremendous size in the interior
2	Purple	Greg Wong = Beast
3	Black	Loaded with potential
4	Green	Veterans with something to prove
5	Turquoise	Enough talent to go all the way
6	White	Young speedsters may surprise

 

            Red (52) vs Purple (44)

 

            With Valentines Day and Chinese New Year upon us, the league joined in the celebration and stacked the Red Team with unbelievable talent.   An Asian nerd we interviewed saw them warming up and remarked, “Wow! IMBA! POWNED!”  Yeah. Go on the web. Look it up.  Looking at their roster, they are the hands down favorite to win every game by double digits.   Las Vegas odds makers were in a tizzy when the rosters and schedules came out.  They have them favored for all their games at -10 1/2 favorites.  Their combination of size and skill makes them the titans of the league much like the Bulls of 1995-1996 season, in which the Bulls won 72 games in route to their championship.   Can they chase history and challenge the Bull’s epic run? 

 

            Their first game, thought to be a good barometer, was a great game for fans.  The purple team put on up a good fight but in the end the red team cruised on to win.  They also went on to dominate points in the paint.   This was not a surprise but they were missing one of their top picks, Trey Park.   While birth records are still being verified to check if that is in fact his real name, legend seekers validated that he got his name raining the “trey” with reckless abandon at the local YMCA.   Ethan Chan is the early favorite to win Coach and GM of the year with his great front office work this year.  Although they did have a gaping hole with Trey’s absence, the Red team had Tim McMorrow, Cameron Lew, and Sylvester Chiu to pick up the rebounding, chipping in with 6 rebounds or more.  Sly, a guard, led the team with 11 points and also added in with 8 rebounds.   Although he did have 5 turnovers, the league touted him as one of the most exciting young players to watch for this year. 

 

            They did have their hands full with Greg Wong.  Greg Wong, the man with a thousand names, dominated the action when he was on the court.  He finished with 21 points and 10 rebounds on his way to a double-double.   His teammate Armondo Perez also chipped in with 6 points and 10 rebounds as they were determined not to get dominated on the glass.   Near the end, with the game seemingly out of hand, the team shouted, “T-mac!” trying to conjure up his 13 point outburst in 35 seconds against the San Antonio Spurs to win the game.  It was not to be however, as the Purple team fell short. 

 

 

Notes:  Nick Ly scored 4 points in 4 minutes before he was subbed out by Cameron Lew.  Tim McMorrow, had some nifty moves in the paint.  He attended Pete Newell’s big man camp in the offseason and is hoping it will pay dividends.  The Haier play of the week occurred with 11:15 to go in the 2^nd half.   Ethan Chan, threw a dart to Jon Tropper on the run, he then dropped it off to Sly for the bucket. 

           

Armondo Perez is in a class all by himself and is a favorite for this award – Best jog back after making a shot.   He has a plethora of confidence after an offensive outburst when he hit a 3, 2, and another 2, he celebrated by cruising with his patented “I’m the man” jog back.   Jeff Thai also had a great play hitting a 3 at the halftime buzzer.   Last but not least, Scott Crook made a patented half court shot before resuming his referee duties, the crowd went wild. 

 

Green (42) vs. White (35)

 

The Green Team, proponents of recycling and clean energy, is comprised mostly of veteran basketball players.  Their Average age 35.3.  The Green team, a bunch of veteran players, prevailed over the white team with hustle and determination.  They won the hustle categories – deflections and rebounds.  In the front court, Josh Tobin led the Green team with 13 points and 4 rebounds.  Jeff Chan also chipped in with 10 boards.  In the backcourt, Erik Chan and Ryan Susanto chipped in with 7 rebounds a piece.   Early on the Green Team had trouble shooting from the land of plenty and finished 1 for 12 on 3’s.  Daniel Quach attempted 7 triples. 

 

Timmoney Ng (7pts, 3 reb), Clauren Wong (9 pts, 3 reb), and Khanh Nguyen (6 pts, 3 rebs) paced the White Team.  The Green Team seemingly won the game by winning the rebound battle and took at 36-28 rebounding advantage at game’s end.    An unnamed league source stated that the Green Team can go either way, win it all or may be too old to make it to the championship this year.    He likened the team to the aging San Antonio Spurs who can get it done if they can get all the way to the finals while avoiding injury.

 

Notes:  Daniel Quach landed hard on his back in the 2^nd half but was interviewed after the game and stated he will play next game.  His status is questionable but the injury report indicated that he will start at small forward next game.    

           

 

Black (37) vs Turquoise (35)

 

           

            The “Backyard Brawl” or “Black and Blue”, turned out to be the most competitive game of the night.  These two teams have enough talent to surprise naysayers.  Stephen A. Smiff touted Tig Shakhnazaryan, sporting the Baron Davis beard, as one of the best all-around players in the league.  Tig in the first half showed he had a myriad of moves inside faking 2 defenders before converting the layup.  He will be vying for MVP honors come seasons end with his versatility and footwork.  Rumors are Tig promised not to shave his beard until they win the championship.  Derek Chan is the resident ball handler and coincidentally is the brother of the Green Team’s Erik Chan.  They both take care of the ball and get teams good shots by making good decisions.  His teammate Raymond Loi is a sharpshooter and connected with 3 treys in the game.  He finished with 13 points and 5 rebounds.    

 

The Black Team is the darling of the league.  Bill Balton called the Black Team the Taylor Swift of the league because of their friendly demeanor “best uni’s” and great sportsmanship.   Colman Chung and Alan Lin lead the talented squad.   They made the rest of the league jealous by unveiling their new uniforms this season.  These unis are a best seller in stores nationwide.  Al Lin played well scoring on various layups.  He shot 8/13 from the floor and added 10 rebounds. 

 

The game was exciting from start to finish but ended in thrilling fashion.  The Black Team was down two when Derrick Chan hit a jumper from the left baseline to tie the game with 14 seconds remaining.  On the ensuing play, Mike Esquerra fouled Alan Lin who converted 2 free throws with 3.1 seconds left. 

 

Notes: Colman Chung took a hard fall but shook off the cobwebs to convert a 360 degree spin scoop shot.  

 

Quote of the day:  “This ain’t hockey”  - Commissioner Rob Tam

 

Verse of the Day: 1 Peter 3:12 - "For the eyes of the Lord are on the righteous and his ears are attentive to their prayer, but the face of the Lord is against those who do evil."