Team Preview: Hoop Dreams 2012
Team Preview: Hoop Dreams 2012
MASAE Elite:
The host team is looking to kick the new year off with a bang after a luke-warm year in 2011. The Carmelo Anthony of Asian hoops, Jamaal Brooks (University of New Haven), is expected to be as prolific as ever. With the help of Kevin Redmond (Newbury College) and Jeff “Skeeter” Huynh, look for MASAE to be hungrier than the survivors from Alive (cannibalism not included).
MASAE Juveniles (Flight School) :
The young guns on the 19U youth squad are improving every minute and are absolutely deadly with their transition offense and suffocating full court press. Don’t let the baby faces fool you, these boys will do whatever it takes to pull off a win. 17 year old phenom, Aaron Calixte and Kevin “Young Haiti” Bui will take on the scoring load as Jim Tran, Minh Truong, and Branden Ngo anchor the team. Believe it or not, these teenage boys are the defending champions of this tournament. Last year they beat their elite team by one point to win the Hoop Dreams Invitational 2011. “Heavy is the head that wears the crown” and so we’ll see how long they balance it.
Lowell
Rich and Ray Tayag are the GM’s of the Lowell franchise and for a while seemed to be on the decline. But a few key pick-ups this past summer has kept them relevant, even upsetting the Boston Knights at the Purple Summer Showcase this past July. Their bruising style of play will always be their identity, but now they have found shooters and a solid playmaker. This could be the Cinderella team that pulls off some surprising wins.
Boston Flips
Harold Mortel looks to come back this year with a stronger squad after a disappointing collaboration with the PAMAS squad last year. His forwards, Alex Mortel (his son) and high post extraordinaire, Jun Dimagiba are key players to watch on this team. As the commissioner of the Flips league, expect Harold to pick up some contributing talent to the roster for this tournament.
Crackout
The MASAE alumni are back and their unorthodox style of gun and gun still perplexes teams. Combo guard, Bipin Tamang is still productive in the scoring column along with Cam Gammad. Athletic slasher Ben has improved and can really be the x-factor on their team. Forecast for these young ballers is that there will be a hailstorm of threes.
PBM NY Top Gunz:
Veteran big man, Jay Monteiro, and the PBM syndicate are unequivocally the favorites for this tournament. Champions of the Purple Summer Showcase 2011 and most recently, the Tournament of Champions in Virginia, Jay Monteiro, has been collecting gold like Michael Phelps. Back from this year’s SEA Games in Indonesia is Pek “Lefty Mismatch” Mith in the best shape of his life. With Soap Toan (Cambodian National Team alumni) and Oak “Legend” Nguyen (Mt. Ida College, Bloomfield, NJ) is still as sharp from deep as ever. Plus star guard, Bobby Simpson makes plays from everywhere, so it’s difficult to fathom a team that can match their experience and overall skill. It’ll be interesting to see if their team picks up any players from their New York/ New Jersey network or will it be strictly the loyal core of Rhode Islanders that have been so successful for them.
Showtyme:
Coming back from a torn miniscus recently, captain of the team from the Sin City (Lynn), Sunny Lok is reportedly more determined and better than ever. This team has great chemistry and hustle. Their run and gun style is restless. Don’t expect a second of breathing room if you’re trying to keep up with them.
FOB City:
The language of basketball is becoming universal so if this team truly consisted of FOBs it shouldn’t affect their ability to win games. With a few players on a 10-day contract from the Boston Knights like do-it-all forward, Andy Tam, FOB City is more than capable of pulling off some wins.
Future:
Undersized doesn’t always mean overmatched, ask the 2006 Villanova team. Possibly one of the fastest teams in the tournament, Future will not let their lack of size become an excuse for failure. Expect trey bombs from the resident sniper, Ratana Ny. Will Em is capable on scoring anywhere on the floor. This team will bring excitement in the form of reckless abandon on the court.
Boston Knights:
Boston’s original Asian club is back with their younger men’s team. Albeit this isn’t their elite team (except for sharpshooter Victor Cheung), no Knights team is a pushover in these tournaments. Expect a scrappy young men’s team that’s well coached to push teams around.
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