The Tournament went pretty well.  A couple of cancellations in the days leading up to the tournament made me do some last minute scheduling changes.  In the 13/under division, the NY USAB team was really good.  They have 2-3 kids who can play the game with poise you wouldn't normally expect from players of that age.  They are just a notch above the competition.  Their little guard PJ can do some amazing things with the rock, plus they have this kid Cody who can finish around the basket with either his left or his right.  And their 2-guard Andrew Ng is Daniel Ng's little brother.  Daniel was an All-NACBA pick in 2007 for the USAB 18's, so you know that there might be something special in the bloodline there.  They won the title, beating a really surprising Philly Young Suns team of 12/13 yr olds.  The Suns team was huge for their age, and remind me of a young Cruisers team with George Chan and Tony Hu.  The Suns have Timmothy Mak (also a lion dance drummer) and Jon Lai who are just monsters underneath.  If these kids keep growing, they could lead to a bright future in the city of brotherly love.  The team that the Suns beat in the Semis, the NY Rockits, is also looking good.  They were a young team, with lots of 11-12 yr olds.  You can tell that a lot of these Rockit Kids play oranized basketball, because they weren't really afraid of going against bigger players.  They were tiny, but impressive.  They actually beat the Young Suns in pool play, but I guess the size just took over in their second matchup.

In the Friendship Division, NY Run and Gun pretty much had their way the whole day.  They went 3-0 in pool play, and then easily won their semifinal matchup before pulling out a win in the Finals over the Suns E team.  MVP Ian Yu, formerly of the NY Rockits was really aggressive in getting to the hoop as needed.  It was good to see this group of friends have fun and take home the Chip.  They had huge Howie Chu and PG brother Leon Chu of the Cruisers, Wilson Lew who used to be one fo the main MaxOut guys and now heads up the Fast Break team, Virg Borbio who used to coach the NY Rockits U, Tommy Zheng of UE/Rockits.  This was a talented team who could have given any of the middle division teams a good run for their money.  Virg and Wilson (All-Tourney, 4 treys in the Finals) were lights out from 3-point land. Howie was a force underneath as always.  The Suns D & E teams did a pretty good job given their relative inexperience.  I coach the Suns C, D, and E teams, but I guess I can blog about that another day.  The D team was a better team in the morning, since they had Mike Chau and Bin Chun Woo for their first games, but then those 2 guys had to go to work and wait tables for the lunch crowd.  So the E team became the better team afterwards.  The E team was led by PF Joe Riel, PG Yu Heng Guo, and wing Tommy Le, and they actually were within 4 points of Run & Gun during their pool play matchup.  So they had the ability to hang tight with the better players.  But in the finals, I think the lack of quality depth really hurt the E team.  The CYC C team that was put together by Harry Guey Lee was super young, with I think 8 of their 9 guys being 18/unders and the one big man Raymond was 19.  Raymond is a wide load to handle in the paint, and the couple new pickups at the guard slot were really impressive.   This was the first time I saw the nw guards, and they could handle the rock and get to the hole.  Their speed was also above average.  But you could tell these guys hadn't really played together much, as their spacing and defensive help wasnt there.  Maybe if they had played in the 18/under division last month, they would have been a lot more competitive.  But still, I think if these kids stuck together then they would be a good group of players.  Maybe not championship caliber, but they would be a team that no one is going to walk all over.

The Mens B division- The CYC B team had a tough go in the morning session before they got on track and won the title.  They started off the game crushing a Ronin squad by 27 points.  This was the same Ronin team that had just beaten the Philly Suns B team by 25.  Two of the most lospided games of the day.  Then CYC B team had to play a back tp back as they took on the Suns B team.  B team knew that as long as they didn't lose by 15 points (the point differential cap amount), they would be assured of the first place bye.  CYC B played a pretty poor game, hitting about 25-30% of their open shots.  The game started to get physical, and CYC was justt oo small to fight back.  With lineups that often had Calen Lui, Martin Hsieh, and Kevin Lee in at the same time, there was just no way they could win a game if they couldn't hit thier wide open shots.  CYC B lost by 6 but still earned the top seed in the pool.  In the other pool, the Suns C team (last year's NACBA Friendship Champs) smashed Delaware by 28 and USAB by 26.  Their full court style and lanky athletic players who can run the court  were really working wonders.  USAB finished second in the poool, followed by Delaware.  In the QF's it would be Ronin v Delaware.  This was anyone's game and Delaware had the lead with about a minute to go and the ball in their hand.  What they did was then throw up a silly runner and give up the ball.  Ronin executed and they won.  What a way to lose the game.  Up next was the Suns B and USAB.  The Suns B took advantage of a thin USAB team, to take a 12 point lead in the first half.  But even being outmanned, USAB showed some resiliency to come back against a partisan crowd.  Zach Liu was hurt with a sprained ankle, so Little Joe Chin and Jason Chin started bustin triples all over the place.  USAB came back and won by double digits.  In the first semi, CYC took on USAB.  By then, it was really the end for USAB.  They were down from 7 guys to 4 and half guys after one of their big men started cramping up.  CYC won easily, as they shot about 75% from the field against an exhausted USAB team.  The other semi wasn't much to write about either, as the Suns C knocked down 13 three's to dominate their crosstown rivals, Ronin.  In the Championship, I really wanted the Philly C team that I was coaching to beat the CYC B team.  This would have been one of their best wins ever.  But eveidently, CYC B was ready for the traps and full court style.  Basically these 2 teams do the same type of thing offensively, and CYC just shot the ball better.  The Suns were obviously bigger and more athletic, but if you cant put the ball in the hoop, and CYC was sinking at about 70% of their outside shots, there wasn't much the Suns could do.  CYC B sped out 9-0, and after that, the Suns would go one little runs.  But really it usually ended up with CYC hittiing a 3, and then the Suns would take a 3 at the other end, miss, and get a putback for 2.  You can't trade 2 points for 3 points and expect to win.  The Suns did close within 3 points with about 3-4 minutes to play, but CYC doesnt turn the ball over and always hits their FT's to seal games.  Martin Hsieh was MVP.  he had some sick crossovers and hesitations.